Ange Postecoglou Celtic Q+A in full: Not changing his approach for Rangers and don't ask about Kyogo!

Squad wise is everybody okay and what is the situation with Daizen Maeda and Tom Rogic?

We'll see how he is. He gets in tomorrow morning. He played 20 minutes and I haven't seen the game and I haven't spoken to him yet so we'll probably have a chat with him when he lands tomorrow and see how he feels. He definitely won't start but there is a chance he will make the squad. We'll just see how he is and Tommy will play 90 minutes so you can pretty much rule him out. Nir Bitton is suspended. Callum McGregor trained with the team today and I'm not really sure (on him), I will make a decision on that later.

Are you more confident going into this Rangers game having had the first experience of it back in August?

I didn't feel less confident going there as it was still a pretty tight game when we played them. It was early in the piece obviously and we were still very unsettled and we still signed a few players after that game. Two or three of the starting line-up actually left after that match if memory serves me well. It was a difficult period for us and it has been well-chronicled but we have been pretty settled for the last few months in terms of our form, performances and results. From our perspective, that's what we want to continue.

Steven Gerrard was in charge of that game, how different are Rangers under GVB and have you paid much attention to them?

In terms of personnel they have not changed too much but I think you have seen with their form that they have become a bit more solid defensively since Gio has taken over. I guess for him when you come in mid-season it is hard to do major changes. They are already in decent form and going well so you would not expect anything too drastic in terms of personnel changes and the way they go about things.

Josip thinks you are playing the best football now as you have won 12 out of the last 13 games. In terms of your own form, is this the best time to play Rangers?

I just think we need to continue making progress, our football has been consistently good and we just need to keep doing that as we are still not at the levels we want to be and we still have key absences in terms of the squad and the line-up which doesn't allow us to rotate the squad the way I would like to. Hopefully, over the next two or three weeks, we can become stronger in that area and with that our football improves as well. 

How much importance do you place on a win tomorrow as the fans are desperate because it's been over two years since you beat Rangers?

It is important for our supporters as there is no doubting that this is a fixture that they look forward to, particularly at home as they want to have an enjoyable night and that means us winning. The whole psychology of it I know. I have been around long enough and the first question I will be asked if we win on Thursday morning is does this mean you will get complacent? Does this mean you have some sort of edge? The reality is that it is an important game for us and this football club for a number of reasons. Most importantly for our supporters. Secondly, we have a chance to go top and put the club in a position which will be good. After that, we have got to dust ourselves down at the weekend and go again.

Are you relishing the prospect of a noisy full-house Celtic Park crowd?

I am looking forward to it and it should be great. Our supporters got denied the chance to watch the derby last year and at the beginning of this year. A full Celtic Park rocking tomorrow will be great.

Is there any chance Kyogo will be involved?

I said Kyogo was weeks away. I am not a liar. Let's be clear about this. I don't want to be asked about Kyogo every week. I said weeks away a week ago, Weeks means weeks. He has a similar injury to David Turnbull and he has been out for a while and you can do your own maths. I am not going to give exact timelines. There is no point asking about Kyogo every week, nothing is going to change, he is out for a few weeks. Once we get closer to him you will see him out training and we'll go from there.

There has been a lot said about this game and the excitement building, how have the players been?

We have only had two days since the weekend. We had the day off after the game recovering and we have had a couple of sessions. Today was the first full session we had with the players. I am sure they are looking forward to it but I prepare my players the same way for every game. We work with the guys daily and we give them work. Some need extra work, some need freshening up but we just make sure everybody is ready for tomorrow.

READ MORE: Has Ange Postecoglou been in 'full control' of Celtic's best January transfer window ever?

How are you personally before your first derby as the home manager? Do you get nervous?

I think I've gone beyond the nervous stage. That's the reason you are involved in football. It is one of the main reasons I relished the opportunity to take over this football club. You are involved with big games, big crowds and big consequences. I am past the nervousness stage but it doesn't mean I don't get excited by it or look forward to it. It is why we do what we do. We are all passionate about football and we love the big moments whether that be as a player, manager or supporter. I am looking forward to it.

What do you make of marquee signing Aaron Ramsey's arrival in Scottish football?

