Ange Postecoglou has been exceptional ever since his appointment as the manager of Celtic. Of course, the decision to bring him in had been criticised at the time. At the end of the day, the Australian was pretty much an unknown in European football and never even managed a top flight club on the continent. Thus, it was understandable that some fans were less than excited, especially with the Hoops failing to bring in Eddie Howe despite chasing his signature for months.
It is safe to say that it did not take long for Postecoglou to win over the fans though. After a rough first few months, he got things right at Celtic, and ultimately guided them to a Premiership and League Cup double.
Along the way, they played an attractive style of football and signed players like Kyogo, Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josip Juranovic, Matt O’Riley, Reo Hatate and several others.
One man who has been a bit lost in the shuffle for a few years though is James Forrest. Once one of the main parts of the Celtic starting XI, he is mostly viewed as an option on the bench these days. Despite that, the club hero had nothing but praise for Postecoglou when discussing the manager.
Celtic star praises Postecoglou despite lack of chances
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Forrest said:
"“The manager has shown that he gives everyone a chance and you just need to be ready when it comes.“I’m at a point where I savour every game. I maybe even reached that point a couple of years ago.“You know this is a massive club, and I think you start to appreciate that more as you grow older.“You see the number of players we sign and bring in, and I take pride and confidence from being here for so long.“But you never rest on your laurels. You need to keep going and keep pushing.“The manager doesn’t let you rest on what you have anyway.“He is good for every game we play, it doesn’t matter who we play or the competition.“He is always saying to everyone that we don’t want to be looking back one day and feeling as if we wasted a single minute.“That impacts on me a lot because I am older and I want to make the most of the time I have.“I want to make the most of my career now.“You don’t want to be someone who looks back on what you’ve done before.“The gaffer is big on the here and now. He wants everyone at it for every minute.“You need to keep performing in training to be a part of the squad, a part of the team. That’s just the way it is.”"
Forrest has pretty much seen it all and done it all at Celtic Park. Recently, he also became only the third player in the history of the club to both assist and score 100 goals for the Hoops.
Of course, chances have not been plenty in recent years, following his struggles with form and injury over the past several seasons. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has made 13 appearances this season and played just 472 minutes of football, while scoring 5 goals and providing 2 assists.