Ange Postecoglou will manage in EPL – but not now and not at Leeds, reckons Celtic-daft ex-Elland Road boss Steve Evans
THEY’RE a big club with big ambitions.
But Big Ange should steer clear of Leeds United, according to Big Steve.
At least while he still has so much unfinished business to take care of at Celtic.
And if Ange Postecoglou DOES keep delivering in Scotland?
Hoops diehard Steve Evans believes a glitzier Premier League job than the current Elland Road vacancy can be his for the taking.
The Glaswegian bossed Leeds in the Championship for seven months in 2015/16, a shift he’ll forever regard as one of his life’s greatest privileges.
Evans — now leading League Two title-chasers Stevenage — still sees the struggling Yorkshire side as a footballing giant. But the 60-year-old says they’re NOT bigger than his beloved Celts.
And he reckons the inspirational Aussie gaffer — on the shortlist to replace axed Jesse Marsch — can set his sights a lot higher.
The ex-Clyde, Albion Rovers, Ayr United and St Johnstone striker — a 25-year veteran in English League dugouts — told SunSport: “From a Leeds United point of view, you MUST be considering Ange.
“If you’re the main man at Elland Road and you’ve a list of four names, he surely has to be one of them. He’s got vast experience, his management style is impressive.
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“He does it his way and he’s getting results consistently under pressure and scrutiny.
“As a professional working in the game down here, I can tell you for a fact Ange is being talked about all over.
“I speak to Premier League sporting directors regularly and they all refer to how good his recruitment is.
“I’ve no doubt the people at Leeds will be looking at him.
“Speaking from a Celtic point of view, as a fan since childhood, they must keep Ange. It’s as simple as that.
“They saw Brendan Rodgers walk away and he came under fierce fire from the fans. I think the attraction of the Premier League swept him away. Ange also going mid- season would be a real heartbreaker for the Celtic fans.
“Yes, I think he’ll eventually work in the Premier League although I don’t see it being now and I don’t see it being for Leeds United.
“But I regard them as one of the top six to eight clubs in British football.
“Without a shadow of a doubt. Celtic are one of them and, it pains me to say, Rangers are also one of them.
“I was very proud to be manager of Leeds United and that pride will be inside me until the day I leave this world.
“But I’m also a hugely proud Celtic supporter. Do I want Ange to go? No.
“I’m hoping not. But Leeds would be very foolish not to be considering him. Who’s bigger, Celtic or Leeds United? Wow, there’s a question!
“I think Celtic’s worldwide. You can go to deepest Africa, South America or anywhere — if you’ve got a hooped shirt on, then they know you’re a Celtic supporter.
“In terms of size worldwide, Celtic for sure. But, Leeds are a huge club. It’s two massive oil tankers in the ocean.
“A lot of Celtic fans reacted to Ange’s appointment by asking, ‘Who is he?’. I knew of him through football circles and what he’d achieved with Australia.
“But, to be fair, no one was certain how he would approach the job and how he would have Celtic playing. What the identity would be, the style.
“We all know for sure now — and, boy, has it been an outstanding period. Credit to the board, to Dermot Desmond, to Peter Lawwell for getting him — Ange has proved to be an inspired appointment.”
After inheriting a club in the doldrums following their failure to land ten in a row, the Aussie has transformed Celts.
And Evans admitted: “He’s doing a fantastic job — but I also feel he’s only about 25 per cent through his job at Celtic.
“He’s got a proper rebuilding opportunity there and the players he’s brought in have progressed things dramatically.
“If he keeps doing the job he is, there’s every chance there will be bigger clubs in the Premier League coming for him than where Leeds are just now.
“It pains me to say this, but I went to Leeds’ game at Nottingham Forest on Sunday and they were poor. It’s a huge ask to keep them up, but I’m praying he does because Leeds United is a club deep in my heart now.”
If Evans can picture Postecoglou, 57, anywhere else then it’s at Liverpool.
The Celts boss loved the Reds in his younger days in Melbourne.
Evans added: “I’d imagine deep down Ange will aspire to manage in the Premier League. It’s where the elite work.
“Why not Liverpool? Jurgen Klopp’s a long way from leaving Anfield but if he did, why wouldn’t they want Ange?
“And listen, if the day comes for Ange to leave Celtic, my CV will be on the chairman’s desk at Parkhead within an hour!
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