Exclusive: Postecoglou vows to continue European journey

Ange Postecoglou insists: “I’m not done yet, mate!”

The career of Australia’s most successful football manager has taken quite the turn over the course of the past nine or so months.

Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham in June last year despite claiming a drought-breaking trophy in the Europa League. He was then given the boot by Nottingham Forest in October after 39 tumultuous days.

Following the giddy heights of Australia’s 2015 Asian Cup triumph, his Japanese success with Yokohama, the trophy-laden Celtic stint in Scotland, and that Euro delight at Spurs, Ange suggests he might have needed a few whacks to put him back in his box.

But those setbacks haven’t dampened his desire as he declares that the best is yet to come.

And he has a warning for anyone writing him off: He hasn’t even scratched the surface.

“I’ve figured out that for me to do what I do, the start of pre-season is a good starting point,” Postecoglou told SEN’s Gerard Whateley of his best case coaching scenario.

“Jumping in mid-season - especially in the Premier League but in most leagues - is just probably too much of a challenge for the way I do things. That’s what I’m holding out for.

“Where that is and what it looks like is hard to say at the moment, but I haven’t even scratched the surface of what I want to do over here yet and the impact I want to make, the football I want to play.

“I want to win things still. I still have that drive and passion to achieve, that hasn’t changed. The fact now it’s the first time I’m coming off a bad experience - that’s just more fuel for me.

“Wherever I go in there will be plenty of scepticism - that’s brilliant, that’s what I need. Get the gloves, put the helmet on again on and go really hard.”

Ange isn’t exactly sure where things will take him, but he is planning to make another splash in the turbulent waters of the brutal European football landscape.

“I don’t really know what it looks like,” he added.

“I’ve got an idea and I think part of it is going to be making sure that the people I work with are ready for what I’m going to deliver and that they understand me as a person and the kind of football (I play), and I see the ambition in them.

“I know whatever it is going to be, I have this thing in my head that this will be the best one I’ve done yet because the recent experiences, maybe I needed them.

“You can’t always be flying high and successful. Sometimes you need to cop a couple of whacks.

“I still feel like what I do still has an impact at this level.

“I’m not done yet, mate! There’s still a bit to do.”

Postecoglou has had time to take stock, think and assess since his exit from a swift Forest tenure.

This time he will have more of a runway for his decision-making process.

“Fair to say it’s been two phases. After Spurs ended, it was the first off-season I have had in over 10 years that I wasn’t planning for something and I wasn’t thinking about what was coming next for the season,” he continued.

“People said, ‘Great, you can have a holiday with the family and relax’, and I couldn’t, I was missing something.

“It’s why I fell into the Forest job, I just wanted to get back to work. After that experience I said to myself I will take some time and properly re-energise and have a proper reflection and get ready for whatever is next.

“I’m trying to keep busy but I’m waiting for what’s next.”

The Aussie admits he did watch the Spurs v Forest match on the weekend which ended in a 3-0 win to the away team in north London.

That result has Spurs teetering on the brink of relegation.

“I did watch it – I’m still very much invested – particularly in Spurs because of the players and some of the staff there,” he said further.

“We had two years together, you always have that attachment. If you had have told me in May last year that this would be the scenario of watching two teams I have managed in the last calendar year I would have said ‘no that’s beyond the realms of possibility’.

“I tuned in and I watched. It was an uncomfortable watch, I didn’t enjoy it that’s for sure.”

He says Tottenham’s current plight does not sit all that well with him, despite the way it ended.

“Not great (seeing Spurs in a fight),” he replied. “I still have a really strong attachment to the club.

“It was two years and they were by no means easy years, but we invested a lot into them. Second last game we won a European trophy which was an incredible high.

“The connection there will be there forever. To watch them struggle has not been easy and it’s not the way I thought it would go. They’re in a hell of a fight, relegation is massive for any club but for Tottenham, it’s a pretty big deal.

“They have some fighting to do and they have the quality to get out. They need a circuit-breaker for sure.”