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Manager Ange Postecoglou

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Much ado about nothing, methinks. It’s just an emotionally charged situation in the present, but it’ll blow over. Always does. With results, it’ll be a thing of the past, perhaps a turning point of the seriousness of the project. Without them, he’ll be sacked either way.

Only the future matters from here on out.
 
Incomplete_usernam said:
I am not mate, that's the thing, what I said is face value stuff, what Chapman said in that clip you shared is face value stuff.

Point to me where I read into things too much?

I am not trying to dissect his mindset, like I said, he can feel how he wishes to feel but the simple fact is, the supporters aren't the reason we were in that situation, it was the manager and players and that is the ONLY thing a professional manager who wants to "win" should be concerned about.

Like many have said, he needs to now remain focused on his job, stop with the bluster in the media and get into the next window, strengthen the side and show us how much of a winner he is and back up the talk, otherwise it's just another ego talking at the end of the day.
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100%.

If he raged like he did, and said fans should be more demanding of him and the players when we capitulated against Fulham then okay.

He and the players put us fans, who were here before any of them and will be here long after, through the ringer.

Many of us had no choice but to painfully want the club that absorbs our energy to lose. Doesn't make us losers. Anything but.

Guve us something to cheer about and we will reciprocate.
 
harry7 said:
Agreed. Haven't settled on a consistent front 3. It's a real shame that Soloman was injured.

Whilst the figured-out thing is overused, it did become apparent to other coaches that in defense we overload the middle of the park and leave space out wide, especially on the opposite flank. Soi the switch ball is always on.

In attack, it was clear that we have no target man and were looking to play through balls and low crosses. So, we always were going to struggle when teams allow us to have the ball and defend in numbers.
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Good post. Not sure about Solomon though.

The stark reality with us is that all our players, Sessegnon apart, are thought to be better when absent..

We have inconsistency poring through the team which is the problem.
 
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HyNdZee said:
Knows what he is talking about for certain. I've only actually heard Chapman and Goldstein understand Tottenham fans in the media this week. The rest like to drive a false narrative about Spurs fans being the reason Spurs are 5th and not 1st.

Also, there is another fallacy that us not wanting to win against City was somehow detrimental to the outcome of the result. City beat us 1-0 at our new stadium in the cup when we did want to win and we always beat them before Ange. If us as fans wanting to win mattered we would have beaten West Ham, Chelsea, Woolwich, etc. all at home when it mattered more and top 4 was in our hands.
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The whole fans ‘culture’ is the biggest pile of horseshit I think I have ever heard in football. If fan support and culture drives success then the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland would have premier league titles and Woolwich would be in the Conference. Man City could win the league with an empty stadium some years they are that good. Occasionally in derby game or one off games like say Liverpool Barca in the CL the 12th man can have an impact or perceived impact but it’s way way down the list of things that produce a winning team.

Just imagine our manager and players that mentally weak if they don’t have everyone chanting at full volume then they can’t play good. The most annoying thing is the fans have been proper good this season, even when getting bad results like Chelsea 4-1 at home or this recent run of bad results most seem to have just accepted it. The City game was a bizarre circumstance that is very very rare.
 
Tomo said:
The whole fans ‘culture’ is the biggest pile of horseshit I think I have ever heard in football. If fan support and culture drives success then the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland would have premier league titles and Woolwich would be in the Conference. Man City could win the league with an empty stadium some years they are that good. Occasionally in derby game or one off games like say Liverpool Barca in the CL the 12th man can have an impact or perceived impact but it’s way way down the list of things that produce a winning team.

Just imagine our manager and players that mentally weak if they don’t have everyone chanting at full volume then they can’t play good. The most annoying thing is the fans have been proper good this season, even when getting bad results like Chelsea 4-1 at home or this recent run of bad results most seem to have just accepted it. The City game was a bizarre circumstance that is very very rare.
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Well considered and very accurate. I think there is something at certain grounds and the support they generate and do provide to their team on occasions.

What that brings is that whole self fulfilling prophesy at times. The roar of the Kop. Players from both sides believe it. Are inspired by it and shrink underneath it, but that's as much because it's talked about.

Being Spursy is another example, except when we aren't. It must be in the mind and it can lift on one hand and instill irrationsl fear on the other. If the term disappeared tomorrow it would be so good.

Spendiola has created a machine at City but much of that is also having some of the very best players and being able to be utterly ruthless. Winners' culture? They win, so okay.

There is no basis for us having gone so long without a trophy but we ain't losers. Chelsea have lost how many finals in succession? These things happen.
 
Richard Arlison said:

View: https://x.com/xalexthfc/status/1790717314213568702?s=46&t=fbqxNuG9CT4qTaiJx8mBjg

Ange ball still the best football I’ve seen at Spurs in 40 years when we start finishing in the final 3rd
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Lol at the kiss crew reacting to this post.

After Starks put them to bed yesterday with some basic stats, now they see the internet realizing that their whole schtick about not playing good football since the first 10 games wasn’t really a strong narrative like they thought it was.
 

