Ange Postecoglou sat in front of the media on Thursday last week and said that he was focussed on nothing but the game on Saturday. On Saturday afternoon he told the fans and the media that he was going to take some time to enjoy the occasion and would be focussed on his family and friends. Amazing that this man has such focus.
Because according to reports today – and I firmly believe this is the first strategic leak out of Celtic on this issue – he told Dermot Desmond and the board on Saturday night that he wanted to go to Spurs. When I got up this morning, they had the broad outlines of his contract in the reports; two years with an option for a third.
So the deal was done. Everything but the signature on a piece of paper.
So whilst that man was invoking Tommy Burns his bags were already packed.
The question arises as to whether you believe the strategic leak, and I certainly do because not a single piece does not fit perfectly into the picture we can see emerging here.
Ange Postecoglou refused to commit to next season at Celtic.
Every newspaper in England was running the story that he’s going to London.
Yet, officially, Spurs hadn’t made an approach yet. We all know that’s a steaming pile of bullshit, because you do not crawl out on the limb and start sawing it merrily behind you unless you know the safety net is there.
This wasn’t a guy finding out he’d made the final shortlist and deciding to chance it, and I wrote that yesterday. The London press says this is a done deal and they are closer to the action with better sources than Jackson and this ragbag mob up here.
Signing a manager to a club is a complicated business. Even if you like the cut of their jib, negotiations aren’t done in a day or a weekend.
If he signs a contract at Spurs today or tomorrow, as is now virtually certain, the wheels had to be in motion before Saturday and so the implications of his informing the board on Saturday night are, of course, enormous as a result of that.
Our manager has been tapped, and he’s gone along with it.
For how long? Days? Weeks? We’ll never know that. But what we can be absolutey certain of is that Spurs “official approach” story is a despicable fraud, and I truly and sincerely hope that Celtic issues a robust response to that.
Their conduct here has been abysmal, but then so has the conduct of Ange Postecoglou.
How can you tell the board you want to go to a club which is yet to formally offer you the job? And how is it possible to make that decision in a single evening, during a party, with all the blanks filled in for you so you know there are no surprises waiting?
The logical answer is that you can’t. That’s not how it works. Daniel Levy has burned through a half dozen negotiations already and if you’re just another candidate then telling your current boss that you want to go down and work for him when he’s not made you an offer is an act of utter folly, and Ange Postecoglou, as we all know, is not a stupid man.
He’d have had to have known the scope of the offer.
He’d have had to have known that the terms were acceptable.
So serious talks have taken place already, way before the game, and our club was a secondary consideration, and so, by implication, was the treble bid because had we not been playing Inverness in the final it’s abundantly clear that the split focus of the manager would have imperilled us, and that is only multiplied if he’d already discussed this with his coaching staff.
If he takes the backroom team with him then that’s as close to the Brendan Rodgers scenario as you can get; those who say what Rodgers did was worse because he did it mid-season should be grateful, as we all should, that Spurs never put this to the test whilst we still had trophies to win because none of us knows what the manager would have done in those circumstances, except in one crucial respect; he left Yokohama for Celtic in exactly that fashion.
We have been royally grafted here, and in some ways this is even more egregious than the Rodgers escapade because although he left us with all the issues still up in the air and without even a coaching staff, few inside Celtic Park were surprised at the development.
That had been telegraphed so far in advance, in private and in public, that the shock of it was only about the timing and not the fact of it.
It’s the fact of this, not the timing, that is truly abominable.
Because yeah, this season’s business was done, but for the first time in my living memory our club has been one step ahead and planning in advance and all those plans are in ruins. The summer was just about sorted. The transfer business in and out was agreed on. The trip to Japan is set in stone, and he was to be the centrepiece of that.
Worse, by far, the season ticket campaign – laughably titled “We’re All In” was fronted by the manager and that is one of the reasons those tickets sold out in record time.
We are all entitled to be pissed off about those things, but inside the club?
People must be absolutely livid.
In normal circumstances I would say that issues that happened in our house would stay behind closed doors; I’m not so sure that will happen here.
There are too many things about this that frankly stink to high heaven. I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if we don’t make an official complaint against Spurs for what is so blatantly an illegal approach, and I wonder if the club’s public response to this will be to issue a statement outlining their understanding of these events.
The people running our club aren’t daft, and they aren’t going to tolerate being taken for absolute mugs or Celtic being treated like this. They know that the on-the-record version of how this has all gone down is not worth a damn.
