Celtic fans have gotten used to Ange Postecoglou being linked with a move away from Parkhead. Since the summer, several Premier League clubs have been touted as possible destinations for the Australian manager. After Brighton & Hove Albion, Wolves and Everton, the latest name to be added to that quickly growing list was that of Leeds United, who recently showed Jesse Marsch the exit door.
Postecoglou seems to be staying put at Parkhead though and guided Celtic to a 5-1 win over St Mirren in the Scottish Cup this weekend. Judging by the performance and the result, it did not feel like the manager had his thoughts anywhere else.
Postecoglou has never made a secret of how much he enjoys being the manager of Celtic. At the end of the day, for most of his career, it had looked like he was never going to get a chance to manage a top team in Europe.
A lot has been made of the rumours linking Postecoglou with Leeds United over the past week or so. The manager though, appears to be completely focused on Celtic.
Celtic boss gives brilliant reply to Parkhead exit rumours
As reported by the Daily Record, Postecoglou said:
"“I don’t think I need to say anything to the fans. What the supporters want is to be sure I’m focused on preparing the team every week to win games and to play football that’s going to excite them and make them proud. That’s my responsibility. I get all the excitement around things like this. But if I had a player in a similar boat I’d just tell him: ‘Keep playing your football and don’t worry about anything else’.“All those things are just noise. I take my own advice on stuff like that. I’ve been around the game long enough to know how quickly it changes. If anyone thinks that for the last seven days I’ve thought about anything but preparing the team to play then obviously they haven’t got a clear idea of what I’m about.”"
Postecoglou further went on to add about the matter:
"“Every job I’ve done, I’ve done as if I’m going to be there forever. That’s the role of any manager. If you go away from that then you’re not doing a service to the club you represent.“Every decision I make, I’m making it as if I’ll be here forever – but I won’t be. That decision might be taken out of my hands.“If we lose today and lose next week, it’s a whole different discussion. I’m not silly enough not to understand that my role is to keep focused on what I’ve been doing.“I’m trying to create a football team that our supporters are proud of and hopefully give them some memories that will last forever. If I do that, it’s all I need in terms of credit in my bank.”"
Of course, most Celtic fans will understand that someday if an opportunity comes around that Postecoglou simply cannot turn down, then there is a good chance that he will depart. That’s just how football works and nobody would blame him for leaving. He is in his late 50s and does not have all the time in the world to get a huge move.
Postecoglou must also recognise the risk that comes with taking over a Premier League side in the lower half of the table. A bad run of results, and he could be shown the exit door.
Leeds United themselves are in search of their third manager over the past twelve months. Thus, it might not exactly be a great fit for Postecoglou.