Ange Postecoglou on why his Japanese new boys can take Celtic to a new level in the second half of the season

Given the massive rebuilding job he had to oversee in a short space of time immediately after he took over back in June, Ange Postecoglou can be quietly satisfied with how his first six months at Parkhead have gone.  

Yet, Postecoglou remains acutely aware, with his team trailing their city rivals Rangers by six points in the cinch Premiership table, there is ample room for improvement in the second half of this term.

He knows the demands in the East End of Glasgow are relentless and understands that second best, domestically at least, is never acceptable.

But the Greek-Australian coach, whose men return to action after the winter shutdown tomorrow evening when they take on Hibernian at home in the league, believes that injuries prevented Celtic from performing at their best at times last year.

He is convinced the arrival of Reo Hatate, Yosuke Ideguchi and Daizen Maeda, the Japanese trio who could all make their debuts against Hibs, will result in far greater consistency and more success going forward.

“We won the Premier Sports Cup, which was not inconsequential, which was a fairly significant achievement considering where we were starting from,” said Postecoglou.

“But we want to do better in all areas. Our form after the initial part of the season was strong, but there is no doubt that we suffered from injuries, that we suffered from lack of energy at times physically.

“Through to December, we didn’t have a squad robust enough to cope with the demands we had with European football. That meant we weren’t able to play with the energy we wanted to. To the players’ credit we didn’t offer any excuses, they kept going and got the job done.

“But we want to improve in all areas in the second half of the season. We can do that if we have a strong squad, which I think we will have, and are able to cope with the demands ahead and keep pushing and are able to play better football than we did in the first half of the season. If we do that we give ourselves a chance.”

Postecoglou added: “I have brought in four quality players, players who I think can add to what I am doing here. They are all totally different, they all have different personalities, they have had different careers so far and they offer something different to the club.

“The reason I went down that road, is, one, I have great knowledge of that market in that part of the world because that is where I have worked and, two, it is ideal for the January market because their season finishes in December.

“I knew this after the summer window because that is when we started working on it. If we want to get players in early in the January window that is a good part of the world to try and do business. That is why we worked at it really early.

“It is quite obvious that we were going to need to bring in three or four players in this window and I wanted players in early in the window. It makes sense for us to go to that market.”

Kyogo Furuhashi has been nothing short of a revelation since moving to Celtic in the summer and Postecoglou is confident his new Japanese recruits will not encounter any difficulties overcoming the language barrier in Scotland and integrating into his squad. 

“Don’t just assume we’ve brought in four Japanese players, we have brought in four quality players who are all very different and who can all contribute to our football club,” he said. “I have run into all kinds of different Scots since I have been here mate. That’s the same all over the world.

“The reality of it is they’re not going to help each other integrate into the group. Callum McGregor and the senior players in the squad understand that. They are the ones they are interacting with.

“Some of them came to Europe because they didn’t want to be in the environment they were in, they wanted to get out of that environment, that is why they are here. It’s the reason they’ve left their shores.

“You’ve just got to get to know these guys. They can speak Japanese, but if they were only interested in continuing to speak Japanese they would have stayed in Japan.

“You’d be surprised. Kyogo’s English is coming along very well. Daizen’s English is no problem and the other guys are working hard at it. They don’t need home comforts and if they did they would struggle wherever they went.”

Postecoglou added: “From our perspective, our support comes from not trying to replicate what they had over there, our support comes from providing an environment here that makes them fulfil our football dreams. That’s why they left their country, like any other player leaves their country and comes to a club like this.

“So, the fact that Kyogo was here wasn’t an attraction to them. Having another three players from Japan wasn’t that exciting for Kyogo. What’s exciting is that we are bringing another three quality players in. Kyogo is excited and the players we are bringing in are coming to a big club and want to test themselves at the highest possible level.”

Postecoglou suspected the hamstring injury that David Turnbull suffered in the Premier Sports Cup final against Hibernian last month was a direct result of the number of games the midfielder had played.

However, he is hopeful the Scotland internationalist will be available soon and is confident that when he returns the demands on him will not be so great.

“David’s in rehab at the moment and it’s hard to put a timeline,” he said. “But he’s working hard in rehab and he’s feeling pretty good about the way it’s gone so far. I think it’s a matter of weeks rather than longer than that.

“He played a lot of football in the first half of the season and he’s probably one of the ones who suffered because of that. When he does come back we’ll be able to balance it a bit more with the reinforcements we’ve brought in.”