Ange Postecoglou responds to backlash over second season trophy comments

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has hit out at the backlash for stating that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club, insisting it is just a "true" statement.

Postecoglou is aiming to deliver Tottenham's first silverware since 2008, but has seen his team struggle in the opening weeks of 2024/25 aside from a 4-0 drubbing of a dreadful Everton.

Following defeat to Arsenal in the north London derby on Sunday, the boss declared: "I always win things in my second year", which has led to shock and taunting given recent results.

Arsenal legend Paul Merson, who is signed up to the current series of BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, responded live on Sky Sports: "I like Ange, I like him. But I've got more chance of winning Strictly [than Ange winning something in his second season]!"

Speaking before Spurs are due to face Coventry City in the Carabao Cup third round this week, Postecoglou was pressed by reporters on his comments.

"I just stated a fact. Am I supposed to just lie or say it never happened?" he replied, somewhat incredulously. "It's confusing to me that people are making a big deal out of something. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to answer something that is true. If I don't win in the second year and come out and say [the same thing] next year, well, no, actually it's not true.

"But I've just said something that's true and it seems like it's upset a lot of people for some reason. Do you really think it's me boasting? How am I supposed to answer something that's true? Is it to say, 'Well, actually, it wasn't that important, they were easy competitions and don't mean anything'?

"If you've achieved something, aren't you supposed to say, 'Yes, I have, and that's what I hope to do again'. I'm not really sure why people misconstrue it as me trying to boast about something. I've answered a question, which is true, and [winning a trophy in the second year] has always happened.

"My plan is for it to happen again this year and if it doesn't happen, I can't answer that question the same way, and say 'mostly', not 'always'."

After his own playing career was cut short by injury at the age of 27, Postecoglou took on his first head coaching gig at former club South Melbourne in 1996. By the end of the following season, the club had won Australia's National Soccer League championship. When he took over Brisbane Roar in 2009 following several years working within Football Australia, the same thing happened by winning the A-League Grand Final at the end of his second season in charge.

Postecoglou subsequently only had one season at Melbourne Victory prior to leading the national team for four years, but he returned to club management with Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan in 2018 and won the 2019 J1 League title. At Celtic, he didn't need to wait until the second season, winning a Scottish Premiership and league cup double off the bat but following it up with a domestic treble.

It was that success in Scotland which brought Postecoglou to the attention of Spurs. And while his team made a flying start to 2023/24 and he was named Premier League Manager of the Month for August, that early momentum has long since dissipated.

READ THE LATEST TOTTENHAM NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP