Charlie Nicholas knows a thing or two about walking away from Celtic at the peak of his popularity in the East End of Glasgow to head for the bright lights of London. But without mentioning any regrets of his own he does admit that money isn’t everything and what Ange Postecoglou has at the moment at Celtic could be worth much more than the financial riches that would be on offer – for the short term least – should the Celtic manager decide to move to Tottenham after this Saturday’s Scottish Cup Final against Inverness Caley Thistle.
Writing in his weekly Scottish Daily Express column this morning Nicholas gave the Celtic manager his own piece of advice and it certainly seems to make plenty of sense. Not that Ange Postecoglou is likely to be influenced one way or the other by any punditry or newspaper column from former players.
“Becoming Tottenham boss would bring a different torment to Ange Postecoglou, so I hope he doesn’t turn his back on Celtic and Champions League football for the Premier League’s great non-achievers. There’s no denying the Spurs job is an enormous one. It would provide Postecoglou with a passageway to the real big boys in England’s top flight and it would be bang-on financially,” Nicholas stated.
“But I don’t think money is what floats the Aussie’s boat. It would be more about testing himself against the best in one of the world’s top leagues. Spurs have brilliant infrastructure in terms of its stadium, academy and training ground but they are renowned for a lack of tangible success.Their last trophy came back in 2008 with the League Cup, which remains their only silverware this century. I know quite a few Tottenham fans and they aren’t overly excited at the possibility of being managed by a guy who has done well at a Scottish club,” Charlie added.
“They have a track record of appointing high-profile managers such as Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Another one, Mauricio Pochettino, deployed a similar brand of football to Postecoglou when he was at Spurs and that didn’t stop him getting sacked just six months after leading them to the 2019 Champions League final. Another issue at Tottenham is that the club could be bought over, amid reports of various interested parties. Where would a takeover leave Postecoglou? That is why he has to be so careful with his next move and the timing of it,” the former Celtic, Arsenal and Aberdeen striker said.
“I am hopeful he won’t take the job because there’s too much doubt surrounding Spurs just now. But I understand Postecoglou’s agent and allies are quite close to Spurs, so I could be proved wrong. From a personal perspective, it would be the worst possible scenario. As a Celtic supporter and with my Arsenal connections, it would be a double whammy for me. Postecoglou has built something special at Parkhead and I’d love to see him have another crack at Europe’s elite with the Hoops.”
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