Ange Postecoglou’s bizarre Spurs situation as Europa League trophy could leave legacy well remembered

National World - LocalTV

Tottenham Hotspur’s season has been disappointing, and questions are swirling about where it all went wrong for manager Ange Postecoglou. Despite showing flashes of early promise, Spurs have struggled with consistency, and the club must now focus on the crucial summer ahead to rebuild and ensure a better campaign next season.

Transcript

00:00Now, Tottenham Hotspur season has been disappointing

00:06and questions are swirling about where it all went wrong

00:08for manager Antipas de Koglu.

00:11Despite showing flashes of promise last season,

00:13Spurs have struggled this season with consistency

00:15and the club must now focus on the crucial summer ahead

00:19to rebuild and ensure a better campaign next year.

00:23The priority must be to retain their key players

00:26while adding necessary reinforcements,

00:29maintaining the likes of Son Heung-min,

00:31a pivotal figure for the team,

00:32will be crucial for long-term success.

00:34But there are questions around his future.

00:37At the same time, Spurs must focus on strengthening key areas,

00:41particularly in defence and attack.

00:43We spoke to James Trembath of London World

00:46who highlighted the need for Spurs to stabilise their squad

00:49while strengthening these critical positions.

00:52If they can hold on to their top performers

00:54and core young players,

00:56they could push higher up the table next season

00:58and return to challenging for European football.

01:03James, looking at Spurs and in terms of Antipas de Koglu,

01:06obviously he's been going on for a few weeks,

01:10maybe even the last month or so,

01:11saying he's pretty certain that his job's coming to an end at Spurs.

01:15What's the sort of situation?

01:17What's the stance of Spurs fans in terms of his tenure now,

01:22in terms of this summer rebuild that's probably going to have to happen again

01:26after such an abysmal season, especially in the league?

01:31Yeah, well, I mean, I think the writing's on the wall.

01:33I think it's fair to say, isn't it?

01:34Regardless of whether we get over the line in the Europa League

01:37and end up winning the final,

01:38I think Antipas de Koglu's days at Spurs are certainly numbered.

01:42And, you know, I think that the temperature now from the majority of fans,

01:47certainly the fans I speak to and are sort of in the circles with our,

01:50you know, it's time.

01:51You know, it's time.

01:5218 league defeats, you know, eight defeats at home,

01:54which is the worst in a 38-game season.

01:57I actually think there's merit personally now in announcing his departure,

02:01you know, imminently, you know, now.

02:04Keep him on to the end of the season,

02:05but I just think that gives everybody a bit of clarity over,

02:09you know, in terms of the fans for the future.

02:11We know that we're going to be looking at another change.

02:14It gives the club time to start planning and start thinking about a replacement,

02:17albeit, you know, they may be doing that behind the scenes without our knowledge.

02:21And should we pull off the miracle and end up winning in Bilbao

02:24in a couple of weeks' time?

02:25You know, Ange Possacoglu lives a hero.

02:27I mean, if he does deliver a trophy,

02:29and don't forget we got in the semi-final of the League Cup as well,

02:33you know, he'd be sort of forever in a lot of Spurs fans' hearts.

02:36But certainly the league form, you know, it's been abysmal, embarrassing,

02:41you know, running out with sort of adjectives to describe how bad it's been.

02:45And, you know, it was the same against Nottingham Forest on Monday,

02:47you know, largely, you know, a poor performance.

02:50You know, Ange came out and said it was a good performance.

02:53So, you know, that's been a little bit divisive among the fan base.

02:57You know, he says a lot of the same things every week.

02:59He's not fixing the problems.

03:01The players are not concentrating.

03:02To me, a lot of the players look like they've lost belief outside the Europa League.

03:06You know, they look like they've given the league up now.

03:08And, you know, it's just not good enough for a club of Tottenham's size and standing.

03:12So, you know, we certainly need, in my eyes, to make a change.

03:15I think we should probably make it sooner rather than later

03:17and, you know, give that clarity to everybody going forward.

03:21Yeah, you feel it's probably one of the most bizarre situations

03:24because of Spurs' sort of trophy drought that they, you know,

03:27this whole stigma around them that you need to return a trophy.

03:32An awkward situation in terms of, you know,

03:34Andrew's standpoint, the league form has been terrible.

03:37Or they are in a Europa League semi-final.

03:40That's something that they could be proud of any other season

03:43as long as the league form wasn't as bad as this.

03:46What's your thoughts on the Europa League in terms of, you know,

03:48we've mentioned it's all eggs in that basket now.

03:51And you can probably tell the players are on that same ship as well.

03:54But it becomes a strange situation.

03:57If he does go and return the trophy for the club,

03:59then, you know, where do the fans sort of stand on that?

04:03And Levy as well and Ange as well.

04:05You know, he can leave, you know, most likely leave

04:08knowing that he has returned that trophy and ended that drought.

04:12Yeah, I mean, it's kind of bizarre, isn't it?

04:14Because I think we always joke at the start of the season

04:16and say if Spurs finish 17th and win a trophy,

04:19you know, a lot of Spurs fans would take that.

04:21And that's kind of the situation that we're in at the moment.

04:24I mean, as you say, the league form has been beyond abysmal.

04:27Crowd in the second leg, albeit on a plastic pitch.

04:30And I know Spurs have got an interesting record on plastic pitches

04:33before I remember a Champions League game at Young Boys

04:35and obviously we struggled at Tamworth on an artificial surface this season.

04:38So the first leg is going to be absolutely crucial,

04:40but we're never going to have a better chance of getting to a final, are we?

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