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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
James McKenzie

Next Celtic manager latest as Graham Potter tipped to replace Ange Postecoglou

Kris Commons has called for a show of "ambition" from Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond as he named Graham Potter as his next Celtic manager choice.

The former Chelsea and Brighton boss has been on the job market since April following an unsuccessful spell at Stamford Bridge and has been touted by Commons to take over from Ange Postecoglou at Celtic Park.

Potter has recently been linked with a host of English clubs including Crystal Palace and Leeds United as well as French side Nice.

But Commons believes it could be a statement appointment much like Brendan Rodgers was back in 2016.

Speaking in his Daily Mail column, Commons wrote that: "Looking through some of the names currently in the running if Postecoglou does leave for Spurs, a few jump out at me. Only 12 months ago, everyone was raving about Graham Potter. He was viewed as the best young coach in the Premier League after his outstanding work at Brighton.

"Forward-thinking, tactically astute, innovative, an advocate of possession football; he was everything you would want in a modern manager. He eventually got the Chelsea job, only for the whole thing to go sour after barely six months. But I don't think Potter is actually damaged by that."

"If Celtic can land an ex- Liverpool boss like Rodgers, then they certainly would have a chance of getting someone like Potter. It would be daft not to at least ask him the question, if and when Postecoglou does depart."

After initially receiving many plaudits from pundits for his Brighton exploits, Potter's reputation has taken a hit and his stock has fallen after his Chelsea spell where he left the side 11th in the Premier League table after spending just under £300million in the January transfer window.

Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is the current betting favourite to be the next permanent Celtic manager with Ange Postecoglou's exit looking all but confirmed.

Postecoglou vowed to enjoy Celtic’s record-breaking treble for as long as he could before someone “drags” him away to focus on other issues as he continued to dodge questions over his future.

“I will say to them what I said to the players, let’s enjoy this,” he said. “I deserve to enjoy this, the people around me deserve to enjoy this.

“Whatever other people want to focus on and talk about, I am not going to miss enjoying this moment with this group of people but also I owe it to my family, my friends, all of those closest to me.

“Everyone works hard and makes sacrifices to enjoy these moments. I understand that other people who aren’t invested in it want to ask these questions but for me, right now, the most important thing is that we reflect and just be in the moment of creating something special.”

When it was pointed out that fans who are heavily-invested in Celtic are among those asking the questions, the 57-year-old said: “Yeah, but they deserve to enjoy this moment because, irrespective of what happens in the future, why would you not want to enjoy this moment just for what it is? It’s something historic.”

When asked if he anticipated being in Glasgow next season, the former Australia head coach said: “I anticipate enjoying this moment for the next 24-48 hours, as long as I can, before someone drags me away and takes my attention away from enjoying something that’s been hard-earned.

“The reality is, there’s probably players in that dressing room who won’t be here next year. That’s the nature of football.

“But I want them to enjoy it, I am going to enjoy it, and that’s all I am going to focus on until someone grabs me by the collar and tells me that I have to answer certain questions.”

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