Another month, another story suggesting that Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is in the frame for English football’s latest crisis club.
This month’s flavour is, of course, Everton, as journalist Alan Nixon reported on his Patreon, the Toffees hierarchy will look to appoint Postecoglou should results not improve under current boss Frank Lampard.
Lampard’s side currently sit 17th in the Premier League table, and endured a second three-goal defeat away to Bournemouth in the space of four days, leading to open revolt from the travelling Toffees support, as those occupying the away end of the Vitality Stadium angrily remonstrated with their underperforming players at full-time.
Compare those scenes to the scenes after the full-time whistle at Celtic Park yesterday, as the Paradise faithful serenaded a squad of players who have roared nine points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership after a terrific domestic run before the World Cup break.
It’s not at all unreasonable to suggest that Everton will indeed be looking at Postecoglou should Lampard’s time on Merseyside come to an end. Given the job that the Aussie is doing at Celtic, there are bound to be interested parties, but Nixon also notes the most important point of all, that Postecoglou shown no interest whatsoever in leaving the Scottish champions.
Why this would change for a club like Everton is anyone’s guess, the Toffees aren’t just a club in the shadow of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, but one that has historically underachieved on their own merits, too.
The Toffees have infamously spent north of half a billion pounds since Farhad Moshiri became the majority stakeholder in 2016, and in that time have never finished in the Premier League’s top six, heavily flirting with relegation last season.
Given that yet another rebuild looks to be in order in the coming months, and that there surely will be a stem in the flow of squad investment with a stadium move in the pipeline, there could be few less attractive jobs in British football at the moment for an in-demand manager, never mind one so adored as Postecoglou is at Celtic.
Since David Moyes replaced Alex Ferguson at Manchester united in 2013, no Everton manager has had a meaningful career upswing post-Goodison, with Ancelotti’s return to Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 clearly predicated on his prior career rather than anything achieved on Merseyside.
Whether Lampard will still be the Everton manager for the Sydney Super Cup meeting between the sides next Sunday remains to be seen, but there should be little fear that Postecoglou will be treating that match as an audition rather than preparation for Celtic’s post-World Cup title charge.
So long as he continues to succeed in Glasgow, these stories linking Postecoglou with a move south will come around every time a Premier League manager’s job looks to be in doubt, but as things stand, they aren’t stories that should cause any concern for the Celtic or their supporters.
In other news: “Perfectly within his rights”; Celtic legend Dalglish backs Postecoglou on Scotland friendly
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