When Ange Postecoglou left Celtic in the summer, he left a bigger hole than many imagined.
Yes, the now-Tottenham boss left the club in a better state than he first found it, including winning the domestic Treble in what turned out to be his final season.
But it wasn’t just on the training field and out on the pitch where Celtic fans got to see his work, because he played a huge part in transfers too.
Anthony Joseph shared that Ange Postecoglou operated in a more ‘old school’ way and he wanted to ‘essentially have full control’ of the transfer side of things.
That has since changed under Brendan Rodgers, with the Sky Sports journalist pointing out that managers like Ange Postecoglou are now ‘so rare to find’, as he told The Celtic Exchange.
From Gustaf Lagerbielke to Hyunjun Yang, it would be interesting to know how many of these players would have actually signed if Ange was still at the club.
It’s pretty clear that since he has gone, Brendan Rodgers hasn’t been the ‘main player’ in the boardroom like his predecessor was.
All in all, it has resulted in the club producing two abject transfer windows, which is just putting the whole club on the back foot.
Celtic transfers under Ange Postecoglou and Brendan Rodgers
“So, Dom McKay left and Celtic had Ange Postecoglou in,” said Joseph. “He operates in a more old-school way and is more in control of everything around the football club.
“Very little micromanagement of the squad, but in terms of the whole football club and the direction that they are going, he wanted a say and he wanted to be part of the discussions by being a main player there, essentially have full control.
“That is great because it worked. It worked for Celtic. But it was only going to work whilst Ange Postecoglou was there, unless you are going to get another manager like Ange, which is so rare to find these days, managers like to be head coaches these days. They don’t want to deal with the business side anymore.
“But Ange took it all on because that’s his style. I said it plenty of times, I do worry about what the succession plan is after Ange because he is pretty much in control of everything.
“Since Dom McKay left. There doesn’t seem to be an appetite for a sporting director at Celtic – what was being briefed in the summer, when Rodgers was coming in, before the window, was that Rodgers has brought into the European model. It wasn’t necessarily meaning this season. It’s next season’s Champions League where we know there can be up to ten games. From September to January. £60 million. If they sell O’Riley, that’s another £30 million. You could have £90 million there. That could see bigger changes and a bigger change in how they attack transfer windows.”
Celtic’s 2024 summer transfer window
The main aim now is to ensure the two remaining trophies are won. If that happens, then fans will breathe a sigh of relief.
The club continues to shoot itself in the foot and will get punished if things don’t change ASAP.
But given the increase in money for the Champions League next season, it’s paramount that is met and it will be interesting if the club then go all out after that.
Perhaps the club is taking a risk and waiting in the summer, regardless of what has or hasn’t happened, big changes need to be made when the transfer window opens again.
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