Kris Commons believes that Ange Postecoglou will be at Celtic for another couple of years.
Over the weekend there has been strong speculation that the Australian could become the next Spurs manager with a variety of pundits trying to second guess the thinking and motivations of the Celtic boss.
Postecoglou hasn’t given the slightest hint of being unhappy with life at Celtic but apparently the lure of London, an EPL salary and transfer budget would be too much to resist.
Commons spent six seasons at Celtic, witnessing at first hand the size of the club, the passions involved and the impact that it has on outsiders once they get a flavour for the traditions and expectations.
Brendan Rodgers declared himself ‘a Celtic man’ from day one at the club but upped sticks in mid-season, and mid-contract with that experience colouring the way that supporters view managers. Nothing is for ever, everything has a price.
Commons has left Glasgow to return to Nottingham, writing for the Daily Mail he doesn’t expect to see Postecoglou make the journey south:
I watched Celtic thrash Aberdeen on Saturday and looked at the way Postecoglou interacted with his players and the fans afterwards.
You can never guarantee anything in football these days. But I do get the feeling that he’s settled at Celtic and isn’t in a rush to leave.
The fans and players idolise him. I’m pretty sure he’s got another couple of years at Celtic at the very least to keep building.
The incentive of Champions League football is a big thing and it’s a box that Postecoglou will look to tick if he can get the club out of the group stage.
If he can do that and send shockwaves across Europe, he might find that bigger and better clubs than Spurs will come calling.
Making the comparison with Rodgers, Commons added:
He had far more of an ego than Postecoglou does. Rodgers always gave you the impression that he was only ever passing through Celtic.
He was never going to be at the club for any more than two or three years. In the end, he couldn’t get out of Celtic Park quickly enough.
After a high-profile spat with the board on the eve of Champions League qualifiers in 2018, he uttered his infamous ‘terminado’ line.
From that moment on, it was clear that Rodgers would be off as soon as the first half-decent opportunity came along.
But Postecoglou strikes me as being almost the polar opposite of that. He values what he has at Celtic. He didn’t arrive at the club with the same big-time reputation as Rodgers. Ultimately, Celtic are Postecoglou’s first major gig in club football.
They gave him his big chance to coach in Europe and that’s something which I think he does hold genuine sincerity and thanks for.
Spurs are a big club, but they aren’t bigger than Celtic. The only metric that would see them trump Celtic is their bank balance, which is purely down to the fact they play in a far richer league.
