In a way, you’ve really got to hand it to Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou: he doesn’t tend to get flustered.
Amongst a flurry of questions, and some voices already questioning his tactics at Celtic, you could’ve forgiven the Greek-Aussie manager to get a bit frustrated.
Whether it was away form, or the expectations of fans, the Celtic manager was hardly apathetic. Instead of getting het up, though, and feeding the next day’s news agenda, he was calm and collected.
The manager made it very clear that he believed in the direction the club was going. And, that he had the backing of supporters.
Postecoglou said [Celtic FC]:
“I’m not on social media and I’m not a great reader of what’s going on around the place, but my general feeling is that our supporters are totally understanding of the situation we’re in and have been very supportive right from day one.
“I haven’t sensed a shift in that, although I know Sunday’s game was probably the most disappointed they’ve been in our performance. I’ve never felt that our supporters were thinking this would be a quick fix at any stage.
“For us, it’s about what we do internally here. We can’t get caught up in what outside timelines are or what expectations are from various people who are obviously going to critique what we do when things aren’t going well. We’ve just got to stand up and face that and accept that as part of the process.
“We’re starting on a road to being a certain type of football team and we won’t waver from that. I’ve got confidence in the group and what we’re trying to achieve and all these things that happen along the way are just challenges to our commitment to it. We’ll just keep ploughing on in this direction.”
Ange Postecoglou is right about Celtic supporters: any pressure on him isn’t from us
Are there concerns about Ange Postecoglou’s lack of diversion from his attacking philosophy? Yes. But is there anyone seriously questioning Postecoglou’s future after just six league games?
Undoubtedly, we need to be better away from home. But it’s important to remember just how much has changed at Celtic. Not least the atmosphere, which has been improved immensely since the arrival of the popular manager.
As my colleague David Walton pointed out earlier, the most vital part of the rebuild is nearly done now. He’s verging on having a settled squad. When big-name players come back from injury, even more so.
The most important thing here is that, en masse, the Celtic supporters are behind him. The energetic, astonishing football we’ve seen at times has left us desperate for more.
But we knew, throughout all this, that it would take some time. We weren’t expecting to win everything right away. That kind of hyperbole is put onto us by pundits outside the club.
If there’s any pressure on his job, as ludicrous as it is to think there would be at this point, it’s not coming from the Celtic fans. Certainly, if things don’t improve, there’ll be questions, but that’s entirely reasonable. It would be weird if there weren’t.
Yes, we take bad results hard. Of course we do, the expectations are massive.
But any early talk of a shifting tide in support, or fans being on Ange’s back has to be nipped in the bud, here.
It’s insulting to the intelligence of fans, and it’s far, far too early to make any kind of grim assessment yet.
In other news: Former Celtic defender Whyte praises Joe Hart; makes Schmeichel comparison
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