<\/p>\n
Australian manager Ange Postecoglou is in hot contention for a move to Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur, with the Celtic coach among the favourites for the vacant managerial position.<\/p>\n
Numerous reports from England <\/a>have named Postecoglou a strong chance to take over at Spurs, with the Athletic saying the club is \u201cstrongly considering\u201d the Australian and The Independent\u2019s Miguel Delaney labelling him a \u201cprimary candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n Stream Over 50 Sports Live & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now ><\/a><\/b><\/i><\/p>\n Postecoglou\u2019s exceptional work in Scotland has won him plenty of suitors in England\u2019s heavyweight sides, but whether the Australian would – or should – move to Tottenham is a contentious point.<\/p>\n The North London club has hardly been a fertile ground for silverware, with just one trophy this millennium, the 2008 League Cup. <\/p>\n It\u2019s also been a harsh environment for managers, something on full display again this season. Antonio Conte departed in March, before his assistant-turned-interim-boss Cristian Stellini was bounced out the exit door soon afterwards.<\/p>\n Now 31-year-old Ryan Mason is caretaker coach, and wants to take over the full-time gig at season\u2019s end – but three losses in five games in charge means that appears unlikely.<\/p>\n The club\u2019s problems have become deeply ingrained down the years, and an overhaul is required.<\/p>\n Much of the issue can be traced to the club\u2019s problematic hierarchy. The owner, Joe Lewis, is almost entirely absent, leaving things up to chairman Daniel Levy – a canny businessman who has seemed hopelessly out of his depth at times when it comes to the football side of running a club.<\/p>\n That was the case in 2018, when the club failed to sign a single player in the off-season – while Levy\u2019s attentions were directed almost completely on the club\u2019s new stadium.<\/p>\n MORE COVERAGE<\/b><\/p>\n \u2018Been pretty clear\u2019: Ange refuses to be \u2018distracted\u2019 amid rampant Spurs links<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n PL star bet against his own team 13 times, diagnosed with gambling addiction amid cryptic tweet<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n Managing director of football Fabio Paratici in January was handed a 30-month ban from any football activity within Italy, dating back to a financial scandal from his days as football director and managing director at Juventus (2019-21).<\/p>\n 11 other officials (past and present) from the Turin club were also banned and the club handed a points deduction for the false accounting charges.<\/p>\n But in late March – just days after Spurs manager Antonio Conte was sacked – the Italian ban was extended by FIFA to become a worldwide ban.<\/p>\n Paratici, in the middle of searching for a new manager, was suddenly banned from the kinds of duties that make up a football director\u2019s nine to five – transfer negotiations included.<\/p>\n The Italian is currently appealing the global ban, but for now he\u2019s been sidelined, leaving Levy in complete control. Again.<\/p>\n There has been a significant change in recent weeks, however. A six-month review into Spurs\u2019 structure resulted in them signing an Australian for a new role as the club\u2019s chief football officer – effectively second in command behind Levy, and above Paratici should the Italian have his ban overturned. <\/p>\n Scott Munn spent ten years as the CEO of A-League side Melbourne City – from when it was founded as Melbourne Heart in 2009 – before taking over the Chinese operations for City Football Group. Like Postecoglou, Tottenham is a massive step up for him.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t technically begin working at Spurs until July 1st, but there\u2019s surely no doubt that he\u2019s in talks with Levy about who should be Tottenham\u2019s next manager.<\/p>\n And having been on the other side of Postecoglou\u2019s brilliance, when the manager was dominating the A-Leagues with Brisbane Roar in 2011 and 2012, Munn might just prove decisive in bringing his fellow Australian to Tottenham.<\/p>\n For now, however, the situation at Spurs closely resembles the one when Paratici first arrived in June 2021.<\/p>\n Jose Mourinho had been sacked on April 19 – and the search for a managerial replacement was bumbled to say the least. <\/p>\n Almost daily, a new manager was linked to the role. Former boss Mauricio Pochettino was linked to a return. Then came a parade of other names – Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca, Gennaro Gattuso, Brendan Rodgers, Julian Nagelsmann and Erik ten Hag.<\/p>\n Eventually, they ended up with former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo, landing him on June 30 – a full 72 days after Mourinho\u2019s sacking. <\/p>\n Nuno lasted just 17 games in total, including 3-0 defeats to Chelsea, Manchester United, and Crystal Palace, and a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal.<\/p>\n As <\/a>The Athletic\u2019s <\/a><\/i>Charlie Eccleshare pointed out,<\/a> the Portuguese coach was facing an uphill battle the moment he was appointed.<\/p>\n \u201cNuno, fresh from leaving Wolves that summer, had no authority or credibility from the minute he walked through the door,\u201d Eccleshare wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cThe players knew it, the fans knew it, and he only lasted 10 league games in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n However, BBC Sport <\/i>chief football writer Phil McNulty believes the managerial circus reflected worse on the club\u2019s hierarchy rather than the recently-disposed boss.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo is the conclusion of a shambolic episode that arguably reflects more badly on Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy and his boardroom cohorts than on the departing manager,\u201d McNulty wrote. As of publication, Tottenham\u2019s managerial search has lasted 61 days and counting.<\/p>\n The worrying sign is it looks increasingly likely it will eclipse the 72-day wait before Nuno was appointed.<\/p>\n It spells danger for Postecoglou, should he get the gig.<\/p>\n However, Sky Sports News <\/i>reporter Rob Dorsett believes Spurs\u2019 lengthy wait for an appointment is different to the first time around.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Nuno Espirito Santo was appointed, it took Spurs 76 days before he got the job,\u201d Dorsett said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been exactly 60 days since Antonio Conte was sacked as Spurs manager. This isn\u2019t happening quickly for Spurs – but that\u2019s deliberate, from my understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cThey want to be thorough and do their due diligence in their process of appointing a new manager. They will take their time.