Christopher Jullien really did enjoy a Celtic career packed with mixed fortunes.
The big Frenchman arrived at the club as Celtic’s second-most expensive signing at the time behind £9m man Odsonne Edouard.
Winning a treble in his first season at the club, Jullien then suffered a horrific Celtic Park injury after a collision with a goalpost kept him out for over a year.
Jullien departed Celtic in 2022, having played under Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou, and here, the former Hoops defender shares who he thinks was the better manager of the two.
Ange Postecoglou and Neil Lennon were ‘two really good’ Celtic managers
Jullien made 62 appearances for Celtic, scoring 10 goals over his time at the Parkhead club. He also picked up a treble before leaving for Montpellier.
But playing for two managers who had clear contrasting styles, Jullien shares who he ‘learned’ more from from the two iconic gaffers.
Jullien told The Celtic Way, “I think Neil (Lennon) was a bit closer to his players.
“Ange was a little less close to his players, but his way of playing, the way he coached, was really good.
“He made me learn some stuff, some crazy stuff about the position, everything about the pitch, how we wanted to play, how we want to attack and how we want to defend. I learned so much from Ange Postecoglou.
“But Lennon, after the first day we talked about things, He became kind of like a second father to me.
“They were just two different managers, and I really think that at the end of the day, both of them had some good stuff. That’s why they were managers of Celtic, you know? They were two really good managers.”
How Christopher Jullien really felt about Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou
Whilst Jullien was being pragmatic and respectful by comparing the man who brought him to Celtic to the man who sold him, the French defender revealed back in 2023 how he really felt playing under Postecoglou.
Jullien said of the Celtic icon, “I came back from France and I could see the coach was trying to implement new ideas. But I couldn’t take part. As he’s said, he doesn’t stop! He started on his way and never looked back. I had some conversations at the beginning about how he sees the game. It was fascinating. I can say he is one of the best trainers I have witnessed. But the man himself, we just didn’t click.
“Sometimes my teammates would say why not go and see him? And I’m like ‘Man, what do you want me to say? The team is winning every game three or four-zero, you’re winning everything’. He was a really good coach but as a man we didn’t have that link. I understand that management is difficult. It’s not just 11 players and keeping everyone involved is hard because players can be impatient, emotional.
“I played just once. It was a cup game against a second division team and I felt I could have had more time but afterwards I said ‘thanks coach’. Before the season finished, I went to see him, not to ask to play, but to see how he found me in training and my level. After we finished the meeting, he said: ‘If we are champions I will probably give you some minutes’. It didn’t happen. It felt like he’d told me something and done the contrary.”
The only appearance under Postecoglou was, of course, Celtic’s 4-0 win over Raith Rovers in the Scottish Cup.
But to be fair to Jullien, he was competing against Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers for a starting spot in Celtic’s defence and both defenders were on fire that season.
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