Australia boss Graham Arnold on Celtic manager and "winner" Ange Postecoglou

By Euan Davidson

January 18, 2022

They’ve been adversaries in the A-League, and one now has the other’s old job, but Australia boss Graham Arnold is a huge fan of Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.

Arnold, who spoke earlier about calling up Tom Rogic to the Australia squad, was asked for his take on Postecoglou’s job at Celtic thus far. Additionally, the Socceroos manager was asked what Ange was like as a competitor.

Turns out, Arnold has nothing but praise for Postecoglou. Speaking to Go Radio Football Show, the Australian tactician praised the Celtic manager for his mentality and approach. He said [Go Radio]: “We’ve been competitors against each other a long time at club level here in Australia.

“Obviously I’ve known Ange for a very, very long time and he’s obviously doing a fantastic job at Celtic. He’s doing Australia proud on the coaching front.

“He’s a winner. I think that’s one of the strengths of the Australian mentality, is winning at all cost. Having that winning mentality and passing that down to the players… no excuses.

“You’re playing on the same size pitch as the opposition, everything’s the same, the weather, the conditions; but it’s all about belief, and it’s all about getting the best out of every player. And having your principles of the style of play that you want to play, and getting that across to the players. Most of all getting the players to buy into it.

“Once you do that, and get that, then you reap those rewards.

“His attention to detail is what it’s all about, his passion for the game. He doesn’t listen to any outside news, Ange has his way. And it’s proven a great way. As I said, he throws a lot of belief into the players.”

Graham Arnold quotes show the regard Celtic manager Postecoglou is held in over in Australia

We’ve heard former players, former coaches and former assistants line up to praise Ange Postecoglou since he joined Celtic.

The fact that he was doubted, and his CV wasn’t good enough for much of the Scottish media, will have been an insult in Australia. There’s no getting around it; disrespecting Postecoglou is disrespecting Aussie football, such is his impact on the Socceroos and the A-League.

Celtic supporters never did that, of course. But Postecoglou had his fair share of doubters early on. Perhaps what reporters here didn’t understand was the sheer depth of feeling for the Celtic boss.

Surely, now, there’s no doubt about the regard he’s held in. When the Australia national team boss says a coach is “doing Australia proud”, that says it all.

Arnold, who managed Central Coast Mariners and Sydney FC, would’ve had fascinating tussles with Ange in the A-League. The duo were at odds at recently as December, when Ange Postecoglou had to fire back at comments made by the Australia manager [FTBL].

Now though, there’s clearly enormous respect from Graham Arnold. And why not?

Read more: Ange Postecoglou explains why 2 Celtic players struggled in the first half of the season