FOR fervent fans of domestic football, the mid-season World Cup in Qatar may have seemed to have lasted an age. If you are among that group though, the tournament appearing to last longer than ever wasn’t entirely in your imagination, nor just a product of your longing for some good old fashioned Scottish fitba.
Strict new injury time guidelines meant that the average game at the 2022 World Cup had 11 minutes added on, up from just six minutes in 2018, a product in part of referees being ordered to clamp down on any suspected timewasting.
Given that Celtic’s opposition on the domestic scene may have more cause to indulge in such dark arts than most, given the disparity of resource between the sides as they attempt to get a result by hook or by crook, you may think that their manager would welcome the tougher guidelines being introduced in Scotland.
But Ange Postecoglou believes the solution to the problem lies with the referees themselves, as he expressed his favour for Scottish officials to clamp down on timewasters during games by bringing out their notebook, rather than indulging them before simply adding the time on to the end of the game.
“We might have some games that go into the next day mate,” Postecoglou quipped.
“I’m not a fan of it. I’d rather the referees just hurried the game up. I think that’s where part of the problem lies, especially early in games, when the referees aren’t as strict.
“Then all of a sudden you get to the end of the game and they’re hurrying goalkeepers up, hurrying throw-ins up. You think, well, ‘do that at the beginning and you will get more gametime’.
“Ultimately, that’s what you want. You want more game-time. That’s what supporters want to see, it’s what football is all about. So rather than having 10 minutes added at the end, I would rather referees just hurried people along.
“If they need to do a caution or two at the start of the game, players who are taking liberties will cut it out. They won’t do it. You will still get your traditional two or three minutes of unavoidable extra time. “That’s my frustration. I see it all the time. Oppositions will take their time on goal kicks or throw-ins early in the game. Then late in the game, if they’re behind, they’re screaming at the referee to hurry the game up.”
Postecoglou certainly hasn’t been wasting any time in getting his ducks in a row in the winter transfer window, securing the signings of Canadian international Alistair Johnston and Japanese centre-back Yuki Kobayashi before Santa Claus has even been down the chimney.
He hopes the pair will add further quality to his squad, but they will definitely add to the cosmopolitan feel of the dressing room, as Postecoglou once again taps into markets which have long been only lightly mined by European clubs.
“I’m from a far-flung place as well mate,” he said.
“I know you say I’m familiar with markets, but it’s not like I’m finding secret areas that no-one knows about. People know Japanese football or football in Asia or America or South America.
“I just think, for us, it’s about being really smart about our recruiting and where we can get deals done. And attracting players we believe will fit in well with what we have done here and the culture we have here.”
It is that culture, as well as hard work from the club behind the scenes, that has allowed the collection of players Postecoglou has gathered from around the world mould themselves into a unit.
“It is a credit to the club that we can bring all those nationalities,” he said.
“Whenever you bring in people from the other side of the world, irrespective of where they come from, there is a duty of care there. We have worked really hard on that at the club.
“We have resourced the areas of player support on and off the field so that they are comfortable and there is a really good environment. We have a dressing room that understands there are potentially guys who are coming in who might struggle with the language and things like that. It’s very, very inclusive.
“I’m very proud of the fact that we are a football club that can do this kind of recruiting. It’s a strength of ours.”
All that being said, while Postecoglou has a strong Scottish core to his side, including captain Callum McGregor, he has yet to recruit a Scot since his arrival at the club.
The Celtic manager says though that he is placing a strong focus on developing young players for the first team in future, and that he is open to bringing anyone in – Scottish or otherwise – if they will improve his squad.
“We are constantly looking everywhere, including Scotland,” he said.
“Our first port of call is our boys. Whilst we haven’t signed anybody from Scotland, there are guys like Anthony Ralston and Greg Taylor who have become firmly entrenched not just here, but also in the national team. That wasn’t necessarily the case when I first got here.
“We wanted to try and promote players from our B team and our own academy. Whether they are Scottish players or players from another country that’s going to be our priority.
“To be fair, the best young players are leaving before they even play for their first teams here in Scotland. That’s a challenge for all of us. We’ve got Ben Doak down at Liverpool. We’ve seen (Nathan) Patterson go. These kinds of guys.
“We’ve got to be smart with our recruiting and go where we know we can get deals done. Even though it’s right on our doorstep, it doesn’t mean it’s easy here in Scotland.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou confirmed that Sead Haksabanovic has shaken off the minor knock that saw the winger miss the trip to Pittodrie at the weekend, and he will be in the squad for tonight’s home tie against Livingston.
“He is fine,” he said. “He trained [Monday and Tuesday] and he is available.”
