Why Celtic Must Move for Ange Postecoglou After Rodgers Exit

Brendan Rodgers is sunning himself in Rio right now having resigned as manager of Celtic on Monday.

And the Irishman joins another former Hoops boss in Ange Postecoglou on the unemployment line.

Big Ange suffered a nightmare sacking by Nottingham Forest earlier this season having lasted just 39 days as their boss after taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo.

He always had a massive job on his hands in succeeding at the City Ground given how different Postecoglou’s tactics were for Forest than Nuno’s.

Unfortunately for the Greek-born Australian coach, that is how it played out with his changes coming too fast for his squad to cope with and he was relieved of his duties without a win.

It does leave the 60-year-old out of work and despite his clear Premier League ambitions, the boss may well be at the disappointing stage of take what you can get.

Celtic consider Ange Postecoglou return to replace Brendan Rodgers

Which is where Celtic and the Scottish Premiership come back into things for Ange.

Postecoglou was a winning manager in Glasgow and there will surely be the option to make what would be a stunning comeback to the club.

And we suspect the Scottish champions really should at the very least ask the question of their former boss.

Hearts want the title and are leading the Premiership race, so Celts will not want their boss hunt rumbling on for too long.

Martin O’Neill is in interim charge with Shaun Maloney, but here are a few reasons Celtic should be pushing for Postecoglou… and why the big man should seriously consider it.

Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic stats

Postecoglou was the big man on campus at Lennoxtown for two years and he won almost everything there was to win at Celtic.

The former Socceroos coach came to Glasgow as a relative unknown having worked and won in Japan with Yokohama F Marinos.

Fans of Scottish football quickly learned, though, how Postecoglou wanted his team playing at the top of the division and his infamous “stop f***ing passing it backwards” clip became a favourite of the punters.

But what about his statistics and numbers as boss specifically?

Well, let’s note them down.

Postecoglou took charge of 113 matches as Celtic manager and left on good terms when he made the jump to become Tottenham boss.

Of those 113 he won 83 with 12 draws and just 18 defeats – the majority in Europe – peppered in there for good measure.

His Celtic team won five trophies including the league title twice, the Scottish Cup and the League Cup twice.

In his first season they won the Double and his second he delivered a Treble before leaving.

A points per game ratio was an astonishing 2.31 at Celts with 261 total points from a possible 339.

Celtic goals under Postecoglou

Goals have been hard to come by for the Scots this season so far which is down to a number of issues.

The Celtic summer transfer window was abysmal with no strikers coming in to replace £7million Adam Idah before Kelechi Iheanacho arrived on a free after the window shut.

That brought about fan fury and also ultimately was central to the over-arching story which would bring an end to Rodgers’ Hoops career for a second time.

Only 25 goals have been scored in all competitions in 16 games this season so far which for an expected league winner is not so good. They have also shipped 16 goals in as many matches.

Granted it’s still early in the season but a Postecoglou side very rarely endured a goalless draw which has happened under Rodgers three times already/

Postecoglou got his team scoring without an issue and they found the net 284 times in 113 games which was an average of 2.51 goals per game.

He was known for adopting a gung-ho style at Celtic and fans would surely love to see that right now.

Rebuild Ange reputation

Postecoglou won the Europa League with Spurs before Daniel Levy binned him.

Fans can think what they want about the chairman’s decision with the club sitting 17th in the Premier League at the time.

It was a controversial decision but one some agreed with at the time.

Ange Postecoglou pictured holding his lip during a TNT Sports interview after Nottingham Forest lost 3-2 to FC Midtjylland

As mentioned already, Ange lasted just 39 days at Forest and his reputation is in tatters south of the border compared to in Scotland.

A move back to Celtic might suit both parties with Postecoglou bringing victories back to the club while rebuilding his name as a boss who always wins trophies.

A return, then, would perhaps be mutually beneficial with Ange presumably thinking he may have unfinished business at Parkhead while keeping his eye, long-term, on a bigger league when his reputation is back intact.

Feelgood factor amid turmoil

Celtic are in turmoil, there is no other way to say it.

After Rodgers was obliterated by the leading shareholder Dermot Desmond in a statement, the Scottish giants were made to look like a circus act.

Add that to the fan protests and planned boycott of the Rangers tie in the cup this weekend and things are looking bleak for the great club.

Postecoglou is seen as a hero in the east end of the city and a few anecdotes or smarmy comments from the gaffer towards the media – coupled with a handful of victories on the spin – would bring smiles back.

Supporters would be chuffed, players would love the attacking style of play he will implement and Hearts may run scared of a man who boasts an incredible record against them with nine wins and just one defeat in 10.

Transfer structure change

The summer window has been discussed ad nauseum but that’s because of how shambolic it really was.

There would be none of that with Postecoglou.

At Celtic between 2021-23, the manager was credited with making a number of key signings himself by using his own contacts book from the likes of the J League in Japan.

Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Kyogo were three major players he recruited off his own back while there were numerous other success stories.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Jota were prime signings who were won over by Ange’s style and convincing words and both are still thriving in Glasgow.

Postecoglou is a strong-minded leader with a strong will and recruiting excellent players is definitely within his wheelhouse.