Ange Postecoglou won’t allow Celtic to become sidetracked by any developments across the city at their great rivals Rangers.
Speaking prior to confirmation of Steven Gerrard’s move to Aston Villa, the Parkhead manager sidestepped questions about reports that Gerrard could depart Ibrox to move to the Premier League and what effect it may have on the Hoops’ title prospects.
Instead, the former Socceroos boss insisted on Wednesday that everyone inside Celtic Park must focus solely on ensuring momentum is maintained in the east end of Glasgow.
When asked about the uncertainty over Gerrard’s future, the Australian said: “They’re the kind of distractions I avoid, to be honest. I’ve been really laser-focused on here, and I’ll continue to be.
“I’m just making everyone really aware that we can’t get distracted by anything or anyone else.
“We’re trying to build something here, and when you’re trying to build something, and be successful, you can’t afford to be looking over your fence at what other people are doing.
“We’ve got to build our house, make it nice and beautiful and then see how it stacks up against the rest of the neighbourhood.”
Celtic have won seven of their last eight games in all competitions since the start of October and Postecoglou has been named Premiership manager of the month with his side now four points adrift of their fierce rivals at the top of the table.
“It’s been a good little period for us,” he said.
“We’d been a bit unsettled in the previous month and results and performances were up and down so we had to get some consistency and momentum. The whole group’s been outstanding through this last period, both domestically and in Europe.”
As for the January transfer window, Postecoglou said: “It won’t be as busy as the summer but there will be some activity. There are some areas I feel we should strengthen but, while we’re not in any rush, a lot of that will be dictated by how the ones we’ve got here develop.”
