THE REAL STORY ABOUT AN ANGE POSTECOGLOU CELTIC COMEBACK
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 17 minutes ago
- 3 min read
If ever there was a story that I would love to be true but I know it isn’t, this is it.
The internet was abuzz this morning with a big story. Recently redundant, former Nottingham Forest boss, and the most exciting manager I’ve seen at Celtic since Martin O’Neill, Ange Postecoglou is apparently “open to the possibility of coming back to Celtic” if and when Brendan Rodgers departs.
Unfortunately, although the story gained traction on football365.com, the original source is the infamous “Football Insider”. As I have said before, and I will, I am sure, have to say again in the future, Football Insider is to good football journalism what Hugh Heffner was to abstinence and chastity.
In other words, the words they publish have about as much value as the latest round of Rangers shares.
Ange Postecoglou Celtic Story Provokes Interesting Fan Discussion
Now, until big Ange himself says “sorry mate, it’s not happening”, I won’t completely lose hope. But in the meantime, whilst this story was disseminating amongst the Celtic support over the past 18 hours or so, it was interesting to see how different fans reacted to it.
People like me, nostalgic for the early days of “Angeball” when we gave Rangers an absolute schooling on a regular basis, and treated our Japanese signings with the dignity they deserve, were saying: “oh, please dear God, let it be so.”
Then there was another camp, people who felt, perhaps justifiably that by continuing to work with Celtic, whilst secretly negotiating his next gig at Spurs, that Ange Postecoglou was being somehow dishonest, even treacherous, in his behavior.
They go on to draw the logical conclusion that he shouldn’t be welcome back at Celtic Park as a result.
Now, obviously, I don’t agree with this, but I’ll go further and say that I think this line of argument is illogical, and, at the risk of incurring the wrath of some of my fellow Celts, a bit hypocritical.
After some initial resistance, and I freely admit I was one of those dissenting voices, Celtic fans finally decided to embrace Brendan Rodgers once again. The “prodigal son” was welcomed back with open arms, and duly delivered two league titles.
However, if we cast our minds back to when Rodgers left Celtic the first time around in 2019. It was the middle of the season, Rangers were actually half-decent for a change and the league title was by no means guaranteed. Yet he decided that was the right time to leave us for the glitz and glamour of, erm, Leicester.
I think the Green Brigade said it best: “You traded immortality for mediocrity,”
So, being completely hypothetical for a minute, if an Ange Posteocoglou Celtic return was indeed possible, and the changes in the boardroom that I believe are necessary to actually allow him to do his job came through somehow, then the affable Aussie should be, at the very least afforded the same grace and forgiveness as the Celtic support, ultimately, have decided to afford Brendan Rodgers.
Rodgers’ style of football and the current performance of the team are separate debates. But if we’re going to give him a pass on his prior sins, I think we at least owe Big Ange the same, for what were, in my opinion, far lesser acts of harm against Celtic in the service of his own ambitions.
In any case, I don’t think this is going to happen. However, I have to say, I’d be absolutely delighted to be proven wrong.