Ange Postecoglou likes to think he can see the funny side of life at Celtic when the opportunity arises. And he was given a crash course in what a GIF is after a comedy moment from Cameron Carter-Vickers.
Celtic’s weekend win over St Mirren in Paisley also brought a rare light-hearted moment from Postecoglou who was captured on TV laughing at a stray Carter-Vickers pass. The camera showed the Hoops boss shouting to get the American defender’s attention then making a gesture that basically said “what on earth was that?” before breaking into a laugh.
And the Aussie is adamant he does have a funny side after a GIF of the moment went viral on social media. He said: “Yeah, I saw that. That’s not the kind of language that just rolls off our tongue, to be fair. It’s all right. Whatever rocks people’s boat is fine with me. I would like to think I have a sense of humour.”
Postecoglou will lead his side for the 100th time since arriving in June 2021 when they host Hearts at Parkhead for a league clash. A Premiership and League Cup double was delivered by the Aussie in his maiden campaign and he admits it’ll be a landmark occasion this evening. Especially as he believes he would have been an outside bet to achieve the feat by some doubters when he first walked in the door.
Postecoglou replied to a question that hitting the 100 mark is an achievement that many managers fail to reach given the cut-throat hire and fire nature of the business. He said: “No, and I was really long odds to do it myself, wasn’t I?
Not all of you said that but It’s nice. Sometimes the success of a manager is aligned with longevity. You don’t last too long in this career or at a club unless you are actually producing something so, yeah, it’s nice to reach the 100-game mark.’”
Postecoglou faces back-to-back games against Robbie Neilson’s Jambos with a Scottish Cup quarter-final looming at Tynecastle on Saturday lunchtime and he’s ordered his players to pull on the blinkers and only focus on the task in hand.
He said: “It’s the responsibility I have here. I have made it clear that it’s what I want our approach to be and our football more specifically. The players take their lead off me and if I show any inclination that I am looking too far ahead or looking behind us, that gives them the opportunity to do the same.
“We don’t really talk about anything beyond what’s in front of us and they follow that lead. We’ve been conscious of just focusing on what the next challenge is.
“We were in this scenario with Kilmarnock, of playing them in the league then the semi-final of the League Cup. It’s one of the quirks of Scottish football that these things crop up.
“For us, the whole focus has been on this game and making sure we continue our strong league form. And once that’s done we will focus on Saturday.
“But at the same time we have tried to show that each game is its own unique challenge and each game is an opportunity to perform at levels exceeding what we’ve done before. You embrace these things. Scottish football throws these things up sometimes and we already potentially play each other four times in the league.
“But from our perspective, it doesn’t diminish our ambition or desire to be as relentless as we can be.”
Postecoglou also confirmed James Forrest is set for a spell on the sidelines but otherwise has a clear bill of health for the squad who will face Hearts. He said: “The only one from last week is, unfortunately, James Forrest. He picked up a muscle strain in training late last week before the game.
“He will be out for a little while, which is disappointing for him. Everyone else seems OK.”
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