- 2 years ago
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou would have done things differently had he known the atmosphere on Tuesday
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Center, London, UK
Tottenham Hotspurs Training Center, London, UK
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 What you said is well as the game itself.
00:03 Um, no, no.
00:07 Um, no, like I said, for me it's,
00:12 I just think when, when you're trying to
00:17 achieve at this level, whatever it is you're trying to achieve,
00:20 you have to be totally focused on, on that objective.
00:23 You can't get distracted, like by anything.
00:26 Like whether it's, you know, this time it was sort of the,
00:29 you know, whatever the issue was, but next time it'll be another issue.
00:32 Like there'll always be something that will try and drag you away.
00:36 And that's why I keep going, the discipline is to say,
00:38 well, no, actually what the most important thing is that
00:40 we prepare ourselves for victory and everyone's aligned in that.
00:43 And when everyone's aligned in that, um,
00:46 you've got a better chance of success.
00:48 But if, if you're not, if people are sort of,
00:51 oh, geez, we've got to deal with this, we've got to deal with that.
00:53 And, oh, what about this?
00:55 I mean, I just don't, I just don't think you can be truly successful
00:59 at this level, um, with the margins that you need to be, um,
01:04 if, if you get distracted.
01:06 Did you feel people inside the club weren't aligned and were distracted?
01:10 Was that, was that?
01:12 I, I, I, I, I mean that's...
01:14 I'm just trying to get in your head, to be able to just...
01:16 Yeah, but hold on a sec, Dan, hold on a sec, Dan.
01:18 I sat in here and all the questions I got were about that.
01:20 Of course people, I'm distracted.
01:22 Like, it's, it's, we're human beings, mate, so of course.
01:26 It's not like, but do you want me to say there's a culprit in there
01:29 that caused everything, the other...
01:31 It doesn't, that doesn't happen, mate.
01:33 It's not, it's not how it works.
01:35 All I'm saying is that there's always going to be issues
01:37 and how you deal with them and how we deal with them as a football club
01:41 is going to be important.
01:43 And until you go through these experiences, so, OK,
01:46 you want a culprit? It's me.
01:48 Because I didn't take it seriously.
01:50 That's where I think happened.
01:52 I just didn't really understand what was going on.
01:55 I just didn't think that that was the case.
01:57 If I had my time again, yes, I would do things differently.
02:00 I would address the media differently the day before.
02:03 I probably would address people in the club
02:06 'cause they're looking for me for direction.
02:08 So, if you want to head on a stick, it's my ugly mug, mate, so there you go.
02:13 Thanks. Darren?
02:15 I'm sitting here listening to you, I can't help feeling...
02:19 I can't help feeling you're being incredibly hard on yourself.
02:21 You've worked up in Scotland, you've worked in...
02:24 You've done Celtic ranges, you know what a rivalry feels like.
02:29 You've worked in Australia, you've been straight talking.
02:32 I've seen some of your interviews out there.
02:34 I just can't help feeling...
02:36 I mean, people say, "You don't get it."
02:38 And you get it, don't you?
02:40 I do, mate, and you know what?
02:43 I had, you know...
02:45 When I started at Celtic, it was the same sort of discussion around...
02:49 Everything was framed around...
02:51 Because don't forget, when I took over, Rangers had won it the year before
02:54 and Celtic hadn't won anything,
02:56 which is quite extraordinary for that football club.
02:58 They'd gone from Trebles to not one trophy.
03:01 And when I first got there, there was a lot of talk.
03:04 Not some internal as well,
03:07 but a lot of it was about what Rangers were doing.
03:11 And I kept... And I was pretty consistent,
03:13 and it would be on public record as saying,
03:15 "We've got to worry about ourselves.
03:17 "Don't worry about anyone else.
03:19 "You kind of... You be the best you can be."
03:21 And I actually... I've said a number of times,
03:24 "You run your own race, and when you get to the finish line,
03:27 "have a look around and see where you've finished.
03:29 "Don't worry about what the person next to you is doing."
03:31 And I've always been consistent with that.
03:34 And I was up there. I thought it was really important up there
03:37 because I felt like there was too much of an obsession
03:40 with what was happening at Rangers at the time,
03:43 because they were ahead,
03:45 that we were never going to catch them
03:47 if that's what we were always obsessed about.
03:49 'Cause you can't control that.
03:51 You can't control what another club does.
03:53 You want to stop another club winning a trophy?
03:55 Win it yourself. Like, that's the answer.
03:57 It's not about... And that doesn't mean you don't want them to lose.
04:00 I get that. Absolutely.
04:02 Like, mate, I felt that living up in...
04:05 You know, as much as people were happy we were winning,
04:08 they were just as happy the other mob were losing.
04:10 And it was vice versa. So I get that.
