Ange Postecoglou’s stance on returning to Celtic revealed

Ange Postecoglou is reportedly distancing himself from the idea of returning to Celtic for a second spell as manager.

Celtic delivered the bombshell news that Brendan Rodgers had handed in his resignation late on Monday night.

It came after a desperately disappointing start to the season for the Bhoys, who find themselves eight points off top spot in the Scottish Premiership after nine games.

A limp 3-1 defeat at the hands of league leaders Hearts proved to be Rodgers’ final match in charge, with Martin O’Neill taking over the reins on an interim basis – two decades after leaving the club.

In an explosive statement, Celtic’s majority shareholder, Dermot Desmond, condemned Rodgers’ conduct in the months leading up to his departure, calling the Northern Irishman ‘divisive, misleading and self-serving’.

The Scottish champions must quickly move on if they are to find stability and prevent their season from unravelling, though, and fans have been reassured that the search for Rodgers’ permanent successor is up and running.

A host of high-profile names have been linked in the intervening hours, including the likes of Kieran McKenna, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Kjetil Knutsen, Michael Carrick and Robbie Keane.

Postecoglou, who led Celtic to back-to-back league titles between 2021 and 2023, had emerged as the early bookmakers’ favourite to take on the baton from O’Neill and his interim assistant Shaun Maloney.

But according to talkSPORT, sources close to Postecoglou have ‘downplayed’ the prospect of the Australian returning to Celtic Park for another bite at the cherry.

Given Postecoglou was sacked by Nottingham Forest just ten days ago, he could be forgiven for wanting some time away from the pressures of elite-level management for the foreseeable future.

Postecoglou’s wretched experience at the City Ground was brought to an end after just 39 days, with the 60-year-old failing to win any of his eight games at the helm.

His reign as a Premier League head coach with Forest is the second-shortest in the competition’s 33-year history.

The former Tottenham boss, who steered Spurs to Europa League glory last season, is yet to divulge any details of his plans since his dismissal at Forest.

The report claims Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna, who shares a close relationship Celtic CEO Mark Ashton, is viewed as a serious candidate for the Parkhead job.

Interim manager O’Neill is said to an admirer of his fellow countryman McKenna and has given his seal of approval to Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.

‘Celtic are looking for, I would have assumed, a young coach coming in now who has a proven ability and would be wanting to pull the club forward now from their position as it stands,’ O’Neill told talkSPORT.

‘That’s how I would view it and I suppose if I was a Celtic fan, I would absolutely see it.’

O’Neill, who previously managed Celtic in the early 2000s, admitted he had to ‘pull himself off the floor’ when he received the offer to return following Rodgers’ exit.

‘I took a gasp of breath and thought, is this real or surreal?’ he explained.

‘It’s difficult really to turn down somebody who gave you the job in the first place when he had really some great options a way back 25 years ago.

‘So from that viewpoint, maybe by the time that I pulled myself off the floor, I probably thought then maybe I should do it.

‘I think they were probably stunned by the news that Brendan left and as a consequence, they maybe might be obviously seeking a permanent manager.’

All eyes will be on Celtic Park on Wednesday night when the champions return to Scottish Premiership action against sixth-place Falkirk.

After back-to-back league defeats, O’Neill will no doubt be desperate to deliver a morale-boosting win to keep the pressure on top-of-the-table Hearts.

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