What's luck got to do with it? Well, as a matter of fact, where Michael Beale and Ange Postecoglou are concerned, a great deal actually. Let’s be brutally blunt. It wasn’t all that long ago that fans of Rangers and Celtic would have struggled to pick either man out of an identity parade.
And yet fate and good fortune have conspired to place both of them on either side of Scottish football’s great divide at a truly fascinating moment in time. What’s luck got to do with it? Well, had Eddie Howe’s feet not turned to ice at the thought of taking on the task of rebuilding Celtic then Postecoglou would probably still be ‘playing his football’ on the other side of the planet rather than bringing half the Far East with him to Glasgow.
And, had Beale not been handpicked by Steven Gerrard to become part of the Scouser’s backroom team at Ibrox then he’d have been nowhere near the top job when the axe came down on Giovanni van Bronckhorst just a couple of months ago. But while both men have benefited hugely from circumstance in order to get to where they now are, it’s beginning to feel as if the lucky ones in all of this might be the two clubs themselves.
With a compelling body of evidence already built up after Postecoglou’s first 18 months in the country, there can be little or no doubt now that Celtic landed on their feet when Howe’s toes were catching frostbite. Not only has the big Aussie delivered in terms of solid silverware but he has brought with him a style of play which has been transformational and impossible not to admire.
Put it this way, there is a grudging sense of respect on the other side of the city for what Postecoglou is putting together in the East End and even though it might be through gritted teeth, that’s a sure sign that Celtic have won themselves a watch with his appointment. And yet what is not to like? Postecoglou’s rough edges and straight talking make him a thoroughly compelling character. And his brand of stylish, swashbuckling football has been even more engaging.
So much so, in fact, that his name was being quoted yesterday in discussions about Frank Lampard’s future - or lack thereof - at Everton. In some respects, Celtic will be a hostage to fortune where Postecoglou is concerned as his work has not gone unnoticed across the border where the big money has a habit of talking.
But there’s something about Postecoglou’s searing honesty and simmering ambition which should also offer CEO Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell a great deal of comfort in the event that Everton or anyone else do eventually come calling.
He might not hang around up here for as long as Celtic might like him to but, for the time being at least, Postecoglou seems fully immersed in the project he’s overseeing at Parkhead and unlikely to bail out for the sake of a few extra quid at the wrong end of a more attractive league.
Given the backing he’s receiving from the board and the Celtic support alike as well as the lure of next season’s Champions League, he’d be off his head to rush into Lampard’s car crash. And he certainly doesn’t seem like a man in a rush to self-destruct.
On the contrary, Postecoglou looks perfectly pleased with his lot which is good news for Celtic and fascinating where Beale’s own progression is concerned, now that his feet are firmly under the desk at Auchenhowie. The Englishman may still be cutting his teeth in managerial terms but, nine games into his tenure, it’s difficult not to have been impressed by his work both on the pitch and off it.
Much like Postecoglou, Beale has a knack for handling himself well in front of the cameras. He speaks with a sense of honesty and conviction which is hard not to enjoy. Both men may well be modern day managers with contemporary, cutting edge ideas for the way they want their teams to operate.
But there’s more than a touch of the old school about them at the same time which is actually quite refreshing in an age of the new breed of academic coaches, with their powerpoint presentations and textbook tactical jargon. Beale certainly appears to get what it means to be the manager of Rangers and the results he has rattled off in his first few weeks in charge - using players who could hardly string two wins together under the previous boss - suggests he also knows how to connect with those inside his own dressing room.
By speaking so openly about his plans for the January transfer market - and laying the burden of responsibility at the door of director of football Ross Wilson - he has also demonstrated a political craftiness which is also to be admired. Put it this way, Beale was watching from the inside when Wilson failed to give Gerrard what he wanted. By being so up front with the names of his own wish list, including the likes of Todd Cantwell, Morgan Whittaker and Nicolas Raskin, he has very shrewdly pulled a rug out from under Wilson’s feet.
Should these deals not be concluded in the next week then it will be very much on Wilson’s watch and a bad look too for a board which hasn’t been winning many popularity contests in its own backyard over the last year or so. Beale is also likely to be applying some considerable pressure on the men upstairs to find the money required to tie up Ryan Kent on a new contract because the winger is fundamental to everything he has been attempting to implement on the pitch since returning north from QPR.
If Kent can be persuaded to hang around for a season or two and the likes of Cantwell, Whittaker and Raskin are added to the squad for the remainder of the current campaign, then Beale will have played his hand perfectly. He may have planted his tongue inside his cheek when he branded Postecoglou a lucky man the other week and rattled the big man's cage in the process.
But it could be that he was also sending out a subliminal message to his own superiors at the same time. The harder they are prepared to work on his behalf, the luckier he is likely to become.
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