Sir Kenny Dalglish: Why would Ange leave Celtic for a relegation battle?

Ange Postecoglou and Giovanni van Bronckhorst will have enjoyed a few days off during the international break.

They will both have felt they needed it, after a hectic spell of domestic and Champions League games.

Ange has been at the centre of some speculation, due the excellent job he has been doing at Celtic.

Before Graham Potter left Brighton for Chelsea recently, by all accounts Ange was a name on Albion’s short-list.

Now he still being mentioned in England as a contender for the Leicester City job, should there be a parting of the ways with Brendan Rodgers.

For me, though, that is a non-starter. Why would Ange want to leave Celtic to go there?

Why would he leave a Champions League club for a team that may well end up fighting a relegation battle in the Premier League?

So I would doubt that Ange would have a club such as Leicester City on his radar.

He has rebuilt Celtic. The fans love him, and he loves the fans. It would take something special to break up that relationship.

If he was linked with a top-six club down south, then that may well be a different story. That kind of thing would be a potential game-changer.

But, for now, I think he will be fully focused on Celtic and trying to retain the SPFL title.

Across the city, Giovanni finished the first part of the campaign on a high after the win against Dundee United.

That would have felt even sweeter after Celtic lost at St Mirren.

It would have stemmed the flow of criticism that was questioning the Dutchman’s credentials for being the Ibrox manager.

It seemed a section of Rangers supporters felt Giovanni should have been removed from his post after the heavy defeats to Celtic, Ajax and Napoli.

For me, that is grossly unfair.

The guy got them to a European Final in May, won the Scottish Cup a few days later, and navigated the team through a difficult qualification process to reach the Champions League group stage.

He’ll be back behind his desk this week, and getting his squad ready for a tough challenge away to Hearts on Saturday.

Trailing Celtic by just two points, a win in Edinburgh will move Rangers to the top of the Premiership, even if it is for a short time until the Hoops play later that day at home to Motherwell.

It is a game Giovanni knows he’ll be expected to win. If you are to win a league title, you need to go places such as Tynecastle and take three points.

Then both hales of the Old Firm will be back on European duty, and Ange will want to build on the point they got away to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Celtic play RB Leipzig in back-to-back fixtures next month, and the six points up for grabs will prove crucial in the outcome of their group.

However, let’s not forget it is not easy to win games at that level.

The Old Firm are trying to punch above their weight, yet and when they lose games, they are criticised.

Giovanni has felt that more than Ange in recent weeks, and it’s almost as if he is being punished for being successful.

It was never going to be easy trying to take points off Ajax and Napoli. Next up is a double-header with Liverpool, and that will be just as tough.

They then have to go into weekend games in the league, and that will really test the Old Firm.

Playing in the Champions League takes it out of you, both mentally and physically.

We could see that with Celtic when they lost in Paisley.

Of course, you must give credit to St Mirren for the way they played. They worked very hard, and didn’t give Celtic a moment.

That said, the champions played well below their level.

It just goes to show that you can never take any victory for granted. It also proves that winning a title over 38 games is a big ask.

It takes a high level of performance over many, many games. It’s not just a case of showing up, and the points are handed to you.

So the title race will recommence on Saturday, and I think everyone is right up for it.

It will be interesting to see how everything has shaped up by the time the next break comes along when it all stops in November for the World Cup.