A new manager can outline his vision to his team and their fans until he is blue in the face. Or in Ange Postecoglou ’s case, green at the gills.
But his words and actions won’t carry the same weight as they do after he’s hoisted a shiny piece of silverware up to the sky in celebration. That, Postecoglou contends, is when the people a coach has to carry with him truly begin to believe the man at the helm does know what he’s talking about.
And that’s why he looks back on Celtic’s League Cup triumph as being pivotal in the success that has rolled on relentlessly since that afternoon six days before Christmas in 2021. Two goals from Kyogo Furuhashi put Hibs to the sword, after Paul Hanlon had struck first, and the Hoops have never looked back. The champions return to Hampden on Saturday to defend their trophy against Kilmarnock in what is now known as the Viaplay Cup.
