Video: “I’m keen to hit the ground running,” Ange Postecoglou on Celtic’s Pre-Season Preparations | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou has been very quiet since his initial introduction to the Celtic support as our new manager. The Australian obviously had to Mae his way to Scotland from Japan and has had to go through the self-isolation protocols that are in place, so it’s fair to say that it will be next month before his presence is fully felt around the club.

Postecoglou however did pop up again today, speaking to Celtic View Editor Paul Cuddihy on the club’s own podcast to discuss the Champions League second qualifying round draw against Danish side FC Midtjylland.

The first leg is now confirmed for Celtic Park on Tuesday, 20 July (KO 19:45), with the away leg taking place in Denmark on Wednesday, 28 July (KO 18:45 CPT).

“It’s obviously a very significant fixture for us and it comes pretty early. It’s exciting for me, for the players and the whole club,” Postecoglou told the Celtic View podcast. “It gives us a target now that the pre-season is about to start and I’m looking forward to it. Those great nights in Europe are what Celtic are all about so hopefully we can create more magic this year.”

Paul Cuddihy mentioned a player familiar to the Celtic support, the former Hoops star Erik Sviatchenko while Ange Postecoglou is well aware of the Danish side, given that Australian internationalist, Awer Mabil, plays for them.

“I know Awer well. He’s a fantastic young man and a great talent,” said the Celtic manager. “He’s been there for quite a while and because of that I know the club quite well. I’ve followed his progress and the club’s progress, and it’ll be great to see him again because, as I said, he’s a great young talent.

“And the Celtic supporters will welcome big Erik as well, so it’ll be a great fixture.”

The Celtic manager confirmed that preparations for the new season are already well underway and that he is in daily communication with coaching staff to start implementing his plans and ideas.

“I’ve been hard at work already and it’s been great to connect with everyone at the club and get to know everyone,” he said. “I’m keen to hit the ground running and try to get as much work done before I get there, but my own view is that we can’t be more prepared than what we are at the moment in terms of the conditions we’ve had to face.

“I’m fully confident that once I hit the ground, we’ll get started and I’m really excited about the fact that we’ve got something to look forward to and a bit of a target there over the next four or five weeks.

“The work’s already started, to be fair. A lot of the lads, the staff at the club, are already putting plans in place. I’m talking to them daily so they kind of know how I want us to work.

“There’s a lot of work been done already and certainly, in the first few days, the staff there are really keen to set the new tone and the agenda that I’ve got. So I think the players will feel a difference straight away, but, obviously, for me, the real impact will come when I get there and I can talk to people.

“The target is that first Champions League game, but we’ve got a lot of work to do before that. We’ve got some fantastic friendly fixtures and warm-up games to prepare for that, and training as well, which will be the key part for us.”