There are some common confusions about the old one-year rolling contracts typically dished out to Celtic managers.
A lot of folk think they last 12 months and a new one automatically kicks in. But the reality is the deal rolls on every single day.
In brutal business terms it means at any given time a gaffer can be jottered for no more than a year’s pay, rather than the old manager’s trick of landing a five-year package that usually ends up with him walking out with about four-and-a -half year’s dosh.
But the rolling deals make sense to clubs, especially when there is a hint of a punt over the appointment.
Mind you, aren’t they all? Gaffers are happy to sign them as there are usually a ton of incentives built in and, hey, managers last about 11 months on average anyway.
But at some point the one-year rollers don’t make much sense – and that’s where Ange Postecoglou is right now.
There should be a pen and paper stuck under the Aussie’s nose sharpish.
It’s the same situation as Brendan Rodgers a few years ago. He strolled into Celtic on a rolling deal, cleaned up in his first season and was promptly handed a new four-year contract.
It was a wee nod to 10 in a Row but that went along with Rodgers.
And at least Celtic didn’t get their trousers pulled down financially when he did his moonlight flit.
Leicester had to cough up around £9million to whip the Hoops dugout down south, and that’s why Michael Nicholson and the Parkhead board have the lawyers on the case right now.
Postecoglou is no longer a gamble. He’s a major asset.
You just know clubs in England will be watching what’s he’s doing. In the next 12 months there could be 10 Premier League jobs coming up and if the Celtic gaffer is still doing the business, someone is going to pick up the phone.
A new deal is a decent insurance policy. That’s not to say Postecoglou will jump at the first chance he gets. All evidence points to the contrary.
For some reason, after all the trophies, Peter Lawwell gets grief from Celtic fans but getting Ange on the hook was a heck of a parting gift.
He’s in with the bricks now and after coming out on top in a chaotic first term, where he had to rebuild an entire squad, the Aussie has performed a minor miracle.
No wonder punters are excited at what’s to come.
Postecoglou’s transfer strike rate has been remarkable and that’s why there will be some tears at the departures of Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton but no fears.
You can understand Bitton’s feeling about heading home to Israel rather than another season of being Celtic’s ‘in case of emergency break glass’ man.
But Rogic? Now there’s a hard man to figure out.
At 29, he’s at his peak. If anything, he should be heading to the EPL on about 80k a week.
But he’s maybe not wired up that way. Postecoglou probably did a job in getting another sparkling year out of the playmaker, given he was all but gone two years ago.
He wants to be closer to home. Postecoglou sensed it was time to part and in Matt O’Riley he already has a diamond who can fill those boots before inevitably banking the club a fortune in the future.
Rogic and Bitton can ride off in to the sunset but under the manager – with the ink on a new deal – the good times can keep rolling for Celtic.
