Ange makes history and secures legend status

• Ange's job is on the line
• Spurs have not won in Europe since 1984
• Spurs took the lead through Johnson
• Spurs beat United 1-0

Ange Postecoglou promised silverware in his second season and he has delivered.

Under pressure for much of this season and with his job on the line, the 59-year-old steered his side to the club's first European trophy in 41 years to become the first Australian manager to win a major European football title.

It's also Tottenham's first trophy in any competition in 17 years.

Mic drop moment.

“I couldn’t put it in words to be honest,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports.

“It’s no secret we’ve had a tough year. I’ve just had this thing inside me in the back half of the year of ‘one focus, one target’.

“I just felt that this was it. To achieve it today… I know what it means to the club. It’s had the tag of a ‘nearly team’ for a long time and the only way you break that is by winning things.

“We did that today.”

Postecoglou admitted his time at Spurs so far has coincided with the toughest of his managerial career, but had a feeling inside that he could achieve something despite the setbacks.

“It’s been the toughest couple of years I’ve had in my career,” he added.

“I knew it going into it. This football club has had world-class managers, a lot better credentialed than I am, and haven’t been able to get there.

“So I knew I had a massive challenge in front of me this year, the added stress of the injury situation. But I’ve just had this laser focus that I still believed we can win something this year. We went deep into the Carabao Cup, then my focus became Europe.

“It’s cost us in the league and that’s down to me. But I just had a feeling inside me that this was achievable this year and I’m thankful it all worked out.”

It wasn't pretty, at times is was scrappy and fairly putrid, but a scuffled first-half goal from Brennan Johnson secured the result for Spurs in Bilbao, Spain.

"He can walk away saying the club knows how to win," Craig Foster said after the final whistle.

"They shut down United in a way no one else can.

"Given the injuries they had, they had their entire midfield out, to get from there to win this is an extraordinary achievement.

"It was already historic to have a coach in this final. He has somehow kept this group together; he has managed the narrative of if he is going. Getting yourself to this is a masterpiece."

Guglielmo Vicario, Tottenham's goalkeeper, was a late hero. After fumbling a number of United chances he made several clearances off the line to ensure a clean sheet and deny United a late equaliser.

Earlier, Dutch defender Micky van de Ven produced a kung-fu kick Eric Cantona would have been proud of to deny United a goal.

After the celebrations, focus will switch to Postecoglou's future.

With speculation rife the Aussie would lose his job irrespective of the result in Spain, former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said he foresees the Aussie walking away.

"I think he will win this trophy and resign," he said.

“In terms of Australian sport, I think it’s got to be up there with one of the greatest achievements in Australian sport.

“In terms of Australian coaches, I think it’s the greatest achievement by an Australian coach of all time. By far.”

As for Ruben Amorim's United, they never turned up.

"They started too late," former Red Devil Jordi Cruyff said of United's less than optimal performance.

"I don't think there will be a manager change yet, it's only eight months, but it's a tough one for United. The DNA of the squad is different to the manager's and that means a lot of changes in the squad."

TOTTENHAM HAVE WON THE EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL

89" Spurs 1-0 Man United

Rolling down the clock and Ange is using all his final subs. Not expecting an enormous amount of extras time, 4-5 mins I would guess. They are so close.

7 mins of extra time - confirmed.

85" Spurs 1-0 Man United

Tottenham playing conservative here. Just park the bus lads. Park the bus. Romero and Maguire have been at each other all night, they legit look like they're going to rip each other's throats out. Terrific acting from the former has got the latter carded.

80" Spurs 1-0 Man United

10 minutes from history for Ange and Spurs, what have United got left? It's getting desperate, there are thousands of heads in hands in the stands.

73" Spurs 1-0 Man United

Garnacho is on for United and he's had an immediate impact really testing Vicario and they're building up to something you just feel. Much more possession, Spurs need to be careful not to switch off.

This image hurts my hamstrings

OFF THE LINE!!! Vicario Spurs' keeper is in all sorts, totally caught out and Van de Ven a kung-fu clearance off the line, the heroics of that man and he's done himself a mischief in the process. That was extraordinary.

67" Spurs 1-0 Man United

And we have a Spurs sub but it's Richarlison off and Son on. His first taste of European football.

