Ange Postecoglou will NOT be leaving Celtic this summer for Tottenham Hotspur. There have been reports suggesting the Australian might swap his role as manager of the Scottish Champions for the Head Coach role, which is likely to become available should Antonio Conte leave at the end of the season.
Speaking before this weekend’s Scottish Cup quarter final victory Hearts, Postecoglou was probed on the report linking him to the Spurs job.
“It’s not of interest to me,” The Celtic manager said. “I don’t wake up and get an early briefing on the latest gossip. The rest of it doesn’t mean anything to me. It doesn’t affect me or the people around me. Like most things, people want to have something to talk about.”
Celtic went on to negotiate what looked like a difficult cup tie at Tynecastle very comfortably indeed with the Socceroos World Cup star Aaron Mooy opening the scoring in the opening minutes before Japanese striker Kyogo scored with a beautiful flick just before the interval to double Celtic’s lead and net his 26th goal of the season. United States centre half Cameron Carter-Vickers, ironically enough a former Tottenham player, added a third with a powerful header in the second half to complete the victory as Ange Postecoglou’s side edges closer to a treble.
It has been widely reported that Spurs could to be hunting for a new manager, their fifth since 2019, after they crashed out of the Champions League with a aggregate defeat to AC Milan. This means that Antonio Conte will likely leave the North London hot seat at the end of the season.
Conte has endured a tricky time in charge as he sought to transfer Spurs from stylish underdogs to title contenders. The Italian replaced Nuno Espirito Santo and whilst he managed to secure Champions League last season, he has been vocal about his discontent with operations at the club.
Conte is not the first big name to have grumblings with the way that Spurs operate. Jose Mourinho was appointed following Mauricio Pochettino’s sacking. The Portuguese manager spoke about the culture of the football club and hinted that decisions were being made not by him but by Daniel Levy. Mourinho, who has enjoyed success everywhere he has gone, was sacked before a Cup Final.
It is clear that there is a systemic problem within Spurs. They have an ageing team with a number of wantaways. Levi appears trigger happy in the managerial market, since terminating the loyal Pochettino.
Ange has made it abundantly clear that he works towards projects. Although, this project would be a colossal risk for any manager. Why would Ange risk what he’s already built and is building at Celtic for the turmoil of Tottenham.
Fans of Spurs hoped that the team that made it to the 2019 Champions League Final would progress into genuine title contenders, win trophies and become an attractive prospect to top players. Alas, they have fluctuated in form resulting in the turnover as managers. This means that whoever takes over will need to hit the ground running.
As Ange Postecoglou stated, it is not of interest to him.