Ange Postecoglou was like all the rest of us on Wednesday night after Celtic derby win

By Euan Davidson

February 5, 2022

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has said he didn’t end up sleeping for “quite a while” after the Hoops crushed Rangers on Wednesday night.

Aye mate, same.

You’ve got to imagine there were hundreds of thousands – millions even – of Celtic supporters like me and you starting work both exhausted and overjoyed on Thursday morning. The intensity of the support did not drop an ounce, even well after the final whistle.

A huge derby win and an Oasis sing-along will do that. The revelry on the walk back through the Gallowgate was particularly special, too. All in, it was just a wonderful night, the kind you didn’t want to end. And the normally more emotionally reserved Ange Postecoglou admits he got swept up in it too.

He said [Daily Record]: “It was obviously a good night, the whole experience from the atmosphere created by our supporters to understanding the consequences of the result against the opposition we were playing.

“I got home but didn’t sleep for quite a while. You want to digest it all and understand it all from a football perspective.

“Just to take it all in, because you need to get up the next day and get on with the next one.

“It’s the nature of football and the nature of my personality.”

Ange Postecoglou more than entitled to enjoy a landmark Celtic result in his tenure

He’s like us, really. At his core.

While yes, he’s focused on what’s coming next, the challenges ahead and nipping any creeping complacency in the bud, he’s more than entitled to enjoy himself a bit. To have a rare late night to reflect on the magnitude of his most recent game.

God knows we were. Whether you were staying out to celebrate, or getting home to watch it all again on Sportscene, the feeling was very much the same.

It was genuinely heartening seeing Ange Postecoglou not get carried away as such, but really soak up the adulation on Wednesday night. Humble people are often loathe to take that kind of reception, and he still made sure his players were at the forefront.

But as he looked around at a packed Paradise well after full-time on Wednesday night, you can’t blame Ange Postecoglou for taking a little while to soak it in. All the while, surely becoming all the more motivated to repeat the same kinds of scenes with the Celtic supporters.

It’s not for nothing that fans adore him, nor that so many of us backed him from day one. He’s not too cool to pretend he wasn’t affected by the reception he got the other night. Or so ‘modern’ (read: dull) to say things like “yeah it’s a big win for the lads now we move on to Sunday”.

If Ange’s course continues on this trajectory then he’ll have plenty more nights like that one. For now though, his sheepish admission of enjoying himself just makes it more endearing.

Enjoy yourself, Ange! We all are!

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