Ange Postecoglou (Tottenham Hotspur)

[Jezza]

Made a fantastic start with Spurs.

So far he's 8 wins from 11 games and also remains unbeaten in all competitions.

[pietillidie]

Just posted this in the main forum (see: https://magpies.net/nick/bb/viewtopic.php?t=79446&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=300 ):

[Jezza]

^ Big one coming up. Good time for me to watch it as well with the game being on Tuesday morning coinciding with the Melbourne Cup public holiday.

Spurs should win, especially being at home and Ange has got them functioning really well. We're too inconsistent to be trusted at this stage, but I do have optimism that Poch will get us humming as the season progresses.

We've had some really poor results against lower sides, but have performed better against the top sides funnily enough. We had two good performances against Liverpool and Arsenal both at home, but came away with two draws.

If we get a draw against Spurs, I'll take it.

[K]

M. Samuel:

'Now Ange Postecoglou's positivity -- the opposite of Antonio Conte's scowl -- is turning the club around.

This week, he has even been telling supporters to dare to dream. How marvellous. So many managers play down expectations.
...

Terry Venables, a former manager at Postecoglou's club, used to gather his coaching staff together for a few drinks the night before away games. Why? "Tomorrow ... at 5 o'clock, we could all be crying," he reasoned. "We've done the work all week. Enjoy it now"
...

It is not just Postecoglou's football that is game-changing at Tottenham. His attitude and abandon feel fresh too.
...

This is a club that has been through Conte and Jose Mourinho at their most sour. It needs boosting, it needs optimism.

Jurgen Klopp did not turn Liverpool around with drear.

A positive attitude is not the same as complacency, not the same as announcing the league is won in November. Postecoglou is merely allowing the club a rare fantasy. This is Tottenham Hotspur he is managing.

A play on the name has become a euphemism for inevitable failure in English football.

"Lads, it's Tottenham," is now one of Sir Alex Ferguson's most famous team talks.

These are the demons that have to be exorcised if Postecoglou is to take them forward.'

(The Sunday Times)

[Jezza]

That was wild

Chelsea won 4-1. Jackson scores a hat trick. Spurs go down to 9 men.

I don't think we played particularly well, but Spurs' implosion gave us an easy pathway to victory.

[pietillidie]

^Yeah, that was insane! Romero is always good for a red card, though one hoped he was maturing, while Udogie gives too many early yellows, setting himself up for trouble, although he's still very young.

The problem now is Spurs have no depth, so losing Van de Ven with a proper hammy, and Romero and Udogie on suspension, means a tough 4-6 weeks ahead.

[K]

[pietillidie]

By god I hate international break!

[Jezza]

^ Same. It kills the momentum and excitement of the league.

[K]

[K]

Thom Gibbs:

Ange’s honeymoon ends as Tottenham return to ‘Spursy’ ways

'Reports of the death of “Spursyness” are greatly exaggerated, and the amnesty lasted all of 63 days.

It was Roy Keane who drew for the dreaded adjective after the 1-2 home defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend.

“Really poor defending from Spurs,” he said on Sky Sports of Ollie Watkins’ winning goal for Villa. “You’ve got to get tight and be aggressive, they’ve just switched off at the wrong time. Lovely goal from Villa, but defensively from Spurs ... really Spursy.”
...

After winning the first three Premier League manager of the month awards available to him, the honeymoon is not just over for Postecoglou.

Instead, he and Spurs have returned home to mountains of work, argument-inducing admin and a sullen Irish bloke passing judgement on the cleanliness of their house.

Scholars of “Spursyness” will be intrigued by Keane’s deployment. It is not traditionally used to describe discrete acts of defending, more as a label for glimpsing victory and contriving to throw it away.

There was plenty of that too on Sunday, especially in a breakneck opening 20 minutes when the game might have been out of sight. Son missed a sitter then posts were hit, a goal was disallowed. It felt there for the taking with a stadium cruising on vibes. Yet Villa emerged with the points, and by the end that felt rather predictable.

If we must give credence to such things, the xG (expected goals statistic) was marginally in Spurs’ favour: 2.09 to Villa’s 1.77.'

(The Telegraph, London)

[K]

Headline to Daniel Zeqiri's article:

'Another horror show from Spurs. Postecoglou will not survive many more'

[Jezza]

^ 4 consecutive losses against Newcastle, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

The honeymoon is over now.

[Jezza]

Finished 5th.

An improvement from last season, so I think Spurs fans will be satisfied with that and what Ange has produced so far to date.

[K]

The Premier League has exposed Postecoglou as a purist in an impure world

May 15, 2024

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/premier-league-has-exposed-postecoglou-as-a-purist-in-an-impure-world-20240515-p5jdpm.html

'He said he understood rivalry, partly because he had managed Celtic and been a part of the Old Firm – one of the biggest in existence. “But I have never – and will never – understand if someone wants their own team to lose,” Postecoglou said on Monday.

“That’s not what sport is about. It’s not what I love about the game. What I love more than anything in the game is the competitiveness, challenging yourself to beat someone and coming out successful. Anything outside of that, it’s got nothing to do with sport. It’s got nothing to do with me. If other people want to treat it that way, that they get pleasure from other people’s misery, that’s not how I’ve lived my life.”
...

Directly after the match came the “fragile foundations” remark. And there may well be more to this. Postecoglou’s assertion the frailties exist “outside [the club], inside, everywhere” hint at something those viewing externally do not know. If, however, the problem with the 48 hours in question are mostly wrapped up in resentment over some Spurs supporters’ perceived desire to lose, then the Premier League has exposed Postecoglou as a football purist operating in an impure world.

That is neither a positive nor negative observation. Just, perhaps, an acknowledgment that part of what has made Postecoglou such a breath of fresh air in English football is also what is creating the current disharmony inside his head. Everywhere Postecoglou goes, he does so with the intention of winning football matches. He runs each club off the same script, and with a principled commitment to his philosophy. It is good and nourishing and has won him trophies.

But the Premier League is not always good and nourishing, and Postecoglou is not always patient with deviations from his own moral standards. He is an expert in exasperation towards unworthy concepts or points of view. And the obvious issue here is that the rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal is not a virtuous picture of pure football.'