NO matter who a footballer is, or the size of the club they play for, the mention of their name in the same sentence as the likes of Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United is bound to prick their ears up a little.
That has been the scenario for Josip Juranovic this summer, who despite being content at Celtic, has admitted he is aware of reports linking him with a potential move to some of the major clubs in the ‘big five’ leagues.
For some managers, such stories would be a source of concern, not only because they may lose a key asset, but that the player may become unsettled while he is still at their club. Ange Postecoglou though, doesn’t see things that way.
For Ange Postecoglou, the interest in his right-back is a compliment both to the player and to the club, and the platform they have given him to show his talents on a big stage.
And as long as he continues to keep his head down and work as hard as he has done during his year at Celtic so far, Postecoglou says everything else will take care of itself.
“It shows he’s playing well and it also shows what can happen if you play well for this football club,” Postecoglou said.
“This is a fantastic platform for anyone. Josip had a strong year last season and he wants to get even better.
“He had a strong pre-season and he’s working hard. It’s a big year for him with the World Cup, so there’s a lot of him at club and international level. He wants to be at his best and my job is to keep pushing him to be the best he can.
“The talk doesn’t affect me, mate. Whether it affects the player then he’s the one you need to ask.
“I just look at how they play, train and behave and I’ve seen no change with anyone in the group. If I do, then I address it. Ultimately it’s not something I go around asking them on a daily basis.
“It’s about how they conduct themselves when they are with us representing this football club.
“Josip and all the other boys are working hard in training and performing at good levels.
“My job is to keep pushing them.”
Postecoglou is looking forward to seeing how his players cope in their first visit to face Kilmarnock under his stewardship, with the pitch and the organisation of Derek McInnes both significant factors to overcome.
“It’s a different challenge, like it is every week,” he said. “We went through it last season and we’ll go through it again this time.
“There’s always something that can trip you up if you haven’t prepared well. We know it will be a difficult game.
“Derek did a great job of getting them promoted last year and they have aspirations of staying in the league and making an impact.
“Playing against us – especially at home – they have an opportunity to do that. We understand what we are facing and we have to be ready for it.
“We’ve shown in the past any time we’ve stuck to our task and our principles of playing out football, irrespective of what the opposition might do, we’ve been a difficult team to stop.”
Given the match is on astroturf, Postecoglou is unlikely to risk players who are on the verge of a return from injury, such as Reo Hatate and Carl Starfelt.
“Reo is okay but we’ll probably keep him out of this week with the artificial surface,” he said.
“We’ll give him another week to train with the squad and make sure he’s ready.
“Carl is a bit further down the road so I’ll make the decision [on Saturday]. All of these guys coming back from injury, it might not be the best week to introduce them.
“Ideguchi is still a fair bit off and in rehab. He got a fair few stitches in his leg that need to be taken out.
“It’s going to be a bit of a process with him, but he’s back at the club doing his individual work.
“I don’t really put timescales on these things as it’s not really fair with the players. Everyone heals differently. The important thing is he’s making progress.”
