Ange Postecoglou has been hired by Tottenham Hotspur as their next manager on a four-year deal.
After leading Celtic to two consecutive Scottish Premiership wins, the 57-year-old departs the club.
He succeeds Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Antonio Conte as Spurs’ fourth permanent manager since Mauricio Pochettino guided them to the Champions League final in 2018–19.
Daniel Levy, the chairman of Tottenham, expressed his excitement about Ange joining the team.
“Ange adds a quick, aggressive style of play and a good attitude. He has a proven track record of producing players and is aware of the value of the connection from the academy, which is vital to our club, the speaker continued.
Since Conte left in March, Spurs have been looking for a new manager. Interim managers Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason have presided over the team.
Postecoglou, the first Australian manager in the Premier League, joins Tottenham after winning a domestic treble in Scotland. During his two seasons with Celtic, he won five of the six titles that were up for grabs.
Along with Jock Stein, Martin O’Neill, Brendan Rodgers, and Neil Lennon, he is one of just five managers to lead Celtic to a domestic clean sweep.
Working with Ange, a brilliant football manager and a kind man, has been a pleasure. He has provided the club with such vigor and tenacity and brought an incredible degree of success,” stated Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson.
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“Of course, we wanted Ange to stay at Celtic, and while there is real disappointment that we are losing him, he has decided that he wants to look at a new challenge, which we respect.”
The best responses to Postecoglou’s appointment are gathered here.
The young Greek player who has emerged as Tottenham’s star
What will happen to Celtic now that Postecoglou has joined Spurs?
The new manager has a full in-tray.
Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, Arne Slot, Graham Potter, Julen Lopetegui, Rodgers, and Pochettino have all been mentioned at various points during Spurs’ ten-week hunt for Conte’s replacement.
In the four seasons that have followed their 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final, they have only achieved one top-four result.
Postecoglou, who took over Celtic in the summer of 2021 after they had completed the season 25 points behind champions Rangers, is no stranger to joining a team facing a challenging challenge.
When he arrived at Celtic, chief executive Dominic McKay had taken over for Peter Lawwell, head of football operations Nick Hammond had resigned, and longtime captain Scott Brown had gone to join Aberdeen.
As he enters Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, he notices some parallels to chairman Levy’s quest for a new sporting director after Fabio Paratici left after losing his appeal against a 30-month suspension from football.
As the new manager works to assemble a team that can lead Tottenham back into the Champions League, resolving the uncertainty around the future of striker Harry Kane, who has been linked to Real Madrid, will be a top priority this summer.
Premier League after the A-League
With the Scottish Premiership trophy, Ange Postecoglou
Five trophies were won by Postecoglou during his two seasons with Celtic.
In Australia, Postecoglou spent the most of his playing career with South Melbourne, where he was coached by Ferenc Puskas, a renowned Hungarian who Postecoglou credits for his coaching philosophy.
He began his management career in 1996 with South Melbourne, and from 2009 to 2012, he led Brisbane Roar to back-to-back A-League championships.
After spending a season with Melbourne success, he was appointed manager of Australia in 2013 and led his nation to both the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Asian Cup success.
With Yokohama F Marinos, he won further awards throughout his stay in Japan. In 2019, he ended the team’s 15-year J-League title drought.
