'My wife's always asking' - Postecoglou opens up on 'Big Ange' nickname
- Ange Postecoglou hailed as 'Big Ange' at Tottenham and Celtic
- Greek-Australian believes this is related to his personality and not weight
- Spurs' style of football has been labelled as 'Angeball' this season
By Sean Walsh
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou is hopeful his 'Big Ange' nickname is not related to his weight.
Postecoglou has proven a popular manager wherever he has gone in his career, and he is currently enjoying his first season in charge of Spurs.
Despite some reservations among the fanbase over his top-level experience upon his appointment last summer, Tottenham now have a clear playing identity under Postecoglou and are firmly in the hunt for a Champions League spot.
In an interview with i news, the Greek-Australian was asked whether he saw his 'Big Ange' nickname as complimentary.
"My wife's always asking, 'what if you lose weight?' I said, 'I don't think that's why they call me big'," Postecoglou laughed.
When asked if it was more to do with his 'big personality', Postecoglou replied: "That's what I try to say but it didn't wash with her.
"It's something that caught on in Scotland [at Celtic]. We got a delivery from someone at the door, I ended up taking the delivery and my wife got a notification that said, 'received by Big Ange'. It seems to have caught on all over the place."
Tottenham's all-out attacking style under Postecoglou has been christened as 'Angeball' by supporters and rivals alike, and he insisted this was a moniker that he did enjoy.
"There are probably worse things they could come up with!" Postecoglou said.
"I'm not really sure what it means but it's kind of stuck. I enjoy the fact that people give the teams that I have an identity and that's really important to me. The teams I manage play the game a certain way and if that's the way they want to tag it, that's fine, but I take it as a complimentary tag."