The vultures are out for Ange Postecoglou and it’s evident some have been waiting patiently to stick the boot into the Celtic manager.
The coach had a decent start, but before he could really get going a truck load of injuries stopped him in his tracks.
The team have been struggling along without heavy hitters like Callum McGregor, James Forrest and Kyogo Furuhashi.
Results have been concerning, but given the scale of the rebuild, this season was never going to be smooth sailing.
There are some pundits who are only too happy to get their negative statements out there so they can act like they’re clever and say ‘I told you so’ if things don’t work out.
We have no idea where the chips will lie come the end of the season, what we do know is the manager needs to be judged when he has his team back and has had more time in the role.
Ange is starting something from scratch – Brendan Rodgers was lucky enough to have Ronny Deila’s setup coming in. The Irishman was delighted with the way things the Norwegian had set things up and he continued then improved the work done by Deila.
Neil Lennon left an absolute mess behind him, casting aside the professional standards once held at the club. We have an inept board who were happy to watch a new Chief Exec walk out the door after 72 days and we lack major squad depth. Ange needs to bring us back up and it doesn’t happen overnight. You can’t ask a mechanic to fix your car with half of his tools missing.
Try telling that to some of our impatient support though and Charlie Nicholas:
“Ange Postecoglou looks to me to be the new Ronny Deila,” Nicholas wrote as cited by the Irish Mirror.
“I am not sure Postecoglou has realised how big Celtic really are before he came in.
“I believe he has missed a pitch. I think Ange thought he would just come in here and his playing style would get him over the line, no problem. But it is not about style, it is about winning.
“Ronny came in and thought: ‘I will get the players really fit.’
“He then brought in John Collins to help him and it got results but, in the long term, teams were getting closer to Celtic and they had to bring in Brendan Rodgers.
“People are casting him as the next Tony Mowbray. In Tony’s defence, he was told before he took the Celtic job there were funds but they were never produced.
“Tony was then left exposed and what followed was Neil Lennon’s first spell at the club.
“This manager is on the edge. Thursday against Bayer Leverkusen is not going to help him and if they were to lose in Aberdeen then I think a lot of the fans would turn.
“I watched them against Dundee United.
“Cameron Carter-Vickers should have been red-carded and United should have been given a penalty.
“It is falling into the category of being so average again. There is no shape or structure. How much do they miss Callum McGregor in the midfield? It really is scary.
“I think it is a gigantic week for Celtic and if they don’t get results Ange won’t be sacked but the pressure will grow on the board.
“It is the biggest week in probably the last 10 years or even longer.”
The last few games have been disappointing, Celtic fans will buy into a regime that looks like it’s heading places, if the turgid performances and results continue into next year with no sign of picking up, only then should we look at the lay of the land.
