The 'incredible' Celtic fact people forget about Ange as man in the know stunned by Tottenham boss' bold move

A former Premier League goalkeeper has told people to remember what Ange Postecoglou did for Celtic -as he eyes a Tottenham renaissance.

The Australian has been under pressure at Spurs this season with the club in the bottom half of the Premier League, amid a severe injury crisis. They still have the Europa League to compete for and got back to winning ways on Sunday with a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Man Utd.

Mark Schwarzer worked briefly with Postecoglou during his role as Australia manager and has followed his career since, interviewing him on a number of occasions following his own retirement. He knows how hard it is for Australians to make it in Europe, having overcome obstacles to play for the likes of Middlesbrough and Fulham.

He’s a man in the know when it comes to the man who swapped Celtic for Tottenham in 2023 after five domestic trophies out of six available in Glasgow, stunned by his move to walk a pressurised Glasgow path alone. His achievements in Celtic must not be forgotten after coming in off the wreckage of a failed bid for 10 titles in a row, leaving his countryman in awe.

Schwarzer told Seaman Says: “We've had it with players coming into the Premier League and that kind of barrier has been broken down. We had a period of time when probably at our peak, I think it was eight of us playing regularly in the Premier League, which is phenomenal for a sport that participation wise is No. 1 but in terms of national level, it's not necessarily the No. 1 sport.

“And then we've never had a manager at this level before. So to have someone like Ange who's been as successful as he's been in terms of the opportunities he got. He went to Japan and did really well, and then the opportunity to go to Celtic. People say, “well, it's the Scottish Premiership” – it is [disrespectful]. Celtic and Rangers are, as we all know, enormous. And the global appeal, the global position, the support that they have is incredible.

“They're anomalies in leagues that are not known for being that strong and that big. To see that how big they are around the world is just mind-blowing from a lesser league, so to speak. I think people forget how good a job he did at Celtic. He went there off the back of a 25-point deficit from the previous season. He went in there alone.

“He didn't take an assistant manager, he didn't take a staff. And this is what I really admire about him –he went there, his first massive opportunity to come into European football at a huge club, and he didn't take one single member of staff with him. He went there by himself.

“The fans, from my understanding, wanted the staff's blood as well. They wanted them all out. They wanted a massive clear out. They thought they were just bad news. He came in and gave everyone an opportunity. He said, “you know the club better than I do. you know the area, you know the fans, you know everything better than I do. But this is how I want to play, this is what I'm going to do, this is how I'm going to be.

“I asked him the question why he went there with no one, He said, “for me personally, going into a club in that environment where you don't take your own people means that you can't come in on any given day and be relaxed. You can't come in and go, he's got my back.” So he knows that every day he walks in, he's got to be on his guard, he's got to make sure that he's doing the best he possibly can. And then he's demanding from his staff exactly the same. So to turn it all around and then go and win the league and win it as convincingly as they did was incredible.

“And then he brought in Harry Kewell as one of the coaches, but he never brought people in who he’d worked with all the time. He brought other people in. He says it openly himself now, “I'm an Australian, I'm in a privileged position. I am going to give other Australians an opportunity.” So he got Mile Jedinak his first proper coaching job. He's at Tottenham. But these are no mugs, these are people who are good.”