Ange Postecoglou’s job is seemingly safe for now — though Spurs’ reported rescue package for their Australian manager is meagre.
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Reports out of the British press suggest that Tottenham are sticking with the Australian as they focus their energies on signing “at least one player” before the January transfer window is shut.
It appeared as if Postecoglou’s time may have been up after their 2-1 home defeat to relegation-threatened Leicester City, who had lost seven straight matches coming in, on Sunday.
Spurs sit a lowly 15th on the Premier League table, winless in their last seven matches and picking up just four points in their last ten league fixtures.
The faithful are growing restless with Postecoglou stopping to express his displeasure at one fan who repeatedly shouted “we’re going down with you” as he headed down the race with boos echoing after the full-time whistle.
Postecoglou then responded to a question about whether he thinks he will still be at the helm when Spurs’ plethora of injured stars return to the park, with “who knows”.
It was the first time the former Socceroos and Celtic boss and publicly showed the writing may be on the wall, especially given Tottenham’s history of discarding managers.
Chairman Daniel Levy has had 16 managers in his 24 years in charge.
But with Tottenham’s injury crisis showing few signs of improving, Levy is reportedly changing tack and giving Postecoglou more time than he afforded the likes of Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte when things went pear shaped.
Tottenham’s injury list has been in double digits for several weeks with Postecoglou unable to fill his entire bench against Leicester as James Maddison joined the casualty ward.
Goal scorer Richarlison also should have come off at half time with a groin issue, while the manager admitted Pape Sarr should not have played after picking up an injury in their mid-week Europa League victory against German outfit Hoffenheim.
With the medical team working over time, the lack of activity in the current transfer window has been perplexing.
Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky arrived from Slavia Prague for £12.5 million to cover for first-choice shot stopper Guglielmo Vicario who fractured his right ankle in Spurs’ 4-0 win at Manchester City in November.
But Kinsky is the only January signing so far, despite Postecoglou crying out for more outfield talent, especially in defence.
The most frustrating thing for Tottenham fans is that they have the money to chase new signings.
The Mirror’s Conor Mummery wrote that “Spurs have one of the lowest wages to turnover ratio in the league at 42 per cent. They have the biggest PSR [profit and sustainability rules] headroom in the league.
“And Daniel Levy and Co have sat on their hands all month and watched their club slide down the league table, picking up more injuries along the way with Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma joining the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario on the sidelines.”
Ange Postecoglou’s fiery fan interaction | 00:20
Those figures are why the fans have turned on Levy, and it appears he believes he would do further damage to his reputation by sacking another manager at this point in time.
Football.London’s Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold shed light on how strained the relationship has become between the owner and the fan base.
“It’s embarrassing no doubt for Levy to hear the loudest chants yet in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – his crowning glory – from thousands of supporters for him to leave his position at the helm of the club. The post-match music was cranked up loudly – Spurs fans have heard that before – but it could not drown out the chants during the match,” Gold wrote.
“It’s embarrassing that the club are currently in danger of repeating those two critical transfer-less windows that sucked the life out of the club and the manager in Mauricio Pochettino’s final full season, seemingly learning not a single lesson from a period that ended their hopes of building on what the Argentine had created and they’ve been flailing since. Recent reports detailing the far lower percentage Spurs spend on salaries compared to revenue in relation to all of their rivals, which will only have dropped further this season, have not exactly screamed ambition from the owners to the fanbase.
“It’s embarrassing for the club to see those couple of banners in the south stand. One read: “24 years, 16 managers, one trophy – time for change”. Another proclaimed: “Our game is about glory, Levy’s game is about greed”. That video footage appeared to show stewards trying to take down the first banner is equally embarrassing.”
In an attempt to ease some of the tension, Tottenham are reportedly showing heavy interest in a highly touted 18-year-old who has burst on the Premier League scene this season, and a 24-year-old Manchester United academy product who has found his way in France.
But neither deal may be done until the summer.
“Southampton winger Tyler Dibling and Lille midfielder Angel Gomes are two players Spurs have held talks over as they attempt to set up deals for the summer window, and they are also trying to secure at least one new outfield signing this month,” Matt Law, football news correspondent for The Telegraph, wrote.
“While Postecoglou has been relatively calm about Tottenham’s lack of business so far, it is understood there is frustration from staff behind the scenes that outfield players have not been brought in earlier to try to alleviate some of the Australian’s problems.
“Tottenham have been desperate to avoid rushing into a decision on Postecoglou’s future and the focus has been trying to support him, but pressure is growing following successive defeats by Everton and Leicester, and with his team stuck in 15th place, eight points above the relegation zone.
“It is understood that Spurs are understanding of the injury crisis Postecoglou has faced and believe that changing the manager again would leave the club in a difficult position as they attempt to build something lasting.
“Furthermore, the prospect of having to finish a third season with Ryan Mason in caretaker charge would be hugely embarrassing and provoke more criticism towards Levy.”
The allure of some much-needed silverware is seemingly also keeping Postecoglou safe in the short-term.
Mid-week fixtures are undeniably hurting Tottenham’s depleted squad’s ability to back up time and time again for league encounters, but they remain alive in the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League.
In fact, they lead Liverpool 1-0 after the first leg of their League Cup semi-final with the second leg to be played at Anfield next month.
They are sixth on the Europa League with a win at home against Swedish side IF Elsborg on Friday morning Australian time in their final league phase match guaranteeing them automatic passage to the Round of 16.
Meanwhile, an FA Cup fourth round tie away at Aston Villa also awaits next week.
Three opportunities remain for Postecoglou to fulfill his proclamation that he always wins a trophy in his second year in charge of a team.
He did it in the A-League. He did it with the Socceroos. He did it in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos. He did with Scottish giants Celtic and despite things looking so bleak in North London, he remains optimistic that he can do it again.
Around the world, he has trophies in the bank and is not interested in trying to assure others that he can manage a football team
“It doesn’t really come into my consciousness about trying to convince people. I have been around long enough to know that some will just judge on where we are at at the moment and rightly so in some respects. It’s not good enough,” Postecoglou explained after the loss to Leicester.
“If people want to put context to that, they can. If not, so be it. From my point of view, I’m still very much stuck on the fact that the players are just giving everything they can.
“Even one more player coming in, just in the short term, will give us an opportunity at least to navigate these last 10 days to two weeks of what’s been a really hard slog for this group of players.
“They did on Thursday night (against Hoffenheim), they did today. There are probably at least two who shouldn’t have been out there. They were just desperate to try to turn our fortunes around.
“Hopefully over the next 10 days to two weeks we should get some significant players back which I think will help this group a lot. It will give them the boost they need.
“We have still got some fantastic opportunities this year to make an impact in the second half of this year and I’m sure that will happen.”
Whenever Postecoglou’s time is up at Tottenham, things may look brighter.
The Mirror’s football writers identified Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Fulham’s Marco Silva as potential replacements for Postecoglou at Spurs, but they would just be getting themselves onto the same merry-go-round.
Moving on from Spurs has reaped rewards for previous managers with The Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson writing that Postecoglou may have more success elsewhere to look forward to.
“The good news for Ange Postecoglou is that it seems relatively straightforward to recover from being Tottenham manager: his two immediate predecessors, Antonio Conte and Nuno Espírito Santo, are top of Serie A with Napoli and third in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest respectively,” Wilson wrote.
“As the banner unveiled on Sunday by Spurs fans during the defeat by Leicester read: “24 years, 16 managers, one trophy”. Nobody really looks at Tottenham any more and thinks the problem is the manager.
