Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was in attendance to watch the B team beat their Rangers counterparts in the Scottish Lowland Football League.
The Bhoys boss took up a position in the main stand with first-team coach John Kennedy to watch Rocco Vata, Joey Dawson and Kenzie Carse all score in a morale-boosting 5-2 derby win earlier this afternoon.
The young Hoops had to come from behind twice to pick up the victory, showing the kind of resilience and spirit that has defined Postecoglou’s first team since the Australian’s arrival in Glasgow.
After the match, Celtic B coach Darren O’Dea confirmed to 67 Hail Hail reporter Lewis Laird, in attendance at Paradise, that Postecoglou made a post-match visit to the dressing room to congratulate the youths on their victory.
He said, as quoted by Football Scotland: “He let us get on with it but came into the dressing room afterwards to see the players. I can’t tell you how much that means to everyone. Stephen and I were put in charge of this with the manager above us and the support he has given us has been incredible.
“The huge benefit we get is the access we have into the manager, getting to hear his ideas. That’s fantastic and I think we can take this on a lot more and I know the manager will want us to do that. His support and John Kennedy’s support today is invaluable. The players will feel that and certainly Stephen and I do, and hopefully we can repay that faith and trust by producing players for him.”
The manager has recently shown he has faith in the B team project with the inclusion of Vata and Bosun Lawal on squad trips to Australia and Portugal.
Vata, just 17, was also handed his competitive debut for the senior side on Wednesday night away to Hibernian, coming on to help see out a 4-0 victory at Easter Road.
Like everything else at Celtic since Postecoglou’s arrival, the B team project has been a work in progress, with significant change coming in the summer when Tommy McIntyre moved on and the manager put O’Dea and McManus in as the coaches taking charge.
Today’s show of support demonstrates to the young players that the manager is well aware of their progress and skills, giving them further motivation to impress in the second half of the season.
Now training regularly at Lennoxtown, anyone standing out over the next few months will undoubtedly be on Postecoglou’s radar should any opportunities open up in the senior squad.
In other news, Josip Juranovic reflects on class World Cup moment with Celtic teammate.
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