AS he reflected on Celtic’s victory over Rangers in the Viaplay Cup final at Hampden last month, Ange Postecoglou confessed that he felt a responsibility to deliver the same success as his revered predecessors did.
Is Postecoglou emulating those who have occupied the Parkhead hotseat before him by adopting an identical approach to the high-profile role as Martin O’Neill?
O’Neill, who won the Scottish title three times and reached a European final during the five years that he spent in Glasgow, was renowned for leaving the day-to-day coaching duties to his backroom staff and not being a constant presence around his squad.
Matt O’Riley revealed the Greek-Australian has a style that is not altogether dissimilar to the charismatic Irishman as the current Celtic manager prepared to take charge of his 100th game against Hearts this evening.
“He doesn’t actually speak to us much at all,” said O’Riley at Lennoxtown yesterday as he gave an insight into how Postecoglou goes about his business ahead of the cinch Premiership match.
“At the training ground, he delivers information when he needs to in meetings and on the pitch in pre-match sessions. In general, though, you probably won’t see that much of him. He keeps himself to himself.
“I think that is so he detaches away from the players and allows himself to pick a team without too much emotion. I can understand his reasoning for that. But, at the same time, whenever I have spoken to him he has been very friendly.
“You don’t expect to hear much from him. So when you do you are probably quite grateful that he actually speaks to you in a way. I think he is careful in terms of when he speaks to you and saying the right things.”
O’Riley, who has scored twice in his last four appearances and is hoping to maintain his upturn in form against Hearts at Parkhead tonight, believes he has improved greatly as a footballer during the time he has worked under Postecoglou at Celtic.
“I have learned a lot of different things from him,” he said. “I have learned about the system we play. I have learned a lot about myself in terms of adding things to my game, probably being a bit more dynamic physically and running in behind. Things like that.
“He delegates quite well in terms of getting other people to deliver information. I have worked quite well with Gavin (Strachan), one of our senior coaches here. I have worked quite a lot with him in terms of reviewing games and watching clips.
“He (Postecoglou) brought me here in the first place to an extent. So I have to give thanks for that, for being able to play for a club like this. He is the reason I am here and I can say ‘thank you’ for that.
“Since the first day I came he has given me the platform to show what I can do. He has shown quite a lot of faith in me, which is nice as a young player. Hopefully I have repaid him to some extent.”
O’Riley has often found himself out of Postecoglou’s starting line-up this year due to the inspired form of his Celtic club mates Reo Hatate, Callum McGregor and Aaron Mooy.
The 22-year-old, though, tries to make as much of an impression on matches when he comes on as a substitute as he does when he kicks off a game and he succeeded in doing so in the emphatic 5-1 win over St Mirren on Sunday.
“I think the approach is probably the same,” he said. “But in some ways when you come off the bench you know that you have worn out the team for about 60 or 70 minutes so there are probably a few more spaces to exploit and a few more chances to score. That is the positive in coming off the bench.
“It is about staying ready the whole time while you are sitting down. It is very easy to switch off potentially or not be as ready as you can be if you are not focused and not aware of what is happening in the game. That is the main difference. When you start you are really looking to impact the game from the warm-up and then straight onto the pitch.”
The London-born Danish playmaker, who failed to net in his opening 34 outings in the 2022/23 campaign, was pleased to get his name on the scoresheet once again and is confident he can continue to pitch in with goals as Celtic bid to complete a fifth treble in seven years in the coming weeks.
“It’s been nice,” he said. “It’s nice to contribute regardless of whether it is scoring goals or providing assists. I think just being on the pitch helping the team is the main thing. But, yeah, it has definitely been nice to score a couple of goals.
“It (going so long without scoring) did annoy me if I am being honest. I would be lying if I said it didn’t. But at the same time it probably wasn’t happening because I was trying too hard in a way. I was probably putting a bit too much pressure on myself to get the outcome. Whereas now I am just going with whatever and it is happening.
“I wouldn’t say it was a change from a training perspective, it was probably more a mindset thing. Specifically off the pitch in terms of doing work away from football to just try and get my head right. I think I have done that now. I think it is in a good place. Hopefully I can finish the season in a strong way.”
O’Riley will certainly be hoping to avoid the sort of misplaced pass that Celtic centre half Cameron Carter-Vickers played out the park against St Mirren.
“First and foremost, Cam did try to play that on the floor,” he said. “So I want the world to know that he tried to actually play that on the floor. That is how bad the pass actually was.”
