Celtic may be Eastenders but that’s where the drama stops as far and Ange Postecoglou is concerned.
One of the former main characters may be making a minor scene on the way out but the Celtic boss is just glad the rest of his cast are sticking to the script. Postecoglou certainly wasn’t going to go full Peggy Mitchell after hearing Josip Juranovic was a bit sad Celtic didn’t put up more of a fight before letting him exit stage left to Union Berlin. There was a feeling the Croatian was written out of the show when he started considering switching channels but replacement Alistair Johnston has entered the stage like he’s been understudy for years.
Postecoglou is basking in the glow from the rave reviews on the back of Sunday’s Viaplay Cup success at Hampden and Juranovic’s tear jerking barely registered. The Aussie said: “I don’t really care to be honest. Josip was outstanding for us for 18 months. He won trophies and represented his country at a World Cup. Now he has gone on and he is doing fantastically well and I couldn’t be happier for him. We continue on our journey now. The rest of it is just a soap opera for the masses.
“We are a football club that is consistently trying to be successful. I said previously that we have got to be really aggressive in the way that we push this squad to another level because we still believe we need to improve and get better and the only way you can do that is to make sure that you are constantly looking to improve and reinvest in the squad.
"From our perspective there are players who left in January after contributing to this football club and that is all we want. They have gone on with our best wishes but my role is to reinvest that money and to try to make us a stronger team.”
There’s been no drama with Johnston, that’s for sure. The Canadian has been line perfect since his arrival and was one of the stars of the show last Sunday. The Canada World Cup star has immediately won over the Parkhead punters with his action hero style but his gaffer always knew he was made for the role.
Postecoglou said: “It is fair to say most of our players when they come in, have settled in. This time last year we brought in Reo and Daizen and Matty O’Riley and I don’t think they done too badly.
“The process for us is checking that we bring in guys who fit in with our football and have the right character and Alistair certainly fits that bracket. He has hit the ground running and he got an opportunity earlier than we thought because Tony Ralston went down with an injury and so his opportunity came, albeit that we had had a good two weeks with him in Portugal before the season started again and he was able to train with the team.
“A bit like the guys last January who have all kicked on since coming in, we are confident this will just be the first steps in his Celtic career.”
Like all good soaps, the cameras keep rolling and the story line rumble on. The League Cup triumph was a mid-season ratings winner but it’s back to the weekly tales of intrigue and conflict.
Celtic return to Paisley, the scene of their only domestic defeat of the season, where they were tripped up in a 2-0 defeat by St Mirren on the back of a resounding 4-0 win over their Old Firm neighbours in their previous domestic encounter. Facing down old foes, you couldn’t write it, but Postecoglou isn’t one for worrying about previous episodes.
He said: “No, not really, it is not the way I look at it. If you look at the last game and look at the line-ups and where we were in the season there was a fairly logical explanation for that.
"We didn’t play well, they did and we paid a price. We analysed that performance and we dealt with it and we haven’t improved since, beyond that, I don’t buy into anything else around it, I wouldn’t be seeing any kind of trend.”
Another subplot is the character development of Aaron Mooy from that day in Paisley. He made his debut – against the club he starred for a decade earlier – and was immediately written off by some as no more than an extra.
The Aussie ace has become a leading light instead and Postecoglou reckons a lot has changed since that day back in September. Mooy is now a trophy winner and the Hoops squad also have that silver spring.
Postecoglou said: “Again, with Aaron, there is a pretty logical explanation for that day too. I said at the time, he was nowhere near the fitness levels he needed to be and he had to go away and really work on that and we worked with him on that.
“It is fair to say he kicked on from there. I think for the guys who got their first experience of a Celtic Cup Final, I just think it is always good, whether it is your first one or whether you are like Callum who has done it so many times, whatever it is the most important thing is that you come out of it with the hunger and desire to go back and do it again and again.
“That is the main thing, that shouldn’t be diminished if you have done it before. Every time you go there and win a game like that it should provide the hunger and drive to keep going. I am sure it will have had that impact on the whole group.”
