Ange Postecoglou eyes 'more compelling' Celtic as he reaches 100-game mark

Ange Postecoglou is proud of everything he’s achieved as he approaches 100 games in charge of Celtic – but is intent on continued improvement and delivering a “more compelling” team.

The Australian manager will reach the landmark 100-game point when he leads his team out against Hearts on Wednesday night and he can reflect on an eventful time in charge so far.

Appointed in June 2021, Postecoglou has overseen an overhaul of the squad, three trophies delivered and the return of Celtic to the elite stage of the Champions League.

While admitting the time has flown by in some ways, the experienced 57-year-old said that just joining the club was the standout moment.

“The volume of games we have at this football club means it’s not that long in terms of length of time,” Postecoglou said. “But I guess 100 games is fairly significant.

“It would have been pretty long odds when I took the job that I’d reach it. So I guess that’s something.

“The day I was appointed [was the proudest moment]. That was it for me.

“All you can ever ask for in life is an opportunity and you know, if people give you that opportunity, then the rest is kind of up to each individual or myself to take that.

“But given the opportunity to manage this great football club was the best day for me. I’ve just been working hard ever since to hopefully repay that faith that people showed in me.”

Postecoglou’s transformation of the Celtic team has been almost complete not just in terms of personnel but also in style and he said that he took pride in the performances he had coached from them. But while he sees progress, the ambitious manager wants more and plans to “accelerate” the development.

“It’s fair to say with that, what we have achieved in just over 18 months, has probably been the most pleasing part,” he explained. “We are really well down the track in terms of playing the kind of football and being the kind of football team I want us to be.

“Which is great, it means I can keep accelerating this and make us a more compelling football team.

“That’s where I get the most satisfaction, not disregarding the success or the trophies, because they are the key cornerstone for any manager of any football club, particularly this one. But the kind of football we have played has probably been the thing that has pleased me the most.”

While he has clear ideas of how he wants to improve, he revealed that he never has a finished article in mind and just wants continued progress.

“It’s an ever-vanishing target,” he said. “If I think I am close, it just gets further away.

“That’s how I have approached my managerial career at every club I have managed.

“There is no target. I have never set any goals because I have always felt that setting goals means that at some point there is an end point and I just don’t want there to be an end point.

“I just want to keep improving, keep pushing the boundaries of how good we can be as a football club and how good I can make these players and how better the football can be. We will always be at a point where we want to be is further down the road.”