Why Celtic's Ange Postecoglou has been left feeling unworthy

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou takes the acclaim of supporters at full-time following the 3-0, progress-earning, Europa League win over Jablonec on Thursday...a scenario with which he wasn't entirely comfortable. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

There was a sheepishness about Ange Postecoglou as he responded to the Celtic support’s acclaim for him during a lap of the pitch sauntering behind his players at the end of their Europa League win over Jablonec on Thursday night.

The 55-year-old lifted his hands upwards to clap the fans over what he declared a “special” moment; one that followed a third straight victory in which 13 goals have been plundered. In reality, though, bowing his head as he dropped hands towards the ground, in the not worthy gesture, would have felt more appropriate to him.

Following his questioned summer arrival at a club gripped by turmoil, Postecoglou may have won over the Parkhead punters big-time thanks to a major upswing in the team’s fortunes inside the past week-in-a-half. But, with Celtic’s challenge for even the first of major domestic honours going on the line in Sunday’s home Premier Sports Cup tie against Hearts, he is experiencing imposter syndrome.

“To be fair, the supporters have been unbelievable since I got here,” he said. “At the moment I feel it’s a little bit unwarranted – I haven’t done anything yet. The way they have embraced me, even the other night, I just felt the need to acknowledge them. They’ve been so supportive since I got here, but inside I feel I don’t deserve it yet.

“There’s still a long way to go and I need to achieve things at this football club, and make the supporters proud of this team. Hopefully, when I’ve done that, I’ll eventually walk away knowing I’ve been part of something special.”

Progress must be an incremental concept for the Australian. He will know that any reverses in the next week – wherein Celtic host AK Alkmaar in the first leg of their Europa League play-off on Wednesday before St Mirren come to Glasgow’s east end in the cinch Premiership three days later – would halt that momentum swiftly. Yet, there is no question that his men are in a different place from their opening league defeat at Tynecastle two weekends ago. He expects that to be reflected in how they perform against Robbie Neilson’s side second-time around.

“Cup games, by their nature, are different. They tend to have more of an edge, knowing the result is so crucial,” he said. “We’re at home in front of a big crowd again, which will be great, and I think we’ve improved since last time. It was a good game at Tynecastle and we were competitive for long spells. We weren’t really threatening Hearts enough and they did a good job of shutting us down.

“Our job is to turn the possession into more of a threat this time. I don’t put down markers because sometimes they can be false in a positive and negative sense. I just want us to keep developing. I wasn’t too distraught, even in the Midtjylland games [that brought a 1-1 and 2-1 defeat to end Champions League hopes]. We were well in those matches. But we know there’s still a long way to go because we can be successful. We’re on a good trajectory.”

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