Tottenham Hotspur has appointed Australia’s very own Ange Postecoglou as their new manager for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, having successfully guided Glasgow Celtic to a domestic treble in the 2022/23 season as well as a domestic double in the 2021/22 campaign.
57-year old Ange started his two seasons in Scotland on a rough patch, which included being knocked out of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League qualifiers by Danish side FC Midtjylland and losing the opening league match of that season 2-1 away at Hearts, but eventually he won over fans and pundits alike as his squad, spearheaded by Asian talents, swept five out of six possible domestic trophies on offer during that time.
The first Australian to manage in the Premier League as well as the first man from an AFC member nation to hold a top managerial job at a Premier League club, Ange was only the fifth Celtic manager – after the legendary Jock Stein, Martin O’Neill, Brendan Rodgers, and Neil Lennon – to have won a domestic treble.
Tied down on a four-year contract, Ange will become Spurs’ fourth permanent manager since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure in the 2019/20 campaign, following Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Antonio Conte.
“We are excited to have Ange join us,” said Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, as quoted from BBC Sport, “Ange brings a positive mentality and a fast, attacking style of play. He has a strong track record of developing players and an understanding of the importance of the link from the academy – everything that is important to our club.”
Ange’s appointment concludes Spurs’ exhaustive 10-week search for a new manager since Conte’s departure back in March, which saw both Cristian Stellini and Ryan Mason taking charge of the team on an interim basis – the former notoriously losing 6-1 away at Newcastle United in the league having gone 5-0 down in 21 minutes – as well as the Lilywhites being turned down by the likes of Arne Slot, Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, Graham Potter, Julen Lopetegui, Rodgers, and even Pochettino.
Having claimed success and won the admiration of many at Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, the Australia national team, Yokohama F. Marinos and finally Celtic, it is interesting to see how Ange will square up against some of the best managers in the world at the Premier League, such as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Erik ten Hag, and Unai Emery.
The conundrum of Harry Kane, Spurs’ star striker who had attracted the interest of Europe’s biggest clubs in recent years, will become Ange’s biggest challenge in his early days at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, though his preference for Asian players would see him retain the team’s faith on Son Heung-min.
There’s a possibility that Ange would raid Celtic of their Asian stars, with the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Oh Hyeon-gyu showing their worth there, as well as poaching some of the finest from the Asian leagues to further reinforce the Tottenham side that he has inherited from his predecessor.
The Spurs job will arguably be the most challenging one in Ange’s managerial career, but at the same time it’ll allow him to truly showcase what he’s made of to an even bigger audience than he had before.