The Daily Record is claiming an “exclusive” this morning, that people at Celtic are relaxed about Ange and the links to Leeds and don’t believe that he’s interested in going anywhere. Like that’s “exclusive.” Doubtless The Record spoke to someone close to the club, but how “inside” do you have to be to listen to the manager and know this stuff?
Let me tell you when we should be worried. When a top EPL club openly courts him, during the close season. When the issues for one campaign and have been decided and he has not yet started his work on the next one. I might feel a flicker of concern then.
People in the media keep on darkly hinting at him “doing a Rodgers.” But when Brendan Rodgers left Celtic, things were not going well for him at the club and his frustration and discontent had become wildly obvious. Relationships inside the walls had cratered.
As I’ve said before, I knew things at the club had broken down on the day after the Champions League qualifier with AEK Athens, because Rodgers had bitched out the club, the club had responded and I was at a meeting with Lawwell where his own displeasure was very, very clear.
Ange has great working relationships with everyone at Celtic Park. He has been backed to a degree which, to be frank, has been phenomenal. If the club continues to trust this man and his judgement and support him in the market, we have little to worry about except the possibility that he will get an offer that he simply cannot turn down.
And it will be blindingly obvious when that offers comes, and Celtic would wish him well and so should we. But that’s not Leeds and it’s not going to happen whilst Ange is focussed on winning things. In the close season, maybe, if it’s the right club.
The other comparison people keep talking about is Gerrard leaving Ibrox in a big hurry, but I know, because I’ve spoken to people who do have an inside track on that, that Gerrard was not a happy camper, that there were serious issues at the club and he had lost any confidence in getting the backing for his grander ideas.
Some in the media are well aware of this, but they still use Rodgers and Gerrard as their proofs for why Ange will leave us in the lurch. But neither of those giant egos felt appreciated in their posts, or at least not sufficiently feted by their bosses.
Those circumstances, which saw those men leave mid-season, are not applicable here, and Ange is a man of honour and integrity who sees his vision being backed. There are crucial differences, then, between the situations with Rodgers and Gerrard and this.
It’s good that Celtic is confident. It’s good that people inside the club are content with things, and relaxed about the situation. There is a minor annoyance here in that they have chosen to send that message via a rag that has no credibility amongst the fans, but the mainstream media does serve a useful function at times like this and as they are the ones pushing this nonsense it’s perhaps only right that someone at Celtic has used them to send the right message.
Regardless, it is not a message I needed Keith Jackson to deliver. If rain was battering my window and it was blowing a gale outside and he told me to take a coat if I was going out, I would insist on a second opinion. More than that, I would feel patronised and pissed off that he clearly thought of me as an idiot. That’s how I feel right now.
But after Gerrard so famously crashed and burned … would that not put off any EPL interest ? As someone on a podcast said yesterday “Its funny how they view our league as a farmers league UNTIL they want to poach a manager” – then its all ahh look at all the titles they have won etc !
The only job that could have some “emotional” pull for the Big Fella would be to replace Klopp … he stated that he was a Liverpool fan when he was younger, BUT unless we win a BIG tournament or at least get into the semi/final can´t see that being achieved.
Mid table cannon fodder for the EPL is hardly going to improve his CV .. and as he had no previous ties (unlike Rodgers) can´t see the attraction of a relegation battle or a mid table slog …. If he was 10-15 years younger then perhaps but as for now not really.
With luck we will still be singing the Wham song for at least another 18months !!!
That would only put him off if he thought himself no better a manager than Gerrard, surely? By that logic, it would be near impossible to fill any vacancy.
Win the cup, before ye go go?
If he wins us the Rodgers silverware and the humiliation he caused the rangers I will be happy. I think Ange has European ambitions and hopefully the board will back him in that. he wont get that at Leeds.
Can’t believe how much crap they print over a complete non story,,,itl be more from em clowns at bbc in after match reports and press days,,, clowns
The Celtic manager is building a team to dominate domestically and compete in Europe. It would be wise of the Board, however, to demonstrate their confidence in him by securing a new contract with a few years on it.
Maybe they have? Maybe he wouldn’t sign that? If either of those things is the case it would be quite wise for everyone involved for that information not to be leaked to the public. Absolutely none of our business.
Yes, largely agree with this. Big picture, we shouldn’t delude ourselves. He’s clearly an ambitious (and not particularly young) man. He’s always spoken understandingly about the ambitions of players to move on. He has no deep-rooted ties to Celtic (which I wouldn’t think would matter anyway). He’s always spoken warmly about his previous club, but left for an arguably bigger and better opportunity midseason. If he does leave us for a job down south, we will not be able to feel cheated or claim he has been dishonest. It will happen sometime or other and my only concern at that stage is whether or not the club has structured itself properly to cope (as our European level peer clubs tend to). This is a good reason to have something like a Director of Football, but we are where we are. I would hope that the Head of Recruitment is always keeping an eye on this.
But, for all that, I agree with the article. I don’t get the impression that Ange is minded to move on now, unless the offer is spectacular. I have a sense that the offers made to both Rodgers and Gerrard at the times of their departures were so smooth (at their ends) because both will have put it out via back channels that they were open to offers. I don’t get that sense at all with Ange right now. He’s at the head of a so far successful project which is being backed by the club.