The table for eight at a Glasgow restaurant had already been booked. Ange Postecoglou’s wife, Georgia, had it all planned.
After the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden, they were going out with friends who’d travelled 10,000 miles across the globe from Australia to see them. But there was one thing Mrs Postecoglou hadn’t taken into consideration. Losing.
And that’s something her husband isn’t used to. The Celtic boss doesn’t like it. And certainly doesn’t feel like wining and dining after it. So Georgia was entertaining on her own that night back in April last year. Her man’s team were defeated 2-1 in extra-time, ending hopes of a domestic Treble. Postecoglou simply didn’t show up for dinner. He couldn’t face it. Being Australian, he has always been built to win. But with Postecoglou that means more than just the result. He has to win. But he also has to do it in a certain way.
Losing and not performing to the standard he expects just isn’t worth contemplating. So much so that it even puts the Hoops gaffer off his food and drink. Postecoglou felt bad for his pals who had flown in from Oz.
But he says, knowing him as they do, they half expected his no-show that night. As he prepared for Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final against Rangers, where he can collect his third piece of silverware since arriving in Glasgow, he said: “I love winning. It’s just the way I am as a person.
“So, obviously, I’m not a fan of losing. I don’t take defeats well. But it’s the winning that drives me more than a fear of losing. I just enjoy winning. I enjoy what it does to people or groups, to achieve it.
“I enjoy building teams, that process. But it’s got to be building to an end goal. And that’s to win things. The reason I’m passionate about my team playing a certain way is that I love success. It’s why I continue to coach the way I do and play the way I do. Because I want to keep winning.
“When I lost the semi-final at Hampden, my three best friends and their wives were over here from Australia. My wife had dinner booked that night and I didn’t turn up. They’d come halfway round the world and my wife had to entertain them.
“It was pretty childish from me. But they understood and it was fine. I don’t take losing well.
“Everyone wants to win. But for me, it’s important that it’s not JUST about winning. Whilst others are just chasing the victory, I’m chasing more than that.
“I’m chasing a win, playing a certain way. We’re getting Celtic Park packed out every week not just because we’re winning. The fans enjoy watching this team play and that’s important.
“I love that. It motivates me to get up in the morning. It’s not just about struggling your way through, winning 1-0 and being satisfied with that.
“It’s about winning and scoring goals. That’s the bit I really love. When that’s your driver you’re never going to stand still or bask in the glory of a victory.
“You’ll always go for the next one, with a better performance. If you want to stay in this game for a long time, I think that’s the point of difference.
“There isn’t a manager out there who doesn’t want to win. But to last, it has to be something more that drives you.”
On that note, it’s fair to say Celtic haven’t enjoyed their most scintillating performances under Postecoglou at Hampden. They deserved to win last season’s League Cup semi against St Johnstone and final against Hibs. But neither one-goal victory took the breath away.
It was the same in this season’s last-four battle with Kilmarnock, only securing a 2-0 win with the last kick of the game. But they won. And apart from that Rangers tie almost a year ago, they’ve done their job. Ange smiles when it’s suggested they’ve been below par at Hampden.
And he says: “I get what you’re saying. You have to understand there’s a reason for that. There are very few semi-finals or finals where one team blitzes the other.
“There’s just so much at stake. It’s not like a league game when you get on top of your opponents, build up a head of steam, dominate and blow them away.
“But in a semi or final? They’re not going to give up until the very last whistle. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, they’ll fight tooth and nail to stay in the game. So any time you win a semi or final, it’s an achievement. Because you’ve had to overcome a very determined opponent.
“It would be great to have a sparkling performance. But the semis or finals I’ve been involved in throughout my career have rarely turned out that way.
“I’ve been fortunate to win a few and they’ve always been on a knife edge. But the teams I’ve had have always found a way to win and get the trophy.”
External factors can also affect a result. And with VAR in operation for today’s showpiece final, neither manager knows what kind of impact it might have on the 90 minutes. Postecoglou has been critical of how officials have implemented it in the Premiership so far.
But he’s adamant that the thought of a poor VAR decision which could cost him the cup didn’t keep him up last night. He said: “I don’t worry about it. I’ve had my say on VAR.
“But I’ve never gone into a game worried about decisions the referee is going to make. The beauty of this game is that no one can write a script on how it’s going to go on Sunday.
“Something can happen in the first minute that changes the dynamic. A mistake, a referee’s decision, a moment of magic from someone – we can’t control those things.
“But we can deal with them if we do the stuff we control well. I don’t let it enter my thinking and the players are the same. What it is out there we have to overcome, we have to find a way to do it.”
