Celtic staff: adapt to Ange Postecoglou, or you're out

By Euan Davidson

July 3, 2021

Not to go on and on about Ange Postecoglou and the Celtic training video that came out yesterday, but, we do need to address it again.

We know; after the rush of excitement, it’s possible that what we saw is a manager doing what he’s supposed to. He’s shouting at his players to carry out his tactical demands. That’s what coaches do, really, isn’t it? But that takes absolutely zero away from how refreshing it was to see.

It was worlds away from any training coverage we saw last season. And therein lies the point; it’s a total culture change. The Celtic players will either be incredibly excited to match their manager’s intensity, or they will be deemed surplus to requirements. We need a season of resurgence; no passengers required.

But what about the Bhoys’ staff? Broadly speaking, it was Ange Postecoglou and his squad that we were excited about yesterday. Now, the focus of a “Mic’d Up” piece is always on the person that, y’know, is wearing the microphone. However, the lack of John Kennedy or Gavin Strachan was somewhat telling.

Are they going to be able to adapt to be effective staff for Ange Postecoglou? Because the margin for error with the Greek-Aussie boss is razor thin. If they didn’t know the guy before, they will now.

“You need to be on top of everything”; claims former Ange Postecoglou colleague

It isn’t just me saying this, either. Someone much more informed than me, namely Postecoglou’s former assistant Arthur Papas, has made the same claim.

Papas told LiveScore:

“Ange is the type that scours through every bit of information. If you’re a staff member there, you need to be on top of everything because you’ll get questioned at times about ‘what was the data on this?’, ‘what were the statistics on this player?’ He is obsessed with his work.

“It doesn’t matter how time progresses; he is just as obsessed as he’s ever been in terms of details. There’s a lot of work to get that engine going in the background to run that program in a way that he feels befits a world-class program.”

Gavin Strachan / (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

There’s that phrase “world-class” again. Papas’ comments are extremely interesting, though, and they lay down the gauntlet to the incumbent staff at Lennoxtown. Additionally, it’s not as if Gavin Strachan, John Kennedy et al are exactly universally popular.

That said, Kennedy was up to the challenge when Brendan Rodgers came along. Less is known, even now, about Strachan’s pedigree and input at Celtic, but there’s as much to suggest they could rise to the occasion as there is against the idea. While there’s plenty of clamour for both to leave, it will be a decision about staff that Ange Postecoglou will make.

And you can bet he won’t be sentimental about it if they aren’t to his standards.

READ MORE: Imagine him “winding up” a certain fanbase…