62" Spurs 1-0 Man United

It's all Spurs so far this half and I don't imagine we will be too far off seeing some substitutions. Solanke looking tired for Tottenham and United need a spark, something, ANYTHING.

58" Spurs 1-0 Man United

What is Richarlison up to? He's been baiting the ref into carding him all evening/morning (it's confusing) and finally it's happened. Stupid knee into his opponent. Such a wasteful card. Stupid.

54" Spurs 1-0 Man United

United not showing much so far in terms of a drive to equalise, but we've seen what they can do when behind in Europe this season. Not just this season, Teddy Sheringham, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer circa 1999 anyone? What a night.

48" Spurs 1-0 Man United

A ridiculous stat I was half way through typing when Johnson scored. Manchester United (mid-March) Tottenham (since Feb) neither side has beaten a team that was not relegated. That is simply INSANE. United haven't won in the league for eight games.

Second half is under way, what have United got? Ange is 45 minutes from legend status. Wondering what happens to the Aussie after the game. Part of me hopes he wins it, mic drops and says 'I'm outta here' takes his $4m bonus and walks into another club.

HALF-TIME SPURS 1-0 MAN UNITED

GOAL!!!! Spurs 1-0 Man United

Spurs take the lead in the 41st minute! It's Brennan Johnson we think....it's as ugly a goal as they come but it's goal nonetheless. It's off a United defender's shoulder into Johnson's path and if the Spurs man got a touch on it we're talking the end of a stud. but it's in the back of the net.

40" Spurs 0-0 Man United

Amad is down after a hefty challenge, taking a while to get to his feet. Funny thing with football , it's so hard to tell when they're actually injured, the exaggeration is exceptional at times.

YELLOW CARD

Mazraoui lucky not to be carded for a dead leg on Udogie but it's Yoro that's shown the first of the night for shirt pulling, which, let's be honest, 40,000 people in the stadium saw, it was only a matter of time. Ref's been super lenient to now.

29" Spurs 0-0 Man United

Not going to lie I don't get up in the middle of the night all that often to watch the Premier League any more, but I'm starting to understand why Spurs and United finished 17th and 16th respectively. It's not quite the level of football you'd expect from a European final.

23" Spurs 0-0 Man United

For all the ridiculous whistle blowing from officials in FIFA events, UEFA have a good man on the pitch here, no nonsense but not blowing everything up, allowing the free play, makes it so much more enjoyable.

United doing a better job of holding on to the ball at the midway stage of the half.

16" Spurs 0-0 Man United

Lovely passage of play from United, Maguire into Dorgu at full stretch and there's half a chance. The set play falls to Amad and an almighty strike flashes in front of goal, hammered that he did. Spurs safe

12" Spurs 0-0 Man United

There are bodies on the floor everywhere you look, the physicality of this is ridiculous, really careless incidents every where and I'm stunned that Mazraoui avoided a yellow card for that. Spurs with all the momentum in this period. Unable to convert from two corners but they're settled.

9" Spurs 0-0 Man United

Nerves settling for Spurs, they're getting some decent time on the ball and a decent chance just floats over the head of Richarlison, but it's another corner for Spurs, momentum building. United defence a wall.

3" Spurs 0-0 Man United

Ball off Johnson's shin for the first corner of the game and it comes to absolutely nothing. They're grabbing and jostling in the area and a wasted opportunity by Spurs. We're straight down the other end and a foul gives United their first chance, Maguire can't connect but he wins a corner. Bruno Fernandes surrounded by 5 Spurs players in the area, how he held on to that ball for so long is beyond me. Spurs look nervous.

TEAM NEWS Ange has dropped Son Heung-min to the bench which is a surprise, Leny Yoro is IN for United.

Man Utd: Onana, Mazraoui, Maguire, Yoro, Shaw, Dorgu, Casemiro, Bruno, Mount, Amad, Hojlund.

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Bentancur, Sarr, Johnson, Solanke, Richarlison.

4:58am

It's go time in Bilbao. Sir Alex Ferguson is in the house in what is believed to be his last official outing as a Man United executive. It's all led to this next 90 minutes. Which way does it go? Spurs have beaten United three times this season, are the Red Devils due?

4:45am Two of the worst sides in this year's Premier League are 15 minutes away from battling out a match that will transform the trajectory of their club. Victory tonight means automatic Champions League next season, it secures an immediate cash injection of $30 which should counter act their losses of finishing 16th/17th.

