Ex-Rangers manager’s interesting claim about Ange Postecoglou at Celtic

Former Rangers and Scotland national team manager, Alex McLeish, has been talking this week about the way Ange Postecoglou has organised his coaching team at Celtic. The Hoops are still in the running for an incredible domestic treble, just a season after finishing 25 points behind in the Premiership title race and trophyless.

Thus, it is understandable that McLeish is full of praise for the job that the Celtic manager has done since taking the job in the summer.

When Postecoglou arrived at Celtic, in amongst the many questions flying around were several about the coaching team. Most managers bring their own staff in with them. In fact, Eddie Howe’s failure to assemble his is what is rumoured to have led to him not ending up in the Parkhead job earlier in the summer.

That had not been Postecoglou’s way at other clubs in the past and he continued with the coaching staff already in place at Parkhead. It is safe to say that a lot of eyebrows were raised.

Ex-Rangers manager’s interesting claim about Postecoglou at Celtic

Speaking about the matter of coaching staff with Football Insider, McLeish said:

"“Sometimes you keep on staff you’ve inherited. You go further forward in your years and you think: ‘Did I get that right or did I get that wrong?’“Regardless of the situation, there’s no doubt about it that Postecoglou got it right. He’s seen the intelligence of guys like Gavin Strachan and also John Kennedy, the experience he’s had at Celtic.“Gavin has been there for a while as well. It would seem daft to throw that experience out the door.“Postecoglou would also have his own guys to lean on as well but inheriting them and continuing their knowledge of Celtic, I think it’s been a bit of a coup for him.”"

Praise indeed from McLeish and a good reflection on the enormous turnaround we’ve seen from Celtic. Postecoglou certainly seems to have helped the coaches improve and thrive as much as the players.

It is important to remember that it had not been a popular decision at the time.  After all, the previous season had been a disappointment all round, and neither Gavin Strachan nor John Kennedy were very popular figures amongst the Celtic fans to say the least.

It’ll be really exciting to see how it all plays out with a more structured pre-season and summer period to help launch next season and hopefully a successful European campaign without the distraction of early qualifiers. Of course, all of that depends on how this one ends.