Australian coach was linked with Postecoglou reunion at Celtic, now he’s just won league title

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Kevin Muscat was linked with Celtic after Ange Postecoglou’s move but has now won the title in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos.

Cast your mind back to 2021; Celtic are in a bit of a mess.

Rangers had won the league title, Neil Lennon was long gone after a dismal season and top target Eddie Howe ended up not taking the Celtic job.

Celtic pivoted to Ange Postecoglou instead and that move has turned out to be a complete masterstroke.

The Australian has completely reinvented Celtic’s style of play and is bringing domestic dominance to Parkhead once again.

Kevin Muscat was linked with Celtic

What was interesting after Postecoglou’s arrival was that he didn’t bring any staff to Celtic with him.

John Kennedy remained as his assistant manager with Gavin Strachan continuing as a first-team coach; both were at the club under Lennon.

Postecoglou has since brought in fellow Australian Harry Kewell as a first-team coach at Celtic.

There were rumours about Postecoglou bringing in a familiar coach after his appointment.

SEN in Australia reported in July 2021 that Kevin Muscat was likely to follow Postecoglou to Glasgow.

Muscat is a former Rangers player, so he understands the Scottish game well and he had real history with Postecoglou.

Postecoglou was Muscat’s captain when they played together at South Melbourne. He then coached and managed him at the same club.

Muscat then served as Postecoglou’s assistant at Melbourne Victory and took over when Postecoglou left and spent time on his Australia coaching staff in 2017.

A reunion therefore made some sense but Celtic didn’t strike a deal for Muscat.

Instead, the notorious former Millwall hard man ended up replacing Postecoglou once again, becoming manager of Yokohama F. Marinos after Celtic raided them for Postecoglou.

Muscat enjoyed a dream day on Saturday as he guided Yokohama F. Marinos to the J1 League title.

A 3-1 away win at Vissel Kobe handed Muscat the title by just two points and he now follows in Postecoglou’s footsteps; the Celtic boss also won the J1 League title with Yokohama F. Marinos in 2019.

Postecoglou will be delighted for his friend and whilst that Celtic reunion never happened, Muscat will feel that fate has taken him into title success instead.