Ange Postecoglou took a break from media duties on Friday but had some entertaining exchanges with reporters at Celtic Park on Saturday, before and after the 5-1 win over St Mirren.
As we discussed last night, he gave BBC journalist Kheredine Idessane a tough time on the VAR subject after it was put to him some decisions were coming back into Celtic’s ‘favour’.
And before the game, the same reporter caught some stern responses to other questions on the Bhoys.
“I’m pretty sure you’re smarter than that.”
It was put to Postecoglou that after he recently said it wasn’t his job to keep money in the bank but to reinvest it wisely on behalf of supporters, Celtic announced a £50m-plus bank balance in their interim accounts. It was asked if Celtic fans should expect a spending spree in the summer.
The Celtic boss told BBC Sportsound [11/02, 17:21]: “I’m pretty sure you’re smarter than that. That’s not how it works. I think it’s stated pretty clearly they are interim results and as basic as my accounting is I’m well aware of what we have at our disposal.
“My role within that is to make sure that the hard-earned money in this club, and it’s all hard-earned, I invest wisely. That’s what I’m focused on.”
Ange Postecoglou not entertaining Leeds chatter
And on the subject of supposed interest from Leeds United in his services, Postecoglou was similarly curt.
Asked by Idessane if it was a compliment to be linked with the Elland Road side, the Celtic manager said: “It is if I take any notice of it. We’ve had a good week of training. It’s been an unusual week without any mid-week games. It’s been really good, everyone is ready to go.”
It was then queried if people outside of the club underestimate Postecoglou’s loyalty to Celtic, to which Ange said: “I’ve got no idea how you feel about anything. All I can tell you is I’m focused on doing the job well here and making sure I uphold the responsibilities I have within the football club and with our supporters. I keep trying to produce teams that bring success and smiles to our supporters’ faces.”
Postecoglou isn’t taking any nonsense right now and is more than happy to throw a few barbs and frosty responses to reporters if he isn’t particularly enjoying the line of questioning.
It seems Friday’s break from the mundanity of pre-match media conferences served him well. It’ll be interesting to see if that becomes a regular thing moving forward.
In other news, Hyeongyu Oh sends class Saturday night message to Celtic fans on Instagram.
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