At 67 Hail Hail you know we love learning about Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou and his life before arriving at the club.
When news broke of his connection to Celtic last year we were the first outlet in Scotland to bring you Japan Times reporter Dan Orlowitz, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Vince Rugari and a whole host of other experts on the manager besides.
That was all a long time ago though and as his project at Celtic has developed, he’s become a force of nature in Scottish football. We know everything about Ange now, don’t we?
Well, no. We’re still learning all the time.
In that spirit, we reached out to former Brisbane Roar defender Matt Smith who was not only named captain of the club by Ange but also won multiple trophies with him. If anyone knows what makes Ange tick, it’s him.
In a wide-ranging interview with 67 Hail Hail’s Hamish Carton, Smith gave fantastic insight. You can watch the full thing on YouTube.
One of the most interesting responses, for me, was when Hamish asked Smith if Ange gets angry and, indeed, what makes him angry.
Postecoglou’s former captain told us: “Yeah, he gets angry. He gets angry when you don’t follow the principles.
“He doesn’t care about making mistakes. If you make mistakes trying to do the right thing he’ll praise you and support you, he’ll back you one million per cent. If you start not being brave, not working hard enough, if you’re cheating or cutting corners he’ll be angry.
“He punched the whiteboard when we played away at Perth. We scored with the last kick of the half to make it 2-2. I remember him at half-time, all of a sudden he erupted about not moving, not showing, not adjusting, not being brave enough and hiding. Not doing what we had been doing week in week out.
“That’s what makes Ange so passionate about his beliefs. If you stop doing that, the system breaks down. All the time you are doing that, it’s like a wave, you keep riding.
“He’s very determined about how he wants his teams to play and his ethics culturally within that group. If you step outside of that, he’s there to educate. It’s all about the why? He had a very good way of articulating his beliefs.”
These are the kind of dynamics playing out at Celtic right now. We don’t know if Ange has ever gotten angry behind the scenes with this group of players, but there you go, he has the capability of it if he feels it’s needed.
Smith would go on to talk about the support he gives to players who are doing well too. Postecoglou is multi-faceted and is steadfast in his vision. If you buy into it, he sounds like a great manager to play for.
Clearly though, if you fall foul in terms of your effort or application, words will be had. That’s what we like to hear.
In other news, Supporter impact, Ange effect; 3 big takeaways from Celtic’s healthy interim financial results.
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