Why no Celtic player is 'undroppable' - Ange Postecoglou Q+A

Squad update?

Everyone is okay in terms of the guys who participated the other night. Anthony Ralston is training with the main group now but we made the decision this week would be a topping-up week for him to get back to full fitness. We decided Sunday was too soon but he should be ready to go for next week. Benjamin Siegrist has a calf complaint that is nothing serious but will keep him out for Sunday.

Kyogo Furuhashi has 10 goals in his last 10 games. How good is it to have a striker who is that prolific?

He has been super. It is probably the one area where I do not rotate as much as I usually do. That is because of his physical output and there is no sign at the moment that he needs a break. His work rate is phenomenal and we are conscious that we do not want to overburden him at times like we did last season. I think he has now adapted to the football and schedule here. Having Oh [Hyeon-gyu] in that area will help us as well. As Oh builds up his fitness we will have the option to make sure we do not overburden Kyogo. He has been outstanding from all aspects and I thought his game the other night was excellent.

It is over a year since the 3-0 Glasgow Derby victory versus Rangers and Celtic have stayed top of the table ever since. How good is this side's mentality?

The character of this group is excellent. That night we went top of the table for the first time. It is one thing chasing but another to be chased. This group of players has handled it really well. We have not focused on the points situation and we have just focused on trying to improve. As good as we were last year I think we are even better now. Our aim is always to improve and get even better. I think our form and performances since the break have gone up a notch.

READ MORE: Celtic and the 'points-per-pound' argument assessed

Have you noticed an increase in Daizen Maeda's confidence since the World Cup?

I think that is a fair assessment. I obviously Daizen from coaching him in Japan. I have never thought that he lacked confidence and have always felt he had a lot of self-belief. I just think he is now taking a lot of responsibility. The one thing people have noticed since day one is that he is a very selfless player. He will do things for the team and will work hard both defensively and offensively. Harry Kewell has done a lot of work with him that has helped him. The World Cup has added an air of confidence to him but I think it is more about Daizen wanting to take more responsibility and an active role in being a protagonist And still doing selfless work for his team-mates. He has been outstanding for us.

How do you assess where the squad is now and are you surprised at how successful the team has been?

There is no doubt there had to be a rebuild as we had lost a huge number of players. I had to reshape the team. A lot of people forget that before I joined there were a lot of players on loan who went back to their parent clubs, players went to the Premier League and other players left so a rebuild was needed. From the start, I knew I was not going to be given two or three years to rebuild and I had to be successful straight away. Credit to the players and staff as they embraced the challenge and accepted that major change had to happen at the club. The character of the players and staff has been outstanding. The nature of this group is not to dwell on success and look to improve even more.

How enjoyable is it being able to choose from a pool of so many quality players?

From my perspective, it is about what happens at a football club like this. Guaranteed football does not exist at top clubs. There are always performance levels that you need to attain. Daily training here is as competitive as any game. My role is that the players recognise that any decision that I make is in the best interests of the football club for any given game. Nothing is long-lasting, nothing is permanent and these things can change on a daily basis. The players need to take their opportunities when they come along and in fairness to this group they are. I have made changes and it has not had a negative effect on our results or performances. Sometimes the biggest challenges are when you do not have options in the squad. It can be dangerous when players know they are guaranteed a position in the team so there is a fine line. At the moment we have a group who is enjoying being on the edge every day and I hope it continues.

Given there will be less midweek games between now and the end of the season. Will there be less squad rotation?

It is just about dealing with things on a day-to-day basis. Even when I have rotated the squad during busy periods, particularly during the Champions League, it was not a premeditated thing. I was still using the best information that I had before me. From the outside, it can be hard to see why I have made changes but they do not have all the information that I do. Sometimes a player is not ready for the weekend and other times I make a change because I think the opposition or circumstances of the game needs something different. I have tried to put a squad together that does that and my job is to do that the best way. Even though we do not have midweek games it does not mean there will not be changes to the team. If there are changes then it is because I have put out a starting eleven which I think gives us the best chance of success. 

On the new players. Oh (Hyeon-gyu) and (Tomoki) Iwata, have had a couple of more days of training? How are they settling in and how close are they to starting games for Celtic? 

They are still settling in. Iwata has been here a bit longer and he is not far off. Certainly with Oh, he will probably still take a couple of weeks to get up to speed. How close they are to starting is not just dependent on their fitness. As I said before it depends on where we are at as a team and what I think is required. There is no doubt that Oh is not ready to start games yet. Tomoki is pretty close. It just comes down to selection then. I'm really pleased with both of them. They have settled in really well and the group has brought them into the fold. I can see from training every day that they are getting used to the way we train and the way we play. From an all-round perspective, the squad is in a really good space. 

