Ange Postecoglou has spoken at length about his time at Nottingham Forest and previous spell at Tottenham Hotspur in a bid to silence doubters.
Nottingham Forest manager Ange Postecoglou has defiantly responded to his critics, promising that given enough time his tenure at the club will reach the pinnacle of success.
The future of the Reds’ head coach has been a hot topic during the international break. Since taking over, the club has gone seven games without a win. Saturday’s home game against Chelsea (kick-off 12:30pm) will be a key test for him.
Many of Forest’s supporters expressed their displeasure with the 60-year-old during the team’s final home game. After the hosts lost 3-2 to FC Midtjylland in the Europa League, the crowd at the City Ground chanted for his sacking and praised his predecessor Nuno Espirito Santo.
But Postecoglou urged those questioning his ability to turn around the Reds’ fortunes to consider his track record at former club Tottenham Hotspur. He feels his achievement in securing a fifth-place finish in his debut year in London often goes unnoticed.
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A huge pre-match press conference was held ahead of this weekend’s game, and the Greek-born Australian passionately defended his position amid a heated response to his detractors. Nottinghamshire Live reported that when asked about the speculation and pressure surrounding his role, he answered for nearly five minutes.
“Look, from my perspective, I think I just don’t fit in,” Postecoglou said. “Not here, but in general terms. If you look at this through the prism of, ‘I’m a failed manager, but I’m lucky to have this job,’ I know you’re grinning at me, but that’s what’s being said, right? And you can find print where it’s actually said. Of course, for these first five weeks, this guy looks like he’s under pressure.”
“There’s another story you can look at. I came to the Premier League two years ago and took over Tottenham, ‘Spacy’ Tottenham. I was told by the chairman at the time that this club has to win trophies. We have to win trophies.”
“He said he tried to bring in winners like Jose (Mourinho) and Antonio (Conte) but it didn’t work, he needed something different. I was a little upset about that because I consider myself a winner.”
“I took over Spurs, who finished eighth. There is no European football for a big club. We can’t go two years without European football.
“We finished fifth in the first year. Every time Harry Kane scores, I wish he had stayed another year. It would have been handy to have him after we finished fifth.”
“But somehow that year disappeared from the record books. In fact, it was used as a reason for me to lose my job, because even Tottenham were an anomaly, so they decided to exclude the first 10 games, although apparently the first 10 games here are very important. Anyway we finished fifth and got them back into European football, which is what a club like Tottenham should be.”
“Again, I was in the meeting and the guys who are still at the club were also in that meeting and I was told that winning trophies is everything for this football club, which is fine.”
“We won the trophy (Europa League). We shed the ‘Spurs’ label. That’s Champions League football, which brings some reward and the opportunity to bring in better players.”
“But all I’ve heard since I finished playing for Tottenham is that we finished 17th last year. So from the perspective of finishing 17th, yes, I’m a failed manager, but I’m lucky to have had another chance.”
“But again, if I have to explain why we finished 17th, I don’t really have to go into too much depth. If you look at the last five or six team sheets in the league last year and see what I prioritized, who was on the bench and who was playing.
“Last game, against Brighton, the players were out partying for two days and I allowed that because I thought it was natural. So, yeah, we finished 17th. If people think that’s a reflection on me and my coaching, then again I think they’re looking at it through the prism of me not fitting in.”
“So we’ve arrived at the space we’re in now, where there’s a different story to tell. Maybe I’m not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job, but maybe I’m a manager who, given time, always ends the story the same way. At all previous clubs it ended the same way – me and the trophy.”
“So, in the end — this is a long-winded answer and probably won’t get any coverage, but that’s okay. You can look at these first five weeks and say he’s under pressure because he was lucky to get this job. Or you can look at it and say there’s been a big change.”
“I’m trying to change the way I play. The players are adapting, but there’s certainly no consistency there. But while some people will look at the weeds, I’ll look at what’s growing.”
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“The flip side of that is I’m still really excited about the opportunity here. I have a group of young players who are willing to make changes. That’s the number one thing and I’m going down that path.”
“The rest, whether people want to see it or not…and everything I’ve said is not an opinion, just a fact. That’s where we sit.
“I’m not going to waste my time or energy worrying about that. And whether it’s internal or external, I couldn’t care less about it. At the end of the day, I’m going to do what I think is right to bring success to this football club and that’s what I’m focused on.”
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