It is easy to forget now but when Celtic had appointed Ange Postecoglou last summer, after their pursuit for Eddie Howe failed, the move had raised a lot of eyebrows and had even been ridiculed by many opposition fans. A little over a year on and it has proven to be an absolute masterstroke, and helped the club to a Premiership and League Cup triumph.
Perhaps even more impressive though have been their performances in the Champions League this season. Celtic are taking the game to their opponents instead of sitting back and hoping to hit them on the counter. They even outplayed Real Madrid for large parts of the game at Parkhead. And if the Hoops can get their finishing together, they have a good chance of making it to the knockout phases of the competition.
Their 1-1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk, away in Warsaw, felt like a major disappointment and two points dropped, which just goes on to show the progress that Celtic have made under the management of Postecoglou.
Chris Sutton has even compared Postecoglou’s impact in Scottish football to that of Pep Guardiola in England. The Celtic hero wrote in his column in the Daily Record:
"Postecoglou is ripping up the perception of the Scottish game all over Europe. He’s doing to Scottish football what Pep Guardiola did for the English game. It’s a completely new approach that’s almost unheard of up here.We’re used to seeing our teams going abroad and trying to shut up shop and hoping to hang on for results. Celtic went out an imposed their game on their rivals. It’s bold, but you know what? It just might work."
Celtic hero compares Postecoglou’s impact to that of Guardiola
It is safe to say that being compared to Guardiola is high praise for any manager but Postecoglou is certainly earning it with his work at Celtic.
Now, it remains to be seen if he can guide this team to the last 16 of the Champions League. Based on their performances in the first two games of the group stage, they should have more than the one point that they do as of now.
Putting in great performances is well and good, but now, they will have to show that they have the end product as well and put the ball into the back of the net, something that no Celtic player has done in the Champions League this season till now.