Postecoglou using media to avert Tottenham sack claims with boss out to avoid Jesse Marsch comparison…..
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou ‘deliberately acts spiky’ towards the media as he wants to avoid being stereotyped as a ‘typical Australian’ and deflect away attention that he could be in danger of the sack – while captain Son Heung-min has sent a message to his manager and their supporters on the club’s current form.
The 59-year-old arrived in north London last summer and was initially seen as a breath of fresh air for both his brand of football played and for the honest and straight-talking approach he adopted during interviews and press conferences. After leading Tottenham to eight wins and two draws from his first 10 games at the helm, Postecoglou made the best start by a debutant manager in the Premier League as Spurs set the early pace.
Fast forward a year, though, and the club have failed to kick on from that early promise, ultimately finishing fifth last season, but now entering the current international break in a lowly 10th place, having suffered three defeats in their last five Premier League games.
That has led to surprise speculation that Postecoglou could be coming under early pressure of the sack, though that theory was rapidly dismissed on Wednesday by two strong sources.
While Postecoglou is not under immediate pressure of the sack, he has been set the target of leading Spurs back to the Champions League this season and, with his deal expiring in summer 2027, he could have some difficult questions to answer if he fails to meet that objective.
In the meantime, ITV commentator and talkSPORT host Sam Matterface claims Postecoglou is using the media to come across as spiky and to avoid being labelled as a stereotypical cheery Aussie.
“What I’ve been told is, is that he’s so desperate not to be seen as sort of an Australian caricature,” Matterface said on talkSPORT’s Premier League All Access podcast.
“He doesn’t want to be Jesse Marsch two, he doesn’t want people to throw the sort of Australian Ted Lasso thing at him.
“So he tries to sort of not be the playful, happy character and tries to be serious, that’s what I’ve been told.
“It doesn’t come across very well. And Mark Scott of Match of the Day has had two rather difficult exchanges with him in a couple of weeks. I know [talkSPORT correspondent, Alex] Crook and I have both had interesting exchanges with him as well over the last year.
