'Rattled' Ange Postecoglou returns serve in testy press conference amid sacking rumours
Updated . First published at
Ange Postecoglou was accused of being "rattled" by the pressure as the under-siege Tottenham manager gave yet another testy press conference in Germany.
Reports have suggested the Australian could be axed by Spurs regardless of the result in Friday's (AEST) Europa League second leg quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
The 59-year-old said he had "no idea" about his job security as Tottenham sit a dismal 15th of 20 teams in the Premier League.
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Ange Postecoglou talks to the media during a pre match press conference. Getty
Postecoglou was asked if he was concerned about the pressure.
"No, not at all mate. Because I don't define my career and me as a person by what people think about me," he shot back.
"I never have. Never will. If you don't think I'm a good coach today, you won't think I'm a good coach tomorrow, even if we win. One game ain't going to make a difference to that. You either think I'm capable of doing the job now or you don't.
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Ange Postecoglou looking at his watch during a training session. Getty
"That's where I sit with these things. If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that's their burden, not mine.
"I don't think that way and I don't think most people think that way. Or I'd like to think they don't, in terms of their own sort of self-esteem and who they are as people. I couldn't care less.
"What I'm sitting here doing is thinking we've got a great opportunity to get to the final four of a major tournament. I'm not going to let that slip by without fighting tooth and nail for it irrespective of what may come the day after."
Spurs and Frankfurt are locked at 1-1 after the first leg in London.
Postecoglou's fight for life has been made even more difficult after his best player, Son Heung-min, was ruled out with a foot injury.
"It feels as though Ange Postecoglou is just quite rattled at the moment and the writing may be on the wall," Stan Sport's Katie Shanahan said from the Santiago Bernabeu.
"The manager doesn't seem totally composed at the moment... it has been a terrible season for Tottenham, one that they will want to forget. Ange Postecoglou basically said at the start of the season, I always win a trophy in my second season.
"He's probably always regretting that because that's always coming back to bite him."
And yet, that bullish trophy comment could yet come true.
Son Heung-min of Tottenham celebrates with Ange Postecoglou. Getty
Mark Bosnich asked London-based expert Shanahan what Postecoglou's support was like among Spurs fans.
"I think only about 30 per cent would want him to stay," she replied.
"They feel as though he's had a good run, he's had his chance. I think they liked his personality and they liked how he started at Tottenham, but I just feel as though it hasn't really worked, and that's kind of the sense that I get from the fans."
Ex-Socceroos captain Craig Foster also weighed in on the magnitude of the clash at Deutsche Bank Park.
Frankfurt, who sit third in the Bundesliga, are slight favourites with the bookmakers.
"Tomorrow is incredibly important. Not in terms of his career - he'll go onto somewhere else," Foster said.
"From an Australian perspective, of course we want Ange to survive there... but coaches get sacked, that's just the reality.
"So the point for Australian football is not whether Ange stays or goes.
"The point is, how he does it... to leave himself in a position where he can actually get another top club - and hopefully in this league, if not, he'll certainly get a top club in any of the other big four (Spain, Italy, Germany and France)."