Micah Richards has revealed that his admiration for Ange Postecoglou stretches back well before he took the reins at Celtic.
The former Manchester City and Aston Villa defender credited none other than Hoops legend Chris Sutton for introducing him to Postecoglou's innovative coaching style.
Richards, speaking on The Rest is Football podcast alongside Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker, shared that he had followed Postecoglou’s career from a distance, particularly during his time at Yokohama F. Marinos.
Sutton's high praise of Postecoglou, who was managing the Japanese side at the time, piqued Richards' interest.
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Addressing Postecoglou's precarious position as current Tottenham Hotspur boss, Richards began: “What’s going wrong with Spurs?
“I gave my opinion last week, and the manager is getting involved in press conferences. Not being himself. Biting back, and all that.
“But actually, if you look on the field. Forget off the field, for a moment. They are a shadow of the team that they were.
“I have been a big admirer of Ange for a while now, and that was because of Chris Sutton. This was before he was even at Celtic. Chris talked about him when he was in Japan.
"So, I studied him. I studied his style of play. It was aggressive. It was forward-thinking. It was taking risks.
"Okay, they take risks when they are conceding goals, but they aren’t finishing their chances.”
Postecoglou’s 'Angeball' quickly became a sensation at Celtic Park, transforming the team’s play with high-intensity, attacking football and a bold, risk-taking approach.
Arriving in Glasgow ahead of the 2021-22 season, Postecoglou secured five domestic trophies from a possible six, including a historic treble, before making the move south to Tottenham.
His debut season at Spurs generated excitement among fans, but the club has since struggled in the English Premier League, currently sitting 16th with an astonishing 18 league defeats.
With European success potentially crucial to salvaging the season, Spurs now face a pivotal Europa League semi-final against FK Bodø/Glimt—where Postecoglou’s fortunes could take a dramatic turn.
