Celtic Way

The Premier League club agreed a record fee with St Pat's for a League of Ireland player in order to sign Melia on January 1, 2026.

Melia, who turns 18 in September, emerged as a Celtic target last month with club chiefs thought to be keeping tabs on the exciting prospect.

However, Spurs were in pole position to land the forward despite initially having a £1m bid thrown out by the St Pat's.

Postecoglou's side reached terms with St Pat's in the final days of the transfer window to see Melia pen a five-year deal beginning in January next year. The striker will remain with St Pat's until the transfer goes through.

Melia is the youngest-ever player and goalscorer for St Pats' having broken his own record twice as a 15-year-old.

Schlupp embraces 'dream' Celtic opportunity, ready to play anywhere

Celtic’s failure to sign a striker won’t kill Rodgers’ joy

He has scored 10 goals for the Irish side in 54 outings and received a first Republic of Ireland under-21s call-up in October.

It comes after the North London club lost 2-1 at home to English Premier League strugglers Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.

It was Spurs' third defeat in four games, but according to football.london, the club will keep Postecoglou in charge for now.

Reason for Kyogo Furuhashi Celtic exit delay revealed

Rennes boss addresses Kyogo Furuhashi transfer state of play

The hierarchy are said to understand that the squad is ravaged by injury, so they will try to sign one more player before the January transfer window shuts next week to ease Postecoglou's worries.

The Australian, though, currently has the club flirting with relegation. Spurs are 15th in the English top flight and only eight points above the drop zone.

Yesterday's loss saw tensions spill over among supporters at full-time, with one fan telling Postceoglou the club will 'go down' with him at the helm.

Spurs face Elfsborg in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening as they aim to bounce back from another disappointing defeat.

Ange Postecoglou is under severe pressure in north London, with his side languishing in 15th spot on just 24 points.

Leicester City - who occupied a relegation spot before today's game - came from behind to win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this afternoon, as loud boos wrung out around the ground at full-time.

Spurs have been ravaged by injuries this term, with Postecoglou consistently lamenting his team's luck on that front.

However, the former Celtic manager may not have much longer to worry about getting his best XI fit again should Spurs not see an upturn in form domestically.

Fans called for change at full-time as they held a banner aloft, albeit, it's believed this was mainly aimed at Levy, who is chairman of the club.

However, having only won seven league matches all season, with three draws and a dismal 13 defeats, Postecoglou also finds himself in the firing line of supporters.

Their last Premier League win came over a month ago on December 15, away at Southampton.

Postecoglou was in the Parkhead hot seat for just two seasons, winning five trophies.

However, it wasn't lost on him how success wasn't just set by what they were doing ... it was also about determined from their rivals' Rangers results.

Celtic manager details how £2m winger can be 'more efficient'

Ange's Spurs pushed to extra-time by non-league club in FA Cup

Asked about some Spurs fans wanting their own team to lose against Manchester City, so Arsenal wouldn’t win the English Premier League title last May, Postecoglou replied: “It's nothing I didn't already know. I said at the time, I totally understand it, I don't agree with it, I would never go into a game wanting to lose, that was the basic principle. It didn't mean I don't understand the rivalry between the teams.

"Trust me, when I was up at Celtic, there was only one other result they looked at, and if their weekend was going to be perfect, then it meant an 'L' for the other team and a 'W' for us. That was a perfect weekend, not just a 'W' for us, so I understand that, but it still doesn't mean I'll go in any game wanting to lose. I don't care what the fallout is from it."

The Australian was embraced by the Paradise faithful throughout his two-year stint in Glasgow, with supporters especially endeared by his fierce football philosophy, and his steadfastness in applying it on the pitch.

It was this attacking-minded approach to football that helped him clinch five-out-of-six trophies during his time at Parkhead, however a string of turbulent performances in the Premier League has caused some to question his ability to continue leading Spurs.

English broadcaster Sam Matterface is not one those people, however – a sentiment he expressed in no uncertain terms on his TalkSport radio show.

Matterface said (via 67HailHail): "It is his style and he says ‘I am going to play this, no matter’ and over time, he thinks that style will breed success.

"There is a lot of talk and a bit of speculation that if he loses this game ‘what happens next’. Or, if he loses this cup tie, what happens next? Are they thinking about making a change?