This morning’s stories are surely only the first step towards our getting a fuller accounting of this into the public domain.
The only thing that could prevent that is that those inside Celtic might see the principal task as repairing the damage that’s been done and getting on with that instead.
In many ways I hope that’s what comes about.
We learned something here.
The next manager of this club must not be of the badge kissing variety. We have to view this the way we view signing players from now on; we’re not hiring messiah’s, we’re hiring mercenaries … and if the shelf life of a Celtic manager is now to be two or three years, then so be it … just so long as they are successful ones.
Ange once said “I won’t let anyone use this club as a vehicle for individual purposes.”
So….apart from himself??? Now that’s the definition of a hypocrite. Very poor display all round and Celtic should take as much compensation as they can from Tottenham, as they have been well and truly done over!!!
There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind, Ange has been aware of this move for many weeks, as these transfers as already mentioned…do not happen over night. Money talks yet again!
So let’s move on and whoever is lucky enough to be at the helm….as long as they bring success, then that’s all that matters! ??? HH
Well said. Don’t ever again let me hear he just gets it, about a new manager
I can’t understand why people are surprised at this. To me all these guys – players and managers etc – are simply employees of the club. When a better offer comes along they jump ship, every single time. It’s the modern game. I appreciate them when they are here but realise they are simply workers. I don’t get attached to any Celtic employee so when they go, as long as they have done a good job, I wish them well. The last Celtic employee I did get attached to was Larsson but he was a very special case.
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/ange-postecoglou-moves-into-the-premier-league/102443016
I will leave it at that.
Kennedy. Strachan away with him.
Who will take over. Harry or Brendan
Votes on a postcard ECT ect
You have embraced me and my family when I came, I am here for as long as you want me , then quote’s Tommy Burns a true celt , this man was given everything by our board , and that’s how he repays us , he new what was happening but could not come out and tell the truth. Snake.
Hello James. Excellent article. Well done!
Since the story of Tottenham link broke, you could tell from his body language and his responses to the questions that Ange wasn’t the same person. You could sense he wasn’t committed to us for the next season.
After listening to him after the game on Saturday evening and the way he was ducking the questions, I must say I was very disappointed with him.
Yes, he has been great for us. I get that. But he also milked the passion, the support and the love which Celtic support gave him. I believe he should have been honest and upfront with the fans.
What should Ange have done?
I think with football supporters a great deal of human emotions and feelings are involved. Unfortunately, there are mangers and players who are successful and go along with kissing the badge but ultimately they are in it for themselves and deep down don’t care about the supporters.
In my opinion, Ange got his chance in Europe with us and he should have been for ever grateful about that. He should have been professional about this and tell Tottenham he would not have any discussions until after the Scottish cup, tell the board he would like to go and explore the opportunity and tell the media that he is absolutely committed to Celtic and has not talked to any club.
If he then went down to London and decided the job was for him and it was offered to him, then Celtic would release a statement and explain where we stood.
I remember DD did an interview with Gerry Mccologh after Ange was appointed and if I remember rightly DD said he wanted assurances from Ange that ‘he would not use Celtic as a stepping stone’ like Rodgers did. Can anyone verify this?
Spot on a club from the most corrupt money laundering league in the world uses it’s obscene wealth to bully any clubs from other leagues to get their own way/ desired outcome, disgrace !
I agree tapoing looks likely if he leaves this week. It also renders the Japan trip quite pointless. However I will await the end result before saying anything I may othersise regret. Martin O’Neill went to England in 2003 remember, decided against it and came back home. We do not know the future.
If ange has the start he had with us he’ll be out before Christmas tail between his legs back to Japan
I think we Celts (and indeed the other mob across the other side of the city) do the same thing, buy into the ‘club like no other’ thing, which the fans have embedded into them, so when something happens, it seems wors:
‘Tierney will never leave, he’s a Celt for life’ – he leaves
‘Gerrard will never leave to go to Villa’ – he goes, cardboard effigies burn
‘Rodgers would never leave us to go to Leicester’ – he goes
‘Ange will never go’ – he is seemingly off.
You’re right, ignore the badge kissing, and take individuals for what they are, and the level at which we play in Scottish football. Celtic might be a bigger club than Spurs, but we just can’t compete.
