When Celtic made the decision to appoint Ange Postecoglou as the club’s manager in the summer, it is safe to say that there was a sense of disappointment amongst most of the fans. For months, the Hoops had been linked with Eddie Howe but that failed to transpire. And that resulted in them bringing in the then Yokohama F. Marinos manager. Quite a few eyebrows were raised though.
Despite his considerable success in Australia and Japan, Postecoglou was not a household name in European football and his only experience managing on the continent was at Greek side, Panachaiki.
Thus, there were many pundits and fans alike who had already written Celtic’s chances off before the season had even begun. And looking back less than a year later, some of the comments from back then are pretty funny.
Former Rangers star, Kris Boyd, had even claimed that he would have packed his bags if he was Postecoglou, back in July of last year. He wrote in his column in The Scottish Sun:
ANGE POSTECOGLOU has no authority at Celtic, no backing, no support from the board — and virtually no chance of being successful.
Unless things change, there’s no point in him being there.
Right now, if I was him I’d pack my bags and go.
Postecoglou might as well hand in his resignation and take himself back to Australia.
Boyd’s old comments about Postecoglou at Celtic go viral
We are approaching the end of March and it is safe to say that the progress that Celtic have made since the arrival of Postecoglou as manager is remarkable.
The Hoops have already won the Scottish League Cup, are in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and are leading the Premiership title race by three points with seven league games left to be played.
Thus, a potential treble is on and even if that does not happen, this season must be considered as a huge success. Most people had considered this to be a transitional campaign but it has proven to be much more.
Also, one has to wonder how Boyd feels about his comments on Postecoglou at Celtic, reading them back now.
This article was originally posted here