"It would be madness. It would be utter madness to get rid of Ange Postecoglou. What you have to do if you are Daniel Levy is, not sack the manager, you have just got to convince the manager that actually maybe you do have to sacrifice one or two of your principles everyone now again."

Kyogo at Celtic: The truth behind changing impact in Bhoys team

Tottenham support turn on ex-Celtic manager as #AngeOut trends

Matterface added: "Tweak your philosophy rather than abandon your philosophy. If you throw him out, you are throwing the baby out with the bath water. You have just embarked on a new project.

"You have just signed a load of new players. You don’t spend that much money, anyway, if you are Tottenham, so what’s the point in abandoning the whole project midway through the second season? That would be utter madness."

Spurs were held to a 2-2 home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, making it three matches without a victory.

They sit 11th in the English Premier League table, winning just seven of their opening 19 league fixtures.

Postecoglou left Celtic to take the managerial role at Spurs on June 6, 2023, penning a four-year contract.

At Celtic, the 59-year-old won successive Scottish Premiership titles during his two seasons in charge.

But there's now pressure on Spurs chairman Daniel Levy to make a decision on the Greek-Aussie's future in north London.

During his post-match press conference, Postecoglou insisted that he will “keep going”.

“We’re asking a lot of a small core group of players,’ he explained.

“The whole group probably needs a couple of days to get away and recover.

“It has been really intense for a core group of players. It will do them good to go away with their families to recover with their families mentally as much as physically.

“I will keep going and look for help to get these players to perform at their best.”

And he insists that's exactly what he will continue to do with the long-term goal of it proving successful.

The Tottenham Hotspur boss is under the spotlight this season because of his tactics, which was summed up by Sunday's 6-3 home defeat against Liverpool.

There are suggestions that the Greek-Aussie could face the sack should results get worse, with Spurs sitting in the bottom half of the league table at Christmas.

Fifth choice Celtic ace in blunt 'we weren't interested' transfer line

Popular Celtic theatre show to return in 2025, tickets still available

Speaking after their eighth loss of the English Premier League season, Postecoglou said: "I think I have been really patient the last 18 months sitting up here answering the same questions over and over again. If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change.

"We are doing it for a reason: we are doing it because we think it will help us to be successful.

"If people don’t understand the circumstances we are in at the moment, the challenges we have from a squad perspective — which are as obvious as you want to make them.

"I get the idea that people think that I should just flip a switch and change and somehow that will miraculously make us a better team.

"It is what it is. I’m just going to continue, stay focused on trying to build this team to be the team we want. In the interim, we are going to have to accept there are going to be challenges along the way."

Tottenham have conceded nine goals in their last two matches and ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher questioned why Postecoglou won't shift his style depending on the opponent. Particularly since they are currently suffering a major injury crisis.

"Not that I expect Tottenham to win the Premier League but nobody has ever won anything playing like that," the Sky Sports pundit commented.

"It was almost Kevin Keegan-like. The other team I could associate with that was almost Brendan Rodgers with Liverpool, where it was just end-to-end, 6-3, 5-4, and at the end of it they just come a little bit short.

"You've got to respect the opposition, you've got to respect the defensive side of the game."

The former Celtic manager was confronted by angry supporters as he trudged over to them at full-time in the Premier League contest.

Video footage has shown major discontent amongst those who travelled to the Vitality Stadium with Postecoglou facing a barrage of abuse.

WARNING: Very strong language

The Australian coach appears to exchange words with a number of supporters before appearing to point at the Spurs badge on his jacket.

As supporters continue to vent their frustrations, Postecoglou then quickly applauds fans before walking back across the pitch.

The loss leaves Tottenham in 10th place in the Premier League with six wins, two draws and six losses in their 14 outings so far.

I didn’t bottle Celtic manager job offer - some things weren’t right

Reo Hatate shouts out travelling Celtic support for singing his song

Quizzed on the confrontation after the match, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "I wasn't having a word. They are pretty disappointed and rightly so.

"I got some pretty direct feedback as to how we are going, and that's fair enough."

Tottenham next face Chelsea as they look to end their four-match winless run. They drew with Fulham and Roma before the defeat to Bournemouth.

But Spurs did enjoy a thumping 4-0 win over Manchester City last month in their most recent victory.

