Ange Postecoglou has admitted for the first time his Celtic stay was never going to be long-term - as he detailed his texts with Brendan Rodgers.
The former Hoops gaffer has taken on the challenge of the English Premier League with Tottenham following two seasons in Glasgow. During his time in Scotland he won five trophies from a possible six domestically including a Treble in his final campaign. His work in the transfer market was also lauded across the board with the likes of Reo Hatate, Kyogo Furuhashi, Liel Abada, Matt O'Riley, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota - since sold for a big fee to Al-Ittihad - arriving under his watch.
The 57-year-old - who spoke with the English media for the first time yesterday - admitted he's always tried to move on from clubs while they are a success as he labelled the decision to depart the Scottish champions as a 'tough' one. But he is sure they've 'absolutely' got the right man in Rodgers as he revealed the duo exchanged messages constantly during his time in charge and still remain in contact even now.
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He said: “Yes, absolutely it required soul searching to leave. My wife and my kids loved it up there and my whole family was really happy. I’ve got two young ones and they’ve lived abroad their whole life in four different countries. We made the decision as a family that wherever my profession took us, we’d go and we’d experience that.
"My wife knows better than anyone, I can’t resist a challenge. That’s when I’m at my best and my history is I’ve never stayed too long at too many clubs.
“I’ve always left when clubs are successful. All I’ve tried to do whenever I’ve been, like most managers, is leave the club you’ve inherited in a better place than where you picked it up and hopefully make a positive impact.
“It was a tough decision, for sure. But it was also a tough decision to leave the Australian national team before a World Cup, it was tough to leave Yokohama after winning the championship there.
“You establish relationships with people and these are always tough decisions. For me, I’ve always gone with my gut on these things.
“I know when I’m at my best, and I’m at my best when the challenge is the biggest. I thought this was a challenge that would fit all the things I’m looking to achieve.
“For me to come from where I’ve come from and be sitting here today, I needed to have that instinct inside me to know when to move on because I have had to be faultless in my career to get to this point. That’s because no one’s going to rate an Australian manager, are they? So if I had any significant failures along the way, I was never going to get here.
“Part of that process is knowing that I need to keep moving to be at my best. The key factor was there was an opportunity here to again make an impact at a football club.”
On Rodgers' return to Celtic for a second spell in charge, he added: “He’s absolutely the right man, mate. He’s a fantastic manager and he loves that football club.
“He was constantly messaging me while I was Celtic manager to make sure that I stayed on track and we had success. I’ve exchanged messages with him and he was very, very supportive when I got the (Celtic) role.
“Even when I got this role, he sent me a nice message and I reciprocated and stayed in contact with him and all the staff there. I’ve no doubt they’ll have great success.
“Hopefully, they can make an impact in the Champions League, I know that’s what his ambition is. That group of players and staff certainly have the capability to do that.”
