Brendan Rodgers would be successful at Celtic if they are willing to have him back, reckons John Barnes. And the former Celtic manager has also outlined his thoughts on Ange Postecoglou’s prospects at Tottenham Hotspur after the 57 year old Australian left Celtic after completing two successful season at the club winning a double in his first year and following that up with a treble in his second and final season at the club.

Brendan Rodgers (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

“Brendan knows Celtic well and so I think it would be a good move even if the fans weren’t happy when he left the last time,” Barnes said, speaking to FutFanatico.

“No manager will turn down the opportunity of managing in the Premier League,” Barnes said as he explained the reasoning for the Rodgers departure in 2019, which of course has also recently occurred with Ange Postecoglou giving up that winning feeling at Celtic to head south of the border.

There’s also no reason why Rodgers and indeed maybe one day a few years from now Postecoglou may be considered for a second stint as Celtic manager, following in the footsteps of Billy McNeill and Neil Lennon who both had spells in England before returning to manage Celtic for a second time.

“If Celtic are willing to have him back I think he would be very successful there because he’s going to the best team in Scotland, he’s a good coach and knows the club inside out,” is Barnes’ assessment on the imminent Brendan Rodgers return to Paradise.

Barnes is also a fan of Ange Postecoglou and believes that the Australian’s management style is very good.

“His management style must have been good because they won the treble,” Barnes said. “Celtic were always going to come again because of the quality they have but what he was able to do at the club was sensational.”

And Barnes went on to make a rather strange point, which may well have something in it, who knows? He reckons that Ange Postecoglou will have less time to win people over because he’s Australian! Maybe, but that’s surely not the issue with the Spurs fans who are less than impressed with the lack of ‘big league’ experience rather than where their new manager is from. He was actually born in Greece too!

Daniel Levy, the Tottenham Hotspur chairman looks on during the Premier League match between Norwich City and Tottenham Hotspur at Carrow Road on May 22, 2022 (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“It’s going to be more difficult for him at Tottenham and he will have to win people over because he’s not European or South American,” Barnes reckons, somewhat bizarrely. Continuing to dig the hole Barnes adds: “No matter how good he is, the fact he’s Australian means that he will have to hit the ground running and do well or questions will be thrown at him.”

Surely that’s been the case with all managers working under Daniel Levy at Tottenham and indeed for many managers getting a short-lived job in the English Premier League where very few these days seem to last a season, regardless of their nationality.

“Tottenham have been very inconsistent in the last few years but may have accepted it from a Conte or Mourinho because they’re European,” Barnes reckons. Maybe that was more to do with the success that those two managers have had in the game, in Europe at the highest level?

“For me if you’re good enough it doesn’t matter where you’re from but this is the way the world is,” Barnes argued. On Ange Postecoglou, he concluded: “He’s really good and he did a fantastic job at Celtic and I hope he’s given a chance even if they don’t start well.”

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