Postecoglou: Methodical work will help with Celtic transfer success

Ange Postecoglou says he’s taking a steady, methodical approach to recruiting new players for Celtic as he plans for the January transfer window.

The Australian has seen a large number of summer additions gel quickly into a team, with four wins and a draw on league business in October earning him the manager of the month award.

While the international break has allowed a breather after a busy but successful spell, Postecoglou continues to work on his transfer plans with the next window just seven weeks away.

The manager said that work on planning should be systematic to avoid a repeat of a busy and difficult time when he had just arrived at the club.

“It’s a constant,” he said. “I like to work pretty methodically.

“I don’t like to rush into things, whether that’s decisions about the current state of affairs or future affairs. That’s why the summer transfer window, for me, was way too chaotic, but understandably so because of the situation I was put into.

“I don’t want that to happen in January and I don’t want that to happen in the future. That won’t happen if we start working methodically from now.

“That doesn’t mean we ramp things up or do things at a faster pace, it just means we do things in a systematic way that allows us to make the best decision without feeling the pressure of time.”

Postecoglou, who has been linked with a return to the Japanese market after the instant success of summer signing Kyogo Furuhashi, confirmed that there will be some arrivals but also indicated that recent performances from some players had reshaped his thinking on what might be required.

“It won’t be as busy as the summer but there will be some activity,” he said. “There are some areas I feel we should strengthen and while we’re not in any rush, a lot of that will be dictated by how the ones we’ve got here develop over the next period of time as well.

“We’ve had some players who have shown some fantastic acceleration in their development over the last period.It’s been pleasing to see and means maybe we don’t have to reinforce those areas and can look at others.

“As we go along, we’ll see what gaps need to be filled.”

The Celtic boss was also asked for his thoughts on events across the city at Rangers, where Steven gerrard has emerged as a target for Aston Villa as they search for a new manager.

“They’re the kind of distractions I avoid, to be honest,” he said. “I’ve been really laser-focused on here, and I’ll continue to be.

“I’m just making everyone really aware that we can’t get distracted by anything or anyone else. We’re trying to build something here, and when you’re trying to build something, and be successful, you can’t afford to be looking over your fence at what other people are doing.

“We’ve got to build our house, make it nice and beautiful and then see how it stacks up against the rest of the neighbourhood.”