Ange gives massive call out for teenage Australian striker

Ange Postecogou has discussed Garang Kuol in very positive terms.

The young striker is close to getting a World Cup call up by Australia after making a big impact at Central Coast Mariners, the club that Celtic signed Tom Rogic from a year ago.

Postecoglou speaks with a mixture of pride and frustration when he discusses Australian soccer. Pride at the effort going in on the ground but frustration that soccer trails so far behind other sports for attention.

The Daily Record reports:

Another youngster Postecoglou has been linked with is Australian forward Garang Kuol. The 17-year-old scored four goals in his first seven games for A-League outfit Central Coast Mariners and has just been called into the Socceroos squad for two friendly games against New Zealand.

And Postecoglou said: “He is definitely a talent. In my generation a lot of immigrants settled in Australia from a European background and some of our best footballing prospects came from those families.

“It’s a similar scenario now with a lot of immigration coming from African nations. They’re bringing their love of football to Australia. Kuol is one of those who is forging his way and there’s real talent coming through. Both him and his brother in Germany are very talented footballers and hopefully they continue to progress because Australia will benefit.”

The issue with players like this is that Celtic have no system of developing young talent as Luca Connell, Jonathan Afolabi and others have discovered.

Liam Shaw joined Celtic 15 months ago from Sheffield Wednesday, he is now out on loan at Morecambe, almost forgotten and discarded apart from the wages on his four year contract.

Showcasing Celtic in the Champions League will generate interest but a 17-year-old scoring goals at senior level and close to a World Cup place won’t get excited over the Lowland League fixture list with most matches played on plastic.