He is a quality player and when you look at the level he has been playing at for the last couple of years. Club wise he has not played a lot but when he played for the national team he still looked like a very good player. He is good for the league. Ultimately with all these signings, it comes down to performance. Nobody had heard of Kyogo until I brought him here but nobody is going to tell me he is not good for the Scottish game.

The form book out goes out of the window in derby games. Do you agree or disagree with that sentiment?

I understand why people say this kind of thing because they are big games. From my experience, you would much rather be in good form because that means you have built some kind of foundation going into what you know is a challenging environment.
If you go in not the greatest of form and hoping to turn it on, it can happen, but I'd much rather be in the position where you have good form going into it and you have really strong fundamentals. What you do know is that there is going to be some tension and the pace is going to be quick and there will be some physicality around. All those things will challenge the players but a strong foundation helps you address those things.

Getting the late winner against Dundee United was a boost for you and them, is it about carrying that momentum into this one?

I think we have been on a good run for quite a while. We have had challenges all along and Dundee United was another one. The players fought all along to get the job done. That can only be a positive for us and we know we can improve. We don't have the personnel at the moment and we have had to deal with some absences of players that we are still dealing with. The players have shown great resilience and determination irrespective of what the challenges are but they have been able to overcome it.

A lot has been made about Callum McGregor, the leader of the team making this game or not. How important is it to have more than one leader on the pitch? 

It’s important. Having someone like Callum McGregor is a great asset for any club because he drives and lives the values that you want. I have often said, and I often say to the group, leadership comes in many forms. You can get leadership from the youngest player on the pitch because it could be an act of bravery or individual action that raises the levels of everyone by example. So leadership doesn’t just come down to age and experience although that helps in many respects and we have people like Joe Hart and others who help in that area. But on any given day it’s also about how everyone stands up in their moments. Leadership is Liel Abada having the composure to put the ball in the back of the net to inspire everyone to a victory so I’m really big on giving responsibility to the players so when they are out there it’s not about waiting for others to act, they can instigate it themselves and within that, you can get leaders all over the place. 

How important will Matt O’Riley be tomorrow as he plays in his first massive game? 

It will be a great experience for him and I thought he showed fantastic composure the other day. He’s played three games in a week, him and Reo at a level they probably hadn’t experienced before. For guys like that the more, we can expose them to environments like that the more they adapt and the quicker their development. Tomorrow night it will be the first derby at home for a few of our guys so I think they will all be excited and looking forward to it. If they live that experience and stay positive it helps them grow, not just as players but as people because you feel a little bit more confident about yourself when you’ve been in the hottest of environments and come through it successfully. 

How do you instil the never say die attitude in the players and what are the challenges to maintaining it? 

You just keep feeding into the environment. When things like last-minute goals happen it keeps feeding into itself and players gain more belief. A lot of it is just when you look at the group now, a lot has come in with a point to prove without too much hype around them. So they are all a determined lot and I try to fuel that, to continually push them to allow them to show to people that A, they belong at this football club and B, that they can be successful. And that happens every day, it happens at training. Every time I talk to them, I’m pretty consistent in the messages I give them that A, it’s part of your responsibility when you join this football club and B, what a great place to be if you are ambitious and have something to prove. Which for the most part, the ones here are looking to achieve and I will continue to stoke that fire. 

Will you change your approach for Rangers? 

I’m pretty consistent in saying our approach can’t change due to circumstances whether that’s domestically, in Europe, home or away. I’m big on consistently saying to the players we have to believe in something, and if you do that and believe it deep to your core, you don’t change, you can’t change even if you want to because it’s part of you. In the context that could be if you are one-nil down or it’s 0-0 and we need a goal, we don’t need to change our approach because that’s the same from the first minute. We go at the opposition and we try and score goals. Sometimes when you have a different kind of approach, you find yourself in a circumstance when you are trying to chase a game or defend, if you start chopping and changing what you do it just leaves you open to being vulnerable. We are not there yet but I can sense the group is starting to believe in something and that’s what I’m big on because once you have got that belief it doesn’t matter what happens, it can’t be shaken from you when something is part of you and you feel it to your core. Whatever it is in life it would take something very extreme to take you off the path and that includes for me the type of team we want to be.