Mark Warburton had difficulties at Rangers, and Alan Stubbs now sees early similarities with Ange Postecoglou’s reign at Celtic.
Warburton became Rangers boss in 2015, having emerged as a talented coach in England with Brentford.
The Englishman took Rangers up in 2016 and also beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-finals.
Yet by early 2017, Warburton was gone. We may never know the intricacies surrounding his exit, but Rangers fans had grown tired of Warburton’s approach.
Some may call it devoted, others stubborn. Warburton believed in passing football and no other way, but that resulted in some poor results.
Postecoglou’s honeymoon period over at Celtic
Celtic boss Postecoglou sees football a similar way. He wants to play football that his dad would have wanted to watch; attractive, entertaining football.
There have been some promising signs from Celtic, but the 1-0 defeat at Livingston on Sunday appears to be the end of the honeymoon for the Australian.
Postecoglou of course deserves time at Celtic. This is a major rebuild and results won’t just happen overnight.
Some believe that he needs to be more flexible tactically though, with the comparison to Warburton now being made.
Stubbs comments on Postecoglou
Former Celtic defender Stubbs has told The Scottish Sun that Postecoglou’s approach reminds him of Warburton.
Stubbs noted that Warburton’s approach didn’t really work, and Postecoglou faces running into the same problems if he doesn’t become more flexible.
“Ange insists this is the way he will always play, but that reminds me of Mark Warburton when he was at Rangers,” said Stubbs. “Warburton infamously said, ‘Plan B is to do Plan A better’, but that didn’t work out for him and Postecoglou needs to show some flexibility now.”
“You need to be able to change things around when games aren’t going your way. He has to understand Celtic and Rangers are the two dominant clubs and that, even away from home, opponents will put plenty of men behind the ball. It’s all about breaking them down and not being caught out on the break,” he added.
Postecoglou is a likeable manager who wants Celtic playing the right way. Celtic lost their identity under Neil Lennon, and the Australian is trying to bring it back.
There may be some bumps in the road along the way, but Postecoglou is worth believing in for Celtic.
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