04:13 But the notion of not wanting to win for any reason?
04:18 I can't understand it.
04:20 I just... It doesn't... So I don't think it's...
04:23 Look, I don't think it's a healthy way...
04:25 Not healthy. Healthy is the wrong word.
04:27 I don't think it's the right mentality to have
04:29 if you want to be successful.
04:31 If you want to be successful, you just worry about yourself.
04:33 The best just worry about themselves.
04:35 Be the best I can be.
04:37 If that's short, then I'll get up next time and go that extra bit.
04:41 Hate my rivals, want them to lose,
04:43 but all I'm concerned about is myself.
04:46 But I didn't hear anyone say that last week.
04:51 All I heard was that...
04:54 ..it's OK to feel that way, that it's understandable.
04:59 So part of me thinks I am kind of on the outer on this subject
05:04 and I did get it wrong. But I won't change.
05:06 Like I said, I'm fully respectful of that view,
05:09 but I'm firmly on the other side of...
05:12 I just think you worry about yourself.
05:15 Have you felt it necessary to maybe sit down with some people
05:21 and say, "Look, this never happens again.
05:23 "It's done, it's gone. Never again.
05:25 "We're going to change this thing differently."
05:28 Yeah. No, I can't do that.
05:31 But what I'm hoping I can do is...
05:35 ..like I did at Celtic, is...
05:37 ..provide a platform where the fans get what they want.
05:42 And if I can give the fans what they really want,
05:45 because as much as they may say, "Well, they're ecstatic
05:48 "if their greatest rival doesn't win something,"
05:50 what they really want is success.
05:52 That's what it boils down to.
05:54 So if I can give them success...
05:56 ..then maybe I can sort of drive that message a little bit better.
06:01 You look at Sunday's game, and Sunday as a day,
06:05 as what might have been.
06:07 I mean, because Villa are going to go to a very difficult place -
06:10 five wins from their last six for Palace.
06:12 You go to Sheffield United, already relegated.
06:15 Obviously, you respect the game,
06:17 but they've conceded over 100 goals this season.
06:19 Yeah. Look, I...
06:21 As I said, I just felt it would have been disingenuous for me to say
06:26 that we were in a good place when we'd lost five of our last six games.
06:30 It wasn't just about the other night.
06:32 We knew we had some big tests coming,
06:35 and we fell well short in these last five out of six games.
06:39 And I don't think we earned the right to finish above where we are right now.
06:47 So it wasn't just about the other night.
06:50 So...
06:52 Now, I could spin it a different way, for sure,
06:55 and say, "Look, we finished eighth last year.
06:57 "We didn't have Europe this year. We'll be in Europe next year."
06:59 We brought some pretty good footballers to the club,
07:02 some young, exciting talent.
07:04 We're definitely playing different football,
07:06 closer, I think, to what the expectations were when they appointed me.
07:11 But that's not a good starting point for us, I don't think, to improve.
07:17 The good starting point is to say, "Yeah, we've made some progress,
07:19 "but we've still got some way to go, and we need to address these things."
07:22 And it wasn't just the other night.
07:25 Like I said, this last period has shown me
07:27 that if we want to compete against the best,
07:30 the margins are small, but they're probably the hardest to close.
07:37 Just a last one from me, unrelated to all of this.
07:40 It's Jürgen's last day.
07:42 Everyone, obviously, has given a few words to Sandibov.
07:46 What would your message be?
07:48 Yeah, look...
07:50 You always look for people who make an impact, you know?
07:54 And it's not always just about the trophies,
07:57 and he's got some pretty significant trophies.
08:01 I think for all of us what we look for is that when it's all done and dusted,
08:05 like I said, we've made an impact, that people remember us.
08:09 He'll always be remembered
08:10 as one of the most famous football clubs in the world.
08:15 And it wasn't easy, because when you take over a club
08:18 that hasn't had success for a while after tasting a lot of success,
08:23 that's a hard shift.
08:24 And he's put in a hard shift.
08:28 I think, like I said, when you make an indelible impact where you've been,
08:35 I think that's the greatest reward for anybody,
08:37 apart from the trophies and anything else you may gain along the way.
08:43 He made people's lives better.
08:47 Nothing greater than that.
08:49 Tom?
08:50 Do you think a lot of fans will watch this press conference
08:53 and read about it, and they'll have a lot of bitters of late, by the way,
08:57 and they'll be very terrified of things happening on the day,
09:00 but they will have been quite alarmed at the reaction
09:03 and worrying about whether you're happy here, really.
09:06 So just to sort of draw a line under it,
09:09 I know you've sort of referred to it throughout this conference,
09:11 but are you happy at Tottenham,
09:13 and is all this not going to be a problem for you?
09:17 I mean, we've lost five out of six games.
09:21 I'm not going to come in here and be happy.
