Celtic played some of the best football in recent memory during their two years under the management of Ange Postecoglou. The Australian did a fantastic job of combining effectiveness with beautiful football. And it led to the club winning five trophies over the course of the two seasons he was in Glasgow.
Postecoglou’s style of football certainly appears to have impressed managers. Not just in Scotland but down South as well.
One of them seems to have been Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher. He guided his team to promotion into the English Championship last season.
Schumacher has admitted that he was inspired by Postecoglou’s Celtic side and even implemented the style of play at his own club. As reported by the Daily Record, the Plymout Argyle manager told the EFL podcast:
"“He was brilliant. I got the opportunity at the back-end of last season to go and watch Celtic against Rangers in the Scottish League Cup final and I was really impressed with how Celtic played.“When I went and spoke to Ange and he explained it all, and explained the pluses and the negatives to the system, I just felt; ‘let’s have a go at it’.“Eight games I think we’ve done really well in seven of them, and then in the ninth game obviously against Norwich we went back to a system we’re comfortable in. So I’m glad that the players have got a good understanding of it. I feel as though I’ve got a better grasp now to coach 4-3-3, but also, now we’ve got two systems that we can play and that keeps the opposition guessing.”"
English Championship manager admits to copying Celtic style
Plymouth Argyle have certainly made a very solid start to their journey in the English Championship this season. Many had expected them to struggle, having come up from League One.
Instead, they sit in the middle of the table and look like a team that could very well stay up at this level for the foreseeable future. A lot of the credit has to go to Schumacher for that as well. He has done an excellent job.
It is actually a credit to him that he has been keeping an eye on football from all over the world and picking up things which could help his own team. Postecoglou’s Celtic side are one such example.
Of course, Postecoglou is no longer the manager of Celtic. He has been creating waves in the Premier League instead, having taken over at Tottenham Hotspur in the summer. On the other hand, the Hoops brought back Brendan Rodgers to the club for a second run in the Parkhead hot seat.