What Ange Postecoglou has said about being Leeds manager will delight fans – ‘I get the excitement’
Ange Postecoglou has been linked with the soon-to-be vacant Leeds United manager’s job.
After losing to Manchester City 3-2 on Saturday and entering December in the Premier League’s relegation zone, Daniel Farke is on the brink of being sacked by Leeds.
The Whites’ next two games are against Chelsea and Liverpool this week, with The Guardian reporting that sources at Elland Road have “privately conceded” that Farke’s fate is in the balance.
According to other reports, former Celtic, Tottenham and Nottingham Forest manager Postecoglou is a candidate to replace Farke at Leeds.
Ange Postecoglou was linked with Leeds job when he was at Celtic
This isn’t the first time that Postecoglou has been tipped to take charge at Elland Road.
In early 2023, the Aussie was on the shortlist to replace Jesse Marsch after he was sacked by Leeds.
That speculation led to Sir Kenny Dalglish backing Postecoglou to snub Leeds in favour of staying at Celtic – which he did, but then he left just a few months later to take charge at Tottenham.
In North London earlier this year, Postecoglou won the Europa League with Spurs but was sacked by Daniel Levy due to a worst-ever Premier League finish for the club.
Unfortunately, that was followed by an infamous spell at Nottingham Forest, which lasted just 39 days – the shortest ever for a permanent manager in Premier League history.
What Ange Postecoglou said about replacing Jesse March in 2023
When Andrea Radrizzani and 49ers Enterprises axed Marsch midway through the 2022-23 season, Postecoglou was rightly on their radar to replace him.
However, with the ex-Australia manager on course to win the domestic treble at Celtic Park, there was little chance he was going to give up on that to jump into a doomed relegation dogfight in West Yorkshire.
“I don’t think I need to say anything to them,” said Postecoglou in February 2023 when asked if he had a message for Celtic fans about the Leeds links.
| Club/Nation | Honours |
| South Melbourne | National Soccer League (x2), Oceania Club Championship |
| Brisbane Roar | A-League Championship (x2), A-League Premiership |
| Yokohama F Marinos | J1 League |
| Celtic | Scottish Premiership (x2), Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup (x2) |
| Tottenham | Europa League |
| Australia | AFC Asian Cup |
“I think what the supporters want is to make sure I’m focused on preparing the team every week to win games of football and to play football that’s going to excite them and make them proud. That’s my responsibility.
“I get the excitement round things like that. If I had a player in a similar boat I’d just tell him, ‘keep playing your football and don’t worry about anything else, all those kinds of things are just noise’.
“I take my own advice on stuff like that. I’ve been around the game long enough to know how quickly it changes.
“If anyone thinks for the last seven days I’ve thought about anything but preparing the team to play today then obviously they haven’t got a clear idea of what I’m about.”
There’s no doubt that Postecoglou’s stance on the Leeds job almost three years ago will make fans happy.
Unfortunately for the Greece-born 60-year-old, his career now looks to be on a downward trajectory.
He utterly failed to do anything of note at Nottingham Forest – albeit being unfairly sacked after just a few weeks – and his Tottenham side’s Premier League form last season was laughable.
Postecoglou has batted away Leeds once; maybe it’s for the best that it happens again.
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