Postecoglou’s Media Spat Only Damages Spurs

The heady days of being considered true potential Premier League title challengers seems well and truly over for Tottenham Hotspur, and it is beginning to feel like manager Mauricio Pochettino’s departure back in 2019 actually occurred decades ago.

Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte each had their supporters and detractors yet they were unable to deliver what Daniel Levy seems to want at the club, and in many ways having tasted good success north of the Scottish border with Celtic, Ange Postecoglou was a breath of fresh air and a pretty significant change in approach.

He was welcomed by the press and seemingly respected by pundits of all colours and was very quickly a go to topic of conversation for the likes of Betway and the Seaman Says podcast, and he continues to create discussion, but for different reasons now.

The now 59 year old former Australian international gaffer set his stall out early in terms of his attacking intent, but his approach left significant defensive frailties that were continually ignored but the 2023/24 campaign was promising with a fifth place finish despite talisman Harry Kane moving on to the Bundesliga and Bayern Munich.

With some optimism from his first twelve months in charge, it has all gone slightly pear shaped in the 2024/25 campaign. Our Europa League progress has been very good indeed and we continue to prepare for May’s two legged semi final clash with Bodo/Glimt, but the domestic league campaign has very much turned into one to forget with only eleven wins from 34 games so far.

Sat in 16th place in the table, the pressure has long been building on the gaffer and there will be those in the Spurs faithful who feel that he has only survived this long owing to our European progress, and there have already been well reported spats with some sections of the fans. Ange has arguably not helped himself when it comes to said press coverage as he has often been snippy and reactionary with journalists across the campaign and that angst has developed a life of its own with some now goading him in their questioning to get a meltdown reaction from him for headline purposes.

This was an issue addressed by Lee Dixon as he sat down with Seaman recently and whilst he very firmly had a certain hat on as he spoke, he had some sympathy for the position we now find ourselves in as for him, it all tracked back to the playing philosophy that Postecoglou prefers, along with the ignorance of the issues that causes on a defensive front.

“Obviously, we saw the style of play early on and I think the Tottenham fans were genuinely quite excited about it. But there were basic things going on that he didn’t address. And I was going ‘that could come back and bite him and the team.’ And then now there’s this standoff with the press that’s not helping anybody. Well, its helping the press because they get their little snippets off him. The press conferences now I can’t watch him. I’ve had to stop watching them because they’re just really awkward.”

Adding.

“I can’t bear that kind of thing going on because we work in the media and if you do things the right way, you can still get an answer and you can still get something. But now they’re after him and he’s belligerent. Ultimately, he’s backed himself into a corner fighting everybody. He’s just fighting the wolves off.”

Whilst many of Dixon’s biased opinions can be discounted, it is difficult to disagree with the above. It has become a battle and Ange is not letting it go and it has also become personal for some in the industry, and ultimately Spurs and fans will be the only real losers here and it does just feel like a matter of time now.

But where we go managerial wise next is anyone’s guess.