From Greece to Japan, via Australia, it has been quite the journey for new Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou to make it to the promised land of the Premier League.
Relatively unheard of until his arrival at Celtic in 2021, the Aussie has now arrived in the big time as he takes on the challenge of turning things around at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the season ahead.
Surprise Appointment
It came as somewhat of a surprise to fans when Postecoglou was unveiled as the new Spurs manager by Daniel Levy, but it would not have been a surprise to Celtic fans who witnessed a resurgence in Scotland under the former Australia national team coach.
Expectations have been lowered at the club with the aim being to provide Postecoglou with time to implement his ideas and so they aren’t expected to finish in the Champions League places. This is reflected in the odds on the Premier League as they are priced at 16/5 for a top-four finish.
However, Spurs will be hoping that their new boss can have the same impact on the team and fans as he had at Celtic Park in the long term, where he returned the club to the top in Scotland, winning two Premiership titles, two League Cups, and a Scottish Cup in his two-year reign.
It had been a brave call by the Celtic hierarchy to install a relatively unknown boss, with Postecoglou becoming the first Australian to manage a European team.
It proved to be a masterstroke in the end, as his attacking style of football and winning mentality proved the doubters wrong from the get-go.
Spurs fans, still reeling from last season’s shocking performance, will be hopeful that their new boss can bring back the feel-good factor to the club, something that has been devastated during the reigns of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Ange Postecoglou has a message for Tottenham fans
— The Spurs Web (@thespursweb) August 9, 2023
You can only respect the way he speaks about the fans and the club
pic.twitter.com/MKBwODGG4g
A Well-Traveled Coach
Ange Postecoglou has had to bide his time to make it to the elite level of European football, following a path rarely travelled around the world.
After a rather underwhelming playing career, his first real break as a coach came when he was appointed boss of the A-League side, Brisbane Roar.
He would then take over at Melbourne Victory before he received the call from his country to take the reigns as Socceroos boss in 2013. Postecoglou would lead his team into the World Cup in 2014, where, despite fielding a team of younger players, they still managed to be competitive.
More success followed in the 2015 Asian Cup before he would again lead his nation to qualification for the World Cup finals tournament in 2018.
Postecoglou made the surprise decision to step away from international football before the start of the World Cup, however, instead accepting the job as the new manager of Japan’s J-League team, Yokohama F. Marinos. It proved to be another successful time for the Aussie boss, as he lead his team to J-League victory in just his second season in charge.
Ange Postecoglou
— Tottenham Hotspur (@1882_Tottenham) August 9, 2023
"(The Tottenham) fans let me know how I am going and hopefully, they'll see a team that gives them belief and hope. A team that resonates with what they want to see.” pic.twitter.com/4QwdXPAqug
All of this success and his Celtic heroics will give the Spurs fans plenty of hope for the season ahead. Granted, this will be the biggest test of Postecoglou’s managerial nous thus far in his career, but winning is an art form, and the Aussie has painted many masterpieces in the past.
