As the pressure mounts on Ange Postecoglou, maybe hindsight is telling him that leaving Celtic might not have been a good idea after all?

In an alternate universe, Ange Postecoglou might have stayed at Celtic, and Brendan Rodgers might now be the Tottenham manager.

At the time when Postecoglou was being touted for the Spurs job, Rodgers apparently, was also in the bookies list of candidates.

In life, we live and die by the decisions we make.

I think it’s fair to say that Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou are experiencing very contrasting fortunes since the summer of 2023.

Rodgers is now riding high as Celtic manager, with the Champions League knock-out stages awaiting his side.

As well as a glamour tie in two days time against Aston Villa.

Win that one, and the respect levels for Rodgers will go up another notch.

No doubt, Rodgers feels at this moment in time that he made the right decision in June of 2023.

I’m not sure the same can be said for Ange Postecoglou.

His Tottenham Hotspur side lies in 15th position in the EPL table, 8 points above the relegation spots.

Based on current form, which is one win in 10 games, unless Postecoglou halts this slide, Spurs could see themselves mired in a relegation dogfight.

When he took the Spurs job in the summer of 2023, I’m sure that sort of position was unthinkable for Postecoglou.

Why?

Because wherever he went before taking on his current role, Postecoglou was a serial winner.

In reality, where he finds himself right now is uncharted territory.

The big man is not used to losing football games with the regularity his ailing Spurs side has been of late.

There is no doubting the pressure is on him at the moment.

But it will cost Spurs somewhere in the region of £12 million to sack Postecoglou.

That might seem a lot to fans like us who follow the Scottish game

Especially when we’re aware of how much it will cost the Ibrox side to sack Philippe Clement, but in EPL financial terms, it really isn’t.

Postecoglou earns just under £100k per week as Spurs manager.

But you can be guaranteed there are players that he coaches who earn much more than that.

Still, I’m sure Daniel Levy doesn’t want to have to fork out that kind of money.

Which is probably part of the reason there is no major urgency on Levy’s behalf at the moment when it comes to Postecoglou’s position.

Add to that the fact that he has guided Spurs into the Europa League knockout stages, and has a League Cup semi-final second leg coming up against Liverpool.

Spurs are 1-0 in that tie, so they’re still in with a shout.

Although, on current form, you’d be worried for Postecoglou heading to Anfield.

Who knows, it might a chance for redemption?

Postecoglou himself was fairly candid in his thoughts after yesterday’s defeat to Leicester.

Here’s some of what he had to say, as reported in today’s Scottish Sun:

When asked if he reckons he will still be in a job for much longer, Postecoglou said: Who knows. I reckon there is probably a fair chunk that will say no.  When you are the manager of a football club you can be very vulnerable and isolated. I don’t feel that.

I feel like this group of players are giving everything for the club. I have a group of staff that is really committed. I focus on that. I have felt all along that the players are still very committed to what we’re doing.  That’s important to me, because I firmly believe in it.

This is as low as we’ve been so far this year but I still think that in these last three months we can do something really special and these players believe that.

So it’s clear Postecoglou believes they can achieve something in the cup competitions, but the League form might turn out to be his Achilles heel.

Postecoglou strikes me as a determined character.

He knows what he wants.

I’ve always looked out for his results since he went to Spurs.

I’m not going to deny I was bitterly disappointed with the way he left Celtic, but I’m eternally grateful for the job he did in the two seasons he was at Celtic Park.

He took the job under immensely pressurised circumstances, and put the club back on an even keel.

And he landed 5 out of 6 trophies in the process.

It pains me to see him struggling at Spurs, and I hope he manages to turn things around.

But if it all ends up going south, you have to wonder, will he look back on 2023 and think about how different things could have been had he stayed at Celtic?

I doubt it, because as they say, hindsight is a fool’s version of foresight.

Ange Postecoglou knew what he wanted when Spurs came calling.

Maybe he took a poisoned chalice?

Because nobody really succeeded before him either.

And maybe Spurs as a club is just doomed to failure?

Whether he becomes another name in a long list of managers who have failed to turn that club around remains to be seen.

Whatever happens, I wish him all the best.

I hope he wins a trophy for the club.

Because at this point, any trophy would do, such has been the length of their drought.

Will Postecoglou be the man to end it?

Or is he living on borrowed time?

Only time will tell…