By making fun of Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville, Ange Postecoglou once again shown why everyone is infatuated with him.
The Tottenham manager witnessed his team’s best-ever Premier League start when they defeated Crystal Palace 2-1.
After a challenging few years for Spurs following Mauricio Pochettino, the team began the season with eight victories and two draws thanks to goals from Joel Ward and Son Heung-min.
Postecoglou’s contagious charisma, which was on full display after the game, has much of the credit for it.
The Australian was given a jab by Jamie Carragher, who said he was just mimicking Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, in an interview with Sky Sports following the victory. He skillfully deflected the jab at Gary Neville, though.
Carragher, a former defender for Liverpool, quipped cheekily: “Do you think as the season goes on you can get your ideas across, because at the moment you’re just copying Pep, aren’t you?”
Postecoglou replied with a smile: “I mean, I just study one game per week to see what he’s doing and go from there. You know there’s nothing wrong with that!”
Carragher then said: “He’s done alright, to be fair.”
Next was Neville, who made a joke about having attempted to emulate Guardiola during his disastrous one-time managerial spell at Valencia.
“I tried to copy him..” Neville said.
And on his way out, delivered yet another brilliant joke.
How did that turn out? Postecoglou answered with panache.
After a little while, things returned to normal, but when he shook hands and said farewell, Postecoglou once more had the commentators laughing.
With humorous timing as razor-sharp as his team’s offensive prowess, he remarked, “Just go and watch Man City instead.”
In a related development:
Spurs big enough to fight for honours every year: Ange
Spurs haven’t taken home a trophy since 2008, but after securing 26 of a possible 30 points this season, supporters are hoping to challenge for the championship.
Tottenham’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace on Friday propelled them to the top of the Premier League, where they are now five points ahead of Manchester City and Arsenal ahead of the weekend’s games.
Postecoglou has enjoyed his incredible start to life in England, but he was quick to point out that his new team need to be vying for championships on a yearly basis.
The former Celtic manager declared, “I came here to succeed, not to fail. This club possesses all the necessary elements for success. There ought to be expectations.
“They believe they belong in that position, which is part of the reason there’s been such a genuine hunger for a trophy. That’s the reality and the expectation, but it’s not attempting to raise or lower expectations that motivates me.
“My motivation comes from wanting to create something that would help this club achieve its current goals. I’m not too concerned about what other people think of me. This is a large club, and I think they should be able to contend for titles each and every year.
“At Celtic, we had a lot of success for a long while, but I don’t think people saw anything different about my personality in the early going. They won’t, in my opinion (here).
That is what I do. It has nothing to do with being overly serious or very level-headed. Simply put, my job in that situation is to be the one person people can count on to be reliable.
“In that regard, my constant goal is to find ways to improve. It doesn’t really matter where you are at the table or what the outside noise may or may not be doing when that is your goal.
“It is about the players and the staff and everyone involved with the football club, looking at me. The one thing I do is I come in every day, I am buzzing about doing what I am doing. You know, that’s the kind of demeanour I have consistently.
“It’s just the way I am. I get so much satisfaction from what I do. I really enjoy what I do, on a daily basis. There isn’t a day I don’t get up and I’m not looking forward to the day ahead.
“There’s no other levels of satisfaction in me to get. That’s it. I’m buzzing to do what I do.
“Within that context I also understand that I have a real big responsibility to lead an organisation, players, staff, people to what I hope will be a successful place.
“There’s got to be some reliability there in what they see and what they feel with me so some of it is conscious but the other bits, I’m not skipping about the place but I’m really happy. I love what I do. Just the way I am. I’m very, very happy.”
After berating his players for a subpar second half against Fulham on Monday night, Postecoglou’s joy did not carry over into the locker room.
After the 2-0 victory, the team continued to play the 1980s hit song “Islands in the Stream” by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton despite the setback.
Postecoglou, however, chuckled, saying, “Part of the reason I avoid the changing room is because of the players’ musical preferences.
“Most clubs want to turn their grounds into a fortress – ours is becoming a nightclub, mate. I’m all for it, whatever makes people happy that’s my thing.”
