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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Sport
Emma Kemp

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic appointment not the reckless gamble it was once painted

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates after securing the Scottish Premiership title at Tannadice Park.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates after securing the Scottish Premiership title at Tannadice Park. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Some 26 years ago, back when the late Tommy Burns was manager of Celtic, a 20-something Ange Postecoglou was working as a bank teller in Melbourne’s CBD. He was in the middle of serving customers when he received a call from South Melbourne, the National Soccer League club with whom he had won titles as a player (including one under the tutelage of Ferenc Puskás) and was now assistant coach.

“They said, ‘look, you’ve got the job for the next three games just as a caretaker coach, and then we’ll make a decision for next year’,” Postecoglou told the late Shane Warne in December. “As soon as I put the phone down I quit the bank, I walked out. There was a queue of people waiting to get their money out. I said ‘that’s it, I’m just going to go for it’.”

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