'Embrace craziness' - Celtic's Ange Postecoglou gives nuggets of advice 25 years on from big break

Ange Postecoglou appears to have become the doyen to a fraternity of young frontline counterparts in the Scottish game.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou and Dundee United manager Tam Courts share a few words at full-time of the teams' last meeting six weeks ago, won by the Parkhead hosts with a last-minute goal. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

The Celtic manager, now 56, was the oldest of the 12 men helming teams at the start of the cinch Premiership campaign – a distinction now passed to Mark McGhee after the 63-year-old replaced James McPake at Dundee. On his travels, Postecoglou has encountered seven top-flight managers cutting their teeth in the roles. He will cross paths with one of those, Dundee United’s Tam Courts, when Tannadice plays host to the clubs’ Scottish Cup quarter-final on Monday. As with all the novices, Postecoglou has empathy and admiration for Courts. It may have been way back in 1996 the Australian was thrust into the role of head coach at South Melbourne – titles there and at two other clubs, as well as the Australian nation team’s only major honour, subsequently embellishing his trackside days – but he remains acutely aware of the onerous challenges that face first-timers.

“I think Tam has done a really good job,” Postecoglou said. “We have already seen some managers lose their roles [without] a consistent sort of run of results. For a young guy, I think he’s handled it really well. Dundee United are one of the clubs who expect to be playing in the top half of the table, contesting for Europe, contesting for cups and he has steered through that pressure, where you know two or three bad results and people are putting you under the spotlight. I’ve spoken to him the two times we’ve played and he’s a really respectful guy.

"I guess for any young manager, those first few steps are the critical ones. If you take me back 25 years, I realise now how important it was that in my first attempt at it that I made an impact. The way you address your first role is really, really important and it’s why I often tell guys who want to get into it not to rush. Your first job often dictates whether you’re going to have a career in the game at that level or not. And it’s not just about being successful, it’s about the way you conduct yourself and the way you handle the pressure. People notice these things. So, it’s really important when you’re starting off that you really embrace the craziness of the role, and how all-encompassing it is, because it doesn’t change. A loss today hurts me just as much as it did 25 years ago.

“All the same sort of pressures I had in my first year, in terms of the expectations on myself, they’re still there, that doesn’t change. If you can embrace that early on, then it probably means you’ll be able to carve out a career, because that’s the key. Often young managers start off not understanding that what success looks like is having a career. If you can still be doing the same job in 20/25 years’ time, then that’s success. Obviously, to last that long, you’re going to have to notch your wins along the way, but you’re not going to win every championship, every trophy. But if you can keep doing what you’re doing for the next 25 years then you’ve done well.”

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