The exchange echoed his Celtic days – particularly during his first season at the club, when his side were all but written off after a turbulent start to the 2021/22 Scottish Premiership campaign.

During this period, his had side slipped several points behind then league leaders (and reigning champions) Rangers.

Speaking of the Spurs captain's perceivably weaker start to the Premier League – the player having only scored four goals in his last 12 appearances; just one from open-play – Postecoglou said it'd be foolish to write him off.

"Go for it! It might help me if you write him off," he said. "I don’t get that sense. I still feel from a physical output and the quality he has and certainly from a mentality point of view, I haven’t seen it.

"What I do know is, from my own experience, the end comes pretty quickly. It’s not falling off a cliff, but you find with a lot of great players that all of a sudden it’s gone from bang to bang. It’s not a slow deterioration.

"I don’t see that in Sonny, I still think he’s got a hell of a lot of quality and from a physical standpoint, the way he looks after himself, I don’t see his abilities diminishing just due to the age factor at the moment. I don’t see that.

"So, the answer is no, I don’t think so and I’d be wary about writing him off."

Legendary EPL-winning manager in Ange Postecoglou rave review

The Joe Hart comparison on Postecoglou & Guardiola you may have missed

Rewind to mid-October in 2021 – a few months after Postecoglou had arrived in Glasgow, as Celtic had closed the gap on league leaders Rangers to four points – and the Australian offered a similarly focused and self-concerned answer about results elsewhere.

“I thought the Premiership was over mate, so I’m not looking at the table any more," he said. "We are just doing our own thing so that result has zero significance. What’s more important to us is that we get more belief into the team.

"It’s one thing to get a victory here but to control the game should give the boys real belief and confidence moving forward.

"We have some big games coming up, starting on Tuesday [against Ferencvaros]. The main thing for us is to keep our heads down and run our own race.

"When you do that and you keep improving then you see where you end up."

The Rangers icon has been less than impressed with Tottenham in recent times, Postecoglou's current side.

The Australian took over at the Premier League giants during the summer of 2023, after winning the treble for the the Hoops.

It was his high-octane, high-pressing, all-out-attacking style of football in the Scottish Premiership that earned him the move to Spurs.

However, there have been more than a few occasions now where his approach to the game has not worked in England's top flight.

And Souness has branded it 'naïve ' as opposed to brave.

“When I think of Ange Postecoglou, I go back to that game against Chelsea where they got two players sent off and he still had them playing right up to the halfway line," the 71-year-old told Simon Jordan and Troy Deeney on William Hill's Three Up Front podcast.

"The only time you can do that is when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch and the ball is constantly under pressure.

“The minute someone can get their head up, you’re in trouble.

"They could have conceded four or five more goals that game – I thought that was naïve.

"It’s naïve to talk like that and say that the more open the game is, the better it is.

"If they’d lost that game seven or eight goals to two, you’ve lost the players as a manager. He wasn’t brave that day, they got lucky.

“He’s walked into Tottenham without bringing any of his own staff, is he so naïve as to think he can trust any of the coaching staff he’s inherited not to go to the chairman with their tittle-tattle?

"I would not take a job and think I can just walk into it – it’s madness – you need to go in with people you trust because being a manager is lonely."

On Spurs' most recent game, a 3-2 defeat at Brighton in which they collapsed to throw away a two goal lead, Souness questioned the team's leadership on the pitch.

He added: “The Tottenham players should have known better. You learn it at school – when you’re 2-0 up the next goal is vital.

"If you concede, the momentum is suddenly with the opposition but if you go to 3-0 up, the game is over.

Celtic star Hatate responds after failing to make Japan bench

Brendan Rodgers credits Celtic board over Premier Sports TV snub

“I don’t know if Spurs have any leaders.

"When they go into the dressing room at half-time, the chat should be, ‘we can’t concede the next goal, this game is far from over’ – that’s what Ange Postecoglou should be telling them.

"He needed to remind them that if they were to concede, everyone’s going to be all over you.

“I think the issues at Spurs boil down to the manager and the coaching staff.

"The only message they needed to give the players in that game when the half-time whistle blew was to play more of the same.

"Spurs just ended up capitulating which is why Postecoglou was so deflated after the game, he thought he had some warriors in that team and was proven otherwise.”