Ange Postecoglou, the former Celtic manager, appeared to respond to claims that he doesn’t interact sufficiently with his players.

His response comes in the wake of comments made by Celtic’s Matt O’Riley, which seemed to subtly criticise Postecoglou’s approach, while he praised Brendan Rodgers. We don’t think Matt was taking a dig, but more scoring the difference between the two.

Postecoglou’s departure from Celtic to Tottenham was followed by O’Riley’s remarks about the refreshing change brought about by Brendan Rodgers, the new manager at Celtic. The Danish midfielder opened up about how the Northern Irish manager would sit with the players and interact with them, something that Ange Postecoglou did not do.

However, it was no secret that Postecoglou kept a distance from the team, in fact, he even talked about it at press conferences.

However, Postecoglou did specifically bring up not sitting with the players for lunch, stating that while he doesn’t expect players to be drawn to him, he is always willing to engage in conversation with a player if they have an issue they want to discuss.

He clarified that caring for his players doesn’t necessarily mean he has to share meals with them, which appeared to be too specific not to be aimed at O’Riley’s remarks. [SunSport]

“Other managers are really engaging with players, I get that. If you look at it, that’s probably their personality. They walk into a room and everyone gravitates towards them. That’s not me.

“I just try to be me, but within that context, it doesn’t mean I don’t talk to players. If a player has got an issue, I’ll sit down and engage. It’s really important for the players that they know that I have their back, that I care for them.

“But that doesn’t always have to come by me sitting down with them at lunch and talking with them about how their day was. It’s just not who I am.”