As Ange’s Celtic celebrate historic treble, fans in Sydney brace for heartbreak

Ange Postecoglou has won yet another trophy with Celtic – his fifth and, quite possibly, his last. The spectre of his increasingly inevitable move to Tottenham Hotspur cast an unavoidable shadow over the Scottish Cup final; a deeply melancholic filter over a historic, euphoric day for the club.

As their 3-1 win over Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Sunday morning (AEST) sealed a domestic treble – Celtic’s eighth, which is now a world record – fans had to reconcile their conflicting emotions: pride in the achievement, joy in the delivery, but a pang of sadness at the heart of it, as the realisation dawned that the end of an era may have come much sooner than anyone was prepared for, including the man himself.

That much was clear at the Scruffy Murphys Bar, the Irish pub in the CBD that is home to the Sydney City Celtic Supporters Club, which has been running for over 40 years, but has enjoyed few better than the last two since Postecoglou’s appointment in mid-2021. They know they might never have it this good again.

“We will be forever indebted to that man,” said Nick Cameron, a committee member of the Sydney City CSC for the last nine years.

It should have been a happy occasion, and it mostly was. Around 100 people, mostly expat Scots and Irishmen, defied their circadian rhythms in the downstairs section of Scruffy Murphys for a 2.30am kick-off to watch Postecoglou’s relentless team bid for a third trophy this season, singing, chanting and sinking countless cans of Tennent’s lager – aka ‘yellow grenades’ – all throughout. The atmosphere was decidedly bittersweet.

Celtic supporters watching the Scottish Cup final at Sydney Celtic Club at the Scruffy Murphys.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone / The Sydney Morning Herald

On the big screen, as Postecoglou soaked in the scenes post-match at Hampden Park, he looked every bit a man who was saying goodbye, even if he wasn’t ready to actually utter the words.

When the camera panned to the club’s principal shareholder Dermott Desmond and chairman Peter Lawwell, they looked absolutely gutted, and that spoke volumes.

“To do what we have done today, just take a little chunk of history for ourselves at this unbelievable football club, I owe it to my family and loved ones to enjoy that and not talk about other things,” Postecoglou said, steadfastly ignoring the lilywhite-shirted elephant in the room.

“There will be time for that, and it’s not today.”

It can’t be far away. All signs point to a formal approach for Postecoglou next week by Tottenham, who have been without a permanent manager since Antonio Conte’s exit in March, and have reportedly made him their number one target.

The stars seem to be aligning – their incoming chief football officer, Scott Munn, is an Australian who worked with him through their time together inside the City Football Group’s global network, while the club’s chairman, the notoriously meddlesome Daniel Levy, has been apparently convinced of Postecoglou’s genius by his London-based agent Frank Trimboli, one of the British game’s biggest movers and shakers.

Spurs fans, like Celtic’s were not so long ago, are trying to come to terms with the likely appointment of a manager they’ve never heard of, from a country not known for producing world-class tacticians, coming directly from a league they don’t rate or respect. It will take time.

Classed as one of the English Premier League’s ‘big six’ clubs, and by Deloitte as the ninth-richest club in the world, Tottenham appear to have all the makings of a classic Postecoglou project. They have a sparkling 62,850-seat stadium in London – rated by some as the best ground in Europe – waiting to be filled, and a proud tradition in the same sort of positive, attacking football which he specialises in bringing to life.

Ange Postecoglou has led Celtic to great success in his time at the club.Credit: Getty

Postecoglou has, of course, given nothing away. In his pre-final press conference, he effortlessly batted away question after question from the Scottish press on his future with all the confidence and assuredness of a peak Steve Waugh innings. He insisted his focus was solely on the cup final – and the completion of the treble – and refused to commit to anything else. Including Celtic.

Though they play in Scotland’s second tier, Inverness Caledonian Thistle have long been regarded as Celtic’s bogey side. You might recall this world-famous newspaper headline: SUPER CALEY GO BALLISTIC, CELTIC ARE ATROCIOUS. That was from a third-round Scottish Cup match in 2000, where ‘Caley Thistle’ prevailed in a 3-1 shock at Celtic Park. It cost manager John Barnes his job.

Postecoglou knows his history, and therefore needed no reminder of the dangers that lurked if Celtic were to treat them lightly, and take this cup final for granted. They did not, but that’s not to say they had it easy. Indeed, Inverness were defensively stubborn, and Daniel MacKay’s strike with five minutes to go gave them a sniff at 2-1, setting up a far more nervous end to the match than anyone in green and white had hoped for – until Felipe Jota’s injury-time goal gave them permission to breathe easy.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is being strongly linked with Spurs.Credit: Getty

For a while, at least, they did, until those images of a wistful Postecoglou, and a shattered Desmond and Lawell, delivered an emotional gut punch.

“Honestly, I’m just sitting here waiting on him to come out and make a statement,” Cameron said.

“I’m not going to lie, I will go home and cry myself to bits and listen to Irish historical songs for days – purely on the basis that Ange is going to leave Celtic.

“I’d like to think we’ve got him for another year but if he goes, good luck to him. If he goes, he’s left something there that is more than what Brendan Rodgers, Gordon Strachan, Neil Lennon could ever do. He’s done it off his own back. He’s come in and annihilated the league.

“What more can you ask of the guy?”