Ange Postecoglou has delivered an impassioned defence of his managerial record amid growing scrutiny at Nottingham Forest, with echoes of the same determination that made him a success at Celtic.
Postecoglou’s early spell at Forest has been challenging, with results yet to reflect his vision, but his comments this week reminded many of his early days in Glasgow. When he first arrived at Celtic Park, he faced doubters questioning his background and experience, only to silence them with an attacking, winning brand of football that redefined the club’s modern era.
Speaking ahead of Forest’s weekend fixture, the Australian drew parallels between how his work is judged now and how narratives shaped opinion during his previous jobs. His frustration was clear as he pushed back on suggestions that he was lucky to land another Premier League role so soon after leaving Tottenham.
For Celtic supporters, it was a familiar tone, the same confident conviction that marked his response to early criticism in 2021, before his side went on to dominate domestically.
He said: (Beanyman Sports), “I guess from my perspective, I just don’t fit. Not here (at Forest), just in general.
“If you look at things through the prism that I am a failed manager who is lucky to get this job, I know you’re smirking at me, but that’s what’s been said, then of course these first five weeks looks like this guy is under pressure. But there is an alternative story…
“I came to the Premier League two years ago and I took over at Tottenham. I was told by the chairman [Daniel Levy] that this club has to win a trophy.
“He said we’ve tried to bring winners in: Jose [Mourinho], Antonio Conte, and it hasn’t worked. We need something different. I was slightly offended by that because I see myself as winner.
“I took over Spurs who finished eighth. Massive club, but no European football, and one that can’t go two years without European football.
“We finished fifth in my first year and every time Harry Kane scores a goal [for Bayern after leaving Spurs] I go, ‘I wish he stayed just one more year’. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
“But somehow that [first] year has disappeared from the record books. It was even used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first ten games. Yet the first ten games here [at Forest] are important apparently.
“But anyway, we finished fifth. I got them back into European football, which is where a club like Tottenham should be. Then I was in [post-season] meetings and was told we need a trophy because it will mean everything to the football club. That’s fine.
“We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being ‘Spursy’. [We get] Champions League football, which brings some rewards and the opportunity to bring greater players. But all I have heard since I finished at Tottenham is that we finished 17th last year.
“So if you look at it through the prism of finishing 17th, then I am a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity. But again, if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it’s really basic. It doesn’t have to be too in-depth.
“Just look at the last five or six team sheets of last season to see what I prioritised [the Europa League], and who was on the bench. And the last game against Brighton, the players were out partying for two days, which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
“So yes we finished 17th. But if people think that’s a reflection of me and my coaching then again, I think they are looking at it through the prism of I just don’t fit.
“So we get to the current space [at Forest] where there is a different story to tell, that maybe I am not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job and instead maybe I am a manager who, if you give him time, the story always ends the same.
“At all my previous clubs, [it ends] with me and a trophy.”
Postecoglou’s comments will ring true for Celtic supporters who remember the doubts that greeted his arrival from Yokohama F. Marinos. It didn’t take long for him to win people over, within months, Celtic were playing fast, exciting football and lifting trophies again, all built on the patience and belief he always talks about.
His spell in Glasgow still stands out as one of the high points of his career, and you can tell he’s trying to bring that same drive and conviction to Nottingham Forest. Just like he said back at Celtic Park, he looks determined to prove once more that he’s “built for this.”
If the past is anything to go by, Forest might soon realise what Celtic already know, when Ange Postecoglou says he’ll deliver success, he usually does.
