<\/p>\n
An English journalist\u2019s public attack on Ange Postecoglou is causing a stir. <\/p>\n
The Australian coach was on Monday morning (AEDT) widely praised for his tactical moves during Tottenham\u2019s thrilling 3-3 draw<\/a> with Manchester City. <\/p>\n The Spurs boss also won a public pat on the back from City manager Pep Guardiola and had Sky Sports pundits speaking about him with admiration despite the London club coming off a run of three-consecutive defeats. <\/p>\n The blokey Aussie was made a romantic figure in some sections after Spurs exploded out of the blocks at the start of the season.<\/p>\n But there is one English reporter that is doing his best to be a Christmas grinch with several public swipes at the former Socceroos coach.<\/p>\n The Guardian’s Jonathan Liew recently launched into a bizarre rant against the former Brisbane Roar boss where he accused the 58-year-old of telling \u201cbulls***\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just not having Ange,\u201d Liew said last month on The Guardian\u2019s Football Weekly <\/i>podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not having Ange Postecoglou. As a coach, I can\u2019t stand him.\u201d<\/p>\n When put to him by host Max Rushden that Postecoglou is a \u201clovely man\u201d, Liew responded: \u201cHe comes across as a lovely man. All of the people saying he\u2019s great, saying he\u2019s a great bloke \u2014 nobody knows him.<\/p>\n \u201cAll you know about him are the little 45 second clips that come from his press conferences or that turn up on your Twitter feed every week.\u201d <\/p>\n Liew then took pot shots at Postecoglou, mocking his Aussie drawl and use of the word \u201cmate\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly, it\u2019s just such bulls***,\u201d Liew said.<\/p>\n The veteran football columnist described Postecoglou as an \u201cunbelievable salesman\u201d that doesn\u2019t align with the performances and results of his team. <\/p>\n \u201cHe is an unbelievable talker,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cOn the pitch, thing have been going well, but they have a good squad. There was a thirst there for these players to go out and play a high line. I\u2019m not saying he hasn\u2019t coached them well. I\u2019m just saying he hasn\u2019t coached them brilliantly. He\u2019s just said some things. Made them feel good about themselves and his good players have been infused with good vibes. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now and what we\u2019re going to see over the medium and long term is that Spurs are going to regress. They are nowhere near title contenders. They don\u2019t have a coach or a squad that\u2019s going to get them anywhere near the title race. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll probably drop to about sixth or seventh because there are better funded and better coached teams out there.\u201d<\/p>\n He said Postecoglou\u2019s charm as a doe-eyed outsider to the English football hegemony \u201cdoesn\u2019t ring true\u201d. Postecoglou has had several headline-grabbing, cheeky exchanges with reporters <\/a>since arriving at Spurs. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is the thing. He\u2019s able to sell authenticity,\u201d Liew said. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t doubt there is a kernel of something genuinely heartwarming and whatever in his story. But the way he\u2019s commodified it and it may be a completely unthinking process. But the way he\u2019s been able to commodify it \u2014 it\u2019s sold as authenticity in this big bad league. <\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the pulse of it. It doesn\u2019t ring true for me because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s remotely sustainable. It\u2019s a product of Spurs fans feeling despondent and needing something new and the Premier League just needing content.\u201d<\/p>\n One clip of the savage comments has started to spread across Australian football circles this week \u2014 and Liew is not winning any fans with his character assassination of the well-loved Aussie. <\/p>\n One Twitter user wrote: \u201cImagine this was a person of any other nationality, the way he mocks his accent is disgusting! Very odd to be so bothered by someone talking about their own life experiences\u201d. <\/p>\n Another Twitter user wrote: \u201cHe\u2019s not a good coach because he doesn\u2019t play games with the media and tells it how it is? And what does his upbringing and nationality have to do with anything? This logic means you\u2019d hate most Aussies then. Just sad and pathetic\u201d. <\/p>\n Twitter user Dean Rosario wrote: \u201cJust heard Jonathan Liew\u2019s disparaging comments about Ange\u2019s coaching & even lampooning Ange\u2019s personal life stories. Reminded me of a drunk fan in a pub, who thinks he\u2019s amusing\u201d. <\/p>\n It is far from the first time football commentators have taken swipes at Postecoglou in recent weeks after a run of three-straight losses.<\/p>\n He was called stubborn for his refusal to change his attacking philosophy when the team was struggling to deal with a series of injuries. <\/p>\n Jermaine Jenas, former Tottenham midfielder, said after the third loss to Aston Villa that there has been a \u201cnaivety to some of Postecoglou\u2019s decisions\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment there is a feeling they are able to lose games but still feel good about it \u2014 but that won\u2019t last forever,\u201d he wrote for Yahoo Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n Postecoglou was also labelled \u201carrogant\u201d <\/a>after his team\u2019s 4-1 loss to Chelsea. <\/p>\n Spurs were down to nine men after two red-cards were flashed \u2014 but Postecoglou refused to retreat from his high defensive line. <\/p>\n Former Chelsea defender Jason Cundy said on talkSPORT: \u201cHe gave the opportunity for Chelsea to get in behind. It felt almost inevitable that we were going to get in behind, it was just a matter of time. I have to say there was a bit of an arrogance about not changing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Liew this week took another shot at Ange when delving into the Australian\u2019s relationship with Guardiola ahead of Tottenham\u2019s match against City. <\/p>\n The scribe again questioned whether Postecoglou\u2019s public persona is a true reflection of the coach he is underneath the surface when writing for The Guardian<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cFor all the attention devoted to his homespun manner and natural charm, less is said about perhaps the key driving force behind Postecoglou: his ruthless personal ambition, the desire to keep progressing and keep challenging himself,\u201d Liew wrote. <\/p>\n \u201cPostecoglou builds his teams with the fierceness of a family, but he is not afraid of abruptly breaking them up. He has not spent more than three years at any club since the 1990s. He walked out on the Australia national team just before the 2018 World Cup because he felt the aims of the national federation did not align with his own.\u201d<\/p>\n He went on to write: \u201cIt is both genuine and an act, in the sense that a large part of coaching itself is essentially an act, the process of selling a vision to players and supporters. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is no coincidence that Postecoglou has made himself extremely visible in the media since arriving in England, always giving interviews, always explaining, always proselytising.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s a bloody outrage it is!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n