One step ahead- Ange praised for work on and off the pitch

Charlie Nicholas believes that Celtic are one step ahead on and off the park.

In his fourth transfer window Ange Postecoglou appears to have taken Celtic into a position of strength that has never before been reached.

As well as identifying and signing players it seems that the Australian also plans on departures with Josip Juranovic bought and sold in under 18 months.

Alistair Johnston was signed was signed a month before the transfer window was opened, stepping in to make his debut at Ibrox where he looked perfectly at ease after a few weeks training.

Picking up on Nicholas’ Daily Express column, the Daily Record reports:

Celtic and Ange Postecoglou look one step ahead just now, both in the Premiership title race and in their transfer window dealings. The Hoops have already signed the majority of their targets and seem to be well down the road with their remaining January business.

Alistair Johnston, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi have all made their debuts this month, while South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu is on his way to Celtic Park. Postecoglou seems to be in total control of how the operation works and he isn’t stressed about losing key players because he has already done the hard graft in identifying replacements.

The Aussie doesn’t wait for other people at the club to rubber-stamp his decisions. He tells them what to do. Postecoglou knows how he wants to go about his business and just gets it done. The Australian plans ahead. It’s no coincidence that Celtic are bedding in a new right back, centre-half and, very soon, a new centre-forward.

In contrast, in January 2021 Celtic were involved in two deadline day deals with Jeremy Frimpong sold to Bayer Leverkusen and Jonjoe Kenny brought in on loan as his replacement.

With a week left to run in the transfer window it seems that Postecoglou is firmly in charge of his squad with plans in place for every eventuality.