Soccer

Tottenham hires Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou as latest manager

Ange Postecoglou was employed by Tottenham on Tuesday as the London membership started its latest reboot after one other turbulent season. He’ll be the primary Australian manager within the English Premier League.

The 57-year-old Postecoglou, who has simply gained a trophy treble with Celtic in Scotland, is the fourth everlasting manager to be employed since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure in 2019, and is tasked with the duty of turning the Spurs’ fortunes round after 15 years with out a trophy.

He signed a four-year contract and follows Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte, who all had short-lived reigns.

“Ange brings a positive mentality and a fast, attacking style of play,” Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy mentioned. “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.

“We are excited to have Ange be a part of us as we put together for the season forward.”

Tottenham will hope Postecoglou can emulate the success he had in his two seasons at Celtic, where he won five trophies — two league titles, the Scottish Cup and two League Cups.

“Of course, we needed Ange to stick with us at Celtic,” Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson said, “and whereas there’s actual disappointment that we’re shedding him, he has determined he desires to take a look at a brand new problem, which we respect.”

Born in Greece and raised in Australia, Postecoglou was previously coach of Australia and also Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos. He is a blunt speaker, with his players and the media, and has clarity in his vision of soccer.

Postecoglou joins Tottenham at the end of a season in which it failed to qualify for Europe for the first time since 2009.

Tottenham has also had to endure the upheaval of Conte’s departure in March, which was quickly followed by the exit of his former assistant Cristian Stellini, who was appointed interim manager until the end of the season.

The team’s form was so poor under Stellini that he lasted just four games — the last a 6-1 rout by Newcastle, which saw Spurs concede five goals inside 21 minutes. Another assistant, Ryan Mason, took over through the end of the campaign.

As well as managerial instability, Tottenham has also lost managing director of football Fabio Paratici after he lost his appeal against a 30-month ban for his part in a false accounting scandal involving former club Juventus.

Levy is under pressure from supporters to get his latest appointment right, with the ongoing trophy drought leading to growing unrest.

Levy’s change of strategy — bringing in proven trophy winners in Mourinho and Conte, who are largely pragmatic, defensive-first coaches — didn’t work, so he has gone back to his former approach of hiring a manager who plays more expansive soccer and promotes younger players.

One of Postecoglou’s first jobs at his new membership could also be to attempt to persuade Harry Kane that his future stays at Spurs.

The England striker has one yr left on his contract and has been linked with strikes to Manchester United and Real Madrid this summer season.

Kane became Spurs’ all-time leading scorer this season when surpassing club great Jimmy Greaves’ record of 266 goals. He also set a new record for his country, with 55 goals.

He has scored 213 Premier League goals and is closing in on Alan Shearer’s all-time record of 260.

While his departure could earn Tottenham as much as $124 million to reinvest in the team, it would leave a significant hole for Postecoglou to try to fill.

Postecoglou described his time at Celtic as an “honor.”

“They needed me to increase my time at Celtic and whereas I’m so respectful and understanding of their place, a brand new alternative has been offered to me and it’s one which I needed to discover,” he mentioned.

“Our supporters have been magnificent to me and I thank them for the way in which they’ve embraced me throughout the previous two years. My ambition was at all times to offer our followers a group they may very well be happy with, a group folks talked about, and I feel now we have achieved that.”

Football Australia triumphantly hailed the move to Tottenham, with chief executive James Johnson saying it was a testament to Posetcoglou’s “enduring willpower, talent and imaginative and prescient as a pacesetter” and a “second of nice satisfaction for Australian soccer.”

It “highlights this present golden age” in Australian soccer, Johnson said, adding his country “has emerged as a brand new energy in world soccer.”

Postecoglou coached Australia at the 2014 World Cup, the 2015 Asian Cup — which Australia won on home soil — and the 2017 Confederations Cup, before leaving after qualifying the team for the 2018 World Cup.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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