Ange Postecoglou has been on quite the journey ever since becoming the Celtic manager in the summer of 2021. Once upon a time, he had doubts whether he would ever get a chance in Europe. Now, he managed the Glasgow giants in Australia against Everton, the Merseyside rivals of his favourite team growing up, Liverpool.
It is hard to see the tour of Australia even happening if he was not the manager of Celtic. That is how much of an impact Postecoglou has made over the past year-and-a-half or so.
Postecoglou surely appreciates this opportunity more than most, after it had seemed so elusive for the majority of his career. And it is safe to say that he has no plans of slowing down already.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Postecoglou told Celtic TV:
"“A rest? Are you kidding me? There’s always things to do.“That’s okay. The intensity and scrutiny is a constant, because I just want us to be better.“I’ll get plenty of time to switch off when I retire.“Right now there are important things to do and it’s my responsibility to make sure we are ready to go.“The boys will have eight or nine days off and it will be good for them.“It’s still a mid-season break so we don’t want them to get away from it totally, because we’ll need to get back into it.“But the lads are really good, they are really focussed. It’s more of a mental break, with some work over that period.”"
Celtic boss sends clear message amid World Cup break
Celtic are nine points ahead of the Rangers in the Scottish Premiership. But at the same time, they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas just yet. We are just 15 league games into the season and there is a long way to go.
Believe it or not, Celtic’s own form in recent times has left a lot to be desired as well. A lot of the time, they have gotten the results out of sheer determination. In that respect, this is a special group of players. But at the same time, one cannot overlook the fact that a number of games have been much tighter than they should have been, and that is an area that the Hoops need to work on.
Of course, one can expect to see an improved Celtic after the World Cup break. One cannot overlook the fact that not only did they go through a gruelling schedule in the first half of the season, but they were also missing key players.