"This is just the start"; Unified message coming out of Celtic on Ange Postecoglou

By John McGinley

February 11, 2023

Celtic coach John Kennedy and defender Greg Taylor were lobbed multiple questions on the future of manager Ange Postecoglou on Friday but the message couldn’t be clearer – he isn’t going anywhere.

Postecoglou has been linked with another job in the English Premier League over the last week, which seems to be the case every time a top-flight side down there says goodbye to a manager.

Kennedy was on media duties for the St Mirren fixture this weekend, which was pre-planned, and made it obvious he thinks Postecoglou is in it for the long haul at Celtic.

John Kennedy thinks Ange is just getting started at Celtic

As quoted by The Scottish Daily Mail [11/02 print edition, page 113], he said: “I know first-hand how much Ange enjoys it here. He loves the club, the challenge and he’s in the middle of building something quite special. It does feel like this is just the start.

“He had a lot to do when he came in the first season and we finished the year strongly. I think it probably caught a lot of people by surprise how quickly he got things going. There was a solid foundation for this year with the players he brought in and the way he’s got them playing.

“He’s added to it again and it’s all part of the process. We all know there’s a long way to go and a lot more to come from this squad. Every conversation we have is about what we are doing going forward. He’s very focused on what he has to do at Celtic.”

Taylor signals no change in approach from Ange

Meanwhile, Taylor was also adamant it’s business as usual at the Bhoys, telling The Daily Record: “He’s in a big job here. We’re a massive club and I’m sure he loves it because we all love playing under him and playing for this club, so that’s all we focus on.

“We don’t focus on outer noise or these things. We focus on what we can control and that’s improving every day, trying to find our best levels in training and if we do that it means we’ll be ready for the game at the weekend.

“That’s all we’ve done this week. We all love playing under the manager and we’re all trying to impress him every day. Of course, we’ve won a lot of games and done it playing attacking football but I think there’s also a lot of development we can do in the coming months and years. Hopefully that’s what we will do.”

The likelihood is that Leeds, like other English clubs before them, will appoint somebody else and all this noise around Postecoglou dies out again.

Frankly, I think it will become clear when his time is coming to end at Celtic and it seems far from this point. He won’t be at the Bhoys forever, but there’s no reason to think he’s pushing for anything other than a treble right now.

In other news, Friday statement confirms Celtic on course for record-setting £100m-plus income.