Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou on setting up Spurs for the future regardless of the length of his
20/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
20/09/2024
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Ground, London, UK
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00:00When you talk about the volatility of the working environment, you had these snap judgments and all the rest of it.
00:07Because I think that everybody would have said, if you had lost that Coventry games, it would have been in crisis.
00:13I don't know if you accept that, but can you talk a little bit about that and just how you personally deal with this kind of crazy world that you inhabit?
00:24Firstly, you can say, if we lost the other night, it would have been in crisis.
00:32But if we won our first game, I'd be sitting here and people saying, can you win a title this year?
00:39And both of it are just not the reality of my world.
00:43I've always been pretty good at just sort of, as I keep saying, staying clear-eyed and focused about what's important to me in terms of what I'm trying to build.
00:54I think the external noise, whether it's valid or not, I just find is a massive distraction to what you're trying to do.
01:11I've learned along the way, in both ways, whether things are going well or not going well, not to let that external noise distract me from what I think and what I believe needs to be done.
01:24Many parts of my life, I'm not very disciplined, especially around eating.
01:30But when it comes to football, I'm really disciplined.
01:34Nothing will take me away from what I think needs to be done.
01:38I don't really care. I don't care, but I just won't let it enter my space.
01:44Is there anything specific, maybe non-football, that you might do?
01:48I'm sure you've hardly got enough 30 minutes in the day, but is there anything that you can take yourself away from?
01:53No, like I said, it's about the world you live in and where you're taking information, I think.
02:02The people around you are important.
02:05Make sure that I surround myself with people, particularly in the working environment, that understand me and understand that.
02:14Make sure that they're also clear on what we're trying to achieve and not get distracted.
02:20Outside of football, again, it's the people you surround yourself with and where you get that feedback and information you need for yourself.
02:31I've got a pretty closed world around me that's developed over 26 years of doing what I do.
02:40I can insulate myself, maybe better than others, from whatever the noise may be.
02:47Do you do yoga?
02:48No chance, mate. I've got no patience for it, mate.
02:54Nothing wrong with yoga, by the way, for anyone who doesn't.
02:57Do you mind if I go back to Romero and the goal against Arsenal and the fact that he retweeted that thing about travel?
03:07Have you rethought about that? Might he change or look again at international travel?
03:14I think the question was around that game in particular.
03:23I don't like post-game trying to find reasons or maybe excuses for things.
03:33I'd rather deal with them on merit and we prepared well for that game.
03:36But that's a separate issue.
03:40We've always got to look after our player welfare.
03:43We've spoken earlier about the international aspect of our footballers.
03:49I know better than most how much travel and time difference and rest, how important it is when preparing for games.
03:59It's something that we look at, but I think it's something you look at on an individual basis.
04:07But my point around the Arsenal game was that I didn't think it affected our build-up for that.
04:14He took a bit of a stick for the goal after that.
04:19Does he bother you? He's always seemed like a leader at the back.
04:25He is. He wasn't happy about it.
04:31He also knows that these things happen in football and it's how you respond to it.
04:41I love him as a player, as a person, the way he trains, the way he conducts himself.
04:47He's a winner.
04:49I think last week when people asked me, having people who have won things in the building, how important it is.
04:54He's a living embodiment of that, but that doesn't make you bulletproof.
04:59There are going to be days where it doesn't work out for you.
05:01He was disappointed that he couldn't do more in that space.
05:05It wasn't just him, though.
05:06There was a combination of things that cost us that goal and a combination of things that cost us that game.
05:11But it's not like he's gone into his shell afterwards.
05:16He wants to get back out there and make amends.
05:20If sometimes it feels like you're swimming against the tide, it's OK, it makes you stronger.
05:27Does it feel like at the moment you're doing a bit of swimming against the tide?
05:31No, I think the point I was trying to make is I ignore the tide.
05:37I just keep swimming.
05:38But others may feel that way and I think if they do, then there's nothing wrong with that.
05:42There's nothing wrong with that.
05:43I keep saying you need to embrace the struggle because you don't get success just by everything rolling out perfectly.
05:54There's times you've just got to roll your sleeves up and keep going.
