Celtic fans won’t want to hear me say it.
But I’m sorry. If Tottenham Hotspur want Ange Postecoglou – he will be their next manager. There isn’t even a debate about it. If this was Bournemouth or Fulham, I don’t think we’d even be asking the question. Even if it was a huge club in Leeds United – who are now in the Championship – he probably wouldn’t fancy it. Because, trust me, that league is a landmine for gaffers.
But this is a different proposition for Ange. Spurs are one of ‘The Big Six’ in the Premier League. This is Tottenham Hotspur who are coming for you. No-one can blame or vilify him if he wants to take that opportunity. Because this is a step to what I imagine he’s always wanted – to manage at an elite level. And if he excels at Spurs, he might even get a chance to go higher. So, if they want him, it’s happening. He can’t turn it down. Off the back of winning a Treble with Celtic, the timing might be just right. Remember, only two years ago Ange was still in Japan waiting for ANY opportunity in Europe.
If you’d said that two years later, he’d be manager of Spurs – he’d have bitten your hand off. This is a club that were in England’s top four not so long ago. In 2019, they were in the Champions League Final under Mauricio Pochettino.
And even now, they have a wonderful squad of players. Tottenham fans like to play The Spurs Way. They want to be entertained. Well, they only need to look at how Celtic have attacked teams since Ange took over.
It will be an exciting challenge for him if he goes there. And if he can improve those players – the way he’s done at Celtic – they will be on to a good thing.
The question is, where will it leave Celtic? And more importantly for me, what impact could it have on Rangers? First of all, it throws Celtic into a state of uncertainty and back where they were two years ago.
When they didn’t get Eddie Howe as gaffer, it rumbled on and they landed on their feet with Ange. But we don’t know who would come in next. And I really believe that Postecoglou’s departure would give Rangers a lift.
Everyone at Ibrox will say they can’t control what goes on across the city – they just focus on themselves. That’s right. But there’s no getting away from the fact that Ange leaving is NOT a good thing for Celtic. So call it what you want. A boost, an advantage whatever – it gives Rangers something.
Any new Celtic manager will come in with his own staff and want some of his own players. Relationships are everything in football. Ange has them with this group at Celtic. He’s brought players in and there’s a trust and belief between them.
If he leaves, those relationships will need to be rebuilt. That takes time. You don’t know what a new boss will think of Daizen Maeda or Matt O’Riley. They might not be his type of players.
Celtic should have a succession plan in place. From the minute Ange arrived, they must have known there was a chance he’d eventually move on.
The best club in Britain, when it comes to succession planning, are Brighton. When Graham Potter left, everyone thought it was a disaster. But they go and get Roberto de Zerbi – and he’s made them even stronger. So it can happen if you’ve planned properly.
But Rangers changed their manager mid-season and Michael Beale’s rebuild is already well down the road. We’ve seen that with the signings of Kieran Dowell and Dujon Sterling, as well as the departures of some big-name players.
The process at Ibrox has started, it’s well down the road. They’ve had uncertainty when Gio van Bronckhorst left. But Beale is now gearing up for a really positive summer.
If your biggest rivals suddenly lose their manager? Questions are then raised over there about what happens next. The new Celtic boss won’t come in and say to John Kennedy: ‘What did Ange do? We’re winning, so let’s do that’.
No gaffer will ever do that. There will be differences. Because everyone wants to show how good they are. Ange leaving, at this moment in time, is a negative for Celtic. And that’s where I think Rangers will get a lift. Only time will tell just how big a lift it is.
Michael strengthened his squad again last week by getting Sterling on board. The guy looks to be in the mould of Calvin Bassey – but on the other side of the pitch.
He’s a young, strong, athletic player who can play at right-back or right centre-back. It looks like a really flexible signing on a free transfer. And looking at Sterling’s profile, it reminds me so much of Bassey. And that didn’t work out too badly for the club, did it?
READ NEXT
