Ange Postecoglou's future at Celtic appears to be up in the air as things stand.
The Australian, 57, is believed to be the preferred candidate for the vacant Tottenham job.
The Premier League club are on the onlook for their permanent replacement for Antonio Conte, who left them back in March.
It's said that they're keen to have their next manager in place within the next two weeks.
So, after Celtic's Scottish Cup final clash with Inverness this weekend, it's likely that the picture will become a lot clearer, whether Postecoglou goes or stays.
Here, we take a look at three positives and negatives of the Celtic boss potentially joining Spurs...
Pros
A massive budget
Some will say that Tottenham are quite tight with the purse strings. Historically, that probably is a valid point. But just four years ago in 2019, they worked out €63 million on Tanguy NDombele from Lyon. The midfielder hasn't exactly shown up to be a good bit of business. Postecoglou has proved time and again that he has an eye for a player though, and would certainly back himself to find Spurs better value in the market with a vastly superior budget than that of Celtic's. He's been heavily backed financially by the Hoops, but as is the food chain of football, there is a limit. He won't take the job without reassurances from Daniel Levy regarding spending powers and being allowed to reshape the squad.
Working with some world-class players
Harry Kane, he's arguably the best striker on the planet. He's certainly up there. Heung-Min Son is a dynamic forward with a proven track record of being one of the Premier League's best attackers. Dejan Kulusevski, his form may have tailed off this season, but the Swede has shown what he can do at the top level too. There are undoubtedly various areas that Spurs will need to strengthen, but even in defence, Cristian Romero and Pedro Porro are solid options who clearly need better coaching to thrive. Any manager worth their salt would surely fancy improving underperforming players.
No European football
Now, this could quite easily be spun as a negative, and that's perfectly reasonable. Postecoglou quite clearly enjoys the big occasion, especially on European nights. But Spurs' eighth-placed finish this term means the North London side even missed out on Europa Conference League qualification for next term. This could allow Postecoglou the chance to fully focus more of his time with his players on the training pitch rather than having additional games early on in his tenure. Playing Thursday-Sunday is never ideal, according to most bosses. It could be a blessing in disguise to help him implement his styles and ideas in a quicker fashion, thus boosting his chances of success.
Cons
Unfinished business in Glasgow
Should Celtic defeat Caley Thistle on Saturday, Postecoglou will have lifted five out of the six trophies available to him during his two years in Scottish football. That's an outstanding record, and in turn, it would also complete Celtic's eighth domestic treble in their history. The biggest area to highlight with this point would be his desire to do better in the Champions League. It was a joy for all of a green and white persuasion to be back in UEFA's elite competition last term, but with a tough draw came some tough results against Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, and Shakhtar Donetsk. Postecoglou would be waving goodbye to the Champions League for at least a season if he was to make the jump to London. Is that enough to persuade him to stay? Who knows.
Working with Daniel Levy
The 61-year-old is a notoriously tough character to deal with. Shrewd in his work, there's no doubt the Tottenham chairman is a highly successful businessman. But numerous managers have detailed the difficulties they've faced with working under his stewardship. Recently, Jose Mourinho admitted that Spurs are the only former club he has no connection with. Just last week he said: "I have established a great bond with all the clubs I have coached. The only team I don't have this relationship with is Tottenham. I hope that my words will not be misinterpreted by Tottenham fans but that is the only club in my career with which I do not have a deep feeling. Probably because the stadium was empty at the time of Covid and probably because Mr Levy didn't let me win a final or win a trophy.”
Not leaving a Hoops legend
Without doubt, the Aussie is a hero in the eyes of all Celtic fans. But would two seasons' work be enough to enable you to go down as a club legend? It's debatable, but the answer is probably not. He's certainly achieved an awful lot in that time and has progressed the club at a rapid rate from the dark days of the Covid season which ended their ten-in-a-row ambitions. It all really depends on how Postecoglou values the thoughts of the club's fans. Nobody could begrudge him the chance to earn vastly more money than he's currently on at Celtic. And at least he'd be leaving at the end of the season, unlike Brendan Rodgers, so he wouldn't have that hanging over him. The likelihood is he would go with the best wishes of the majority of fans. But probably not quite as a legend. It's hard to say whether that would bother him, mind you.