Was it a shock Ange is gone no it’s business any manager we get if successful will go the same way money number 1″so I wish our fans take what we get on the short term 2/ 3 years and then their off to bigger wages.The same with players enjoy them they will be off to bigger wages it’s all about money so all this shit kissing the badge thumping the chest is all bullshit by the lot of them”fans its football not the most honest business as we all should know.Regarding a new manager if you want Celtic to continue with success the man and I know fans will be spitting blood is Rodgers don’t be shocked if Desmond wants him he will be in forgive and forget it’s the football business Celtic fans.
If he goes he goes, likeable guy who will hopefully do well at Spurs however if he doesn’t get them into a top 4 by end of next season he’ll probably be moved out but will be very wealthy.
Football is a funny old game. He has left us 5 trophies better off and with a much improved squad than when he came. So not all bad.
Hopefully our next manager does the same.
I wish we would stop treating our managers as favourite sons. They are employees. Professionals. Mercenaries in the most literal sense. The last person to sit in the managers office at Celtic Park who ever paid to get through the turnstiles was probably Tommy Burns, and his trophy win ratio was identical to the one we mock Steven Gerrard for. The club has long since ceased to include being a former player or a lifelong fan as a condition of employment in managerial candidates.
We have just about gotten past thinking players with no connection to the club before signing for us are dyed in the wool fans just because they enjoy playing for the club and lap up the adulation of the crowd, yet this illogical belief persists with managers and may even prove a barrier to the rumoured return of one of our most successful managers ever. Projecting our own attitudes on to hired guns is a fools errand.
Not sure there is any evidence of impropriety, it’s all conjecture. However, it does seem as though either the manager or the board were unwilling to consider a new contract.
At first, I just thought your article was a bitter response to Ange leaving but you might have a point regarding how it was done and whether he was pouched. What a manager says in public by comparison to what is truly happening behind the scenes are two different things. You could tell by the body language in the photographs taken with Dermott Desmond that something was amiss. DD had come over, probably specifically to tie him down to a longer contract or in response to perhaps Ange asking if he could speak to Spurs! So permission was probably sought in advance of what was said publicly. Ange knew he was leaving before the Cup Final of that, I have no doubt. As a matter of fact, he knew before the game at Tynecastle, hence the emotion and talk of family and speeches which seemed like ‘job done’, ‘mission accomplished’ type rhetoric. What he couldn’t afford to do was let the story getting out affect the players or the goodwill from the fans. He knew he needed their full concentration and our full support. Another trophy massaged his ego even more and he got the chance to tell us all how amazing he is but let’s be honest, he has been pretty special. The best I’ve seen at rotating the team, making full use of a squad, handling the Scottish Media and his player recruitment hasn’t been too bad either, indeed excellent. I was surprised he didn’t take to Giomakis and felt that Giomakis replacing Kyogo after he got injured, helped the results to turn around. We’d seen flashes of brilliance and a great start from Kyogo but Giomakis was stronger in his first match against Rangers than Kyogo had been before limping off against them. We were all a touch disappointed by the 3-0 defeat to Rangers in his last derby match but I’d take that from time to time, as long as we win the silverware. Ibrox is a hard place to go and perform. He goes with my best wishes for the future to him and his family. Rodgers coming back (if that’s to be the case) will perhaps be the right appointment. He knew that Morelos had missed multiple chances against us in any given game and that his luck against them might run out. He had ten in a row weighing on his shoulders and with those shackles off and him now learning that Celtic is a place where fans want longevity and managers to create a lasting legacy! Perhaps Rodgers will be less willing to accept offers from the Premiership next time around. If Rodgers landed in the Clyde, he’d come out with a huge salmon if he does get appointed, given his other chances in management but there’s no doubt, he makes a great first impression and has achieved a level of success which we can’t complain about! I’d also welcome back O’Neill if he was to be interested but either way, it needs to be someone who can use the players we have add a few gems and keep the momentum going. On that subject, I think given the speculation that Kane is going to Real Madrid, that’s another sign the deal was done before the official announcement. Ange likes hard working, chasing, super fit strikers. Kane is more a luxury player. Ange would have probably only accepted the job under the promise, he’d be gone and given the money from that sale to fund a team in his style. Ange wouldn’t have wanted the Spurs fans knowing he’d pushed him out the door (being England’s star striker etc because that would have turned the fans against him right away) but if that deal falls through and he’s left with Kane, it could be a poison chalice. He might be getting seven times the salary but if he’s sacked within the first six months like the three previous managers, then he’ll know he’s made a mistake leaving Celtic! The grass isn’t always greener!
