67 Hail Hail

It’s crazy how things are panning out for Ange Postecoglou since he left Celtic.

On the one hand, the Celtic hero could create history if Tottenham Hotspur win the Europa League – they face Manchester United in the final, on May 21, in Bilbao.

Lift that trophy, and then Spurs will play Champions League football next season. Most importantly, Postecoglou will become the first manager of the London club to win a trophy since 2008.

But that doesn’t tell the whole picture, and this is where everything could come crashing down in a pretty horrible manner for the Treble-winner at Celtic Park.

Everyone in green and white colours is urging Postecoglou on and hoping he will change things around, but some things are irreversible.

And that’s Tottenham’s league form.

Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou suffers 20th Premier League defeat to Crystal Palace

When ‘big Ange’ first joined Celtic, he arrived as an unknown figure, with Rangers as champions, before getting the club back where it belongs, and that’s on top.

Tottenham aren’t used to winning league titles like Celtic; they have two in their history, but they have been used to competing in Europe.

But lose that Europa League final, then it’s the end of the road for Postecoglou at Spurs, and he can’t have any complaints, as their latest defeat dictates.

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Tottenham were beaten 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday – their 20th league defeat. They have never lost more games during the Premier League era (starting 1992).

It’s also Spurs’ 24th defeat in all competitions this term – Postecoglou only suffered 18 games during his time at Celtic.

‘Tottenham have lost 20 league games in a single season for the first time ever in the Premier League,’ wrote Squawka.

Postecoglou’s record at Celtic compared to Tottenham

Postecoglou’s name is in Celtic’s legendary books, and that will never be reversed or changed.

It’s not just what he won in Glasgow, but how he won it on the pitch, including how he conducted himself in the media on a weekly basis.

Ally McCoist has had to endure decades of Celtic success as his old club Rangers struggles to keep up with the Parkhead club.

McCoist has found the last few years tough as Celtic overtook Rangers as Scotland’s most successful club this season.

With Brendan Rodgers on the brink of yet another treble and Celtic’s 121st trophy in their history, former World Snooker Champion John Higgins superbly wound up Ally McCoist at the Crucible about the Hoops boss.

John Higgins outs Ally McCoist over Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers Spurs rumour at the Crucible

Higgins was taking part in the World Snooker Championship watch-along with McCoist when he confronted him about a rumour he heard over Celtic boss Rodgers and Spurs.

Higgins asked McCoist on TNT Sports Snooker [1h 38m 35s], “Can I just ask Ally as well that I’ve just seen reports that he’s trying to get Brendan Rodgers to go to Tottenham Hotspur – is there any truth in that rumour?”

Laughing, McCoist replied, “John, I’ll be honest with you mate, I’m trying to get him to go anywhere.

“I don’t care, he can go to Tottenham Hotspur, I just want him south. Is that okay? Just to clarify that in case you thought I was anti-Tottenham – I’m pro-Tottenham. I want him anywhere.”

It was a bit of light-hearted banter but the answer did show that McCoist is desperate for Celtic’s success to end even in joking manner.

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McCoist has been in pain for the last two seasons of Rodgers’ domination of Scottish football as the Celtic boss continues to add silverware to the Parkhead trophy cabinet.

Admitting Celtic will hammer Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final, McCoist said he will be a Dons fan for the upcoming Hampden clash.

McCoist’s deluded comments on the gap between Celtic and Rangers earlier this season where made to look foolish after Philippe Clement was sacked back in February.

Ange Postecoglou continues to fight on at Tottenham Hotspur.

It has been nearly two years since Postecoglou left Celtic for Tottenham, and his ride has been rather interesting in the English capital.

For weeks and weeks, the noises have suggested that Spurs will sack Postecoglou, especially with the team sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table.

But, in typical Postecoglou style, he is fighting until the very end and showing that winning fight he displayed on so many occasions in Celtic colours.

On Thursday evening, Spurs beat Eintracht Frankfurt to book their ticket into the semi-final of the Europa League by securing a 2-1 win on aggregate.

Tottenham now face an opponent that Postecoglou, for the wrong reasons and going back to his days at Celtic, knows very well.

Ange Postecoglou recalls Celtic nightmare as Tottenham to face Bodo Glimt in Europa League semi-final

Celtic’s progression in the Champions League this season has been a joy to watch, but their play-off exit to Bayern Munich is a far cry from what happened in 2022.

