Ange Postecoglou shares moment he won trust from Celtic players

By John McGinley

November 21, 2021

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou believes losing four goals to both Bayer Leverkusen and Real Betis helped forge trust between him and the Bhoys squad.

The heavy defeat to the Germans was a significant blow at the time, especially having also conceded four away to Real Betis.

However, Celtic have remained undefeated since then, winning eight matches and drawing one in all competitions.

Postecoglou looks back to that time as a key moment for the developing relationship between the manager and his players.

Speaking to The Sunday Post [21/11 print edition, Post Match supplement page 2], he said: “People will look at the 4-0 scoreline in the last one and say it must have been a thumping. But that doesn’t really tell the story of the night. Yes, we conceded four but we could have scored four ourselves, which gives us confidence that even against the best teams we can still create good chances and play our game.

“I think copping four against Betis and Leverkusen helped build some trust between me and the players. Then, they were probably looking at me and wondering: ‘Is he going to change his approach? Are we going to have to take the blame for this?’

“That never happened and it has been a lot better the last four or five weeks with results following the performances. We are more settled now and in a good place to have a go at them.

“Can we take the game to them and come away with a result? I think it’s really important that we do that in games like this. Because otherwise it’s all bravado without any substance.”

Again, great words from the manager. As you’d expect. He’s been sensational dealing with the media.

What we can read into this is that Celtic are going to go to Germany and attack Leverkusen again on Thursday night, despite the Celtic Park result.

We need a positive result to keep hopes of going into the knockout stages of the Europa League alive. Celtic will travel with no fear under Postecoglou.

In other news, Another stunning Sunday comeback for Celtic to maintain title charge.