I must admit, my shortlist of new Spurs managers did not include Postecoglou. Dunno why, certainly the lack of high level experience but I think I also had some built in prejudice about an Aussie/Greek actually being genuinely capable at the highest level. Not a racism thing, but their general lack of footballing pedigree perhaps wrongly informing my judgement that he would not be good enough.
Ignoring the on pitch stuff altogether, which has been largely wonderful so far, the more I hear Ange speak and the more I read about what off pitch changes he has made, the more I am super impressed by him.
His approach is as anti-Conte as one can imagine. It seems as if the players are now being treated more as humans, with respect and understanding and not as robots who are expected to power up in the morning, perform their functions perfectly before shutting down and recharging.
Small changes have occurred - Players now able to stay with their families on the night before home matches, not all together in the club's player accommodation. The new 'leadership group' of Son, Romero & Maddison are left to deal with player issues. Ange largely stays out of the dressing room, it's the players space.
He is giving the players a bit of freedom but really he is empowering them, allowing them to take responsibility and ultimately be responsible for their own destinies.
I think this approach will get the best out of individuals, will strengthen bonds, but it will also highlight those that are not team players.
I think its a strong statement for the new manager to make in changing the leadership group while ignoring the still present Dier, Lloris & Hojbjerg. One quote from Ange that i like is "if you want something to change, you have to change things" Seems like an obvious point but to come in and keep these "experienced heads" as key voices would have perpetuated the same outcomes. It seems obvious but look at what the experienced Conte did...he changed little and thus little changed.
It may have actually helped that Kane has left. Seems a silly statement but as part of a new culture in the club, perhaps this had to happen. Kane in a recent interview stated that at Spurs the pressure to win, the disappointment of failure was not felt strongly enough. An odd thing to say as he was integral to Spurs for a decade and our leader, so part of that comes from him. But just may be these small changes in approach off the pitch, the changes in the leadership have been a huge release after the tyranny of Conte.
Now this could go against us in time. When we have adversity, does that group of players deal with it well, does it need more presence from the manager. We will have to see, but for me, with Spurs in the situation we have been in for several years under highly experienced managers, i think Postecoglou has been an inspired choice to bring real change to the culture of the club off the pitch.
On the pitch it is of course early days but the change around in style, approach and results is remarkable. I don't think any of us expected such rapid change. But clearly it is not just the way they are working on the training pitch, it is how things are working off the pitch that has contributed to such a smooth transition so far. A happy worker is a more productive worker and this seems to be ringing true at THFC.
Postecoglou is more and more appearing as an inspired choice. A brave choice considering his background and experience. The temptation of the bigger names would have attracted Levy, he seems drawn to the kudos of operating with high profile names (a very corporate outlook!). No doubt, Aussie compatriot Munn would have had some impact here. But it looks like a choice made for all the right reasons and that should be acknowledged and applauded.
Daniel Levy
posted on 20/9/23
At the end of the day, it’s about titles. Not about winning 4 games out of 5 early in the season (even Liverpool have managed that).
Arsenal were questioned a lot between 2005-14, and then we emerged from the doldrums to win 9 titles in 9 years.
This is what Spurs need to do.
posted on 20/9/23
comment by ChArliE Big Bananas (U14461)
posted 16 minutes ago
Confusing title for this article, not about Levy at all🤷♂️
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What's confusing you about it pal? Did Ange just magically become Spurs manager, or did a certain much maligned owner bring him in?
Should he not be applauded for making this appointment?
posted on 20/9/23
posted on 20/9/23
comment by SimonB (U22811)
posted 26 seconds ago
comment by ChArliE Big Bananas (U14461)
posted 16 minutes ago
Confusing title for this article, not about Levy at all🤷♂️
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What's confusing you about it pal? Did Ange just magically become Spurs manager, or did a certain much maligned owner bring him in?
Should he not be applauded for making this appointment?
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Some folk are blinkered and rather simple.
No club appoints a manager having interviewed one option or having not gone through a process of exploring options and having initial discussions. To do so would be negligent when making a key appointment in a multi-billion pound company.
Some fans profess to know what the thinking was in the club, how well managers interviewed, who was offered the job, what decision-making was based on.
And those with an agenda will cite this process as luckily stumbling on a decent manager who was 4th choice after being turned down by 3 others.
posted on 20/9/23
comment by ChArliE Big Bananas (U14461)
posted 19 minutes ago
Also, if common consensus is to be believed, Levy went after Nagelsmaan and then Arne Slot before settling on Ange. Similarly as I recall he went after other coaches such as van Gaal before ending up with Poch who was further down his list.
