Celtic boss Postecoglou to address backroom staff issue

By Euan Davidson

September 18, 2021

Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has vowed to address the backroom staff issue at the club.

Since joining, Postecoglou has been working with the incumbent figures at the club. Gavin Strachan, John Kennedy and Stevie Woods have stayed in the dugout with Postecoglou, and have seemingly adapted well.

However, for long-term success, Postecoglou needs more. Comments he made on sports science, fitness and analysis in July [Scotsman] are yet to be addressed.

Meanwhile, it seems incongruous that he hasn’t brought any of his own staff in as of yet. Not least with some key departures in the summer, including Celtic’s head of sports science, Jack Nayler, who left for RB Leipzig.

Excitingly though, the boss has now hinted at some investment in behind-the-scenes figures at the club. And, like with McGregor, Postecoglou used this line of conversation as a way to show his long-term plans for the club.

Postecoglou said [Daily Record]:

“We’ll start working on the structure off the field in terms of our staffing and how we do things, which is good.

“I want to build something that’s going to be a sustainable success.

“It’s going to take a little time but we’re chipping away at it.”

Exciting plans to bolster the Celtic staff; will be music to supporters’ ears

While this is unlikely to mean any big-name departures in terms of the Celtic staff, it is a thin set-up that Postecoglou has inherited.

The Celtic manager and his assistants can’t do everything. Also, in terms of making sure Postecoglou feels comfortable at the club, giving him the opportunity to bring in his own staff is important.

He may seem the lone wolf, doesn’t-need-anybody type. But he’s built very decent backroom teams in Australia and Japan, featuring ex-players he knows and trusts.

Also, he’s taken chances on young, promising Australian footballing talents, like Damian Kovacevic, his physical coach and Sports Scientist at Yokohama F Marinos.

For Postecoglou to have lasting success at Celtic, he needs to have people around him he’s known for longer than a couple of months. Allies he can trust, and talents he can mould for the future.

Celtic really need to give him everything and everyone he needs.

Read more: The exciting new timeline for Giorgos Giakoumakis’ Celtic debut