Ange Postecoglou has enjoyed a strong debut season in charge of Celtic and has now earned praise from Jamie Carragher.
The Bhoys spent months chasing Eddie Howe as a replacement for Neil Lennon, but weren’t able to bring Howe to Parkhead.
That left Celtic scrambling for a new manager, and they ended up going for Postecoglou in something of a surprise move.
Whilst well-respected in Australia and Japan, Postecoglou was barely known in Europe and appeared to be a major gamble from Celtic.
So far though, Postecoglou has been a real success for Celtic.
Postecoglou’s style of play has been just what Celtic fans wanted, his handling of the media has been exemplary and his recruitment has been exceptional.
This Celtic rebuild has been accelerated by great recruitment from Postecoglou, whose knowledge of the Japanese market has certainly helped the Bhoys.
Celtic now have a very real chance of pipping Rangers to the Scottish Premiership title, and so much credit should go to Postecoglou.
The Australian still has some work to do, especially as crashing out of the Europa Conference League to Bodo/Glimt was a major disappointment, but this first season at Celtic has been largely positive.
Pundit and former England international Jamie Carragher has now offered his view on Postecoglou and Celtic whilst speaking to Mark Schwarzer and Optus Sport.
Carragher noted that it’s difficult for Celtic and Rangers to attract top coaches, and there was some understandable scepticism about Postecoglou.
Carragher praised Postecoglou for doing ‘brilliantly’ this season though, hailing his Celtic side for absolutely demolishing Rangers whilst showing fans in England how good Scottish football can be at its best.
“I mean, it’s difficult for Celtic and Rangers,” said Carragher. “They’re institutions, they’re huge football clubs, they really are. But the league doesn’t have the financial rewards to entice big-name coaches. The reason Rangers got Stevie Gerrard was because it was his first job. Steven Gerrard wouldn’t go to Rangers if it was his third or fourth job.”
“Obviously there’s always going to be a bit of scepticism – who is this guy, we don’t know too much about him. But no, he’s done brilliantly culminating in the last Old Firm where it wasn’t just the result, it was the performance as well, absolutely demolished Rangers in that game. It was one of those games where it doesn’t always happen, where it felt like the whole of England was watching and I think it just reminds everyone how big Scottish football is, certainly with the two Glasgow giants,” he added.
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