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand Spurs fans\u2019 frustrations: they would like to know who their new manager is going to be so the club can start working out transfer plans. But there is no rush from Spurs\u2019 perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n Whether that is deliberate or not is up for debate.<\/p>\n But refusing to pay the reported \u20ac20m fee to Feyenoord for their top choice, Arne Slot, was an embarrassing mistake for Spurs – one that is far too similar to the chaos of two years ago.<\/p>\n The Australian manager\u2019s talents have been widely recognised and respected by the media, even if it has taken them quite some time to finally come around.<\/p>\n After all, who could forget that <\/i>radio segment featuring talkSPORT\u2019s <\/i>Alan Brazil.<\/p>\n \u201cHe does not hold the required licence \u2013 oh, this has got to be a wind-up,\u201d Brazil said.<\/p>\n Asked how he\u2019d fare, Brazil sarcastically replied: \u201cOh, he\u2019d be a great manager. Where do they come up with these guys from?\u201d<\/p>\n But the perception from the UK media isn\u2019t about whether Postecoglou could make the step up.<\/p>\n It\u2019s all about whether he should.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a very good manager isn\u2019t he?\u201d former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan told <\/a>talkSPORT<\/a><\/i>.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnd there\u2019s a natural progression there, whether Celtic fans want to hear that or not. The Premier League is a natural progression.<\/p>\n \u201cCeltic are a wonderful football club and nothing I\u2019m saying is detracting from that, but the Premier League is the biggest in world football.<\/p>\n \u201cManagers are going to want to find themselves in that space if they have anything about them. If he feels his time at Celtic has run its course \u2013 but going to Tottenham has its challenges. And not just because of (Spurs chairman) Daniel Levy, but because of Daniel Levy.<\/p>\n \u201cAny manager looks in to there and thinks \u2018I\u2019m a Levy appointment, I\u2019m going to have the same challenges any manager has had\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThey would be rowing against a stream of great toxicity and negativity towards the ownership model of this football club.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Do I want that? Or do I think there might be an opportunity if I keep winning everything with Celtic? Keep progressing Celtic and I might even get a bigger job than Tottenham\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n For Celtic great Chris Sutton, he\u2019s taken note more and more clubs down south are taking a keen eye to what Postecoglou is doing in Glasgow.<\/p>\n But his eyebrow-raising moment has been the mere fact it\u2019s taken this long for one of the bigger clubs to wake up and see what the Australian boss has been building for the past two seasons.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not shocked Postecoglou is high up on Spurs\u2019 list,\u201d Sutton told the <\/a>Daily Record<\/a><\/i>.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more surprised he wasn\u2019t high up on it in the first place and it\u2019s taken a few to drop out of the running for him to move up.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love Postecoglou to stay at Celtic. It\u2019s a huge job and there is unfinished business for him at Celtic Park, like the Champions League. But I am also a realist and I know Spurs would be a huge draw. We don\u2019t know what Postecoglou is thinking but it\u2019s not a leap to believe he would want to test himself in the English Premier League one day.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been linked with numerous jobs down south and there is a feeling clubs are starting to sit up and take notice of his achievements in Scotland, but also his CV from Japan and Australia. It\u2019s clear they now know he\u2019s a top class coach. Celtic fans are right to be concerned. <\/p>\n \u201cI know Spurs have their issues but this is not a club struggling at the foot of the division in danger of relegation. Even after an apparently disastrous campaign, they have still been in the running for the Champions League places.\u201d<\/p>\n Sutton also touched on the attractiveness of Postecoglou\u2019s style of football.<\/p>\n Having spoken with a number of disenfranchised Spurs fans on the radio who have vented their fury at the club\u2019s dour style of play under Mourinho and Conte, Sutton feels Postecoglou fits the ball for what they\u2019d want to see.<\/p>\n \u201cI speak to a lot of Spurs fans on the radio and a lot of them are fed up with the way the club play,\u201d Sutton said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were sick of the style of football under Jose. They were sick of the defensive approach under Conte.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a historical demand for entertaining, attacking football at the club \u2013 and Postecoglou ticks those boxes. I\u2019m sure a lot of Spurs fans would be happy to see him come in, even if he might not be the big name appointment some of the other candidates might be.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a club that is craving silverware \u2013 they\u2019ve only won one trophy in 20 years. Postecoglou is a serial winner. But Postecoglou would back himself. Would he be tempted? Of course he would be.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has been in the game long enough to know you sometimes have to move when you are hot. Celtic will be aware of it as well.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know he won\u2019t be around forever and I\u2019ve got no doubt they will have a contingency plan in place. But I would think even Celtic fans would understand if he made that decision, even if they would be desperately disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n With Celtic\u2019s season not over until June 4, Postecoglou\u2019s focus remains firmly fixed on his team and the pursuit of the domestic treble.<\/p>\n But once that final whistle blows at the end of Celtic\u2019s Scottish FA Cup final against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, questions regarding the Hoops boss\u2019 immediate future will come thick and fast.<\/p>\n In trademark Postecoglou fashion, he\u2019ll likely bat them away with a witty remark as we have become accustomed to throughout his managerial journey.<\/p>\n And even if Spurs elect to go in a different route for their new manager, this will almost certainly not be the only time a \u2018Big Six\u2019 team comes knocking for Postecoglou.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cNuno has not lasted much longer than the time it took Spurs to decide to appoint him after a horribly botched and drawn-out managerial search in which potential candidates seemed to appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.\u201d<\/p>\n