ANGE POSTECOGLOU has dismissed the relevance of links with Brighton as he concentrates on taking care of business as manager of Celtic.
The 57-year-old Greek-Australian gaffer is refusing to allow background chatter to interrupt his sole focus on preparing his team for this evening’s Champions League Group F encounter against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw.
Postecoglou was a frontrunner to replace Chelsea-bound Graham Potter last week, according to reports across the border.
The speculation has hardly knocked the single-minded Hoops chief out of his stride as he plots ahead to make sure the Parkhead club continue their upward trend since his arrival on these shores in June last year.
MAN ON A MISSION…Ange Postecoglou addresses the media conference in Warsaw.
He was tasked with reviving a team that had failed so miserably in their bid for a historic tenth title in succession, had limped in without silverware for the first time in 11 years and had a queue of players such as top scorer Odsonne Edouard and internationals Kristoffer Ajer and Ryan Christie failing to disguise their desire to quit the club.
After winning the Premier Sports League Cup in December and following up with the Premiership triumph in May, it was obvious the Hoops boss would come on the radar of other clubs when football’s managerial merry-go-round took its anticipated spin at this time of the season.
Postecoglou isn’t interested in outside noise and said: “It’s not really relevant in my world or in my space.
“I have done that my whole career, I have just focused on being as successful as I can for the club I represent. If I do that, everything else takes care of itself because things change pretty quickly in football.
“If I’m not successful here, it won’t be other options that open up for me, it’ll be this one that closes.”
THE IRRELEVANCE OF BRIGHTON…Ange Postecoglou focuses on Celtic.
Asked if it still early in what he is striving to achieve at Celtic, Postecoglou, speaking to the Daily Record, answered: “It is what it is. We’ve tried to sort of build the team as quickly as we possibly can.
“We did that last year knowing that we needed to bring success to the football club. We are in the Champions League now, so our role now is to be the best we can be in that and try to make an impact this year.
“Where that takes us, or how far that takes us, we’ll see at the end.”
Postecoglou added: “I have always been mindful of making sure that every opportunity we get we try to grab.
“Whether it’s come too early or come at the right time, we do know that Champions League football is here for us and we want to take that opportunity.”
* DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Shakhtar Donetsk v Celtic this evening – only in your champion CQN.
