Ange Postecoglou explains his distinctive approach to referees as he calls for Tottenham fans must to be patient
Newly appointed Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has emphasized that he won’t engage in furious outbursts towards match officials and has requested fans to display patience with his style of football.
The 57-year-old, who is the first Australian to manage in the Premier League, signed a four-year contract with Spurs. Postecoglou recently left Celtic after leading them to five domestic trophies out of six during his two-year tenure, including the latest treble.
During an episode of the Open Goal podcast earlier this season, he was asked about his behavior on the sidelines, with one of the hosts pointing out that he remained silent throughout the entire Celtic match, opting to simply observe.
“I don’t like to [shout]. Me watching the game, being calm and being as unemotional as I possibly can. Inside you’re still churning, you’re still following the game. That’s the only way I can help the team,” the Australian replied.
“If you look at our team and the way we play, we want to get on with things and we don’t want to be there, stopping a game, arguing with the opposition or referees.
“If they see me carrying on on the sideline I think that just reflects in that way. I’ve always been like that. It’s like when I go to the cinema. If someone’s talking I don’t know what’s going on, so don’t talk to me at a game. I’m watching. I’ve got to make decisions here.”
When it was pointed out that he did not even question a decision with the fourth official, he added: “No, again, why? What’s the point? If I’m talking to the fourth official it means I might be missing something, something important that’s happening. Really is it going to change anything?
“I’ve just never been into it. There are times I’ll get pretty emotional myself but for the most part I’ll just try to watch the game and see if I can help the team.”
The patience of the fans will play a crucial role in Ange Postecoglou’s success at Spurs as he implements his fast possession-based style of play and makes adjustments to the club and squad. Postecoglou acknowledges that patience was instrumental in his initial period at Celtic, where he faced challenges and criticism from the media and pundits due to being a relatively unknown manager in the country.
“It was important for me because I knew that if we were going to make this work we were going to have a bumpy start. I didn’t know how long it would last for. I knew it couldn’t last too long because I wouldn’t be around,” he said.
“So I needed fan buy-in. For me looking at the history of this football club, it’s not always just about winning for them. They want to see their team play in a certain way, with a certain style of football. I thought right from the start that if I can sell them that hope a little bit. Even if the results aren’t there [to begin with] we’re going to play some football that’s going to excite the supporters.
“They saw that straight away even though we weren’t winning games and I think that helped the connection, because then I think the players got confidence from that, that the supporters were behind them. So it was crucial for me.
“Maybe it would have been different if I was more well-known because you get that immediate buy-in, but with me I had to earn that trust from the supporters and to be fair they’ve been brilliant with me from day one.”
Ange Postecoglou explains his distinctive approach to referees as he calls for Tottenham fans must to be patient