09:24 Look, I'm hoping that you guys, after sort of a year with me,
09:32 have understood that I am who I am.
09:35 I can't hide who I am and what I believe.
09:37 And if I'm not happy about something, I'm going to say I'm not happy.
09:39 We lost five out of six games.
09:41 I'm gutted.
09:42 I'm not going to walk into a press conference
09:44 and try and paint a rosy picture,
09:46 especially on the back of the preceding 24 hours, where I felt that –
09:50 like I said, it was the most unenjoyable experience
09:54 I've had on a touchline in my whole career.
09:56 That's 26 years of football, where I'm sitting on the sideline,
09:59 not really enjoying the battle against one of the best.
10:03 You know, I could have said in Chris Davies' mate,
10:07 and probably like I said, everyone's fears would be allayed
10:10 and everything would be great, but at least people know how I feel.
10:14 Am I up for the fight? Absolutely, mate.
10:18 I love it.
10:20 This is why I've come here.
10:24 This ain't the last fight I'm going to have, for sure.
10:28 Because I'll be honest with you,
10:30 the biggest fight I'll have at this football club
10:32 is when we get close to success.
10:34 That'll be the biggest one.
10:37 (INAUDIBLE)
10:47 Do you want me to park the bus and get a nil-nil?
10:51 (LAUGHTER)
10:53 (INAUDIBLE)
11:01 Yeah, it does matter, because again, I think it's been misconstrued
11:05 that somehow people think I didn't care about Champions League.
11:08 All I kept saying was, of course, I want to finish as high as possible,
11:12 but it wasn't going to disguise the work we had needed to do.
11:16 And it's the same on the weekend.
11:18 I want us to win.
11:20 I said we haven't had some great results,
11:23 our performances have fluctuated, so we need a strong performance,
11:26 we need a win, and that'll get us fifth spot.
11:30 And we kind of know where we're finished,
11:32 and we're in next year, and I think that's important.
11:36 But again, that doesn't change anything
11:39 in terms of how I feel about all the work we need to do.
11:42 But, yeah, it is important we win, absolutely.
11:44 Coming off the back of our recent form, we need to go out there.
11:50 And again, I don't want to also overlook the fact
11:53 that we played awfully well the other night.
11:56 If we play that well on the weekend, I reckon we've got a good chance for a result.
11:59 [unclear]
12:19 It's not what?
12:20 It's not Benidorm.
12:22 What's that?
12:24 Spanish rugby.
12:25 Oh, sorry, OK.
12:27 Don't go, you love it.
12:29 Don't go, you love it?
12:31 I like it.
12:32 OK, all right, fine.
12:33 If you like it, I'm not going.
12:34 I think they'll see next year.
12:35 OK.
12:36 If I can move my train of thought.
12:38 Yeah, so basically it's not round the corner,
12:40 it's a bit of a runaway, not a deal-and-have-it.
12:42 Yeah.
12:43 European Championship.
12:44 Would you under...
12:45 Have you got any players that have had any concerns
12:47 when you go to the stadium?
12:49 No, look, we discussed that earlier,
12:50 and I think our situation's probably a little bit different from Newcastle,
12:53 because they've had a European season, Champions League,
12:56 it's been a big season.
12:57 We haven't, and it's no secret part of this is, yes, exposure,
13:03 but also revenue for us.
13:04 And I'm pretty certain, and I certainly wouldn't have allowed it to happen
13:09 if we were in Europe this year and had a bigger game schedule.
13:13 I probably would have said no to it.
13:15 And I don't think the club would have expected us to go.
13:18 So, you know, if we were in Europe next year,
13:19 I don't think you'll be seeing this happen.
13:21 I don't think it's ideal, but I think each situation is unique.
13:24 And for us, on the back of our season,
13:26 I think to play one more game two days after the end of the season,
13:30 I think is...
13:33 I think there's substance to it for us.
13:37 And we had a discussion with the playing group really early on about it,
13:41 and they understood why we're doing it,
13:43 and we all kind of made a commitment to go,
13:45 and that's what's going to happen.
13:48 Any final ones?
13:50 No? OK, we'll leave it at that.
13:52 It's just a bit...
13:53 Yeah, I think it's a bit where I have to sort of pretend to thank you all
13:56 and be happy that we've had a great experience together
14:00 and appreciate all your support.
14:03 No, I do. Thank you.
14:04 Obviously, the last press conference, and...
14:08 Yeah, just thank everyone for, I guess, being present
14:12 and making sure that I'm accountable all the time,
14:16 and hopefully you'll get a better insight into me
14:21 and you enjoyed some of it, like I did.
14:24 Thank you.
14:25 Thanks, guys.
14:26 Two claps, that's all.
14:30 (LAUGHTER)
14:31 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Be the first to comment