05:58Whether that's swimming against the tide, running uphill, going against the wind, use whatever metaphor you want.
06:04That's great, that's what you need.
06:06But like I said before, I ignore it because I don't think that's going to help me in any way.
06:14The best process for me is to stay steely-eyed and focus on what I think I need to do to get us to where we want to.
06:26How does it compare to the times at other clubs, say in Japan, that first season when people were questioning you?
06:34Is it very similar or is it different now?
06:36No, it's all the same.
06:39It's been a constant in my career.
06:45But I don't think I'm in a unique space.
06:52I keep saying to people, just show me a success story and I'll show you a struggle.
06:57It's not something that's unique to me, it's universal.
07:02But people forget the struggle and look at the end bit.
07:05But you need to go through that.
07:08That's the time you test your resolve, test your belief, test everything that you want to do.
07:14So this is no different to anything else I've ever done.
07:21It's exactly the same process.
07:25Just on Brennan, you obviously spoke about him last week and the views he had.
07:30You obviously scored the goal.
07:32After that press conference or the lead-up to the game, have you been able to chat with him?
07:37Because I know on social media there's a question about how big a deal it is.
07:42But particularly to a young fella like that, it doesn't look like it has an effect on him, does it?
07:46Yeah, I'm sure it does.
07:48As I said last week, it's a shame that something that young people, for their own reasons, seem to enjoy,
07:56they have to close off from because of abuse.
08:01I don't think that's right.
08:03No, I haven't spoken to Brennan about it.
08:07The lads kind of know what I'm about and my beliefs and I keep telling them the same thing.
08:14It's the most important people in your life.
08:16They're the ones you've got to worry about.
08:18Their opinion, not anyone else's in terms of validation.
08:23Just keep enjoying it.
08:26He won a game of football for us the other night with a really good finish in a critical moment.
08:35I reckon you put any one of his critics in that situation
08:41and they'd be looking for a change of pants pretty quickly, I reckon.
08:45But they don't think about that in that moment.
08:50At the same time, Brennan's had a dream of being a professional footballer his whole life from a little kid
08:54and now he's living that dream.
08:56I'd hate to think he's not enjoying it.
08:59I keep saying to him we're all pretty blessed to do what we do.
09:03Even in the worst of times, we're still pretty lucky to be able to do what we wanted to when we were 10 years old.
09:13Not many people can say that.
09:15Just finding on Brennan, because I think it was Brennan for the home last year when he came off the bench and it was quite big.
09:21It feels like his challenge at the moment is turning these super sub appearances into starting from the beginning.
09:29Is that how you see it? Is that his next...?
09:32Yeah, to a certain extent.
09:34I mean, the other night he literally started.
09:37He came on after 10 minutes, so it wasn't like he was a late sort of sub.
09:41I think when he comes on as sub, obviously he can make an impact.
09:43Opposition's a little bit tired, the game's a bit more open.
09:47No, I just think with Brennan, it's just the consistency in his game that we're constantly working on with him.
09:53He's always getting into good areas.
09:56It's about decision making sometimes in that front third.
09:59But it's a difficult position to play as a young player.
10:04With his skill set, I think once he unlocks in his head the stuff he's really good at and adjusts his game to make sure he gets the most out of that aspect of it,
10:17I think he'll become a very important player for us.
10:22Like I said, he works hard every day on that.
10:24Sometimes people just look at goals and assists, which is the obvious measure for attacking players.
10:31But he also gives us a lot of other things, particularly working hard defensively, which he's worked hard at.
10:37He had to when he first came to us.
10:39It wasn't something that was natural to him.
10:41He's got a lot better at that.
10:43It's just that I just keep putting layers on his game.
10:47With the difficult moments earlier in your career, did you always take a similar stride to how you're dealing with it now?
10:54Or is it something you've had to develop and learn yourself through the years?
10:58No, I think you get a bit wiser with every experience and maybe know what's coming so you're better prepared for it.
11:13But the one truism about the whole thing is I don't change the person or what I believe.
11:21That's been a constant.
11:22How I go about it depends where you're at too, the club you're at, who you're dealing with, all those kinds of things.