St Johnstone's pitch has not had a great press recently and even Callum Davidson said they enjoyed playing at Fir Park as they moved the ball about better than they could have at home. Is that something you have to take into account when you are picking the team or setting up for this game?

We will obviously take it into account. To be fair a lot of the pitches at the moment aren't in great nick - ours included - that is something we have had to adjust to even in last week's game with Dundee United with the wind and the pitch. It is something we need to adjust to but again but within that context, we still try to maintain our clear focus and that the solution to that challenge lies within the stuff that we do well. I still think that will help us be successful. We don't want to change our game and we don't want to change our approach. In terms of team selection nothing really changes. We still want to go out there and be a dominant team and work hard defensively and be disciplined in our structures. Maybe we won't be as fluent in our football but it doesn't stop us from being threatening. It is just something we need to adjust to.

Are you working on the assumption that Giorgos Giakoumakis is leaving or is he back working with the group?

As I said the other day it will get concluded fairly soon. To be honest it is not on my radar anymore so I will probably hear about it at the same time as you guys and if you're on Instagram you will hear about it earlier than me. It is not on my radar and I don't expect him to be back in the group but it hasn't been finalised yet. 

READ MORE: Celtic's current run of clean sheets assessed

You mentioned the form that Kyogo (Furuhashi) has been in and the goals that he has scored. Is he undroppable at the minute?

I don't know what dropped or undroppable means as I've never thought in those terms. Every player starts the week on the same level and then I assess things as we go along. I hate to think that Kyogo doesn't play as if he is undroppable much in the same way that Callum McGregor doesn't play as if he's undroppable or Joe Hart. They don't train like they are undroppable. It is not something that is in my vocabulary or something that I try and set up in my environment. I said about Kyogo it is not just about his goals, it is his work rate, his movement the other night I thought was exceptional in terms of him playing in a very congested area and he was still finding pockets of space to break through and I thought we found him really well. I know people love cliches but there is no best eleven, there is no one that is undroppable, and there is no one that is my favourite. I love them all equally. 

Greg Taylor scored against Livi on Wednesday night, is that something you have spoken to him about adding to his game in terms of goals coming off that side?

It is not something we speak specifically about. With the way our full-backs play we certainly expect them to get into those areas a lot more and when they get into those areas just because they are defenders it doesn't mean they can't finish. Tony Ralston has scored a number of goals for us and has a number of assists. Josip (Juranovic) was the same. Berna (Alexandro Bernabei) has had a couple of assists this year including one against St Johnstone the last time we played there. We expect attacking output from our full-backs because of the nature of the way we play and the positions they get into. There is no reason why Greg or any of our full-backs shouldn't get on the scoresheet with the way we play. At the same time, Greg is always looking to improve all aspects of his game. I think you have seen that from where he was last year to the way he is playing now. His progress from the beginning of the year until now shows that he is constantly looking to improve and becoming more of an attacking threat. 

There are quotes from Reo Hatate in the press this morning about how he approached you after his World Cup snub and asked how he could better himself. You had said to him to improve in the final third. Since that conversation, he has registered two goals and six assists. Is that something that has pleased you?

Yes. He got his two goals from the full-back position. I think he took it literally when I said that! Look I think it is part of his game and all the coaches have individual responsibilities and he falls under Gavin Strachan's portfolio. Gavin will be the first to tell you that Reo is always the first in the door after a game asking for feedback. He is just that kind of player as he is constantly asking how he can improve and what areas he can get better in. I haven't had too many conversations with him. Usually, when he comes to see me he just wants a clear direction. Last year I felt that his fitness levels weren't where they should be and I felt he was dying in the last part of the games and he worked really hard on that. I think he is a lot better this year and a lot stronger. He asked me what the next layer is. I said to him for him to be the player he wants to be, and I know he has got it in him as he has always played in an attacking way, he has to have greater attacking output as he gets into such great areas. I am not dropping any pearls of wisdom as he knows the areas that he is constantly looking to improve. For me, it is just about making sure they also understand that all these things happen in time and with hard work and the right attitude. It is not just about me saying something and the players putting it into practice. I had one conversation with him but I guarantee that somebody like Gav (Strachan) has probably had one hundred conversations with him to make sure that all the information gets to him and he uses it well.

Celtic have only dropped points on the road twice this season. Does that give you added confidence going into an away game?

I don't know about confidence. Everyone will know, particularly here in Scotland, playing away from home is always a challenge because it is not just about the team you are playing, it is sometimes the conditions, it is the pitch and all teams at home have a little bit more self-belief. So the fact that we have been that consistent away from home this year is a testament to the character of the lads and their belief in our football. In some games, we have had to work really hard to get the victory and make sure we don't drop points. It is not about the confidence it gives you going into these games. It is about knowing the players have the character and the belief in our football to go and contest these games and know that if we play to the levels that we know we can then we are hard to stop.