I love these kinds of stories.
How a manager who was sacked, fell out of love with the game, and then suddenly finds inspiration and falls back in love with it.
What’s even better is if it involved Celtic being the club that has inspired the story and that is exactly what happened Australian A League championship winning coach Ernie Merrick.
Merrick was dismissed from his position at Newcastle Jets in 2019 and was disillusioned with the game.
In an article in Australian media site KeepUp, Merrick said, “A year on, seven of the starting XI left and I got sacked. At that point I thought: why am I doing this?
“I’m proud of my A-League record. The seasons that best reflect what I’m about are 2006-07 with Melbourne Victory (championship-winning season with 41 goals in 21 games and six grand final goals); 2014-15 at Wellington Phoenix (finished equal third and scored 45 goals in 27 games) and the Jets in 2017-18 (57 goals in 27 games).
“I still feel I have something to offer and certainly felt invigorated after watching Ange’s Celtic.
“Clubs need to recognise that’s what the game is all about – attacking players having those special moments which get the fans to their feet.”
A great piece from the Australian and one that shows the mark of Ange and the inspirational qualities he possesses.
Good wee read, the more I discover about Ange the more my prediction of him taking Celtic to places we never thought we’d ever see again, seems entirely possible.
If that lot make a go of it and manage to win the title, they’d better savour every second of it, because after that they’ll be waiting a very long time for their next serious opportunity.
Ange Postecoglou is without doubt raising Celtic’s profile in Japan and the World over, he is writing himself into Celtic’s history books and for me, he will definitely be one of our legendary managers.