Former Celtic striker Charlie Nicholas has heaped praised yet again on Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou for the transfer business which he has done since arriving at the club just over 18 months ago.
Rangers Michael Beale has done a lot of talking since he took over at Ibrox and left many Hoops fans bemused when he insisted that Postecoglou had been ‘lucky’ which was a tag the Australian manager was quite happy to lap up.
Josip Juranovic left the Scottish champions in the past few days to make the switch to Bundesliga outfit Union Berlin which is likely to bag the Hoops up to £10 million while they. have already had the Croatian international’s replacement in the door in the fellow World Cup star, Alistair Johnston.
This also looks likely to be the case as Giorgos Giakoumakis is set to leave Glasgow but Postecoglou has again moved quickly and looks likely to sign Republic of Korea star Oh Hyeon-gyu from K-League side Suwon Samsung Bluewings.
Planning has been a major part of what Celtic have got right recently and they now never appear to be panicked in the market which is a trait that Nicholas really likes as his former side continue in their quest for future success.
“Celtic and Ange Postecoglou look one step ahead just now, both in the Premiership title race and in their transfer window dealings. The Hoops have already signed the majority of their targets and seem to be well down the road with their remaining January business,” said Nicholas speaking in his column in the scottish daily express.
“Alistair Johnston, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi have all made their debuts this month, while South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu is on his way to Celtic Park. Postecoglou seems to be in total control of how the operation works and he isn’t stressed about losing key players because he has already done the hard graft in identifying replacements.
“The Aussie doesn’t wait for other people at the club to rubber-stamp his decisions. He tells them what to do. Postecoglou knows how he wants to go about his business and just gets it done. The Australian plans ahead. It’s no coincidence that Celtic are bedding in a new right back, centre-half and, very soon, a new centre-forward.”
He was warned that Beale should be wise rather than mixing things as the Premiership leaders look miles away when it comes to transfer business and are nine points behind their rivals.
“Michael Beale has tried to stir the pot a bit at Rangers, but he is very much playing catch-up to Celtic. Celtic are on a roll and will keep winning games while Postecoglou continues to spend the club’s money wisely.”
