I met Ange- Starstruck Hugh Keevins completes his u-turn from Absolutely Not Good Enough

Hugh Keevins has completed an incredible turnaround in his opinion of Ange Postecoglou.

The former Yokohama F Marinos boss was greeted with scathing criticism by the Daily Record columnist who announced that the new guy was Absolutely Not Good Enough after three competitive matches.

It wasn’t just a Champions League exit to Midtjylland and SPFL defeat to Hearts that was causing concern but apparently the Celtic manager was insulting the intelligence of supporters with his assessment of matches and his plan to install an exciting brand of football.

Apparently the former Australian World Cup boss cut a detached and remote figure on the touchline. Famously Keevins tipped Celtic to finish last season in third place, behind Aberdeen.

Fortunately for Celtic fans the Record man got that one spectacularly wrong, Postecoglou has outlasted Stephen Glass and his successor Jim Goodwin, similarly across the city Steven Gerrard and Giovanni van Bronckhorst haven’t lasted the race going head-to-head with man in charge of Celtic.

Last Sunday Keevins apparently met Postecoglou at the PFA Scotland Awards night although no detail is revealed about their discussions.

Showing an incredible turnaround, today Keevins informed Record readers:

I met Ange at the PFA Scotland dinner last Sunday and he didn’t look traumatised by the events 24 hours earlier. The loss to Rangers was only his fifth league defeat in two seasons.

Prophecies of doom are, on that basis, not the reason why club owner Dermot Desmond dropped by for a chat last week with the manager. Postecoglou chose a team to play Rangers that tested the standard of some fringe players.

He did so against Rangers because the rest of the teams in the league are so far behind they wouldn’t help provide an accurate reading of what the manager needed to know.

If what you discover about players is negative then that’s part of the learning process. Some fans were annoyed that Rangers’ win sabotaged Celtic’s chance of a record points and goals-scored haul.

But these things are trinkets and baubles for Postecoglou whose preoccupation is acquiring genuine silverware. I thought about it last Monday on the 15th anniversary of Tommy Burns’ sad passing. Tommy understood the significance of stopping Rangers winning nine-in-a-row when he was Celtic manager.

Club owner Fergus McCann was more interested in rebuilding the institution he saved from ruin. The inevitable happened. But McCann put business before bragging rights – and Postecoglou seems a bit like that too.

On 1 August 2021, the day after Celtic lost 2-1 away to Hearts, Keevins told Daily Record readers:

At the very least we now know what the Ange in Ange Postecoglou stands for.

Absolutely. Not. Good. Enough.

And that description also holds good for the board, the chief executive, the team and the principal shareholder, Dermot Desmond, in the wake of yet more European humiliation for Celtic.

Checking on his crystal ball Keevins adds:

The domestic season that began yesterday offers no respite from the recriminations and regrets of midweek in Europe.

On the face of it, Celtic offer no challenge whatsoever to Rangers and their visit to Ibrox on August 29 looms on the horizon like a bad accident waiting to happen.

Since that trip to Ibrox Celtic have lost three SPFL Premiership matches while knocking out two more titles alongside two domestic trophies with the prospect of a third.

Getting personal with Postecoglou, the veteran Daily Record man added:

Postecoglou said he wanted to create a style of play that would have supporters out of their seats.

But that only meant leaving the ground like an emergency evacuation after a friendly mauling from West Ham United last weekend. And the next home game, against Dundee next Sunday, will continue the scrutiny of a man who is struggling to inspire confidence.

Especially if there is yet more underachievement against the Czech side Jablonec in the Europa League qualifier on Thursday.

Ange cuts a detached figure, distant from those around him on the touchline and remote from his players.

His post-match comments in Denmark also allowed room for speculation that he doesn’t fully understand what he has got himself into at Celtic Park in particular and Scottish football’s fevered world in general.

He objected to one journalist’s word to sum up the abject nature of Celtic’s removal from the European level that was once supposed to be their natural habitat.

“It’s not catastrophic, mate,” he said. “That word means the end and it’s far from the end.” Really?

Another was told there was no demoralising effect arising from the result against what could easily have been termed moderate opposition.

“That’s strong language,” Postecoglou said. You ain’t heard nothing yet, mate.

Ange has to prove very quickly that he’s not in the wrong movie and the wrong country. And he has to stop insulting the supporters’ intelligence by telling them what he thinks they want to hear.

It is fair to say that Ange is the right manager in the right movie in the right country with others on the sidelines looking increasingly pointless and irrelevant.