Presser points | Rangers vs Spurs | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou was back in Glasgow and spoke to the media ahead of our training session at Ibrox on Wednesday evening to preview our UEFA Europa League MD6 clash against Rangers on Thursday night (8pm).

Here's what he had to say...

Overall thoughts

First up, Ange was asked how much he was looking forward to such a big game...

Ange: "It’s obviously significant for a couple of reasons. When the draw came out it was the one that was of most interest to me because of my history up here. Looking forward to it, it should be a good game, and in the context of where we are in Europe, an important game for both clubs. A positive result gets you a good way to getting through to the knockout stages, so looking forward to it."

Atmosphere

Ange was asked about the atmosphere he expects at Ibrox...

Ange: "When I was up here, particularly my first year, they made the Europa League final (2022) so I’ve got a pretty clear idea of how challenging it is to play them here in front of that crowd, with the atmosphere but, at the same time, it’s exciting. You look forward to big games and I’m sure the players are as well."

Do you have to warn players of the atmosphere? 

Ange: "It’s part of the experience. We played Galatasaray in the last away game and that was a pretty decent atmosphere as well. We’ve got a young team at the moment and and the more we can expose them to games like this the better it will serve us moving forward. If we get through to the knockout rounds, they’re the kind of games where is going to be a pretty hot atmosphere and you’ve got to be able to handle that and look forward to it as well because you want to play in games like that."

Rangers

What did Ange expect from Rangers?

Ange: "Probably their domestic season in the league has not gone as well as they would’ve liked, but you can tell there’s still the elements of quality there, they’re in the cup final at weekend (Scottish League Cup vs Celtic) and done really well in Europe. For us, it’s a one-off game and in one-off games, you’re always looking to see how teams perform when they’re at their best. At their best, they’ve shown they’re still a good outfit and a good challenge for us."

Team news

Ange was asked a few questions about our injury situation - first up, Cuti Romero and Micky van de Ven...

Ange: "Not much better, to be fair. Obviously, with the weekend’s fall-out, Romero and van de Ven, we’re still getting some clarity around their prognosis, but both have picked up injuries that will keep them out again. That’s disappointing for us because we’re thin on numbers, but we’ve had to deal with that for quite a while now. Everyone else from the weekend got through okay. Bentancur is obviously available so at least we get him back."

How frustrating is it?

Ange: "It’s challenging. We’ve also got Ben Davies out who played a big part while the other two have been out. It’s no secret we’re thin on numbers both squad wise and position wise. But it is what is, we can’t change that, we’ve got some big games coming up starting tomorrow. We’ll have to deal with what we’ve got. I’m still confident we’ll be able to get the job done with players at our disposal."

Has van de Ven suffered the same hamstring injury again?

Ange: "It's the same side. Whether it's the same one, we've just got to get clarity on whether it's exactly the same spot or a new spot."

Is this the worst injury crisis you've ever faced?

Ange: "Yeah, yeah by a fair stretch."

Is it just bad luck or do you have to look at other factors?

Ange: "I never think it's just bad luck. Some of it... I've never lost a goalkeeper for this period of time. Some of it is recurring, particularly this year in terms of guys coming back and re-injuring. It's something we're looking at. We're always trying to explore whether we can do things better. Last year was different to this year. Last year it hit us across the board. This year it's more guys that are coming back who are affected. Knock on wood, we've got a core group who are playing a lot and are getting through it ok. But it is something we are trying to address."

Ange exclusive from Ibrox

Back to the game...

As a former Celtic boss, Ange was asked, 'does it bring back memories of the derby and what kind of reception are you expecting?'

Ange: "I think you know what kind of reception I'll get. I loved it. It was a different experience, it was mixed. The first one here we lost, and the next one with only 500 or 600 in the building we won, and that was pretty special. I've enjoyed all the games against Rangers, all the derbies, they're big games here in Scotland and usually very significant games. They're either title deciders or cup knockouts so they're always big games and I enjoyed them all and enjoyed the atmosphere. European nights here are going to be something you want to be a part of it."

On the game and the atmosphere, do you relish walking into the bear pit? Do you like it? Does it bring out more of you?

Ange: "I don't know if it brings out more of me. I mean, I'm like anyone else, I like a bit of love every now and then, mate. But I do enjoy that. I always kind of reflect and, you know, we've all lived it is that once you experience football in empty stadiums, you realise how meaningless it is. I felt through that whole period, that Covid period, it was meaningless. So I would win games, as much as you go it could be hostile tomorrow, but yeah that's what we love about the game. That's what brings it to life. Ultimately, it is a game evokes passions and emotions. Sometimes that's not always positive. Like every human being you'd love it to be positive, but it's not gonna happen. You definitely want that as opposed to playing a game in somewhere sterile where you don't have that."

Archie Gray

Ange was asked if Archie Gray was going to play at centre-back, or maybe Yves Bissouma... would he get creative?

Ange: "I think Archie's probably the one for us at the moment that we need to try and get to fill in there. He's done right-back, left-back for us, had to play at centre-back a little bit this year, he did during the pre-season. With him and Radu, they're the two main defenders. We've still got five or six games to navigate, so we may have to get creative at at some point and deal with it in a different way."