New Hibernian manager Nick Montgomery has credited a move Celtic made in 2021 with opening doors from Australian to Scottish football.
The move in question is unsurprisingly the appointment of Ange Postecoglou two years ago. The Aussie joined Celtic from Yokohama F. Marinos, with the Hoops giving him his first big opportunity in Europe and being rewarded as a result.
Months after our former boss departed for Tottenham Hotspur, Hibernian have announced the appointment of Montgomery from Central Coast Mariners on a three-year contract. (Hibernian)
The former Sheffield United player is English rather than Australian, yet his move from the A-League is one we may not have seen prior to Postecoglou’s success.
“Definitely, he told The Herald when asked if the 2021 arrival had opened doors. “The media around Ange and the negativity when he came over to Scotland, he quashed that pretty quickly.
“Ange is a good guy and I saw the work he did in the A-League in terms of the success he had there and in Japan.
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“He is Australian but I’m from Leeds originally. I’m English and I have been in Australia so I saw how good it was for Australian football and he gets a lot of support over there. You see the support he is getting at Tottenham now is well-deserved because he has done very well everywhere he’s been.”
Celtic setting trends for Scottish football is nothing new. Our 2021 appointment was followed by a raft of Aussies arriving at the likes of Hearts, St. Mirren and Dundee United. Talent from Japan has also come to other Scottish sides over the past 18 months.
We don’t have too long to wait until our first meeting with Montgomery’s Hibs. We’re due to visit Easter Road at 3pm on Saturday 28 October in a match that appears to have been overlooked for live coverage by Sky Sports.
That match arrives at the end of a tasty week that also sees us visit Hearts and host Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
In other news, Callum McGregor set for elite test at international level ahead of Champions League campaign