Why Tottenham hope Ange Postecoglou can be their new Mauricio Pochettino
n Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham would be appointing a coach with a reputation for playing exactly the kind of “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football which chairman Daniel Levy wants to return to, but perhaps most appealing about the Australian is his record of uniting fractured clubs.
Spurs finished a miserable campaign with a broken dressing room — the players’ confidence shattered by their public evisceration by Antonio Conte and the 6-1 humiliation at Newcastle — and fans calling for Levy to resign and out of patience with several members of the squad. The mood could not be more different to the heyday of
Mauricio Pochettino’s tenure, when a thread of unity ran through the club from boardroom to terraces, directly through the charismatic Argentine.
After the underwhelming tenures of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, Spurs desperately want to go back to being a united club again.
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/ AFP via Getty ImagesFor Spurs to return to punching above their weight and challenging bigger-spending rivals, they must, at least, be together and aligned, and there is an acceptance at the club that this unity must flow from the manager.
It is notable that Harry Kane has spoken recently about the loss of “standards” and “values” since Pochettino was sacked, while acting head coach Ryan Mason made it his objective during his brief tenure at the end of this season to bring the club together.
Mason dramatically improved the mood at the training ground and began to get Spurs feeling more like a family again, but there is still work to do. This is where Postecoglou comes in.
The 57-year-old has enjoyed success wherever he has gone and has proved adept at being the public face of Celtic, earning full buy-in from players, fans and the board alike.
When he joined Celtic in 2021, the club was a mess, having just lost out on the Scottish title to Rangers for the first time since 2011.
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As Postecoglou acknowledged this week, many Bhoys fans considered him “a joke”, given he was arriving from Japanese football with next to no reputation in Europe. Today, he is loved and respected by Celtic fans to a man and if, as expected, he departs this week, he should go with their blessing.
Postecoglou’s ability to inspire and empathise with supporters has been particularly notable, and he has talked passionately about getting them to “invest” in the club and himself.
“When people believe in you as a person, you’re more likely to get an understanding of what you’re trying to achieve,” he has said.
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A video of a team talk he gave his Australia squad, urging them to play for their loved ones, has done the rounds on social media in the last few days, highlighting his ability to connect with and motivate the dressing room, too.
Plainly, he will be judged first and foremost on results, and there will be a section of the Spurs fanbase and perhaps some players who are sceptical of his appointment, given his background.
But Postecoglou’s charisma means he looks a good fit to unite a club which has badly lost its way.
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