Australian holds deep affection for Parkhead club - but return not on the cards
Ange Postecoglou says he still “loves” Celtic but has ruled out the prospect of making a sensational return to the east end of Glasgow.
Postecoglou won five trophies across two seasons at Parkhead between 2021 and 2023 before moving to Tottenham Hotspur. The Australian coach is currently out of work after being sacked by Nottingham Forest last year and with Celtic looking for new manager, he has been loosely linked with the role.
However, in an interview with The Overlap, Postecoglou shut down any chance of coming back to the club.
Ange Postecoglou was most recently in charge of Nottingham Forest.placeholder image
Ange Postecoglou was most recently in charge of Nottingham Forest. | Getty Images
“I loved Celtic, it’s a wonderful football club,” Postecoglou said. “If I was younger, I probably would have stayed there longer. I probably would have stayed there three, four years.
“I think I could have made progress with them in Europe but at the time, it had taken me a long time to get to this sort of space, and the opportunity to join Tottenham was too good.
“In terms of going back, I don’t go back. I just don’t think that’s kind of been my career. Whatever the next step is, it’ll be something new, somewhere I can make an impact in, somewhere I can win things, but it doesn’t diminish the affection I have for Celtic.
“It was a great experience for two years, to be within a community that’s just so passionate. I look back on it fondly, but I won’t go back. I don’t think that’s how my career’s played out.”
Postecoglou, 60, was sacked by Spurs last summer despite winning the Europa League. He then took over at Nottingham Forest in September but was axed by trigger-happy owner Evangelos Marinakis just 39 days later, after losing six of his eight games in charge.
Postecoglou admitted he was simply too eager to get back into management after being relieved of his duties at Tottenham three months earlier.
The Forest error
“There’s no point me blaming it on ‘I didn’t get time’ or anything,” he continued. “I should never have gone in there. That was on me. That was a bad decision by me to go in there. I’ve got to take ownership of that.
“It was too soon after Tottenham. I was taking over at a time where they were kind of used to doing things a certain way and I’m obviously going to do things differently. I’ve got to cop that, that was my mistake. It’s no-one else’s fault.
“Everyone around me was saying (don’t take it) but it’s the first time I wasn’t working in 20-odd years, and I was lost. And they had some good players, and that sucked me in.
“When you go into a club most of the time that club wants change, but the reality of it is I think they were reluctant to get rid of Nuno. It was only because of what happened behind the scenes (a fallout between Marinakis and Nuno) but there was no way they would have sacked Nuno after last year.
“So you’re walking into a playing group where they’re not really looking for change. But I was thinking with that group of players, ‘I reckon I can turn them around pretty quickly’.
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“We had a couple of games that could have gone our way but my first four games were away. We just never got any traction and it’s no wonder the supporters never took to me. Even the players were kind of…”
Postecoglou is open-minded about his next step but he insists his next employer must be willing to embrace his ideas and ambition.
“If a club starts talking to me, it’s not like I’m going to walk in and do things differently,” he said. “Do they really want what I have to offer? I’m going to play this way, I’m going to train this way and I want to win things. I’ve done that my whole career.”