Postecoglou has steeliness to handle challenge of rebooting Tottenham

“L et’s not beat about the bush … I was a joke when I was appointed,” Ange Postecoglou said on Saturday, the Scottish treble completed at Celtic, his work there done but his thoughts going back to the summer of 2021 and the beginning of his first job in European football.

Because, as plenty of people said, which self-respecting club would take a manager from Japan’s J-League and with next to no profile? Once it was “Arsène Who?”, now it was “Ange?”

Celtic, moreover, were in a mess, the fans furious, the squad in need of a reboot after a failed season when they finished 25 points behind the champions, Rangers. The previous manager, Neil Lennon, had departed in late February and the hunt for his permanent successor had passed the 100-day mark, Eddie Howe having been targeted only to decline.

For Celtic then, read Tottenham now. There are so many parallels and perhaps the biggest one concerns whether the imminentappointment of Postecoglou to replace Antonio Conte, who left in late March, is too much of a gamble. Because which elite English club would take a manager from the Scottish Premiership with next to no experience of the top level in Europe?

There is the view among a constituency of Spurs supporter that it does not matter whether the Scottish league has passed on, say, Brendan Rodgers or Virgil van Dijk; it is still the Scottish league. They will view Postecoglou’s transformation of Celtic – league and league cup in his first season; all three domestic trophies this time out – through such a prism.

They will note Postecoglou’s record in Europe was poor – first a Europa League group-stage exit, then the same from the Champions League – and they will be ready with the “I told you sos” if it goes badly, even if it