"My drive and passion"; Ange Postecoglou's outlook on football and what it means for Celtic

By John McGinley

May 30, 2021

Ange Postecoglou looks to be closing in on becoming the Celtic manager.

BBC Sport have reported the club are in advanced discussions with the Yokohama F. Marinos boss and could be announced this week.

The news has left many fans stunned, confused and even in some cases, very annoyed. That’s all wrapped up in the context of the collapsed Eddie Howe talks and the fact that Celtic have allowed this to drag on for months.

At 67 Hail Hail we’re trying to educate ourselves as much as possible on the 55-year-old, presenting the information to you and letting you make up your own mind. We’re as in the dark as you on his footballing history beyond the basics.

Dan Orlowitz of The Japan Times started that process for us yesterday, answering a number of our questions on Postecoglou and what we can expect.

Right now we’re going to take a look at what the man himself says about his footballing outlook.

Postecoglou was a guest on the Fox Football Podcast earlier this month and spoke to host Adam Peacock about his career and philosophy.

Postecoglou still finds joy in football

For starters, he’s still in love with the job of managing a football team and getting them play in a specific, entertaining way.

He said: “There isn’t a day I’ve got up and said I’ve got to go into work today, I just don’t see it that way. My passion is the football and just seeing the team play a certain way. That’s my greatest joy still. So for the rest of my days, while I’m coaching, that’s what I want to do.

“I want to produce teams that play a certain way that gets people talking and get success obviously. If I don’t have success then I’m not going to have a job!

“In my career, those two things have married up pretty well. When I get a team playing a certain way, success follows. That’s where my drive and passion still is, whether that’s here at Yokohama or wherever my next adventure may be.”

The core of Postecoglou’s tactical style

Postecoglou insists on an aggressive playing style that is focused on being in the opposition half as much as possible. Clearly that’s relevant to Celtic’s possession-heavy style and ability to dominate fixtures.

The Greek-Australian went on to tell the Fox Football Podcast: “From my perspective, there are just certain fundamentals in the teams that I coach that have to be there, and most of it centres around the ball. Making sure that my team has the ball, that my team is the one trying to score goals, my team’s the one playing in the opposition half.

“How you get to that point varies at different times. Systems are constantly changing and evolving.

“The basic core of it is that I think the most successful teams in the world tend to be the ones who are set up to win games of football rather than stop the opposition. They are the teams that I’m attracted to, they are the teams I like watching and they are the teams I like producing.”

Ange Postecoglou could be coming to Celtic / (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Celtic fans rate entertainment

It sounds like, at the very least, Postecoglou will try to get Celtic playing the kind of swashbuckling football we enjoy and rate at Celtic Park.

Of course, that can’t come at the expense of success, but as he points out – for him, the two have gone hand in hand for years.

Many are questioning his CV and if it’s of the required standard for Celtic. He’ll have to win over many doubters. However, he comes across as a character who relishes that sort of challenge.

If Celtic commit to him and he has the strength to see through what he thinks the club needs, then there is every chance that this won’t turn out to be the disaster feared by some.

Will Ange Postecoglou be a success at Celtic? / (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

There are huge question marks about the structure of the football department and what that will entail moving forward. That is as key a mystery in all this as anything.

I have a feeling that whatever is going to happen at Celtic next is going to be a wild ride regardless of success or failure.

In other news, Celtic, Ange Postecoglou and the UEFA Pro Licence issue.