But Liverpool made $170m through the CL this season, the money will come for either Spurs or United. CL status also attracts the best talent so this is a huge opportunity for the summer transfer window.

BOZZA SLAMS JOURNOS

Mark Bosnich has slammed the UK reporter that suggested Ange Postecoglou will be regarded as a clown if Tottenham do not win the Europa League final.

The Australian coach, who has guided Spurs to their first European final since 1984, has also endured the club's worst league performance in history and when asked about walking the fine line between infamy and legend status, Postecoglou was less than impressed.

“I’ll tell you one thing, irrespective of what happens tomorrow, I’m not a clown and I never will be," he said to a UK based reporter referencing a newspaper article which suggested he was “teetering between hero and clown”

“I’m really disappointed that you would use such terminology about a person who for 26 years without any favours from anyone has worked his way to a position where he’s leading out a club in a European major competition (final).”

With speculation rife the 59-year-old will lose his job irrespective of the result in Spain, former Manchester United goalkeeper Bosnich said the journalist in question was completely out of order.

“They went over the line definitely with the clown question,” Bosnich told SEN Dwayne’s World. “Sometimes he (Ange) doesn’t do himself any favours and I mean that in a slight way. The clown question was really out of order there was no reason not to ask that.

“If I was Ange I’d have said ‘the only clown, is you’ to the reporter. It was pathetic.”

DOES HE STAY?

Postecoglou vowed to win silverware in his first two seasons at Tottenham and the time of reckoning is upon him with Spurs walking out against Manchester United in Spain on Thursday morning AEST.

It’s not just history on the line, it’s his job.

For much of the Premier League season the 59-year-old has been the subject of intense speculation with reports in the UK suggesting he will lose his job irrespective of the result tomorrow (Thursday).

Doubts over his future come off the back of Tottenham’s worst league season on record having lost 21 games this season which leaves them 17th on the table, but the North Londoners will avoid relegation.

Bonich is confident Postecoglou will remain at the helm of Tottenham, but the Aussie does have form at standing down at key moments.

“I would like to think so (keep job),” he said. “I’ve been told he might do what he did with the Socceroos, it got prickly towards the end he qualified and resigned.

“I got told they will part ways no matter what happens but my personal thing we don’t know what is going on behind the scenes, but I like to think if he wins he stays and he deserves to. “As far as I’m concerned, if you win a trophy you can’t lose.”

DOES HE GO?

Ange shared a similar outlook to Bosnich.

“I don’t think my job is done here,” Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference. “I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that. So, I still think there is work to be done.

“It is quite obvious with the challenges we’ve had this year, which I think are well chronicled, but there is some reasoning in the context of that, but also there has been some growth I would like to see through.

“Whether that happens or not is not that important right now, but I don’t think far from it is this job finished. I certainly feel there is some growth there that we can take this club to where it needs to be.

“I’ve been in this position before where the big game was the last game I managed. It’s not unusual territory for me.

“I have always navigated it pretty well because for me, nothing is more important than my responsibility for this football club and its fans. Tomorrow me, the players, our mind is only on one thing and that is to create something special.”

SPURS THE FAVOURITE

It’s been almost 41 years since Tottenham won in Europe under the leadership of Keith Burkinshaw and in a bizarre twist of fate, it was also his last match as manager of the club.

Back then Burkinshaw left after a fall out with the club's board.

While it remains to be seen if history will repeat itself, Postecoglou has numbers on his side.

“Ange has won eight out of his nine finals,” Bosnich added. “He’s very good at the one-off games. Spurs have beaten United three times this season I would say they are favourites.”

As for what it means for the clubs, who finished 16th (United) and 17th (Spurs) this season, the financial gains are significant.

Victory secures a 2025-26 Champions League berth which in itself carries a value of $30m, and while that cash injection would likely only negate the disappointing league finish, it’s the revenue that comes with Europe’s elite that counts.

“The Champions League next season they will be able to make so much more,” Bosnich said.

“Liverpool for example made 100m euros ($175m) from the Champions League this season.

“When you go to recruit players, it’s such a huge string to your bow to say you’re offering Champions League football.”

Gloves Off with Mark Bosnich – LIVE Tuesday at 11am – on SEN 1170am and the SEN app