Ange Postecoglou says he’s never considered leaving Celtic and is treating every day at Parkhead like he’ll be there forever.
The Hoops boss was heavily linked with the vacant Leeds United ’s manager’s job after Jesse Marsch was sacked on Monday. But Postecoglou insists he hasn't given a move to Elland Road any headspace. And after leading Celtic to a thumping 5-1 Scottish Cup victory over St Mirren on Saturday night, the Aussie coach assured supporters he’s not planning on going anywhere.
He said: “I don’t think I need to say anything to the fans. What the supporters want is to be sure I’m focused on preparing the team every week to win games and to play football that’s going to excite them and make them proud. That’s my responsibility. I get all the excitement around things like this. But if I had a player in a similar boat I’d just tell him: ‘Keep playing your football and don’t worry about anything else’.
“All those things are just noise. I take my own advice on stuff like that. I’ve been around the game long enough to know how quickly it changes. If anyone thinks that for the last seven days I’ve thought about anything but preparing the team to play then obviously they haven’t got a clear idea of what I’m about.”
When asked if, in his own mind, he was at Celtic for the long-term, Postecoglou said: “I don’t know what that means. Every decision I make for this football club is for Celtic – it’s not about me, or me trying to achieve something.
“Every job I’ve done, I’ve done as if I’m going to be there forever. That’s the role of any manager. If you go away from that then you’re not doing a service to the club you represent.
“Every decision I make, I’m making it as if I’ll be here forever - but I won’t be. That decision might be taken out of my hands.
“If we lose today and lose next week, it’s a whole different discussion. I’m not silly enough not to understand that my role is to keep focused on what I’ve been doing.
“I’m trying to create a football team that our supporters are proud of and hopefully give them some memories that will last forever. If I do that, it’s all I need in terms of credit in my bank.”
Postecoglou may have to do without his top scorer after Kyogo Furuhashi suffered a shoulder injury against the Buddies. The Celtic boss revealed the Japanese striker will have it scanned on Monday to determine the extent of the damage.
But he’s backed Daizen Maeda and Oh - who both got on the scoresheet yesterday along with Reo Hatate (2), Matt O’Riley - to fill the gap. Postecoglou said: “Oh isn’t the only option for us. You saw Daizen play there today and he’s someone I’ve used in that position before, both here and in Japan.
“He’s got a very similar kind of movement to Kyogo. We all know how hard he works. So we’ve got a couple of different options there. From our perspective it’s not about just throwing Oh in there because Kyogo’s injured.
“It’s about the balance of the team and making sure we put a team out there we think can win a game. It’s the shoulder with Kyogo, he had a similar problem last year and we will scan it on Monday to see what the issue is.
"Kyogo is a quick healer and knowing him he will try to train on Sunday. But we have to be careful with him. We will wait and see what the extent of the injury is and sort of map out a recovery plan for him."
Celtic’s strength in depth proved crucial yesterday as they booked a place in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. Hatate, O’Riley and Oh all came off the bench to score. Postecoglou is delighted with the options he has - but says he’s NOT there to please players.
He said: “Everyone keeps saying I have to keep everyone happy. It’s not my role to keep anyone happy. Am I supposed to go around making them cups of tea or buy their wife some flowers?
“They should be happy with a smile on their face every day because they’re doing what they love and representing a fantastic football club. There’s always going to be competition for places and things change pretty quickly in football.
“Their role is to be ready to be called upon and that’s what they do. In terms of the guys on the bench today, irrespective of whether they’re starting or not, they’re contributing.
“And we’re going to need them. At the moment players are missing out but at the business end of the season when games have real consequences - we’ll need everybody.”
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