Why Postecoglou's relationship with some Spurs followers is wobbling

The temper at Tottenham Hotspur has modified dramatically inside a 12 months.

At the beginning of his tenure final season, new supervisor Ange Postecoglou began his reign by occurring a 10-game unbeaten run constructed round his progressive type of play after the troubled spells of Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho.

Twelve months on, discontent is effervescent to the floor in north London as sections of the fan base more and more lose persistence with the Australian.

Only one win within the first 4 league video games, together with a 1-0 defeat to rivals Arsenal, has seen Postecoglou obtain criticism from some supporters earlier than Saturday’s residence recreation towards Brentford (15:00 BST).

In midweek there have been boos on the supervisor’s choice to substitute teenage midfielder Lucas Bergvall in a lucky 2-1 win at Coventry Metropolis within the Carabao Cup amid an more and more unfavourable dialog across the membership on social media.

Actual change unsettles folks – Postecoglou

At Friday’s information convention, Postecoglou joked mockingly about having a cake made for him when requested about turning into the primary supervisor to final a full 38-game season at Spurs since Mauricio Pochettino within the 2018-19 marketing campaign.

“It [the negativity] would not seep into my setting. The followers are free to really feel how they need to really feel and it would not impression me or what we try to realize.

“Should you’re swimming towards the tide, that is alright, that makes you stronger. I feel a giant a part of it [is change], when there’s actual change it unsettles folks they usually need consolation and safety, however I got here in right here to attempt to do one thing that hasn’t been completed for some time.

“You’ll be able to’t simply assume me strolling in will change issues, you have to change issues and it may be unsettling however it’s crucial for us to realize what we need to.”

Prime of some metrics – however not the necessary one

• After selecting up 26 factors from his first 10 video games, essentially the most accrued by a brand new supervisor of their first 10 video games in Premier League historical past, Postecoglou’s Tottenham have gained simply 44 factors within the 32 fixtures since then.

• He misplaced seven of his 11 league video games from 13 April as much as 20 September.

• Throughout that run, solely Wolves have suffered extra league defeats, with eight.

• Their 4 factors from 4 video games to begin this season is their lowest since 2015-16 (3). Spurs haven’t misplaced three of their opening 5 video games since 2008-09 below Juande Ramos.

• For the reason that starting of final season, Spurs (26) have conceded extra Premier League objectives from set-pieces than some other workforce.

• Nonetheless, Tottenham have pressured essentially the most excessive turnovers within the Premier League this season (47) and have the most effective urgent metric within the league – as their opponents handle simply 6.2 passes on common earlier than Spurs win the ball again.

• They’ve additionally loved essentially the most possession (67.8%) and allowed their opponents to finish simply 795 passes thus far, 301 fewer than some other facet.

Indicators connection to followers is dwindling

After Wednesday’s match at Coventry, Postecoglou’s response was “I do not make substitutions by ballot” in response to a query concerning the response to Bergvall’s withdrawal.

After a interval when followers warmed to Postecoglou’s frank and humorous responses in media duties, current exchanges with journalists have been extra fractious.

In Could, the 59-year-old couldn’t comprehend the considered a Spurs fan hoping to lose to Manchester Metropolis as a result of denying their opponents a win might have handed Arsenal the title.

He mentioned “100 per cent of Spurs followers” needed his workforce to win and he would “by no means perceive” those that didn’t.

Throughout the 2-0 defeat which adopted, some supporters within the floor appeared pleased to see their workforce lose amid a wierd environment. Postecoglou referred to as it “the worst expertise” of his 26-year administration profession.

He additionally needed to defend final week’s speak of “all the time” profitable trophies in his second season, saying it was “truth” and never “me boasting”.

Tottenham followers’ views on Postecoglou

On Thursday, BBC Sport askedTottenham followers for their views on the situation:

Edward: It was a win [against Coventry]. Now give Ange a break and let him get on together with his job in peace. He’s solely in his second season in cost, so he has bought to be given loads of time. Mikel Arteta has been in command of Arsenal for years and solely now could be he actually reaping his rewards. Ange is the most effective supervisor we’ve had since Mauricio Pochettino. Let Ange develop and ship our outcomes!

Charlie: This season is already trying like a duplicate of final season. We appear to be an absolute mess. We have been flattered at Everton however we’re getting discovered now. Ange appears out of his depth and, from his feedback about profitable issues in his second season, I can solely assume he is aware of he isn’t going to final till Could.

The mitigating elements

Postecoglou inherited a workforce constructed by 4 managers in 4 years because the membership struggled for stability following Pochettino’s sacking in 2019.

Harry Kane’s contract was operating down and the striker was anticipated to depart, finally becoming a member of Bayern Munich in a deal price as much as £100m.

No various was signed and his deputy Richarlison suffered an harm hit season.

Regardless of the signing of Dominic Solanke for £65m this summer time, Spurs have been considerably outspent by rivals comparable to Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester Metropolis on transfers over a 10-year interval, in keeping with a current CIES Soccer Observatory report.

BBC Radio 5 Dwell pundit Chris Sutton – who admired Postecoglou’s work at his former membership Celtic – mentioned: “Postecoglou has been in for simply over a season – so to assume he took them from eighth to fifth is an enchancment, whereas promoting Harry Kane.

“We’re [only] 4 video games in and a few of the nonsense I’ve heard after the sport has been ridiculous.”

Postecoglou is concentrated on what he believes is true – whether or not it’s widespread with sections of the supporters or not.

His direct and open communication is refreshing however his single-minded perception frustrates some supporters, who marvel if he lacks the flexibility to vary when his concepts are usually not working.

But, there needs to be some appreciation that Postecoglou is a supervisor making selections which are designed to be of long-term profit, together with making eight modifications within the Carabao Cup to offer minutes to the broader squad and younger gamers regardless of risking defeat at Coventry.

Is Postecoglou focus a purple herring?

It is also argued anger in direction of Postecoglou is a part of a wider frustration with the management of chairman Daniel Levy.

Postecoglou’s run firstly of final season took stress off the possession earlier than final season’s fan discussion board, which is a uncommon probability to listen to from Levy, however sentiment has since nose-dived earlier than the identical occasion on Monday for the 2024-25 season.

The hiring and firing of managers, a combined switch document and rising ticket costs are all a part of the image for match-going followers.

Levy’s alternative to usher in the previous Celtic boss Postecoglou was with a long-term rebuild in thoughts round younger gamers, just like the mission embarked upon at Arsenal below Arteta, which took three years to win over the vast majority of the fan base.

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