Ange Postecoglou’s tenure holding on by Europa League hope - why Spurs should part ways now - video Dailymotion

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A look at the downfall for the manager.

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00:00James, looking at Spurs and in terms of Ange Postacoglian,

00:05obviously he's been going on for a few weeks,

00:08maybe even the last month or so,

00:09saying he's pretty certain that his job's coming to an end at Spurs.

00:13What's the sort of situation?

00:15What's the stance of Spurs fans in terms of his tenure now,

00:20in terms of this summer rebuild that's probably going to have to happen again

00:24after such an abysmal season, especially in the league?

00:27Yeah, well, I mean, I think the writing's on the wall.

00:31I think it's fair to say, isn't it,

00:32regardless of whether we get over the line in the Europa League

00:35and end up winning the final,

00:36I think Ange Postacoglian's days at Spurs are certainly numbered.

00:40And, you know, I think that the temperature now from the majority of fans,

00:45certainly the fans I speak to and are sort of in the circles with our,

00:48you know, it's time, you know, it's time.

00:5018 league defeats, you know, eight defeats at home,

00:52which is the worst in a 38-game season.

00:54And I actually think there's merit personally now

00:57in announcing his departure, you know, imminently, you know,

01:01now keep him on to the end of the season.

01:03But I just think that gives everybody a bit of clarity over,

01:07you know, in terms of the fans for the future.

01:09We know that we're going to be looking at another change.

01:12It gives the club time to start planning

01:13and start thinking about a replacement,

01:15albeit, you know, they may be doing that behind the scenes

01:17without our knowledge.

01:18And should we pull off the miracle

01:20and end up winning in Bilbao in a couple of weeks' time?

01:23You know, Ange Postacoglian lives a hero.

01:25I mean, if he does deliver a trophy,

01:27and don't forget we got in the semi-final,

01:29the League Cup as well,

01:31you know, he'd be sort of forever in a lot of Spurs fans' hearts.

01:34But certainly the league form,

01:36you know, it's been abysmal, embarrassing,

01:39you know, running out of sort of adjectives

01:41to describe how bad it's been.

01:43And, you know, it was the same against Nottingham Forest on Monday,

01:45you know, largely, you know, a poor performance.

01:48You know, Ange came out and said it was a good performance.

01:52You know, that's been a little bit divisive among the fan base.

01:55You know, he says a lot of the same things every week.

01:57He's not fixing the problems.

01:59The players are not concentrating.

02:00To me, a lot of the players look like they've lost belief

02:02outside the Europa League.

02:04You know, they look like they've given the league up now.

02:06And, you know, it's just not good enough

02:08for a club of Tottenham's size and standing.

02:10So, you know, we certainly need, in my eyes, to make a change.

02:13I think we should probably make it sooner rather than later

02:15and, you know, give that clarity to everybody going forward.

02:19Yeah, you feel it's probably one of the most bizarre situations

02:22because of Spurs' sort of trophy drought that they,

02:25you know, this whole stigma around them

02:27that you need to return a trophy.

02:29An awkward situation in terms of, you know,

02:32Ange's standpoint, the league form has been terrible.

02:35They are in a Europa League semi-final.

02:38That's something that they could be proud of any other season

02:41as long as the league form wasn't as bad as this.

02:44What's your thoughts on the Europa League in terms of,

02:46you know, we've mentioned it's all eggs in that basket now

02:48and you can probably tell the players are on that same ship as well.

02:52But it becomes a strange situation.

02:55If he does go and return the trophy for the club,

02:57then, you know, where do the fans sort of stand on that?

03:01And Levy as well and Ange as well, you know,

03:04he can leave, you know, most likely leave

03:06knowing that he has returned that trophy and ended that drought.

03:10Yeah, I mean, it's kind of bizarre, isn't it?

03:12Because I think we always joke at the start of the season

03:14and say if Spurs finish 17th and win a trophy,

03:17you know, a lot of Spurs fans would take that

03:19and that's kind of the situation that we're in at the moment.

