Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has certainly been sticking to his commitment of bedding in young players and giving them an opportunity when the time is right.
After his arrival back in June, Ange held his first media event with the Celtic supporters. He stated there and then that he would look to end the Parkhead exodus of young talent. He stated youngsters would get an opportunity in his Celtic team and talked up how great a story it can be for supporters.
At the time they were promising words for supporters to hear. We had lost top talents in years gone by such as Liam Morrison, Barry Hepburn, and Liam Hughes to name but a few. But at the same time, that’s all they were from Ange, just words.
Celtic fans want to see action, and that’s certainly something they’ve been getting. For Ange has backed up his comments by consistently giving youth players from the Celtic B team an opportunity.
He was happy to throw in Dane Murray in Champions League qualifiers in the early stages of the campaign. Okay, so some will say that was simply down to necessity, but he could easily have panicked and just changed his shape. Instead, he stuck by his system and used it as an opportunity to give a talented youngster some exposure.
But Ange hasn’t stopped there. Owen Moffat and Joey Dawson both saw first-team minutes before the league went into the winter shutdown. Owen made 3 cameo appearances against Ross County and St Mirren in the Premiership before nabbing 7 minutes in the League Cup final win over Hibernian. Dawson, meanwhile, made his Celtic debut against St Johnstone in the final game before the winter break.
Ange Postecoglou has handed opportunities to 4 different Celtic youth talents
The latest Celtic B team talent to get an opportunity under Ange is Ben Doak. The pacey young winger was handed his first-team debut in the form of a substantial 20+ minutes against Dundee United on Saturday.
That means that since the summer, the Celtic boss has handed chances to 4 of the top-performing youngsters in the B team. That number will likely only rise in the coming months too, even if we are in the midst of an intense title race.
This isn’t just pleasing for supporters who like to see young players get opportunities. This could be a key way in which Ange manages to stop our top young talent from leaving.
After all, that was one of the key issues last season. Granted, Stephen Welsh did break through under Neil Lennon, but that was that. There were no real cameos for any promising youngsters in the U20s. The only time we managed to get a glimpse of a few came after the Dubai debacle.
Ange providing that pathway is a key step to halting that Lennoxtown exodus. Our top starlets won’t be so keen to move on when they know their manager is ready to hand them some opportunities when they prove themselves. Considering Ange is actually doing it and not just saying it either, it’s a big boost for the football club.
Hopefully, in the coming months and years, we can see some of these talents playing on a regular basis. But for now, the manager has made his intentions clear for those who are willing to put the work in for the B team. If that doesn’t excite you as a youngster, nothing will.
In other news, Ismaila Soro looked highly likely to leave Celtic; now it’s not worth the risk
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