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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Ben Banks

Ange Postecoglou given hilarious Celtic 'worst man manager' tag as insider reveals how he psyches the players out

There's brilliance in his methods - but Ryan McGowan admits he's still a little scared of Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.

The St Johnstone defender was picked by the 57-year-old as part of his Brazil 2014 World Cup squad and he played a prominent role in the South American matches. It wasn't all rosy though as McGowan revisited the hilarious time he was caught sitting next to the Hoops boss on a long-haul flight to Dubai after a prank gone wrong.

Even after that, the Socceroo says Postecoglou was excellent for his game, even if he didn't get to see the man behind the tactics often. He told Sacked in the Morning : "He's the best coach I have worked with but possibly the worst man-manager I have ever had. He is so distant, so scary, and you are petrified of him. I still am. He would say certain things and have certain rules that were just non-negotiable of what to do and as an average player I quite liked that.

"You would then just do it as best you could. He would keep his distance and there's the story of us flying from Sydney to Dubai. I had been up to a bit of mischief with the senior boys which I now seriously regret.

"We used to put our coffees on the senior boys' rooms as they could afford it. I didn't know they could pick the flight seats. Mine's was 1A, business class.

"Then the next thing, Ange is setting right next to me. It's 16 hours and you are sweating, so nervous.

"He didn't speak to me once, not even how are you. He then just got up and left when we got there! He did a podcast a couple months ago and he said he loved doing it to freak the boys out. That was the worst 16 hours of my life."

What was certain about the current Celtic manager was his motivation skills, as Postecoglou turned to the bookmakers for an Australian speech. McGowan added: "He was a good motivator, that was one of his strengths.

"He was quite big on us Aussies and how hard it for us to make it into Europe and make a career professionally as in Australia it's not the number one sport. It is difficult for us to play overseas and when we were playing Chile or someone, and he gave us the odds for that game.

"I think we were say 8/1. He said 'that's pretty high odds for us, isn't it?' He asked 'Ryan, what would your odds be to play in a World Cup when you were five?'

"I just thought of the highest number I could think of! He went round the team and said we were here, so we defeated those odds, so what's the difference with an 8/1 shot. His team talks get everyone going."

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