Keith Jackson has reported that Ange Postecoglou was greeted by a mutinous support running riot outside the stadium when he joined Celtic last June.
Perhaps the Daily Record reporter is getting mixed up with the angry reaction to a home League Cup defeat from Ross County seven months earlier.
After the doomed mission to bring in Eddie Howe it was widely leaked that Celtic’s attention had switched to the boss of Yokohama Marinos.
There was plenty of sceptical supporters, mainly based on the recruitment track record of Peter Lawwell, but some simple research suggested that Postecoglou was the sort of character that was needed to turn around the shambles and non-existent infrastructure that he was walking into.
Reports from Australia and Japan were positive, the main source of concern was three wasted months that made a difficult job almost impossible for the new guy picking up the pieces of a threadbare squad badly in need of meaningful reinforcements.
What to do with Albian Ajeti, Vasilis Barkas, Ismaila Soro, Boli Bolingoli, Vakoum Bayo and Marian Shved was going to be a big obstacle to the new man.
Giving his unique view on events just under a year ago as Postecoglou took charge, Jackson reports in the Daily Record:
When the call came from former chief executive Peter Lawwell, he didn’t need asking twice even though it meant upping sticks from the home he had built for himself in Japan and heading to the other end of the world.
A relative unknown, willingly stepping into a car crash and taking on a challenge which scared Eddie Howe into running in the other direction.
Postecoglou was perhaps the only man outside of Lawwell’s office who didn’t believe he was on a hiding to nothing.
No backroom staff? No problem.
A dressing room in open revolt and a mutinous support already running riot outside the stadium? Bring it on.
Another perceptive call from the ultimate Man In The Know…https://t.co/7ov3K4F4bF
— Joe McHugh (@videocelts) May 11, 2022
If Lawwell was a tenth as smart as his pal Jackson portrays him he’d have sacked Neil Lennon before Christmas 2020 to give a new boss the January transfer window to change direction and salvage something from last season.
Why did it take the former Celtic CEO 106 days to turn to someone he was so sure was going to be a success?
Under pressure in December 2020 the CEO announced a Managerial Review that took two months to complete before concluding that the guy Lawwell had twice appointed as caretaker and gave a permanent job to in May 2019 without considering any other candidates was the right man for the job.
A fortnight after the conclusion of that review Lennon resigned as Celtic manager prompting a 106 day wait for a replacement.
After finally realising that Eddie Howe was serious about taking a year out of management the Celtic board decided to get back in touch with Frank Trimboli of CAA Base about the former Australian international boss that he’d mentioned that had ambitions to work in Europe.
From then on it has been a triumph for Postecoglou. And only Postecoglou. He found a decent but depleted core of players, revived Tom Rogic and Tony Ralston then rebuilt a squad based on the fees brought in by selling Kris Ajer and Odsonne Edouard.
A year ago, apart from those banging down the door to get out, Callum McGregor was the only sellable asset Celtic had.
Four of the five January signings could be sold tomorrow for a tidy profit while the £2.5m spent on Josip Juranavic could be recovered four or five times over if he was put up for sale.
In goals Joe Hart isn’t going to bring in Dembele Dollars but his contribution this season highlights why a genuine player with character and leadership is priceless compared to the wishful thinking that Barkas could be quickly sold on to the EPL.
The only riots in Glasgow last year were in March and May centered on George Square, Seville beware.
CLICK HERE for Lawwell’s last newspaper interview as CEO, telling Jackson about Celtic’s plans to host test matches in July 2020 ahead of the start of the 20/21 season. No fan attended a match inside Celtic Park until July 2021.
Lawwell brought a lot of good to the club it’s all water under the bridge now let’s look to the future,the past all ifs and buts if I had have put these numbers in I would have won the euro millions let’s move on.
Editor: Lawwell brought a lot of good to Malmo, Maribor, AEK Athens, Cluj, Molde, Ferencvaros, Sparta Prague, Copenhagen. He brought Bayo, Shved, Ajeti, Barkas, Soro, Klimala, Bolingoli, Hamed, Ajeti and many more to the wage bill.
Project signings like Liam Shaw, Osaze Urhoghide, Luca Connell, Jonathan Afolabi, Lee O’Connor, Michael Duffy, Liam Burt and others. He brought youth development to a halt- see current first team squad and u-18 league table. His presence lives on and lingers #SIXWAYAGREEMENT
How on earth is this imposter still stealing a wage more than ten years after making a complete fool of himself with ibrox propaganda. Scotlands media shame.