Ange Postecoglou has taken Scotland by storm and fellow Aussie Scott McDonald is loving every minute of it.
Maybe because the former Celtic striker wasn’t entirely convinced Postecoglou and Parkhead would be a match made in heaven when he arrived on these shores in the summer of 2021. McDonald worked with Postecoglou with the Australian Under 20 team two decades ago, so he knew the former Yokohama Marinos boss had the tactical and managerial ability to be a success. But the ex-Celtic striker wasn’t sure if Postecoglou’s no-nonsense ‘my way or the highway’ approach to his players would work.
It’s fair to say the 39-year-old, now in his first managerial gig with Gold Coast Knights in his homeland, is delighted to have had those fears allayed. “If truth be told, I questioned it in terms of his ability, not as a coach but as a person to be able to give players the amount of time they needed for them to believe in who he is at a club like Celtic,” McDonald told the Off The Record podcast.
“Ange was always very cold with his players. (He’s) not warming and doesn’t really speak to them but I genuinely believe he wasn’t like that when he first went through the doors at Celtic. He had to give more. But with the experience he has gained and the amount of knowledge he has - and the amount of winning he’s had - he’s not a stupid man. He understands and he knew what he had to do. Now he can step back. He’s earned that right. Everyone knows who he is and he’s got their respect now.
“He doesn’t need to walk through the door and talk to Callum (McGregor) every day, but I’ll bet you he was during the first period. He would have been talking to the important ones, making sure they bought in and understood what he needed, what he wanted, and that was the thing that surprised the most. That’s what I had questioned. It wasn’t about tactics or his knowledge. He’s an excellent football tactician and manager and that has developed since his Brisbane Roar days, then going to the national team and Yokohama, and then coming into Celtic and doing what he’s doing.
“But on that human basis, could he get players to buy into what he was? It shows you what a special character, manager and leader that he is, that he was able to do that and more with this group. It’s another special period for Celtic with him in charge at the moment. He’s still as cold and ruthless as ever. He’ll never lose that. He’s very cutting when he needs to be. He will not be messed around.”
McDonald knows from experience.
“I had two campaigns with him with the Australian Under 20s,” he smiled. “And he never called me once when he was in charge of the Socceroos. He wasn’t interested. I was at Millwall at the time and never even got a sniff, maybe I’ll ask him about that one day.
“But that’s him. If he doesn’t like you or need you, he doesn’t give you an excuse or explanation. He doesn’t need to. He’s moving on. That’s the way he works and you’ve got to respect that. Even as captain of his Under 20s, and as his most experienced campaigner at that point because it was my third campaign in these World Cups, he pulled me into his hotel room before we played Brazil and we needed a result to go through to the next round and he just said: ‘you’re not playing. You don’t suit the style of what we need to beat this team.’
“I was going, ‘Captain? I’m f**king on the bench’. But we won, so who am I to say he was wrong? But I saw him recently when he was back over here and I said: ‘The biggest mistake you made wasn’t dropping me, it was bringing me back in for the next game and we lost!’ The moral of that story was that I was the captain and his most experienced player, but did he care? He did what he thought was best and made the hard call. That was 20 years ago he was doing that. He’ll always make them and that’s what makes him a very, very good manager.”
As McDonald steers his own course in management, he admits he’d love to test himself in Scotland one day. “One more Australian won’t hurt, eh?”, he said. “Absolutely. I’ve got a passion for it. I’ve been in my job over here for 18 months and learned a helluva lot. It’s part time in terms of three nights a week plus games but this is more challenging because you have to understand people having things other than football to deal with.
“You have to support them and have empathy, which is something I didn’t always have as a player. You have to think about their needs as well as your needs and that has been a big learning curve. And when you give that and they believe in you, that’s when they buy into your ideas and success comes from that.”
Asked if the dream would be to follow in Postecoglou’s footsteps at some point, he answered with typical candour: “I’m not a dreamer. I’m a realist and I only want to be the best I possibly can be. I’ll never not want more. “I’ll always want to be better and get more out of people who are with me. I never dream big. I just get on with the next day, the next day. It’s not about a week’s time; it’s how can I get better now. I’ve had my career. Players don’t want to know about it and it doesn’t matter any more. I’d love a crack at the big time at some point, absolutely. I’m earning my stripes now but I’m not in any rush either.”
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