Ange reveals Celtic Lennoxtown plans over international break

By John McGinley

November 8, 2021

Another international break is upon us and for Celtic that means a large amount of first-team players are heading off around the world to represent their countries.

Kyogo Furuhashi is off to Vietnam and Oman with his Japan side, while others such as Liel Abada and Callum McGregor are also away from Lennoxtown.

However, that doesn’t mean Celtic will be relaxing over the break. In fact, Ange Postecoglou has specifically noted it’s a good opportunity for some players to get stuck in and push towards the starting eleven.

Asked what his training plans were over the next ten days, the Bhoys boss told BBC Radio Scotland: “It will be a mixture. Some need a little bit of a break and recovery, guys like Anthony Ralston and Jota. So it gives us a bit of a chance to freshen them up.

“Others need some work. There are others such as James Forrest, Giakoumakis, Mikey Johnston, James McCarthy. There’s quite a few. It’s a chance to put some work into them so we have them ready for when we come back.

“We’ve got a massive game, first game back. So that’ll be our next focus now.”

We certainly do have a big match on the horizon. To this point, it’s largely gone under the radar.

But Postecoglou will get his first experience of Hampden as a Celtic manager, up against St Johnstone in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. With Rangers or Hibernian awaiting in the final itself, the fixture against the Perth side is a huge opportunity.

Reaching a national final would be another sign of progress for the manager and his Celtic squad after the Bhoys missed out on the honours last season.

Celtic noticeably improved in terms of organisation after the last international break, so it’ll be fascinating to see if another extended block of training with Postecoglou results in the team finding another gear.

At the very least, the squad should be fitter and better prepared for the challenges ahead.

In other news, Video: After Last Christmas, Ange Postecoglou gets yet another new Celtic song.