Ange Postecoglou admits 'childish' post Rangers meal no show underlines his Celtic desire to win

The table for eight at a Glasgow restaurant had already been booked. Ange Postecoglou’s wife, Georgia, had it all planned.

After the Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden, they were going out with friends who’d travelled 10,000 miles across the globe from Australia to see them. But there was one thing Mrs Postecoglou hadn’t taken into consideration. Losing.

And that’s something her husband isn’t used to. The Celtic boss doesn’t like it. And certainly doesn’t feel like wining and dining after it. So Georgia was entertaining on her own that night back in April last year. Her man’s team were defeated 2-1 in extra-time, ending hopes of a domestic Treble. Postecoglou simply didn’t show up for dinner. He couldn’t face it. Being Australian, he has always been built to win. But with Postecoglou that means more than just the result. He has to win. But he also has to do it in a certain way.

Losing and not performing to the standard he expects just isn’t worth contemplating. So much so that it even puts the Hoops gaffer off his food and drink. Postecoglou felt bad for his pals who had flown in from Oz.

But he says, knowing him as they do, they half expected his no-show that night. As he prepared for Sunday’s Viaplay Cup final against Rangers, where he can collect his third piece of silverware since arriving in Glasgow, he said: “I love winning. It’s just the way I am as a person.

“So, obviously, I’m not a fan of losing. I don’t take defeats well. But it’s the winning that drives me more than a fear of losing. I just enjoy winning. I enjoy what it does to people or groups, to achieve it.

“I enjoy building teams, that process. But it’s got to be building to an end goal. And that’s to win things. The reason I’m passionate