Roy Keane was in no mood for sympathy when discussing Ange Postecoglou’s struggles at Tottenham, launching into a typically no-nonsense assessment of the Australian’s current woes on The Overlap.
With Spurs suffering from a major injury crisis that has left them without key players for months, Arsenal legend Ian Wright was quick to defend the former Celtic boss. Wright insisted it wasn’t Postecoglou’s fault and expressed sympathy for the situation. But Keane wasn’t having any of it.
“When Ange was the manager of Celtic, he’s playing Dundee and Hibs every week, and they’ve got the smallest squads ever,” Keane fired back. “I don’t think Ange was feeling sorry for them, so no, it’s Ange’s time now to suffer. You have to suffer, Ange, like lots of other managers. Celtic have the biggest budget and the best players, and you think he had sympathy at Dundee [Utd] when he was winning 7, 8, 9-0?”
The Irishman’s trademark bluntness left no room for debate. He essentially dismissed the idea that Postecoglou deserved any special consideration, pointing to the clear advantage Celtic had during his time in Scotland.
Wright, however, pushed back slightly, conceding that Celtic are “obviously the guys” in Scotland but arguing that Postecoglou now faces a very different challenge at Spurs. “He’s got an owner now that’s not going to back him like they did at Celtic,” Wright added.
Keane’s words will no doubt divide opinion, but his point was clear: success at Celtic, where Postecoglou had the best squad and biggest budget, was a very different reality to the brutal demands of the Premier League. And as far as Keane is concerned, it’s just part of the job.
While Keane hit some very pertinent points, people forget how far Celtic had fallen during that Covid season and how bad a shape the club was in when he flew halfway across the world to take charge. He picked us up from the rubble of the lockdown season and restarted the Celtic juggernaut that we’re continuing to enjoy today.