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With Postecoglou in the Celtic Park dugout, the Hoops crashed out of the Europa Conference League playoff phase by losing 5-1 on aggregate to Bodo/Glimt.

It was a nightmare of all nightmares and a pretty big blot on Celtic’s European credentials, at the time, as Postecoglou will now look to put those previous wrongs right in the colours of Tottenham.

“I don’t think it’s surprising,” said Postecoglou on Bodo Glimt’s rise. “I, obviously, have history with Bodo. We played them when I was at Celtic.

“I scouted them pretty extensively for that game. I remember they beat Roma at home, with Jose (as the opposing manager), and Jose speaking about how difficult it was playing there, and I followed them closely.

“You have seen their growth. They are very difficult. Got a good talent ID. Players who have moved on and done really well. Very consistent. Same manager, which always helps.

“Then built a real belief in their club. I think they have earned the right to be in the semi-final. It’s not like they have had an easy ride through it. They are a very, very difficult opponent away from home. Absolutely. You just have to look at their record.

“I certainly won’t underestimate them. I know them really well and I know the challenge we have to overcome them.”

The 11 Celtic players who remain from that Bodo/Glimt nightmare

Going back to the second leg, which was played in Norway, Celtic lost 2-0 and were knocked out, with some interesting names playing that are still on the books today.

On the one hand, given that quite a number of them have been part of this season’s Champions League campaign, it shows their progression.

At the end of the day, it’s not about how you get knocked down, but how you get back up.

Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou could be out of a job before it’s too long.

The under-fire Tottenham Hotspur boss is languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table ahead of his side’s tricky trip across London to take on bitter rivals, Chelsea, on Thursday evening.

Postecoglou won it all at Celtic, including during his success in his homeland of Australia and the J-League in Japan.

But, despite a fire-cracking start at Spurs, including sitting top of the Premier League table after ten matches when he initially joined during the summer of 2023, the tide and mood has changed quite a lot.

Time and time again, it’s not just the results that are being questioned, but Postecoglou’s style of play also.

That was one of the 59-year-old’s biggest success stories at Celtic, yet, in the English Premier League, he is getting verbally battered left, right and centre for it, but now he has been defended for it by an unlikely source.

People want Celtic hero Ange Postecoglou to ‘fail’ at Tottenham

The fact that it is taking a former Rangers player to defend and call out the nonsense aimed at Postecoglou says it all, really.

But Richard Foster claimed that people, from pundits to the media in England, want Postecoglou to ‘fail’ because the Celtic legend ‘essentially came through in Scotland’ to get to where he is now, as he told Go Radio.

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Foster wanted to highlight how Spurs have won ‘nothing for years’, yet there is this ‘really, really strange’ expectation hovering above their heads.

“We spoke about if off-air,” said Foster. “I think, because he has come to Scotland, and he has essentially come through Scotland to get to Tottenham, then I think they want him to fail.

“When you hear some of the pundits on certain stations and social media, they are desperate for him to fail. You have got to remember, he is coming on the back of no success for Spurs. It’s not like they have won loads of things recently. They have won nothing for years.

“Harry Kane, one of their best players to ever play for them, and he never won a thing there. It’s really, really strange what the expectation is on Ange Postecoglou.”

Postecoglou ‘constantly asked the same question’ at Tottenham

One of the reasons why the Celtic Park faithful loved Postecoglou, wasn’t just because he got the club back to winning ways, but the manner in which he did it.

Many would argue that Postecoglou’s style of football is more entertaining than Brendan Rodgers’, and he has had enormous success in Glasgow over two spells.

But, in Tottenham colours, Foster simply can’t understand why, time and time again, Postecoglou is asked about his style of play when he just isn’t going to change who he is.

“I think, because he is direct about what he says, I think he is brilliant,” added Foster.

“Sometimes he gets annoyed, as we all do, but I think he is brilliant. But he is just constantly asked the same questions over and over again.

“How many times is he going to be asked about the way he plays? He isn’t going to change it, and he has been open about that. They are still in Europe. I find it strange. I find it really, really strange.

“We met him on the Pro Licence in London, and he was brilliant. Really open and honest. Very engaging guy. He gave us his game model and the way he wants to work. What he said was brilliant.”