Frank Lampard has huge respect for the job Ange Postecoglou has done in just one season at Celtic.
The Everton boss will go head-to-head with the Aussie in the Parkhead gaffer's homeland this winter after the Toffees confirmed their participation in the Sydney Super Cup. They replaced Rangers in the controversial tournament after the Ibrox club withdrew. Lampard watched on from Merseyside as Postecoglou recovered from a tough start to life at Parkhead to guide the Hoops to the Scottish Premiership title. He also picked up the Premier Sports Cup to make it a double silverware winning debut season in the Celtic hotseat.
Lampard guided Everton to Premier League safety after replacing Rafa Benitez at Goodison Park. He’s now gearing up for a first full season in charge as Everton target European football following last season’s scare. That Postecoglou was able to implement his own style despite arriving in Scotland with no backroom staff of his own stood out for Lampard. And to do that while collecting trophies drew high praise from the Chelsea legend.
“I’ve got an awful lot of respect for what Ange did last season at Celtic,” he told News Corp Australia. It isn’t easy to hit the ground running in a league you’ve not worked in before,” the Everton gaffer said. "He did that really well, winning the title with a very definite style of play – a really exciting brand of football.
“It is hard to explain the atmosphere of an Old Firm game. The rivalry in Glasgow is one of the fiercest in world football and Ange embraced that challenge. It was a big achievement for him last year and it was impressive to see the way he went about it.”
The newest member of Postecoglou’s backroom team is familiar to Lampard. Harry Kewell is now Celtic’s first team coach and has been leading training during their camp in Austria. Lampard faced Kewell numerous times as a player in the English Premier League, where he turned out for Leeds United and Liverpool. And Lampard recalled their encounters as the clubs battled for trophies.
“Harry was a fantastic player,” he said. “He was one of the first Australians to really light up the Premier League,” Lampard said. He was fantastic to watch. He was difficult to play against because his skill made him unpredictable.”
Celtic were due to face Rangers in the first ever Old Firm game to be played outside of Glasgow. However, a furious backlash from fans, as well as the tournament being billed as Ange Postecoglou’s homecoming in its promotion, prompted a rethink and the gers pulled out.
Everton will take part instead, it was confirmed last night. And Lampard is looking forward to heading Down Under, adding: “I’m really looking forward to it," Australia is somewhere I have never actually been, so on a very personal level, I’m excited at the prospect of coming over.”
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