Ange Postecoglou’s passionate rant about why he loves Tottenham job despite scrutiny

Ange Postecoglou believes that he is attracting much more scrutiny than his counterparts for one interesting reason, with the Tottenham boss also giving an insight into how he copes with the criticism levelled at him.

Postecoglou’s career has been littered with success, but the Australian is now dining at the very top table and is finding out just how much scrutiny comes with managing one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League.

The 59-year-old has certainly had to develop a thick skin, particularly this season, as speculation continues to run rife about his future at the club.

Postecoglou was even asked if he was in danger of being sacked at Tottenham ahead of the second leg against AZ Alkmaar, which he chose to bat away.

Ange Postecoglou opens up on extra scrutiny on him at Tottenham

The Tottenham head coach has now candidly spoken about the kind of criticism levelled at him this season, insisting that it has no impact on how he goes about his work or his life outside football.

When asked about the scrutiny he is under at Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou told Football.London: “The scrutiny is more because there’s more noise but that doesn’t mean it needs to affect you. I’ve said many times it doesn’t concern me because I’m not really sure how people perceive this role and particularly me as a person, that they would think I would worry about tomorrow if there’s a negative outcome.

“I just don’t live my life that way. I don’t speak that way, I don’t think that way. My whole career, I love what I do, I get up every day, take on the challenge, see what the possibilities are and keep moving. There’s a lot of noise and I think there are always two sides to that: one is people doing critical analysis of what I do, others just like the story of a manager being under pressure.

“People get excited about that. Some people really enjoy that process for some bizarre reason. The more they try to push individuals, whether it’s me or anyone else, to that position it generates for them whatever satisfaction they get out of it. It doesn’t infiltrate my world, mate.

“Irrespective of what happened against Alkmaar I still would have gone home and asked my kids how their [school] concert went. My life goes on mate. It’s not so overwhelming that I feel the need to block it all out or to react to it. It doesn’t bother me.”

While Postecoglou has won a load of trophies throughout his career, this is the first time he is managing at the highest level, and he feels that his lack of experience in major European leagues makes him a particularly easy target.

When quizzed on whether the scrutiny on him is more intense because of his coaching background, the Spurs boss responded: “If I say that then people will just say I’m playing the victim card and I don’t want to do that, but… 100 per cent there’s an element of that. There’s no doubt about it.

“Let me give you an example. It’s only a small crew here today so I can share it amongst us. Whatever profession you’re in – you’re a journalist, a plumber, a policeman, a lawyer, a doctor, you’ve been doing that job 26, 27 years. Irrespective of whatever you did, do you reckon that person has a pretty good idea of that job?

“Would you ever question their knowledge of that job? Would you ever question whether every decision he makes, he’s thought about it or experienced it before? You might say ok, if you survive 26, 27 years you haven’t stuffed up too many times. Whatever you do.

“If you’re a plumber, if there’s leaks you’re not going to get another job. If you’re a doctor and people are dying, you’re unlikely to kick on. If you’re doing it for 26, 27 years he’s got a fair idea of what he’s doing. Then you might say ‘yeah, but maybe he’s just a grinder’.

“But if that person started pretty much on the factory floor of that industry, whatever industry it was, maybe you’re a CEO or whatever and he ends up in the position where the top 1 per cent of where his profession gets to, you’re gonna say, ‘ok this guy must have something’.

“You don’t get from the factory floor to the top 1 per cent in your field, and I’m talking about the level, not expertise. Then you might say, ‘he’s out of his depth now’ and well ok, but if you’ve taken a club that finished eighth to fifth in your first full year… when you put all that together and you hear, ‘he’s out of his depth, he doesn’t know what he’s doing, he’s got no idea, his methods don’t work, his philosophy doesn’t work’ – in any other industry, you wouldn’t do that.

“You might be critical of his performance but you wouldn’t do that. Google my name and get some headlines. Just plaster them on a wall and you’d say ‘I don’t think that fits somehow’, but it does, because that’s where we’re at.”

Postecoglou explains why he enjoys the criticism

Despite feeling that a lot of the criticism he gets is unfair, the Tottenham boss insists that he actually enjoys the challenge of needing to prove his detractors wrong.

Ange Postecoglou also pointed out that modern-day pundits love questioning the decisions of managers in hindsight rather than having to stand firm on their judgment before matches.

When asked how he feels about the criticism of his methods and decisions, the former Celtic boss said: “I love it. I’m not saying that facetiously. I love the fact there’s a massive challenge there, people are doubting me. I do love it. I also think some of it is just ridiculous beyond its nature of being anything other than cheap and very shallow. I’m not talking about critical analysis.

“Jeez, I’m going on now. I’ve got one more story then I’ll let you go. You know who the greatest nemesis for any manager is in today’s world? He’s only come to the surface in the last five, six years, maybe 10 years? Mr Hindsight.

“He’s the guy who when the outcomes are there and the result is already done, he has all the answers with the greatest of certainty and he’s never wrong. Mr Hindsight will go out there every time and profess to be the oracle of all oracles because he just deals with what’s happened after the event. Never before.

“There is such a massive Mr Hindsight. The Killers should do a song about him, I’d definitely buy it. You want to be critical and have really strong opinions about things? State them before the event. Make them really clear and stand by them when they’re wrong. I guarantee you they’ll be just as wrong as any manager is wrong and probably more often.

“There aren’t many of those. There are some who if they don’t do it before the event, after the event they will always put a perspective on their analysis, but I see them mate and I hear them. After the event – ‘oh, so obvious!’ ‘oh, how did he get that team selection wrong!’”

“That’s what I’m saying, anyone can deal with an outcome. You don’t need to even understand football. ‘That team won, that team lost. That coach is better, those players, that system, those selections, they were always going to be better. I could have told you before the game, everything is obvious.’

“What’s the point? If it’s just results, what’s the point of having analysis? Whoever won, you put a column there and everyone writes the same piece there. Whoever lost, a column there, everyone the same piece – these managers are under pressure, these managers are the best. Then flip it the following week because results always go the other way.

“Anyway mate, we should have had this offline. I’ve said too many things I’m going to regret tomorrow!”

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou makes confession about ‘outside’ noise around Tottenham

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