Ange Postecoglou has told Michael Beale he was right to call him ‘lucky’. Rangers manager Beale caused a stir earlier this week by claiming his Celtic counterpart is a fortunate man to have more millions at his disposal for the transfer market than he has as Rangers manager.
And Postecoglou was in no mood to deny his good fortune as he declared he leads a “fantastic” club. Ahead of this evening’s Viaplay Cup semi-final showdown with Kilmarnock, the Celtic boss said: “I agree, mate. I’m an extremely lucky man. I work for a fantastic football club with fantastic people. I’ve got a beautiful family. I’ve been doing this for 25 years now and long may it continue.”
The Aussie’s more immediate concern is picking a team to reach the cup final and he is adamant that transfer speculation surrounding striker Giorgos Giakoumakis and Josip Juranovic will not affect his decision on who lines up at the national stadium - although he revealed that no offer for any of his players has landed on his desk.
He added: “When it comes to my desk, then I’ll know there’s something there that we need to discuss. But at the moment there has been nothing. I’m just dealing with what’s in front of me and I’ve had a clear training week in terms of dealing with those kinds of issues.
“My team selection every week is based on what I see. I have the evidence before me every day in how the guys are training.
"That’s what I focus on. You talk about speculation, but they are all human beings and players have to deal with things on a daily basis that aren’t in the public eye, so that’s taken into account when I select a team.
“But the evidence for me is what I see in training. We’ve had a really strong week and got just about everyone back in the group, which means it’s pretty competitive at the moment. That’s the key thing for me and they are all ready to go.”
Greg Taylor is still out for the clash with Killie, with the Celtic boss admitting: “There’s no real change from last week. Greg is probably another week away. Sead Haksabanovic, Stephen Welsh and James McCarthy are all back into training and should be available from midweek onwards.”
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