Personal terms between Celtic and Ange Postecoglou are said to be progressing well; the Yokohama F. Marinos boss does not hold the required UEFA Pro Licence, but a "recognition of competence procedure" can be applied for; process could delay announcement by several weeks
Sunday 6 June 2021 07:30, UK
Celtic have agreed a compensation fee with Yokohama F. Marinos for their boss Ange Postecoglou.
The club have applied for an exemption with UEFA for Postecoglou to be given the green light to manage in Europe.
The Yokohama F. Marinos boss does not hold the required UEFA Pro Licence, but a "recognition of competence procedure" can be applied for.
It is understood that Celtic are confident Postecoglou's 25 years in management, at club and international level including Australia from 2013 to 2017, will see him granted an exemption.
But formally announcing him as their new boss could be delayed, as the process can take several weeks.
A UEFA spokesperson said: "Mr Postecoglou does not currently hold the UEFA Pro Licence.
"A recognition of competence procedure has been initiated. The process could take several weeks. We don't have any further information to provide at this stage."
Personal terms between Celtic and Postecoglou are said to be progressing well.
Former Rangers defender Craig Moore, who worked as an advisor for Postecoglou at the 2014 World Cup and Asian Cup in 2015, has backed Postecoglou to get the right players in at Celtic after questioning the manager's status as an "unknown".
"People think he's a bit of an unknown, I think that's a little bit ignorant to be honest because if you do a little bit of research you'll see he's been successful wherever he's been," Moore added.
"He's won trophies, and certainly in terms of recruitment and being able to attract the right player at Celtic, Ange definitely has those networks."
Moore listed Premier League quartet Jurgen Klopp, Marcelo Bielsa, Thomas Tuchel and Pep Guardiola as managers who compare to Postecoglou in terms of style.
"Ange Postecoglou is a very proactive coach in terms of the style and brand of football he likes to play. The likes of Klopp, Bielsa, Tuchel, even Guardiola," Moore said.
"He really likes his teams to play football in the right way. His teams need to have a lot of energy, to work extremely hard for that style to be effective. He always looks to play out from the back.
"He's a very ambitious coach. At times coming from Australia that can work against you a little bit, but Ange has got a real drive to do extremely well. He seems to get the best out of players. It could be very exciting and a wonderful opportunity for Ange if he is announced."
Paul Lambert has hit back at concerns Celtic target Postecoglou does not have the right pedigree to manage the club.
Lambert, who played for Celtic between 1997-2005, cites the fact both Wim Jansen and Arsene Wenger arrived in the UK from Japanese clubs relatively unknown but went on to enjoy great success.
Jansen arrived at Parkhead from Sanfrecce Hiroshima in 1997, replacing the sacked Tommy Burns and helping guide the club to their first Scottish league championship in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Wenger went on to win three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups after joining Arsenal from Nagoya Grampus Eight in 1996.
"It doesn't really matter where he [Ante Postecoglou] comes from, when Celtic stopped 10 in a row Wim Jansen had come from Japan and nobody knew him," Lambert told Sky Sports News.
"Arsene Wenger came from Japan and made Arsenal probably what they are today so I don't think anyone should be judgemental.
"Whoever the manager is going to be they are going to have to win games.
"You're under scrutiny from day one, not just for the football but for your personal life and you have to win and if you finish second then you lose - that is the pressure of the Old Firm.
"But Celtic will know exactly what they are doing - they're a fabulous club, huge, worldwide and whoever gets the job will absolutely love it.
"It's a proper football club and if they [new manager] gets it right then they will see the Celtic support in full flight."
