Celtic manager Enze Postecoglou (57), known as ‘Master Oh Hyun-gyu’, is in the running to become Tottenham’s next manager. It’s not all of a sudden. He was shortlisted once before. Back then, his age was a stumbling block.
“Tottenham were worried about Postecoglou’s age but could hire him after falling out with Arne Slott (45),” said British media outlet The Boot Room on the 25th.
Feyenoord coach Slott, who had been heavily linked with Tottenham, directly dismissed the speculation, telling the Dutch ‘AD’ on the same day: “What I want is to stay at Feyenoord and continue to build on what we have built in the last two seasons.” “There are no ongoing transfer talks,” he said.안전놀이터
Slott, who began his professional coaching career in 2019 as head coach of AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch top flight, has worked exclusively in the Dutch league. He has been in charge of Feyenoord since 2021 and led the club to the Dutch Eredivisie title this season.
Slott’s comments hinting at staying were unexpected. With a ‘winning record’ premium, he was recently touted as Tottenham’s ‘number zero’ for the next managerial job. Even Slott seemed to welcome the news.
“The normal next step is to go abroad and for me, the best stage in the world has always been the English Premier League (EPL),” the Dutchman said at a recent press conference, according to Sky Sports on the 20th, adding, “I will see you in London”.
“The sun is in London. I’m going to head to where the sun is,” he said, again hinting at a move to London. Tottenham is a London-based club. It was an affirmation of a mood that was strongly connected to Spurs.
But the tide has turned. Spurs backed out when they realised they would have to pay Feyenoord a hefty penalty fee. According to Sky Sports, Spurs would have to pay £10 million (double the amount of the buyout clause) to bring Slott with them. In addition, if they wanted his coach, they would have to pay another £5 million. Spurs quickly ended their interest in Slott as they felt they were being taken advantage of.
Sky Sports, The Sun and The Boot Room have all mentioned Celtic boss Postecoglou as one of the managers Spurs are monitoring.
‘Australian’ Postecoglou has been in charge of Celtic since 2021. He won the Scottish Premier League and Scottish League Cup on his arrival. This season, he led them to the top of the league and Scottish League Cup. He’s also looking to win the Scottish Football Association (FA) Cup. A domestic triple is on the cards. That’s two seasons in a row of unwavering leadership and results.
Postecoglou also has experience as a national team manager. And he’s done well. He led the Socceroos to victory at the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup. They beat Uli Stielike’s South Korea in the final to take the title.
Postecoglou is also the man who brought Oh to Celtic in the winter transfer window. If he joins Tottenham, he will be the second manager to coach Son Heung-min after Oh.
Tottenham had considered Postecoglou as one of the candidates for their next manager after sacking Antonio Conte in March. However, according to The Times, his age – he is 57 – became a negative factor and Spurs went in search of another manager.
Spurs have since shown interest in ‘young master’ Julian Nagelsmann (36), Mauricio Pochettino (52), who previously led Tottenham to the UEFA Champions League runners-up spot, and Slott, but have failed to land the job.
It is Tottenham who have been linked with Postecoglou in this situation.
“Postecoglou has done a great job at Celtic and his age won’t be an issue for Tottenham,” says The Boot Room, “He’s not the big-name manager Spurs fans are looking for, but he’s certainly an interesting option.”
“After leading Celtic to back-to-back titles in Scotland, Postecoglou has been labelled a ‘great manager’,” he added.