Ange Postecoglou has hailed Celtic as an “unbelievable club” after watching his former side win the Scottish Premiership title for a third successive season.
The Tottenham Hotspur boss has been under heavy scrutiny down in England over the last week following a series of poor results and his comments in the wake of defeat to Manchester City about ‘fragile foundations’ at the club. [BBC]
However, he found some time to switch off and watch the outstanding football on display from Celtic against Kilmarnock on Wednesday night as the Bhoys thumped five goals in to secure three-in-a-row.
Several Postecoglou signings shone on the night including Matt O’Riley and Daizen Maeda, who were both on the scoresheet.
Having tasted that kind of success in both of his seasons as Celtic boss, the Australian knows exactly how we’re all feeling.
Ange Postecoglou says he still loves Celtic
Speaking in a media conference on Friday, Postecoglou said [The Scotsman]: “I love them, mate. Yeah, brilliant. Great people, great manager, great staff, great footballers. It’s an unbelievable club.
“I watched the game and I know, because I’ve experienced it, how that would have felt at the final whistle, then going back to Celtic Park late at night. It’s a pretty special place.
“Credit to them, it was a difficult year for sure for Brendan and the guys but when it mattered and when it counted they stood up and I couldn’t be happier for everyone there.”
Ange-factor still paying off for the Bhoys
While all the credit rightly goes to Brendan Rodgers and his team for securing this silverware, it’s undeniable that the turnaround Postecoglou inspired in 2021 is still paying off for Celtic.
Plenty of his signings remain as mainstays in the team. It’s the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Joe Hart, O’Riley and Maeda who have been so key to success this term.
O’Riley, for example, was plucked from MK Dons for just £1.5m and has an incredible 36 goal contributions in all competitions this term – and isn’t finished yet.
Ange did a remarkable job after that fateful 2020/21 campaign. He created a platform for the club to push on to new heights when it looked like things were spiralling out of control.
It’s taken a little bit longer for everything to click into place for Rodgers than some anticipated but everything is moving in the right direction now and exciting times are ahead.