IT is still very early days for Ange Postecoglou at Celtic. The Greek-Australian coach only arrived in Scotland last month and you can count the number of training sessions he has had with his new players on the fingers of two hands. But early impressions are certainly favourable.
The former Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Australia and Yokohama F Marinos manager spoke confidently and calmly at his official unveiling at Parkhead - which suggested he will be able to deal with the scrutiny and pressure he will be under in Glasgow.
His men have also won their opening two pre-season friendlies. They came from behind to beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 at Dragon Park in Newport in Wales last Wednesday and then defeated Charlton Athletic 2-1 on Saturday at the same venue.
A raft of kids, the majority of whom will get nowhere near the Celtic side when the 2021/22 campaign gets underway in earnest, featured in the first of those runouts due to the limited work the more established squad members had done.
But Nir Bitton, Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor and David Turnbull joined Albian Ajeti, Scott Bain, Vasilis Barkas, Odsonne Edouard, Ismaila Soro and Stephen Welsh on the park at the weekend and Celtic performed well. They worked hard in and out of possession, moved the ball quickly, created several scoring chances and netted two good goals.
Postecoglou came to this country with a reputation for playing high-intensity attacking football and you could see why in the first-half of the meeting with Charlton down in Gwent.
The 55-year-old was a leftfield choice to replace Neil Lennon and no mistake. However, he is experienced, has worked at a high level for a long time and is ambitious. He is more than capable of justifying his appointment in the coming months.
For a manager to succeed at any club, though, he needs more, much more, than a good rapport with his charges and tactical nous. He requires the right infrastructure around him and a number of quality footballers in every position in order to flourish. Postecoglou doesn’t have them at the moment.
A major rebuild is required at Celtic. Several prominent players, including Kristoffer Ajer, Ryan Christie and Odsonne Edouard, are poised to depart before the transfer window closes at the end of August. Those who have outstayed their welcome need to be moved on. Replacements must be found.
Postecoglou stressed last week that multiple targets have been identified in key areas that he wants to strengthen and emphasised he is working around the clock to bring in more new signings. But who exactly is overseeing that vital process?
Head of football operations Nicky Hammond left his role back in March. Speculation that a director of football position will be created has been rife in the past three-and-a-half months. A number of high-profile names have been linked with the vacancy. But none of them have materialised.
Hammond had a recruitment team underneath him and they have been continuing with their duties behind the scenes. Still, it is incredible that nobody has been brought in to head up the operation given the scale, importance and urgency of the overhaul that must be carried out.
New chief executive Dominic McKay only started at Parkhead in mid-April and only assumed full control at the start of this month following the departure of Peter Lawwell. It makes sense for the former Scottish Rugby chief operating officer to have a say on who takes over from Hammond. He will, after all, be working closely with him going forward.
But Celtic face Midtjylland of Denmark, who drew with Atalanta away and Liverpool at home in the Champions League group stages last term, in their opening European qualifier a week tomorrow. Who will play at right back in that fixture? Who will play at centre half? Who will play on the wing? There are limited options.
Postecoglou should not be in a position where he is struggling to fill positions adequately going into a massive game on which so much is riding against such dangerous opponents.
The Celtic hierarchy knew they were likely to lose Ajer, Christie, Edouard and others this summer a long time ago. They were well aware they would be short of cover in several areas. Yes, they had to let the new manager bring in his own guys. But more could and should have been done earlier.
Rangers, who were the outstanding team in Scotland by some distance last season and once again excelled in Europe, signed Jack Simpson and Scott Wright in January and have already landed John Lundstrum, Nnamdi Ofoborh and Fashion Sakala this summer thanks to the efforts of their sporting director Ross Wilson and his staff. That is how to prepare properly for a new campaign.
Postecoglou has inherited his first team coaches John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan from Lennon and has been pleased with how quickly they have embraced the changes he has introduced. But he has spoken of the requirement to “bolster” elsewhere. He is not wrong.
McKay must provide his manager with the necessary back-up that he needs and put in place the sort of dynamic and modern structure which is long overdue at such a major club if the new incumbent of the Parkhead dugout is to enjoy success at Celtic.
