Billy McNeill was first to do it, followed by Neil Lennon and Brendan Rodgers.
They say never say never, but put in the spotlight at Spurs today Ange Postecoglou refused to rule out the prospect of returning to manage Celtic at some future date.
Throughout his career the former Socceroos boss has developed the knack of getting out of a club at just the right time, leaving behind the good memories with little sign of anger, bitterness or recriminations.
In June 2021 Celtic took a leap into the unknown when they brought in Postecoglou after a 104 day search to find Neil Lennon’s successor.
Once fans started to dig into Google they became intrigued by the appointment. Almost instantly, despite three defeats in his first six SPFL matches supporters were on board and buying into Angeball, fuelled by incredible self belief without a trace of arrogance.
Ten games into his tenure in charge of Spurs the former Celtic boss has 26 points and top spot in the EPL, eclipsing the ‘achievements’ of Jose Mourinho and giving fans that sort of thrill they last felt when Mauricio Pochettino took their club to the 2019 Champions League Final.
Now struggling at Chelsea the Argentinian faces Spurs at the weekend- which brought up the topic of exes at the Tottenham media conference.
Postecoglou has the English media hanging on his every word, the first Aussue to manager in the EPL is a breath of fresh air with highlights coming out of every appearance in front of the cameras and dictaphones.
Aasked about Pochettino facing his old club there was an unexpected twist with the current Spurs boss strangely hesitant in his reply about the prospect of facing a former club with Yahoo News reporting:
No, knowing my nature it’s unlikely. Once they’re exes, they’re exes mate! You’ve messed with my head now.
I feel like whenever I’ve left, I’ve left on the back of success and I like to leave that memory as it is. I don’t think there’s any real purpose… I wouldn’t see myself going back anywhere I’ve been but who knows?
Next season there could be an interesting clash in the Champions League that would certainly capture the imagination.
It is convention that manager’s don’t return to watch their former club but with Spurs not involved in European competition this season Ange must have been sorely tempted to drop in on Glasgow to see how the hoops tackled Lazio and Atletico Madrid.