03:22I mean, as you say, the league form has been beyond abysmal.

03:26Mitigating factors throughout the season with the injuries,

03:29but sadly Ange was able to hide behind the excuse of the injuries.

03:32Now all the players are back.

03:33The performances might have improved marginally,

03:36but the results are largely the same

03:37and, you know, we're on a dreadful, dreadful run in the Premier League

03:40and, you know, ultimately we're very, very lucky

03:43that there's three worst teams in the division, you know,

03:45because Spurs would have been in a relegation dogfight.

03:48Now, you know, the mentality of the players has got to be questioned.

03:51We've spoken before about senior leadership on the pitch.

03:53But, you know, in terms of the Europa League,

03:57it's been sort of chalk and cheese.

03:59You know, the performances have been very, very solid.

04:01You know, we've had some tough away games that we've managed to counter.

04:04You know, Fennem-Varos and Hoffenheim in the group stages.

04:08You know, some tough games at home in the groups as well

04:11that we've managed to come through.

04:12We're unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season,

04:14which is a positive.

04:16And over the two legs against Frankfurt, you know,

04:18we fully deserve to win.

04:19So, it kind of makes it all the more frustrating because, you know,

04:23you know we've got the talent.

04:25I say it a million times.

04:26I still don't think we're a million miles off with the squad that we've got

04:29and the young talent coming through.

04:30We're not delivering it in the Premier League for whatever reason

04:33that is going on behind the scenes.

04:35But the Europa League, you know, the performances have been fantastic.

04:39And, you know, to a man in Frankfurt,

04:41the team were absolutely outstanding, you know.

04:43And, you know, ironically, Ange tweaked the tactics.

04:46You know, we didn't have a lot of the ball.

04:48It was backs-to-the-wall stuff.

04:49We defended stoutly.

04:51And we took the chance when it came with the penalty.

04:53And, you know, you wouldn't say we were really ever that much in trouble

04:58against Frankfurt in the second leg.

04:59You know, the hostile atmosphere, we caught with it brilliantly.

05:02We've obviously had experience at tough Europa away games this season

05:05in Galatasaray as well, where, you know,

05:07that was a white-hot atmosphere.

05:08And we pretty much crumbled there with a young side

05:11and a lot of changes that night, it must be said.

05:13But it was absolutely fantastic.

05:16And, you know, as I say, to a man,

05:18every Spurs player that night was absolutely magnificent.

05:21We looked organised, we looked hungry, desire.

05:24We kept the ball very well.

05:25You know, we really did defend properly, you know,

05:28as a team when we needed to.

05:31You know, the centre-backs were fantastic.

05:32Benson Kerr was very, very good in that six over the two legs.

05:36And as I say, we looked a threat on the break

05:37and we probably should have finished it off.

05:39Not necessarily clear-cut chances, but certainly openings

05:42with a bit more craft in the final third

05:44or the better final ball.

05:45We'd have finished that off.

05:46So, one of the best teams in the competition are out.

05:50You know, Bodo Glynn's not going to be easy.

05:52You know, they've already put paid to Ange Postacoglu

05:54before in the Champions League when he was at Celtic.

05:57They've knocked out some pretty big teams

05:58in the Champions League and the Europa League as well.

06:01And, you know, the way they dispatched those penalties

06:03against Lazio, very, very cool.

06:04We shouldn't underestimate them.

06:08However, I think they've got three of their key players

06:10suspended for the first leg.

06:12And, you know, 8,000 capacity crowd in the second leg,

06:16albeit on a plastic pitch.

06:17And I know Spurs have got an interesting record

06:20on plastic pitches before.

06:21I remember a Champions League game at Young Boys

06:23and obviously we struggled at Tamworth

06:24on an artificial surface this season.

06:26So, the first leg is going to be absolutely crucial,

06:28but we're never going to have a better chance

06:29of getting to a final, Owen.

Ange Postecoglou’s tenure holding on by Europa League hope - why Spurs should part ways now

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