100% James. 100%
Bit surprised at the level of anger now being shown towards Ange, I must admit.
The sooner some people can accept ourselves for the type of club we are within the world stage, the easier it will be to accept the decisions that go on within it.
Ange even said on Saturday that some players were celebrating in the dressing room on Saturday, yet won’t be here next season?
So who are they, and will the same witch hunt be applied?
As a club we give most individuals the biggest highlights and success within there careers, yet we can’t offer them of ever reaching the top within there career.
The EPL remains the biggest, strongest and most competitive league worldwide, with the biggest viewing audience and hence throwing so much money at it, in order to keep it that way.
So nothing we can do whatsoever about the situation that exists, yet our supporters keep our club far better than anyone else can offer, but still that’s not enough within the footballing world as thing’s stand.
Until we get back to making a far bigger impact within CL, and Scottish club’s in general within European competition then nothing really stands to change.
Must admit I wasn’t totally convinced that Ange could really take us to the next level within CL.
We could well be delighted in 6 months time when the current situation gets resolved and hopefully in the right manner so we continue to keep moving forward as a club.
Our faith now lies within the board to make some big decisions during the summer, for which some are not going to be to everyones liking either.
Yet that won’t waver from our support towards the club, not unless the board ever want to treat us as mugs like the 10iar produced. We can’t remain over confident with PL back within the building, but hardly likey lightning will strike us twice either.
We know have a wonderful opportunity available for the right person to take us to the next level now, especially with a core of players well capable of doing it so.
Improvements still need to be made, and far easier for a new manager to make them now, I believe.
So it remains as who would be the best suited for ourselves, going forward?
I always thought David moyes would become our manager at some stage, and believe that opportunity is now.
Don’t believe he will be at West ham next season even if they win the conference cup this week.
Would be his last chance of ever getting a big job within his career, and with his money well made now, he still hasn’t really felt the sweet taste of success either within his career.
Already got decent experience within European football, and enough knowledge to pass on to the younger players, if there main ambition is to play within the EPL which is always likely going forward.
If such views were going on within the Celtic board room, would it be any different to what spurs have done with Ange?
Another very successful chapter may have closed, but another is yet to be written and actually looking forward to seeing how it pans out, as still strongly believe that it will make for more very enjoyable reading
With Ange saying some players won’t be here that had been in the dressing room on Saturday night,is he laying the ground for taking Jota and Kyogo and maybe others with him to Spurs.
Quite agree with this analysis and the conclusions give. Actually feel quite sorry for the new players that have come in under Ange’s reign, particularly the overseas ones, what were they sold on to be persuaded to come to the club, and now within a few months of their arrival he’s apparently off.
Bit of a joke that Ange was concerned about the way the likes of GG hankered for a move, he’s basically done the same thing. But we don’t know what if anything the Board plans have figured in this, if contra to the manager’s desires. One would have thought justifiably at least a much enhanced salary package should have been on offer for ’23-’24, bearing in mind we are mixing again with the likes of Real Madrid.
Even he might have had cause for reflection on the merits of at least giving Celtic one more year after the affection shown by the thousands of fans recently at Parkhead and Hampden. He’s surely not a poor person, but sad to see money clearly the driver for his immediate future ambitions, especially when it’s been his affiliation with Celtic and the ways of this club and it’s supporters that has played a key part in giving him prominence as a manager in Europe. Surely waiting another year and testing European football again at the highest level, would have brought in for him job offers from more prominent clubs than Tottenham.
Ange kissing the badge punching his hand to his chest all lapped up by the fans.
Cuntwell did this with sevco and we laughed at him for this who’s having yhe last laugh now with this FAKE NEWS BULLSHIT.
Ange is a FRAUD the same asTed and Roy Rogers.
Make no mistake about this him leaving will set us back because LIEWELL is back in charge now and it will be back to the biscuit tin mentality with signings and as far as a manager goes as well,that will turn out to be a nickel&dime effort as well.
It would just take 2/3 of those overpaid , under achievers in spurs dressing room not to get on board with Ange and the wheel will well and truly come off that wheelbarrow and that is a slippery slide he has never been on at Celtic. I don’t believe any grass is greener than ours. You will be richer but never happier. He doesn’t deserve our undying love because his behaviour doesn’t merit it. Roll on the next project. We Are CELTIC