Jackie McNamara has used his own managerial experiences to reason why Ange Postecoglou has decided to up sticks and leave Celtic for Tottenham.
The Australian boss is set to sign on a two-year deal with the club having the option to extend his stay for a third year, with a compensation fee of just under £5million reportedly being gifted to the Hoops. It's a bitter blow for the club, coming just 48 hours after they completed a world-record eighth treble after seeing off Inverness Caledonian Thistle in a 3-1 win at Hampden in the Scottish Cup final.
But they've been here before. Martin O'Neill left in 2005 after half a decade of outstanding success, whilst Brendan Rodgers unexpectedly left his post as Celtic boss in 2019 after winning every domestic trophy in his wake, alongside showing a decent account of themselves in European competition, scalping wins over Lazio and Leipzig, alongside draws with Manchester City. It's time for the Hoops to dust themselves down and go again - though McNamara understands why Postecoglou has moved, acknowledging it is better timing than Rodgers' move, at least.
McNamara told the BBC Scottish Football Podcast: "I think he's been fantastic since he came in. Obviously, you listen to his interviews there and how the fans took to him. He was almost a joke figure when he came in to be start with, he didn't have his pro licence amongst different things and people said he would be sacked before Christmas.
"But I think gradually you saw the impact he made game by game. The European campaign to start with wasn't great, he came in and lost away at Hearts, but again he just believed in his methods and what he was doing. He has taken the team to a different level, brought a lot of payers in, but now it's the same as players when players do well - they're attractive to teams in a bigger league.
"That's the problem you've got, it's the same with players. Ange has turned out to be a fantastic manager and his timing to go on the back of winning the treble, the only other thing is to go and do well in the Champions League.
"But realistically, unless he was getting enough backing to do that, it would be tough to take Celtic to the top level with what he has available. I know there's still a lot of bad feeling towards Brendan with the timing of his departure - I had a bit of that, though not at the same level, when I left Partick Thistle and Dundee United.
"You think at this point, it might not come around again. If there's an opportunity in football, you go there. It's like 'if I don't win a number of games, the fans will want me out anyway'.
"As a manager, you make the decisions and you think there's an opportunity you can't turn down. Brendan left at a difficult time which left the fans upset, this is different because they've made history where they can get ready for the new season."
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