sport news CHRIS SUTTON: Tottenham fans will love Big Ange and his heavy metal football trends now
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Nobody had heard of Arsene Wenger when he arrived at Arsenal from Japan and there were Celtic fans who were underwhelmed when Ange Postecoglou came from Yokohama in 2021.
Now some Tottenham fans are unimpressed with Postecoglou closing in on becoming their new boss. But I am surprised Postecoglou wasn’t higher up on Spurs’ list originally when they were being linked with Julian Nagelsmann, Arne Slot and Luis Enrique.
Scratch beneath the surface, look at his track record over 25 years, and this is a guy who turns clubs around, who turns teams in poor form into proven winners, who is familiar with the feeling of silverware. He is a first-class manager and I don’t know a single Celtic player who hasn’t enjoyed his heavy metal football.
Add that to his flawless record in the transfer market — albeit a different market to the one that England’s top clubs can compete in — and he seems a great fit for Tottenham.
One of the biggest surprises when he took over at Celtic was that he didn’t take any coaching staff with him. He’s self-sufficient. He does the work himself. In the early days the club uploaded a video of a session of his coaching because part of the fanbase were asking: ‘Who is this guy?’
Ange Postecoglou is closing in on the Tottenham vacancy despite concerns among supporters
Celtic fans were underwhelmed by his appointment but he enjoyed great success with the club
Daniel Levy is going after a manager who has a great record of turning around clubs that are in poor form and making them proven winners
Spurs fans should watch it. It gives you great insight into him. There’s this catchphrase at Celtic: ‘We never stop.’ He talks about being relentless, about pressing, about creating and scoring, about leaving everything out on the pitch until the very last whistle.
Postecoglou has an aura about him. He’s bullish. He’s strong. He has his specific way of playing and he sticks to it. That’s the biggest box he ticks: the brand of football. Tottenham have had three back-foot managers in a row — Nuno Espirito Santo, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte — but Postecoglou is as front-foot as they come.
He’s fearless, he believes in himself and he’s built a record to back it up. He won’t take a backwards step. He’ll take the game to anyone and everyone and is that not what Tottenham have been crying out for?
His style is similar to Manchester
