Ange Postecoglou: Celtic manager on Socceroos, Aaron Mooy, Tom Rogic and more

After walking away from the Socceroos coaching job in 2017, Ange Postecoglou has blazed a trail abroad. Now the Celtic manager opens up on his incredible journey.

Ange Postecoglou.

In a strange twist of fate, Ange Postecoglou will be in Australia when the Socceroos play France in their 2022 World Cup opener.

After walking away from the Socceroos job in 2017, Postecoglou has blazed a trail abroad, firstly winning silverware in Japan with Yokohama F Marinos, and leading Celtic to last season’s Scottish title and into the Champions League, pitting his mind against the best the world has to offer.

Celtic will come to Australia during the World Cup enforced mid-season break, and during his trip back home, Postecoglou is appearing in his own speaking tour, detailing his journey so far.

Postecoglou spoke with Adam Peacock about that journey, plus his take on the current Socceroos, and the shared frustrations he has with current Socceroos manager Graham Arnold.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou and captain Callum McGregor hold the Cinch Scottish Premier League trophy.

What’s the key ingredient to going from local Melbourne club Whittlesea Zebras in 2009 to a few years later coming back for your own speaking tour?

AP: Don’t think there is, mate. No set formula for that to happen apart from self-belief and doing what you do to the best of your ability. I’ve never looked too far ahead to the next stage of my career and that’s helped me.

That time (2009) was after South Melbourne and seven years with the youth national teams, so I wasn’t struggling getting my career going, just had a small period where opportunities weren’t coming for me. But it’s been pretty incredible the 13, 14 years since.

Adam:

Celtic, out of the Champions League, two games to go which will be great nights ahead (including Real Madrid away) but you can’t progress. Any heat from the stands?

Ange:

People understand, it is the first time in the Champions League in five years. You can play this competition for ten years straight and not win it. Our supporters are disappointed because we felt like we’ve had opportunities in games to make more of an impact. I feel the same way. We’ve gone into the toughest competition in the world and competed in every game, just got to the final third and not taken our chances. That’s what happens at this level.

In the Champions League you need to be there consistently every year, if we do that, there’s a sweet spot when it will all come together.

Adam:

To get there automatically next season, it’s between you and Rangers again. That rivalry, is it everything you thought it might be?

Ange Postecoglou in Sydney.

Ange:

Don’t think it’s so much the rivalry. The two clubs dominate historically. There aren’t great margins for error, last season we lost three of our first six games, and the reality is if we dropped another along the way we might not have been champions. A club like ours is expected to win every game and if you don’t, that possibility goes away.

So far we are going OK.

Adam:

The Socceroos. There are a few injury concerns so I’d say Graham Arnold is paying close attention to how Aaron Mooy is at Celtic. You felt he’d be flying by the time the World Cup starts, anything derailed you from those thoughts?

Ange:

He hadn’t played a lot of football when we brought him in. Against Peru in June he was outstanding (having not played for six months), and he missed all of our pre-season training on his own, so there was no chance he was going to hit the ground running.

He’s getting there, his last few performances have been really strong. I’m sure come World Cup he’ll be in great condition. He won’t be overawed going to a World Cup and his club form will help him do that.

Aaron Mooy will be a key part of the Socceroos’ squad in Qatar.

Adam:

Has he got the attributes to make a huge mark in Qatar?

Ange:

Yeah absolutely. He showed it against Peru, tough game, everything riding on it, I thought he was the best player for us. He’s got the technical ability that whoever he plays against he’ll find solutions out there. He’ll be looking forward to it now that he’s in good physical condition.

Adam:

Have you had many conversations with Graham Arnold since you’ve been there, and what are they like?

Ange:

He was here last year at training, I exchange messages now and then but he’s his own man, has his way. It’s exciting, there aren’t many of us who have the good fortune to lead our own country to a World Cup. It is special … and hopefully they can make an impact.

Adam:

Behind the scenes Arnold has his frustrations with Australian football, junior pathways and the like, outside looking in do you notice they haven’t changed much from your time?

Ange Postecoglou and his players celebrate a goal during Australia’s World Cup qualifier against Honduras in 2018.

Ange:

Hard for me to say because I’m far away. But that’s the only trap when managing your own nation you fall into. It’s not his remit. It wasn’t mine, and that’s why I left in the end because you end up worrying about things that aren’t in your remit, like pathways. What I’ve learned is being the national team coach, your responsibility is to get the best out of the national team. It’s not to change the whole landscape. If you go down that path, and I fell into that trap, you end up not doing your job as well as you can. We don’t expect that from foreign national team coaches. Didn’t expect Guus Hiddink to change the world for us and we hold him up as our greatest ever national team coach.

Unfortunately when you’re Australian you take on the burden, and that burden is the wrong way to go about it.

Adam:

Tom Rogic. You would have noticed he’s back with West Brom. Would you take him to a World Cup?

Ange:

Yeah I think so, if Tommy is playing, he’s fit, he’s a player that can make an impact at that level. He had a fantastic year for us last year. The ability is still there and when you go to a World Cup you want a player you know can perform at that level.

Postecoglou says he would taken former Celtic midfielder Tom Rogic to the World Cup.

Adam:

Did you have an inkling what was going to happen with him over those three mysterious months (when he pulled out of the Socceroos playoffs and waited to find a club)?

Ange:

Anyone who knows Tom he’s his own man. Not going to follow his journey on Instagram, let me give you the tip. Had a good discussion with Tom, fantastic career here, but played pretty much his whole career here and wanted to do something different, and I respected that. Said let’s make the last one special, and he did. Ended up champions, said farewell in front of the home fans. Beyond that just left him to his own devices, that’s the type of guy he is.

Adam:

Socceroos first game is France. How do you deal with Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe up front together?

Ange:

It’s a collective sport. Look at it on an individual basis, you’ve got no chance. That’s not how sport or football works. It’s about your collective against their collective.

You can stop those two, they’ve got some decent players outside of that which can hurt you. If you go in thinking about swapping shirts with them, that’s all you’ll get out of it.

Postecoglou enjoyed success in Japan before heading to Celtic.

Adam:

The two nights in Sydney and Melbourne on stage, what can people expect? A football story, or a human story about the whole journey?

Ange:

Bit of everything. Been away for 4-5 years from Australia and the only contact is through the media, and there might be a bit of a curiosity about my journey, the way the Socceroos ended, and experiences in Japan and here at Celtic.

Gives me a chance to get insight into the unique situation of an Australian manager with one of the biggest clubs in the world.

Adam:

And in between the nights (Nov 22 in Sydney) and November 23 (Melbourne) there’s a game to watch between Australia and France. You’ll be glued to it?

Ange:

Yeah it’ll be great, World Cup time is always great, the whole nation gets behind the Socceroos and with it being in the middle of the A League season, European leagues, it’s a great time. We’ll be there to play Sydney FC and Everton. Hopefully all the other sports go on hiatus for a few weeks and we can dominate with our stories.

Ange Postecoglou, is returning to Australia this November with an exclusive new two show speaking tour: “An Evening with Ange Postecoglou – The Journey So Far” presented by TEG Live. Tickets available via www.TEGLive.com.au