One of the most interesting Ange Postecoglou responses in his Celtic press conference today came when a journalist asked if he and his colleagues sometimes make too much of positive or negative results and how it impacts the morale or direction of a squad.
When Celtic were going through a sticky patch last month, there were some absurd sensationalist takes kicking about, with some stories even questioning Postecoglou’s position despite only being at the very beginning of the Celtic journey.
Likewise, on the back of two away victories, perhaps too much can be made of how much Celtic have improved or how much happier the players are within the camp.
For the manager, the mood has been pretty constant throughout and he reckons it’s easy for people to get their verdict of the situation wrong.
Ange addressed the issue in a typically detailed fashion, telling reporters [YouTube]: “I don’t know whether you make too much of it. There’s always a different feeling within the walls of a football club.
“It’s very hard for people on the outside to sometimes get an accurate gauge of that because they’re working off of limited information. And most of the time they’re just working off of what the results have been – if results are going well it means confidence must be high or results aren’t going well then people are struggling.
“The one thing I will say is right from the start, irrespective of our inconsistency in results, the mood’s still been fairly positive the whole way through. There hasn’t been a time when I’ve felt that the players are lacking a little in belief or determination to get to where we want to.
“From that perspective, there hasn’t been a major shift. But I think the manner in which we won at Motherwell does give the group some added confidence and belief. But it’s not a major shift.
“The prevailing thing for us at the moment is it just feels we’re a more settled group. There’s no one coming and going. There’s no one coming in at the last minute. Everyone has got to know one another, our football, the way we train. That’s been the biggest shift I’ve noticed in the last two weeks.”
It’s a level-headed, rational approach and one which will serve us well over the course of entire season. Postecoglou will be sending the exact same message to the players – that it’s about keeping a neutral mindset and not about overreacting to wins, draws or losses.
Of course, as fans, we don’t really have that luxury. That goes with the territory of being a football supporter, especially of a big club like Celtic.
Still, it’s good to know that inside the walls of Celtic Park they are blocking out what’s being said about them and the assumptions some are making in the media.
In other news, Mark Warburton couldn’t believe media’s anti-Deila headlines when he faced Celtic in Scotland.
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