Former Celtic coach Harry Kewell has opened up on what it was like to work under Ange Postecoglou, admitting he “loved” the way the Tottenham Hotspur manager operated.
The former Leeds United, Liverpool and Galatasaray winger worked with his fellow Australian from 2022 to 2023, when Postecoglou left for Spurs. The pair would win the treble together, as Celtic swept up every domestic trophy available to them under Postecoglou’s management.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Kewell gave the lowdown on what the under-fire coach is like to work alongside. He said: “He is different, but the fact is that he allows you to go and express yourself.
“There would be times when you would be in training, and you would want to stop it. But he would be like ‘no, let them figure it out, because that’s what players do’. I loved the way that he coached.
“I watch him now at Spurs and I just think ‘the way that he plays game, I loved’. Just full-out attack. I would have loved to have played for him if I was 23. I would have signed up straight away knowing that all I can do is attack.
Kewell continued: “The way that I saw him work, up in Scotland, I just thought ‘that is something I can learn throughout my coaching career, to be able to manipulate certain things and work in that way’.
“I think he gives you the freedom. But that comes with a consequence because he wants that high press. The high energy. The high work rate.
“Again, that’s the exciting thing.”
Kewell followed in Postecoglou’s footsteps in 2023, when he replaced Kevin Muscat as Yokohama F Marinos manager – a club that the Spurs manager took charge of from 2018-2021, before moving to Scotland and Celtic.
While Postecoglou won the J1 League with Yokohama, Kewell was dismissed after less than seven months in charge of the Japan side.
Former Celtic coach reveals what working with ‘different’ Ange Postecoglou is like