View: https://x.com/maxrushden/status/1791200549196693819

All football fans are different so wanting to lose – or have massive tattoos – is fine​

Max Rushden


Angst suffered by Spurs supporters about doing Woolwich a favour was a rarity. It’s already time to move on

Son Heung-min is running through in the 87th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A draw does virtually nothing for Spurs, but it hands Woolwich a great advantage in the title race. Did I, a Spurs supporter, want him to score? The honest answer is – with apologies to Ange Postecoglou – that I’m not totally sure.

Most of my natural instincts were willing him to slot it into the gaping chasm to Stefan Ortega’s left. But it wasn’t categoric, and after the Manchester City substitute keeper blocked Son’s effort, I didn’t have that empty sensation normally reserved for missed one-on-ones.

This leads us to one of football’s most infuriating questions: what makes you a “proper football fan”? Can you be a proper fan if you don’t want your team to win? Can you be a proper fan if you don’t mind if your rivals win the league?

Critics will write off this article, and me, because I follow more than one team. We’ve been through this before. My childhood experience – like that of many others – was one of following my dad. That meant going to watch Cambridge United week in, week out at the Abbey, and through Glenn Hoddle, Teddy Sheringham and stories of Jimmy Greaves and Alan Gilzean, the world stopping whenever Spurs were on TV. I cried in 1987 when Spurs lost the FA Cup final. I cried in 2022 when Cambridge won at St James’ Park in the third round of the FA Cup. That’s just my experience.

Many fans are told from the year dot that you can’t support two teams, which is equally legitimate. But support is virtually entirely subconscious. Often you sit down to watch a game as a neutral and soon realise for reasons you may not even know that you are willing one side to win. Granted, this probably tempers my feelings towards Woolwich compared with diehard Spurs fans and the objective, football-loving part of me doesn’t want Manchester City to win four in a row. Nation-state ownership and 115 charges don’t scream romance.


Mikel Arteta and Woolwich have done so well to push City for two seasons running. They play wonderful football. The way Martin Ødegaard passes a ball, Declan Rice galloping about like Best Mate, Bukayo Saka is such a good-vibes guy. And who doesn’t love Ian Wright? Who doesn’t watch the genius of Dennis Bergkamp without making involuntary noises of bewilderment at his ability?

The above will be anathema to a huge number of Tottenham supporters. That’s the point. Fans are not some homogenous block. The idea that any one fanbase has a completely singular view on any aspect of the game is one of football’s great oversimplifications. Yes, wanting your team to win is normally the one unifying aspect. But there were almost 60,000 Spurs fans at the ground on Tuesday, hundreds of thousands watching elsewhere – it seems improbable to be able to define the will of them all in one sentence.

Are the Spurs fans doing the Poznan when City scored really an embarrassment to their club or just three guys trying to make the best of their evening? It is a completely legitimate position to not want your rivals to win anything. Woolwich winning the title lasts for ever. Spurs giving themselves a tiny chance of qualifying for the Champions League might be worth a few quid, which could get spent on the next Tanguy Ndombele, and you’re back where you started. Part of me couldn’t have handled the memes of Sonny in an Woolwich shirt, Photoshopped on to the open top bus around Islington.

Different fans care different amounts. Years ago, I met a Manchester United fan who had Sir Alex Ferguson’s face tattooed across his entire back. He proudly lifted his shirt to show me. A ginormous Sir Alex, must have been bigger than three normal-sized Sir Alex heads, just there, permanently etched into this guy. He is someone for whom football matters more than it matters to me. It might sadden John Beck to know you can’t find his face on my body. There isn’t a right or wrong. There’s just different.

So we are left with angry Ange yelling at a fan behind the dugout who’d apparently been telling him to try to lose for the entire game before the biannual sight of a Spurs manager in a post-match press conference questioning the mentality of everyone around him. “The last 48 hours has revealed to me that the foundations are fairly fragile, mate.”

But can’t these things coexist and it not be a problem? That an elite manager wants to win is a given. It’s almost impossible to articulate how ambitious Postecoglou is. Talk to fans in Australia and this is a guy who thinks the Socceroos should be trying to win the World Cup. Ludicrous as it sounds to almost everyone, he believes Spurs can win the title and wants everyone on board with that.

Indirectly calling out fans for the slightly subdued atmosphere has been criticised for failing to read the room. Had Spurs played with the discipline of Tuesday night over the past couple of months, they might well still be in the hunt for the Champions League. But even the most conflicted fan will want a manager and a set of players who want to win. It’s just fine for this very rare occurrence to occur, for people to not quite be on the same page, and then for it to be done.

Fortunately for those who couldn’t face Woolwich lifting the trophy, it turns out it is really easy to lose to Manchester City, even if you play pretty well. Barring the Spursiest of final days, City will beat West Ham and Ange will take Tottenham into the Europa League, which is something they could just about win. And winning something is the only way “lads, it’s Spurs” will ever stop – even for just a fleeting moment.



https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ct-tottenham-manchester-city-failure-football
 
bus-conductor said:
Yeah for sure. I'm not an Ange apologist. I was just offering an opinion on why he had a hissy fit.

