Ange Postecoglou has really been a revelation at Celtic this year.
In fact, it’s not even been a year and the change in the club since he took over has been incredible.
Look at it this way, on this day last year, I was writing pieces like this:
“Celtic should have a look at themselves” – Furious live radio blast at Celtic pundit ban
That was indicative of where the club was at. Leaderless on it, rudderless off it.
There seemed to be no direction for the club and no progress on appointing a new manager.
Celtic were on a downward spiral and in less than a month after that was written, up popped Ange Postecoglou.
I don’t need to go into the backstory of the gaffer or what has happened since then.
Everything has been well documented.
But what hasn’t been is who exactly in the dressing room were key to the first team buying into Postecoglou’s style and ethos?
Speaking in The Athletic, Kieran Devlin dropped the three names he has been told that completely backed the boss from day one, “Because many senior players were busy with international commitments and missed the initial team meetings and training sessions, it was peripheral figures who were the early success stories.
“Sources mentioned Anthony Ralston as one of Postecoglou’s most enthusiastic early lieutenants, and the improvements in him only weeks after Postecoglou’s arrival were remarkable.
“Welsh and Taylor were two others who bought Postecoglou’s pitch and committed utterly.”
The improvements in all three players is indicative of their early enthusiasm of Ange’s new philosophy.
Both Taylor and Ralston are arguably the more prominent players that have seen a huge improvement in their performances on the pitch with Welsh being more of a bit part player but it just shows you, it doesn’t always need to be the captain that drives the standards in the dressing room.
It is little wonder we have witnessed one of the most remarkable league wins in recent history.
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