Yesterday afternoon, Ange Postecoglou gave his pre-match thoughts as Celtic prepare to take on Real Madrid.
The Scottish champions have not been in the group stages of the Champions League since 2017 and couldn’t have picked a bigger fixture to get them started.
Celtic’s domestic form so far this season has been first class with Postecoglou’s side winning all six games in the league as well as booking their place in the quarter-final of the Premier Sports Cup.
Celtic’s Liel Abada celebrates scoring their first goal Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine
Much of the questions directed towards the former Socceroos manager seemed to be unimaginative with the usual questioning around the style of football and approach that he plans on taking.
As usual, Postecoglou didn’t get sucked in by this narrative and dismissed the idea that there is not only two ways of football and no matter how his Celtic side approach this game there will always be an element of risk.
His response to Chris McLaughlin from BBC’s question has also been received well as he was asked about the expectations which he has set at the club and whether they should be tempered.
“So you want me to burst people’s bubbles do you?” said Ange Postecoglou speaking during his pre-match press conference.
“You want me to, you want me to bring a downer to this whole experience? No, I’m glad our supporters are buzzing about it, I’ve got no problem with that, I think that’s what we love about the game, you know.
“Yeah, of course, you know, my job is to stay even-tempered through it, right. So in terms of my expectations and what I’m sort of communicating to the players for us as a group, as what we need to do to keep progressing, that’s a different story.
“But, you know, I want our supporters to be dreaming of big games and big wins and winning things. I mean, that’s the role of us as a football club. You know, I’m sure they get enough of their bubble burst in their normal lives on a daily basis.
“It doesn’t need me to bring them down and tell them, look, don’t come here too excited tomorrow because it might not go well, you know, I don’t that’s my role.
“My role is to make sure they come bouncing in and hopefully we send them bouncing out.”
Since his arrival at the club, Postecoglou has handled the press in Scotland expertly. His strong relationship with the fans is evident to see from these comments.
They continually dig for a negative headline or to make news and always end up getting sent packing.
