Ange Postecoglou reckons everybody needs good neighbours – even ones that are streets ahead of the rest of the town. The champions are heading over the horizon in more ways than one as they head to Australia after opening up a mammoth nine-point gap on their nearest and dearest on the home front.
Celtic have packed up for Down Under but their house is in good order – while the roof is leaking over the city at Rangers. But Postecoglou is convinced the Parkhead men sitting in a mansion on the hill while rivals suffer in shanties can actually be a GOOD thing for the game in Scotland.
The Aussie is hoping to lead the way and inspire rivals into a bit of DIY in a bid to catch up – and drive up the standards of the entire scheme. Postecoglou said: “If your goal is just to be the best house in your street but you live in a neighbourhood of thousands, you have to look beyond that. That’s not to disrespect the local competition. If anything, you hope that it raises the level.
“If we want to raise the level of Scottish football then our best clubs need to get bigger and stronger and hopefully that drags others up. Instead of just keeping the big clubs down and hope that it makes it better.”
Postecoglou is well aware of the opposite scenario. Aussie soccer chiefs intentionally level the playing field to make the A-League more competitive. But the Hoops boss believes the structure only restricts development.
Postecoglou will receive a warm welcome in Sydney this week but he’s still happy to dish out some home truths in his homeland. He said: “I come from Australia where we love equalising sports.
“People here talk a lot about the disparity of budgets and how it is unfair and all that. In Australia, they go the opposite way, where everyone has the same salary cap, the same resources and the same way of recruiting everyone through a draft.
“Every team and supporter thinks they can win it and you know what? I got frustrated with that. Because if you want to get better you can’t. There are rules stopping you.
“What they do is bring the best down to an equilibrium. The way I am as a person is ‘Let’s make the best better and try to drag everyone else up’.
“The way that is going to happen in Scotland is for a club like ours to have their sights set on being a top Champions League club. If that means we dominate local competition then it challenges everyone else to be better. That has to be our goal.
“My responsibility is to this club. We have 60,000 fans here every week and millions around the world. Why shouldn’t they have success at Champions League level? That has to be my goal. If not then I am doing this job a disservice.”
Postecoglou’s men have seized control of the Premiership over a gruelling run of 13 games in just 42 days and left a battered Rangers in their wake. The manager can enjoy Oz and leave the rest wondering how his team can possibly be stopped.
But Europe will still gnaw away at him. Celtic’s Champions League return earned plenty of plaudits but not enough points for Postecoglou’s liking.
And the next few weeks up to the January transfer window will be spent plotting the retention of the title but also with an eye on next year’s continental challenge. The Hoops boss knows the areas his side need to improve but there will certainly be no regrets about the way they went about their business this season.
Now is as good a time as any to reflect and Postecoglou said: “I never doubted myself. I didn’t enjoy the experience, I was disappointed. How can you enjoy it? People say, ‘It’s Real Madrid, it’s the Bernabeu’ – but we lost 5-1.
“Within me, there was still a determination. We took some blows but we had to have determination to go again and be better next time. I was at the World Cup in 2014 and we were 2-0 down to Chile after 10 minutes in the opening game of our group.
“The whole world is watching and I am thinking, ‘This could be a long World Cup... you are totally exposed’. I learnt through that time that I didn’t lack self-belief. It wasn’t arrogance but I knew we could dig in.
“We lost 3-1 but it was a cracking game. Then we took on Holland, who had beaten Spain 5-0, and we lost 3-2.
“They are losses but at no stage did I think, ‘I wish I was somewhere else, this could end up embarrassing.’ At 2-0 against Real, I was thinking we had to get a way back into the game.
“We get the penalty and miss. That was frustrating and we were disappointed but I never had doubts.”
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