Ducking his duties- Jackson steps up his Ange attacks

For the third time this year Keith Jackson has published a Monday morning attack on Ange Postecoglou.

A refusal to comment on a job vacancy that he has been linked with by the Scottish media has upset the veteran Daily Record reporter, apparently Postecoglou was ducking his duties.

If the Daily Record decide to cover every aspect of the Leeds managerial vacancy by reflecting on how it Postecoglou that is their decision, perhaps there is a market for this type of news. Circulation figures suggest there is a declining market for this.

Last Wednesday Jackson’s senior sources inside Celtic had told the man from the Record that there was nothing in their constant speculation:

Sources at the club insist the interview process got up and running after Marsch’s sacking on Monday, with further discussions held on Tuesday. But Record Sport understands that, as of late Tuesday afternoon, Celtic had received no contact from the Leeds board asking for permission to open talks with Postecoglou.

Furthermore, chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell believe the 57-year-old is happy, motivated and completely committed to leading his side towards a second successive Premiership title, despite any potential interest from across the border.

Disregarding that to push his own view that football managers should be telling all to a newspaper that sells just over 60,000 copies across the UK, Jackson tells Daily Record readers the ins and outs of Friday pre-match media conferences:

But while Klopp was cracking up and Pep was losing the plot, closer to home, Ange Postecoglou was cleverly swerving the cameras and sending John Kennedy into bat on his behalf. Which was an intriguing and unexpected plot twist in itself, given that all that week you couldn’t pick up a paper or turn on the telly without seeing the big Aussie’s name linked to the vacant hotseat at Elland Road.

This was Postecoglou’s first chance to deal with all the speculation head on – and to say exactly what the Celtic support wanted to hear. Something along the lines of: “I categorically won’t be leaving” would have done the trick.

And yet, deliberately or not, Postecoglou left a huge question mark hanging in the air when he opted to stay locked inside his office instead. The party line is that this had been the plan all along. But even if that is the case and Kennedy really was always pencilled in to handle the front of house ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie with St Mirren, it all felt a bit like the big boss was ducking out of his duties.

Jackson could have attended Saturday’s match to ask Postecoglou the big questions, strangely Scott McDermott and Michael Gannon were on duty rather than the Record’s top reporter.

Continuing on Postecoglou, Jackson added:

He was asked live on radio if he regarded the Leeds links as a compliment to his work. “I guess it would be if I paid any attention to it,” was how he brushed it off. It was then put to him that his levels of job satisfaction and feelings of loyalty to Celtic might be being underestimated. Presumably by the media. His response to this one was even more brutal. “I have no idea what you think about anything, mate.”

Again, textbook Postecoglou. Later on however, after another thumping win, Postecoglou explained why he had chosen to step aside on Friday afternoon. But this answer was a lot less convincing.

He said: “I just thought it was a good week for us to sort of focus on training. John’s a very, very capable guy and he handles the media well. I thought I’d have a break from everyone and everyone could have a break from me.”

And all the while, he stopped just short of slamming the door shut on the possibility of a move to England’s elite. By Sunday morning another Premier League job was up for grabs when Southampton finally called time on the discombobulating Nathan Jones. Which means the whole circus surrounding the Celtic manager’s future employment might roll back into town for the rest of this week too.

Today’s masterpiece started with a stunning lack of self-awareness:

They’re all borderline narcissists with a leaning towards control freakery. Well, the best of them are anyway.

Just don’t expect any football manager worth his salt to admit it. That would seem a little too much like the acceptance of criticism. And they’re not comfortable with being criticised. They’re not even all that fond of being questioned.

That is Jackson’s view on football managers, there is at least one other profession that many people would pin that description against.

On January 9 Jackson accused Postecoglou of self pitying and spiteful irrationalism.

On January 16 Jackson accused the Celtic manager of pouring fuel on the paranoia of the Celtic support.

Back in June 2020 Peter Lawwell gave his last newspaper interview as CEO,  telling Jackson that he expected to have fans inside Celtic Park for test matches before the start of the SPFL season, no fans were inside Celtic Park until July 2021.