Ange Postecoglou spent just two seasons as manager of Celtic but that run was impactful without a shadow of a doubt. The Australian won a Premiership and Scottish League Cup double in his debut campaign with the Hoops and backed that up with a treble. Days later, he would make the move to Tottenham Hotspur. While fans were not happy, most understood why he might have been in a rush, at 57 years of age.
Things have not gone smoothly for Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur. In fact, they currently find themselves sitting at 17th in the Premier League. That is unacceptable.
Yet, Postecoglou has the chance to make history as Tottenham Hotspur manager as well. 2008 was the last time they won a trophy. Now, the Australian has the chance to end a nearly two decade-long drought and also bring European silverware to the London club, having guided them to the Europa League final, where they will face Manchester United.
A long-running narrative around his previous success at Celtic has been that it came easily, as the Hoops are used to winning trophies constantly. What many choose to forget is that the club had finished trophyless the season before, and 25 points behind the Rangers in the Premiership.
Ange Postecoglou finally shuts down Celtic narrative
As reported by Football London, Postecoglou said about his previous successes:
"A lot of the success I’ve had has been stuff that’s pretty significant. It’s been at clubs where Yokohama hadn’t won a Championship for 14 years, Australia had never won a continental championship, Brisbane had never won one, South Melbourne - my first job – hadn’t won in seven years, Celtic had been one year but trust me that’s a long time in Scotland.
They had to wrestle back the dominance they had for so long, so it’s the significance of them all because you know what it does to the club and to the people."
When Postecoglou had arrived at Celtic, expectations were not high. After the terrible 20/21 campaign, and the departure of key players like Scott Brown, Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and Ryan Christie that summer, even the most optimistic fans had thought that it would take the club two or three years to rebuild and get back to challenging the Rangers.
Postecoglou completed that rebuild in six months and guided Celtic back to the top. So, he deserves a lot more credit for his success at Parkhead than a lot of people down south seem to give him.