Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou took plenty of shots at the Scottish media amid continued questions regarding his future at the club.
Postecoglou has been heavily linked with a move to Premier League heavyweights Tottenham Hotspur, with speculation intensifying in recent days.
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Recent reports have claimed Spurs chairman Daniel Levy will hold talks with Postecoglou after the Scottish FA Cup final, which takes place on Sunday at 2:30am (AEST).
Fabrizio Romano also reported on Friday night (AEST) that Postecoglou is set to have the “new round” of talks at the start of next week with the Australian still the club’s “leading candidate”.
Despite Postecoglou being on the verge of securing the Scottish treble, the media were more interested in asking the Australian about the Spurs links.
In typical Postecoglou fashion, he swatted the questions away time and time again as he reiterated he was only thinking about Sunday’s clash against second-tier Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
A reporter bravely claimed Postecoglou could think about the Scottish FA Cup final and the potential Spurs gig at the same time, but the Hoops boss wasn’t having a bar of it.
“Why? Who says that?” Postecoglou said, per The Herald.
“Do you think the person who wins The Masters or Wimbledon thinks about all these other things [that you’re thinking about]? Or does he think about winning?
“I am talking about elite sport here. Maybe you don’t understand or conceptualise that.
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“But it is not just elite sport, it is anything you want to do in life; do you think people who achieve things and teams who achieve things can be that easily distracted that they chew gum and walk at the same time? You really think that’s the message?
“You think I’ll walk into training and say ‘hey boys, what are we all doing after training? Let’s go out and have a drink and relax.’ No, mate, it is not how it works.”
Postecoglou then teed off on the media wanting Celtic to lose in an almighty upset on Saturday because the potential for headlines “would rock your world.”
“I’d love you to be in my shoes and know what my world is and make sure that on Saturday, we perform to the levels we can,” Postecoglou said.
“You don’t understand that because you’d love the opposite to happen. You’d love for there to be a story that we aren’t successful. That would rock your world.
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“Not because you want ill of me, but that would be unbelievable – imagine the headlines you could come up with. That is what generates interest.
“I have lived that; every weekend we have a game there are only two stories that can be told.”
As for those who advise Postecoglou and are fortunate to be in his inner circle, have they even been tempted to ask the 58-year-old about his future plans?
“They know better than to ask me anything this week mate, let me tell you,” Postecoglou said.
“They know me very well. They wouldn’t dare ask me about anything.”
Who knows how many more press conferences Postecoglou will front up to in Glasgow, but if this is to be one of his last, if not the last, it’s one of the all-time greats.