Ange Postecoglou has ruled out a return to Celtic during his appearance on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.
Postecoglou took charge of Celtic in 2021 and stayed at the club through to 2023. During his time in Glasgow, he won the league and the league cup twice, and the Scottish Cup once.
He departed to join Tottenham Hotspur after his second season in charge, but fans were always hopeful that the Australian might find his way back to Parkhead. Now, that seems very unlikely.
Speaking on Stick to Football, Postecoglou said:
“I loved Celtic. What a football club. If I was younger, I probably would have stayed there longer for three or four years. I think I could have made progress with them in Europe. But at the time, it had taken me a lot of time to get to this space, and the opportunity to join Tottenham was too good.
In terms of going back, I don’t go back. I don’t think that’s been my career. Whatever the next step is, I think it will be something new, something I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things.”
Despite ruling out a return though, the ex-manager spoke about his love for the club:
“It doesn’t diminish the affection I have for Celtic. It was a great experience. For two years, to be within a community that is so passionate, and it’s crazy how passionate they are, obviously I was fortunate enough to have success.
It’s a positive experience, and I loved every minute of it. I look back on it fondly but… I won’t go back. It’s not how my career plays out.”
Postecoglou also touched on rivalry in Scotland:
“Nobody is going to talk to me about rivalry. I lived and breathed it there. The perfect weekend in Scotland is Celtic winning, Rangers losing. Celtic winning, Rangers winning is not a good weekend.
I remember the first year I was there, we won the double, but Rangers were in the Europa League final. I got more text messages the night they lost the Europa League final than the night we won the league. People were ecstatic.”
Supporters will be disappointed that we’ll never see Postecoglou back in the Celtic Park dugout, but the love will always be there for the brilliant football he brought to Glasgow.
The managerial race
That’s one name crossed off the list of potential replacements for Martin O’Neill in the summer, but that doesn’t mean the list is short. There are at least five names that could possibly take the job, and the race is very tight.
The top three candidates according to the bookies are Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez, current Celtic gaffer O’Neill, and Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou.
Berthel Askou is said to have admirers at Parkhead, so it’ll be interesting to see if anything comes of that.
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