I get some of it, most managers do it. I get him being a bit pissed off at the whole "lose to Arse" bollocks, it was taken to fucking embarrassing levels, but I thought the whole rant was a bit daft. Personally I've also been a bit baffled by several of his interviews (post match and otherwise) lately. Likewise, all the fucking hissy fits by fans at Ange, who don't get him not buying into the whole "throw the game" bollocks.

Generally speaking, I'm not getting all the Ange angst. There's definitely issues with his ethos, but what did we all think, we'd start a rebuild, sell Kane, completely change the way we play from reactive/proactive polar opposites and 12 months later be a flawless winning machine?

Do any of think this squad at this stage should be achieving Better than it has? I fucking don't, I'm surprised we are where we are to be honest. We've had no bench all season and for two-three months of it we lost half the team, and they were mostly the better players.

I don't know whether his arse can cash his mouth's "I'm a winner mate" cheques, I definitely have doubts, but we ain't getting Pep or Klopp, and we aren't spending 1bn in two windows, so....
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And he seems to cough a lot less when he’s angry.
Other that that omission- I really liked this post.
 
How the fuck has the media narrative become that it is Spurs fans fault that the team have basically won 4/5ths of fuck all in a third of a century?

Ridiculous. Our support given the lack of success is second to none.

Bunch of cunts the lot of them.
 
bus-conductor said:
Yeah for sure. I'm not an Ange apologist. I was just offering an opinion on why he had a hissy fit.

I get some of it, most managers do it. I get him being a bit pissed off at the whole "lose to Arse" bollocks, it was taken to fucking embarrassing levels, but I thought the whole rant was a bit daft. Personally I've also been a bit baffled by several of his interviews (post match and otherwise) lately. Likewise, all the fucking hissy fits by fans at Ange, who don't get him not buying into the whole "throw the game" bollocks.

Generally speaking, I'm not getting all the Ange angst. There's definitely issues with his ethos, but what did we all think, we'd start a rebuild, sell Kane, completely change the way we play from reactive/proactive polar opposites and 12 months later be a flawless winning machine?

Do any of think this squad at this stage should be achieving Better than it has? I fucking don't, I'm surprised we are where we are to be honest. We've had no bench all season and for two-three months of it we lost half the team, and they were mostly the better players.

I don't know whether his arse can cash his mouth's "I'm a winner mate" cheques, I definitely have doubts, but we ain't getting Pep or Klopp, and we aren't spending 1bn in two windows, so....
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Good level-headed post, bus man.

You can be a stubborn and occasionally belligerent fucker when it comes to certain players, but you're spot on here
:richtongue::ange-clap:
 
bus-conductor said:
Yeah for sure. I'm not an Ange apologist. I was just offering an opinion on why he had a hissy fit.

I get some of it, most managers do it. I get him being a bit pissed off at the whole "lose to Arse" bollocks, it was taken to fucking embarrassing levels, but I thought the whole rant was a bit daft. Personally I've also been a bit baffled by several of his interviews (post match and otherwise) lately. Likewise, all the fucking hissy fits by fans at Ange, who don't get him not buying into the whole "throw the game" bollocks.

Generally speaking, I'm not getting all the Ange angst. There's definitely issues with his ethos, but what did we all think, we'd start a rebuild, sell Kane, completely change the way we play from reactive/proactive polar opposites and 12 months later be a flawless winning machine?

Do any of think this squad at this stage should be achieving Better than it has? I fucking don't, I'm surprised we are where we are to be honest. We've had no bench all season and for two-three months of it we lost half the team, and they were mostly the better players.

I don't know whether his arse can cash his mouth's "I'm a winner mate" cheques, I definitely have doubts, but we ain't getting Pep or Klopp, and we aren't spending 1bn in two windows, so....
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Fucking hell.

A rational, sensible, accurate post on TFC?

Must be a first.
 
happy pants said:
We’re about 8 wins from top. If we’d had Harry this season do you think some of the draws would have been wins, some of the losses draws? I don’t think we’re far off. Just having a striker to straighten us up will make a huge difference.
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Maybe, but I can also remember a lot of games with Harry where he didn't score and didn't do a thing throughout the match so I don't think it's a complete given that Harry would have made us a title contender.

He still hasn't got his trophy with Bayern Munich yet.
 
kingdawson said:
This has got to be a joke??
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I wasn’t old enough for the 87 team but I do think the football up until the final third, if not the best is up there. Redknapps team played some good stuff. Poch’s teams were dominant but it was more controlled, powerful football and the play in the final third in those two seasons in particular was really good and incisive. The combination football in the defensive/middle third of the pitch wasn’t as good as we’re seeing at times this year imo.
 
dustybin said:
I wasn’t old enough for the 87 team but I do think the football up until the final third, if not the best is up there. Redknapps team played some good stuff. Poch’s teams were dominant but it was more controlled, powerful football and the play in the final third in those two seasons in particular was really good and incisive. The combination football in the defensive/middle third of the pitch wasn’t as good as we’re seeing at times this year imo.
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Take away the first couple of months and the football has largely been dross most of the time. Lots of needless passing in midfield that goes nowhere and at a slow tempo. Not putting that on Ange. I just think Maddison (and others) losing form after injury really stopped us in our tracks, and we've never really recovered since.
 
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