Johnny Nic gushes over the manager whom many had never heard of a year ago before he took over at Celtc and transformed the Bhoys on the way to winning the Premiership…
Who’s this then?
Angelos Postecoglou is the 56-year-old Australian coach of Celtic and has just won the Premiership at his first attempt. Born in Greece, he emigrated to Australia aged five.
While to most people in the UK he may have been an unknown when he arrived at Parkhead, he was a man with a successful playing career at South Melbourne from 1984-93 before being forced to retire with a severe knee knack. In his time at South, he won nine trophies including two NSL Championships and the 1992-93 NSL Premiership.
A tough, hard-knock defender (he looks it, doesn’t he?) he played 193 times for the club and scored 27 goals. He’s still considered to be one of their all-time greats.
Immediately on retiring he became assistant manager at the club, eventually becoming the boss in 1996 and leading them to two consecutive title wins and the 1999 Oceania Club Championship. He remains the only player to have been involved in all four of the club’s title wins.
Quitting South in 2000, there followed seven years working with the Young Socceroos developing youth players. With a 67% win rate and seven different tournament wins at Under-17 and Under-19 and Under-20 level he was quite successful but was sacked for failing to get the Under-20s to their 2007 World Cup.
The next 18 months saw him manage in Greece at Panachaiki and briefly at the impressively named Whittlesea Zebras. But in October 2009 he took over Brisbane Roar and in two and a half seasons, won them two consecutive A-League Premiership titles setting the record for most consecutive undefeated games: 36.
The Roar became known for their possession and passing game, nicknamed Roarcelona, they played some of the best football ever seen in the A-League. With their second title win, he became the Aussie game’s most successful manager with…
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