HERE they go again. They’re on the road again. Well, technically they’ve taken to the skies, but still, Celtic’s pre-season trip here to Austria marks the first step proper in what they hope will be another successful journey this term under Ange Postecoglou.
The main aim is that the final destination will be the retention of the Scottish Premiership title, but with Champions League group stage football to also look forward to, it promises to be another campaign to savour for the Celtic support.
This is a well-worn path that many Celtic managers have tread before, bringing their team to the tranquil, often jaw-dropping surroundings of the Austrian countryside to prepare for the rigours of the season ahead. And it is one that has often served them well in the past.
This time around, Postecoglou has brought his men to the Bad Erlach region around an hour's drive from the capital of Vienna, where they will stay for seven days of intensive pre-season work, taking in friendlies against Wiener Viktoria on Wednesday and Rapid Vienna on Saturday, before they move on to the Czech Republic and a friendly against Banik Ostrava to round off the 10-day trip to the continent next Wednesday evening.
Given the demi-god status that Postecoglou enjoys with the Celtic support, and the fact that his team do not have the typically-fraught early season European qualifiers to endure, the Australian comes here without the usual immediate pressure that might normally be on the shoulders of a Celtic manager around this juncture.
That is not to say there is no pressure whatsoever on him however, but that will mostly come from within, as he pushes himself and his men to back up what they achieved last season. To borrow from the musical parlance, this term is Postecoglou’s difficult second album, where expectations have justifiably and predictably increased by deign of what his team have so far produced.
It was ever thus, but Postecoglou is in a strong position to avoid ultimately becoming a victim of his own early success at Celtic.
It is hard to overstate the contrast between the make-up of the Celtic squad for this trip and the one that travelled to Wales with Postecoglou at this time last year. Then, the newly-arrived manager had a squad of mostly youth players that he could use in matches, and an adjoining party of disgruntled, wantaway senior players who would soon have to be replaced.
This summer, Postecoglou travels with a settled party fresh off the back of a successful campaign, and boosted by the permanent captures of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Jota and Daizen Maeda, who all enjoyed successful loan spells at the club last season.
So, if last summer was about the Postecoglou revolution, this time around it is all about the evolution of his team, and how he can further refine the blueprint that brought such unexpected success in such short order following his appointment a little over 12 months ago.
While 15 players were brought in and had to be moulded together last season, there will be just two brand new recruits accompanying the squad on their travels this time around, with left-back Alexandro Bernabei and goalkeeper Ben Seigrist joining up so far in this window.
The young Argentinian, brought in for a fee of £3.75m from Lanus last week, is expected to challenge Greg Taylor immediately for his place in the side, and Celtic fans will be eagerly watching these early friendly matches as they hope for a first glimpse of what the flying full-back can bring to the team.
Seigrist, who became a hugely respected Premiership keeper during his time at Dundee United, may also see some game-time in Austria, but he faces a much more daunting task in ousting Joe Hart from the number one position.
He can show here though that he has what it takes to not only prove a reliable back-up for 35-year-old Hart in the short term, but can also be his heir apparent at five years his junior.
There will be other new arrivals before the transfer window closes. Christopher Jullien seems certain to be leaving despite the collapse of a proposed move to Schalke, so another centre-back will be required to challenge the preferred partnership of Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt, while a defensive midfielder remains a priority. Vinicius Souza, Lommel’s in-demand Brazilian, may well be the man to fit the bill.
But there will not be the panic or urgency there had to be during last summer’s pre-season getaway to simply get some bodies in the door, and Postecoglou can now afford to take his time and ensure that he continues his remarkable strike-rate of success in the transfer market to date without the need for any undue risk.
The one big question mark that will be raised about Postecoglou tactically ahead of the Champions League campaign is whether he will curb his relentlessly attacking philosophy in an arena where Celtic have been stung badly before by clubs with far superior resources to them.
The matches on this tour and his approach to them are unlikely to answer that question. And when it is put to him directly, it is sure to be summarily dismissed by Postecoglou too.
Whether his team can replicate the formula that has worked so well domestically on the Champions League stage is an intriguing and uncertain prospect.
