Ange Postecoglou made clear in a fascinating Friday confessional that his post-match press conference, after Tuesday’s controversial defeat to Manchester City, was nothing to do with his Tottenham backing.
It was about what he described as “the worst experience of my 26-year career”. Standing on the touchline with a section of his own home fans prepared to accept defeat, to ensure bitter rivals Arsenal do not win the league.
The fall-out has split supporters, attracted derision from outside and sparked friction between the 58-year-old Australian and the fanbase for whom he could previously do little wrong.
Postecoglou made the first move to kiss and make up by admitting he did not believe the social media antipathy would make its way into the stadium. But he insisted he was driven to ensure even his integrity would not be questioned had Spurs been trounced.
“Everybody knows how I feel. But am I up for the fight? Absolutely,” he said. “This ain’t the last fight I’m going to have, for sure. The biggest fight I’ll have at this football club is when we get close to success.
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“But that is probably the worst experience I’ve had as a football manager. Once I realised that I got it wrong in terms of what the atmosphere was going to be like and what people felt, I got a real anxiety within me.
“‘What if we play as well as they can but Man City beat us 5-0… I got in cold sweats thinking about people questioning my integrity and the people I work with. Even watching the game back, there was a comment somebody mentioned to me in commentary saying ‘Tottenham are having a real go here.’
“You are laughing about it, but that is 26 years of my life. I’m very principled. I would hate to think we were on the end of a heavy defeat and people would be questioning whether I prepared the team.
“And before people say that’s not going to happen, we know on social media that would have happened. 100 per cent.”
Ange Postecoglou wasn't pleased with the atmosphere against City (Nigel Keene/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)Referencing his time in Scotland establishing Old Firm superiority, he went on: “When I started at Celtic, it was the same. Rangers had won it the year before, and Celtic hadn't won anything. They’d gone from trebles to not one trophy.
“There was a lot of talk - some internal as well - about what Rangers were doing. And I was pretty consistent saying: ‘We've got to worry about ourselves. Don't worry about anyone else. Just be the best you can be.
“You want to stop another club winning a trophy? Win it yourselves! That's the answer. That doesn't mean you don't want them to lose. I get that absolutely.
“I felt that living up there - that as much as people were happy winning, they were just as happy with the other mob losing. So I get that.
“But the notion of not wanting to win? I can't understand it. I don't think it's the right mentality to have.”
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