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Daily Record
Daily Record
Sport
Graeme Young

Charlie Nicholas reaches Celtic transfer nirvana as he sends 'pot stirring' Michael Beale a Rangers warning

Charlie Nicholas has warned Michael Beale his Rangers "pot stirring" over Celtic's transfer outlay matters little against a manager like Ange Postecoglou.

The Ibrox boss claimed his rival across the city was "lucky" due to the Premiership champions' outlay – a tag Postecoglou was only happy to claim as he brushed off the verdict by extolling the virtues of life in Glasgow's east end. And Nicholas has once again lavished praise on the Australian's knack for working the transfer market. Josip Juranovic joined Union Berlin in a deal which could net Celtic £10million but the league leaders future-proofed by landing Canada international Alistair Johnston before Juranovic's departure. And it could well be a similar story with Oh Hyeon-gyu in line for a Parkhead transfer as Giorgos Giakoumakis nears the exit door.

Nicholas loves the way Postecoglou works in his quest for further Celtic success. Speaking in his Express column, he said: "Celtic and Ange Postecoglou look one step ahead just now, both in the Premiership title race and in their transfer window dealings. The Hoops have already signed the majority of their targets and seem to be well down the road with their remaining January business.

"Alistair Johnston, Tomoki Iwata and Yuki Kobayashi have all made their debuts this month, while South Korean striker Oh Hyeon-gyu is on his way to Celtic Park. Postecoglou seems to be in total control of how the operation works and he isn't stressed about losing key players because he has already done the hard graft in identifying replacements.

"The Aussie doesn't wait for other people at the club to rubber-stamp his decisions. He tells them what to do. Postecoglou knows how he wants to go about his business and just gets it done. The Australian plans ahead. It's no coincidence that Celtic are bedding in a new right back, centre-half and, very soon, a new centre-forward."

And Nicholas returned to Beale and told the Englishman to be wise over any assertions over how Postecoglou operates. Rangers landed Todd Cantwell on a long-term deal on Monday as they aim to unseat Celtic in the coming seasons.

He added: "Michael Beale has tried to stir the pot a bit at Rangers, but he is very much playing catch-up to Celtic. Celtic are on a roll and will keep winning games while Postecoglou continues to spend the club's money wisely."

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