Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Aberdeen - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - May 27, 2023 Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates after winning the Scottish Premiership REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
A report in The Standard has claimed that Spurs will step up their interest in Ange Postecoglou after the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday.
There isn’t very much in the way of new information in the report from Dan Kilpatrick with Postecoglou’s focus for this week well established after he answered the Spurs question on a number of weekend media interviews.
Scott Munn’s appointment as Chief Football Officer at Spurs is probably the issue that most alarms Celtic fans. A fellow Australian that has been part of the City Sports Group seems closely aligned to the Celtic boss although they have never previously worked side by side.
Tottenham’s demise this season, finishing eighth in the EPL coupled with uncertainty over the future of Harry Kane appears to have put a couple of candidates off from taking the job on.
More than two months after Antonio Conte was sacked the next manager will ave a wholly domestic fixture list to concentrate on with the team failing to qualify for any European competition next season.
Writing in The Standard, Kilpatrick claims:
Tottenham are set to step up their interest in Celtic head coach Ange Postecoglou after Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final.
Postecoglou is a contender to permanently succeed Antonio Conte and is said to have impressed Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, who is leading the club’s search for a new head coach and director of football.
Among Postecoglou’s admirers at Spurs is the club’s incoming chief football officer Scott Munn, a fellow Australian who knows Postecoglou personally and is set to officially become Levy’s de facto No2 from July.
Any serious discussions with Postecoglou – who is on a 12-month rolling contract at Parkhead – will have to wait until after Celtic face Inverness in this weekend’s showpiece at Hampden Park, with the Bhoys aiming to seal an eighth domestic treble.
At 57, the former Australia and Yokohama Marinos boss does not fit the profile of an up-and-coming coach, in the mould of Mauricio Pochettino in 2014, that Spurs had initially hoped to hire.
However, he has restored Celtic’s domestic dominance since succeeding Neil Lennon in summer 2021, and earned plaudits for his high-octane style of play, canny recruitment and charisma.
Levy has held talks with Luis Enrique, the out-of-work former Barcelona and Spain coach who is wanted by Serie A champions Napoli as a replacement for Luciano Spalletti. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis yesterday claimed Enrique “has the Premier League in mind” for his next job.
Feyenoord boss Arne Slot last week ruled himself out of the running for Spurs by signing a new contract at De Kuip, while the north London club have insisted that they do not plan to interview Julian Nagelsmann, who is a free agent after being sacked by Bayern Munich.
Ryan Mason, who took charge of the last six games of the season as interim head coach, wants the permanent job.
Where will Ange Postecoglou start next season?
Celtic, he is all on board, relax
Spurs, just too good to turn down
Somewhere else, it is inevitable
By taking on the Celtic job two years ago Postecoglou demonstrated that he is happy to accept a massive challenge, effectively a rebuilding job.
That is certainly required at Spurs but whereas getting the better of one rival almost guarantees you success in Scotland the new Spurs boss faces strong competition to finish in the top four next season with no sign of an early resolution to the complex issue of Kane.
I’m sitting reading the article in Notting Hill right now (cos I’m so cool) and it’s speculative filler even by the Standard’s…er, standards. Doesn’t mean it can’t ever happen but it’s a column inch filler with no attributable quotes. Keep Calm and Carry On, as it says on a sign on the wall in every second shop here… the key piece of information in there is that talks have already taken place with Luis Enrique, who will be seen as less of a wildcard punt by the clueless cognoscenti of Tottenham.
Editor: Agreed, nothing new to it, giving Spurs time with a reference to Scottish Cup Final which few of their fans will be aware of, name checks the other candidates although no sign of Brendan Rodgers.
I’d long thought Brendan would be a good fit at Tottenham, before he even left us. He improves players – even good ones – and has plenty experience managing to put up with a director of football. Ange is known to be opposed to DoF’s, even ones he is allegedly pals with, so I see Spurs as a poor fit for him with an über-Lawwell sticking his beak in every decision.
Ange is on record as having grown up a fan of Liverpool and Klopp is coming up 8 years in the hot seat there, which is along time nowadays, and is coming off a poor season. The hierarchy of Fenway Sports Group would not be as opposed to an Australian manager as some London clubs might be so I think that call, were it to come say this time next year, might be more tempting for AP than a short if lucrative spell in the Tottenham dugout….