I think Levy should be commended for the appointment of Conte because, regardless of the fact it didn’t work out, he went and balls deep on brining in a supposed elite coach in his prime who most thought we couldn’t land, and paid the big bucks to do so. It was a bold statement. With Ange, it feels more like a bit of a desperation measure that is actually working out ok. If we end up with the right guy I don’t care if it’s by design or luck, but I’m not gonna give Levy false praise for some sort of master stroke when that’s obviously not the case.
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Common consensus ?
Employer interviews several candidates before appointing new manager....
WOW! imagine that. Did Spurs really do that, spoke to several potential managers before appointing someone. Jeeez, we must have been desperate!
posted on 20/9/23
If this is giving Levy credit for choosing him then we have to remember he was not Levy's first choice. Levy can have some credit for it, because I myself didn't really fancy Ange much among the choices. That said Levy needs to make sure he backs him through good and bad, the way he didn't with Poch. He also needs to take stick for the failure of the last few years employing the wrong managers who were the were never the right fit.
Ultimately, Levy needs to now keep making the right decisions because it's no good making a right decision only to cancel it out with a wrong one, which is what we've got used to from him. He has to learn from his mistakes. We look like we have the right manager. Great! Now make sure you back him in the windows; give him the players he wants and get rid of ones no longer needed sooner. As we saw already, the summer transfer window didn't exactly show us he is learning.
posted on 20/9/23
I think this was long in the planning.
I read that contact was made, as a sounding out, before Conte had gone, as an option, not an offer.
The fact that the media and many on here were in a meltdown as nothing was coming out of the club as the YTS Manager had a pop, suggests to me that agreement had been made but kept quiet as Ange had the season to end in Scotland.
So, there was probably some wry smiles in our boardroom when they were watching everyone impload.
On a side note, I put Ange forward as someone I would like very early, but didn't think we would.
posted on 20/9/23
comment by #LiquidGenius (U20571)
posted 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
At the end of the day, it’s about titles. Not about winning 4 games out of 5 early in the season (even Liverpool have managed that).
Arsenal were questioned a lot between 2005-14, and then we emerged from the doldrums to win 9 titles in 9 years.
This is what Spurs need to do.
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Could you clarify please - what were these 9 titles?
posted on 20/9/23
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 50 minutes ago
If this is giving Levy credit for choosing him then we have to remember he was not Levy's first choice. Levy can have some credit for it, because I myself didn't really fancy Ange much among the choices. That said Levy needs to make sure he backs him through good and bad, the way he didn't with Poch. He also needs to take stick for the failure of the last few years employing the wrong managers who were the were never the right fit.
Ultimately, Levy needs to now keep making the right decisions because it's no good making a right decision only to cancel it out with a wrong one, which is what we've got used to from him. He has to learn from his mistakes. We look like we have the right manager. Great! Now make sure you back him in the windows; give him the players he wants and get rid of ones no longer needed sooner. As we saw already, the summer transfer window didn't exactly show us he is learning.
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This is absolutely correct and a balanced view on the ups and downs under this regime.
I really felt that this was Levy's last chance with the fans. A poor appointment here would have seen the malcontent grow massively to where it became toxic like it has at United and Everton.
For me we can see the logic in why, after sacking Poch, we took a different approach. It failed, and this is not unique to Spurs. The post Fergie era, the post-Wenger era have been a tale of failed appointments, rebuilds and transitions. It is not easy to achieve continuity. Of course Levy has contributed to the failure of these appointments as well, but not through a lack of backing, loads of money has been spent.
We cannot continue to look backwards. In the same way I cannot keep accepting poor decisions because i went to a Champions League final, fans cannot keep harking back to poor decisions as a reason to beat the ownership now, especially when things are actually going in the right direction....not just with football but with how the club is run, with the transfers we have done, some of the great young talent we are now enjoying and the exciting future that points to.
The club need to back Ange, but much like the appointment of this guy, fans cannot be blinded by big names and expensive signings or view these as a measure of ambition. Naglesmann would have been ambitious and Ange was just a cheap 4th choice, Vicario being a cheapskate version of Raya, Johnson not being a direct replacement for Kane, Solomon being a free opportunist buy, only going for Maddison because he was cheap. These are all accusations bitter fans make in pointing at ambition but are pretty misguided in my opinion.
I think we saw with Poch that this sort of manager, this sort of development of the team and the club is where we have operated best. Poch's team was packed full of great deals on players whop developed under a decent coach. The difference now is that we have the resources to better back the manager and i would expect that to happen...not all at once, but step by step.
posted on 20/9/23
Levy out.