[Sport] Ange Postecoglou: 'He made you feel invincible' - what Tottenham can expect from new boss

[BirSaNN]

Ange Postecoglou may not be the high-profile appointment some Tottenham Hotspur fans were calling for but the 57-year-old's CV shows he could be the antidote to a club in serious need of direction.

The first Australian to manage in the Premier League will be tasked with reenergising a patchwork squad - that may or may not include the greatest Spurs player of a generation in Harry Kane - cultivating a more positive and productive culture and creating a brand of attacking football craved by the fanbase since the end of the Mauricio Pochettino reign.

Postecoglou has a track record of delivering on the above with previous rebuilding jobs leading to league titles in Australia, Japan and most recently a Scottish treble with Celtic.

He also has a self-proposed commitment to playing dynamic, attacking and energetic football he demands must be "pleasing to the eye" but "with a purpose".

Matt Smith won back-to-back titles under Postecoglou at Brisbane Roar and says the boss was not content with simply winning, he wanted to "change the whole scope of how Australian football was perceived".

"Ange's massive strength is his ability to be able to bring players along that journey and buy into what he does," the former Brisbane captain tells BBC Sport.

"There's zero tolerance for players that don't want to follow. We were never made to feel comfortable, we were always pushing to be better, always developing, always working harder than any group I've experienced before.

"It didn't matter if you were the biggest player in the dressing room or the youngest - if you weren't pulling your weight or following his principles, he was very ruthless."

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After winning the Asian Cup with Australia, Postecoglou created a similar legacy in Japan. He took over a Yokohama F Marinos side suffering from an "identity crisis" and turned them into J League champions.

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"Ange really gave the club purpose," explains Dan Orlowitz from the Japan Times.

"It was a refreshing style of football that the league hadn't really seen. Even when YFM struggled results-wise in 2018 it was very clear that the players and above all Ange believed in what he was doing.

"The fans believed in him as a result, and over the next year he let go of players who weren't a good fit for the system and brought in players who were a great fit. All of that added up to the triumph of 2019.

"It was exactly what you've seen at Celtic - not just 11 players, but 11 attackers, a disciplined and fluid build-up from box to box that moved like water and was nigh unstoppable.

"YFM fans loved it and opposing fans respected it - even when they were on the wrong end - because it was just such a joy to watch."

Wherever Postecoglou's unique and varied footballing journey has taken him, he has silenced any sceptics.

He was relatively unknown to Celtic fans when he arrived in Glasgow two years ago.

But on the day his departure was announced, after winning five of the six domestic trophies available to him, chief executive Michael Nicholson labelled the Australian a "great football manager and a good man".

"He understands what makes players tick, he commands respect, he has a presence, he's a motivator and he's got a good record in the transfer market," said BBC Sport Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English.

"His mantra is 'we never stop'. He's a tough cookie. He's not some kind of Australian Ted Lasso, but he has an inspirational quality - he gets people. He loves a project and building something from the ground up."

link:  https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65822800