ANGE POSTECOGLOU is “the king at Celtic” and has no intention of quitting the champions.
That’s the forthright view of former Australian international midfielder Robbie Slater who believes the 57-year-old Hoops manager wants to make a massive impact in the Champions League with Scotland’s title kings.
Postecoglou, of course, won the Premiership crown and the League Cup in his debut campaign after inheriting a shambles from the previous season when the club limped through a disastrous term to complete a wretched programme without a trophy for the first time in 11 years.
PARADISE…Ange Postecoglou and the Celtic players take a bow after the 6-0 win over Motherwell during Flag Day at Parkhead on May 14 last year.
He has followed that up with the Parkhead club on the brink of their eighth treble in his second term – a fact that has not gone unnoticed across the border.
There has been a queue of top-flight teams linked with Postecoglou this season with Spurs, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds United, Wolves, Southampton and Brighton all rating a mention at regular intervals.
Fifty-eight-year-old Slater, who played for Blackburn Rovers and West Ham, told Fox Football Podcast: “I think the interest is deserved. I think he’s grown a great reputation. It’s not just his success, it’s the way it’s happening. It’s the style of football.
“It’s certainly rarely been seen, this style of football that Ange has brought.
“And he’s done it with every club he’s been to, to be fair to him. He is the king at Celtic.”
The Hoops have dominated the Scottish scene – with the only blip coming in the 2-1 extra-time Scottish Cup semi-final loss last season – with the League Cup already wrapped up In February, the team requiring just one win from their remaining five league games to lift the crown again and a Scottish Cup Final date with Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday June 3.
GREEN MIST…Ange Postecoglou in the perfect setting.
However, that success story has stalled in Europe and the Hoops lost four and drew two of their Champions League group matches to finish bottom of the table.
Slater reckons the experience gained from encounters against the likes of Real Madrid will not have been lost on the man he calls “Aussie Ange” as he attempts to make a dent on Europe’s most prestigious competition.
The 44 times-capped one-time playmaker also believes there is no chance of Postecoglou failing to get his hands on the Scottish Cup, the trophy that escaped him last time around.
Slater insisted a defeat for Celtic against the Highlanders would be the “biggest boilover in world football history”.
It’s a quaint Aussie expression for a surprise result in a sporting event.
We can only hope “the king of Celtic” and everyone associated with the club is not suffering from the “boilover” of a traumatic result at the national stadium early next month.
