By Samuel A. May 22, 2025
Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood, Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Ryan Mason, Nuno Espirito Santo, and Antonio Conte all had 15 years between them at Tottenham Hotspur to bring a trophy to the club. Each failing to do so, due to one excuse or the other, blaming the team’s failure on their mentality or management of the club by the top owners and directors. Ange Postecoglou came into Tottenham, with less hype than all of these managers, and had the club dreamin in the first half of his first season, guiding them to the top of the league for about 10 games, before a terrible defeat bombarded with injuries and suspensions against Chelsea, and that game turned the whole season around negatively, putting them in 5th after 38 games.
Fast forward to this season, when Ange was asked about his job at Spurs, he claimed that he usually “wins things in his second season”, and the bold claim sparked a lot of bants and conversations, especially when the club went through a tough run after the turnover of the year, leaving them in 17th. However, they were silently moving forward in the Europa League, and in the end, against all odds, Ange and his young side broke the 17 year drought of trophies, beating Manchester United, who have had similar fortunes all season, to win the Europa League in style.
Spurs were victorious in a game that was really scrappy, thanks to Brennan Johnson’s goal, bringing truth to Postecoglou’s claims earlier in the season. The manager will now hope he will be given the chance to build on the success, despite a poor Premier League campaign during which it has been suggested he could be on his way out of the club regardless of the result in Bilbao.
Speaking in his press conference, he said there were no talks scheduled with the club over his future but said Europa League success proves his winning credentials to chairman Daniel Levy.
“I understand why it would be difficult for a club like this to buy into one person’s vision,” he said in his press conference after the game.
“I remember even when I signed, the club and even Daniel said, ‘we went after winners, it didn’t work and now we’ve got Ange’. But mate, I’m a winner. I have been a serial winner my whole career. It’s what I have done more than anything else. Obviously the way things have gone in the league, people are right to be concerned about, but I don’t think that’s a true reflection of where we are at. We’ve got a really young group of players and you can talk to them about success and what it means, but until they feel it, it doesn’t become real. I’ve got no doubt that all those boys – having this feeling – will want it again. To get it again they’re going to have to make similar sacrifices. They’ve climbed the mountain now. They know what it takes to get to where we are. I think that does, it accelerates the opportunities to build a team who can be successful and play at a high standard for years to come.
As I said yesterday, I still feel there’s a lot of work to be done, I think that’s quite obvious, but not as much work as people may think”.
“People can bang on about 20 league defeats and where we are, but they’re missing the point of what we’re trying to build, or what I’m trying to do anyway. I really feel that this can be a great platform for us to kick on.”
It is the first silverware Tottenham have won since 2008 and will see them compete in the Champions League next season, bringing increased revenue to the club. Discussing his second-season comments, Postecolgou said: “It wasn’t me boasting. It was me making a declaration. I believed it. Finishing third wasn’t going to change this football club. Us winning something changes this football club.
I’m not afraid to declare that. If I felt short then I was happy to cop it. That was my ambition. I could say that. I was prepared to wear it. People kept reminding me of it but that was only because there was an opportunity to win something. It’s how the club perceives itself. People are quick to take shots at the club, who haven’t defended themselves as much as it should. I understand that as people have been here a long time and haven’t had anything to lean on. I’m hoping this does. There’s no reason why they can’t go into next year believing they can win again and building a team that strives to win things. If you see yourself in that way, irrespective of what the noise is, that’s what the great clubs do. They expect success as they’ve had it. Hopefully this takes the club forward.”
Whether Postecoglou remains as Tottenham manager, leading them into the Champions League, remains to be seen. Media reports have suggested he could be relieved of his duties this summer after a disappointing domestic campaign, in which Spurs are set to finish in 17th place. But the Australian was keen to stress how he wants to build on his European success, adding: “I’ve had such a laser focus on winning this. Whatever happens, happens. We’re still building this team. It’s a young team, we need to add experience. My thought process has been about building a team that can be successful for five or six years. But I’m the manager – that decision is not in my hands. It doesn’t affect me. You would have seen that in the buildup. All I care about is the medal as this means this football club has won a trophy. I don’t feel like I’ve completed the job. We’re building. The moment I accepted the role I had one thing in my head – win something. We’ve done that now and I want to build on it.”