11:31But in terms of me as a person, I haven't really changed through that.
11:37You mentioned in the broadcast section about Solanke's profile.
11:41Could you elaborate on what you meant by that?
11:44What aspects of his profile in particular gave him the edge over perhaps other options?
11:50It was a combination of things.
11:53The kind of striker he is in terms of his mobility.
12:00Last year, with Adoni going to Bournemouth, they changed the way they played.
12:07Really strong pressing side, he was at the forefront of that.
12:10That's an important part of what we do.
12:12He's got a real good presence in the box.
12:15It's a whole range of things.
12:16The kind of person he is, where he's at in his career.
12:19Again, I talk about struggle.
12:21He had some struggles early in his career, but he's come through those.
12:25It's not just one or two things.
12:29It's an all-round fit that I thought, for what we need right now, Dom was the ideal.
12:37I'm going to finish with John, please.
12:39The things you said about social media, to me, make perfect sense.
12:43That's how I see it.
12:45How does a long-term manager exist in the world?
12:48How do you exist in the world?
12:53I've got no idea.
12:55Thankfully, long-term for me is not that long.
13:05I don't know.
13:06Like I said, you have to live in that world.
13:13You have to understand it.
13:15People say, tell players to get off social platforms.
13:21You can't do that.
13:23That's a different world.
13:24Like I said, they seem to enjoy engagement in that sense.
13:27Who am I to judge?
13:32There was years when it first got in.
13:34I really enjoyed it.
13:35I enjoyed the immediacy of the information.
13:37The information came from different sources.
13:40You kind of knew there was always rat bags on there that gave some abuse and stuff,
13:46and things that you just kind of could ignore.
13:49But I just think the volume of that now is totally superseded anything positive
13:53that you get, from my perspective anyway.
13:55Because I'm a curious kind of guy.
13:57I'm an information junkie.
13:58I like to look at different resources, ways to kind of nourish my brain,
14:02my limited brain space, as much as I can.
14:05I don't get anything out.
14:07Like I said, two or three years ago, I started looking,
14:10and I'm going, I don't get anything out of it anymore.
14:12That gives me any sort of sense of positivity about what I want to do.
14:16So just stay off it.
14:18Is it fair to say that you need employers who think the same way?
14:25Yeah, but managers don't last as long as they –
14:30this is not talking about you, it's in general.
14:32Yes, you are.
14:34Yeah, no, I think that's an aspect to it.
14:36I think that the tenure of managers and the patience people have with anything,
14:43I guess, has exponentially shortened or lessened with the expansion
14:50of so much – so many platforms of people, one way or another,
15:01trying to rush the judgment and make calls on things, I think.
15:11And it's difficult.
15:12Like I said, if I was a young manager today,
15:15I suspect I'd deal with it differently, I think,
15:18if I was sort of starting out today and I'm thinking,
15:20what's the next sort of 20, 30 years going to look like as a manager
15:24in any football club or working in this environment?
15:26I'd be thinking, you probably go, you know what,
15:30I'm going to be thinking short term with everything I do,
15:33just little hits along the way so I can get a career for myself
15:37because very few spaces where you can go, okay, they still exist,
15:42and usually they're the success stories,
15:44but they're the exceptions rather than the rule.
15:48Is this the most difficult job you've had then for reasons like this?
15:56I think the most difficult job I had was the first one
15:59because I reckon if I failed my first one I wouldn't have got anything else.
16:03I was coaching my hometown club, a club I grew up with.
16:09The only reason probably I got an opportunity was because
16:12they knew me at that club and I don't think I would have got an opportunity
16:15if I wasn't successful and I think after five games
16:19we were sitting no wins, bottom of the table.
16:22So that was pretty difficult.
16:25But they're all challenging but that's why I love it.
16:28That's why I do what I do.
16:31I kind of enjoy, I've always said I enjoy the struggle,
16:35enjoy the difficult bits and who knows how it all ends.
16:42I don't know, no one knows.
16:44Like I said, for me it's just about doing what I believe
16:48is the right thing to do in my eyes to get success
16:54and hopefully change the fortunes of this fantastic football club.