A look at the downfall for the manager.
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00:00James, looking at Spurs and in terms of Ange Postacoglian,
00:05obviously he's been going on for a few weeks,
00:08maybe even the last month or so,
00:09saying he's pretty certain that his job's coming to an end at Spurs.
00:13What's the sort of situation?
00:15What's the stance of Spurs fans in terms of his tenure now,
00:20in terms of this summer rebuild that's probably going to have to happen again
00:24after such an abysmal season, especially in the league?
00:27Yeah, well, I mean, I think the writing's on the wall.
00:31I think it's fair to say, isn't it,
00:32regardless of whether we get over the line in the Europa League
00:35and end up winning the final,
00:36I think Ange Postacoglian's days at Spurs are certainly numbered.
00:40And, you know, I think that the temperature now from the majority of fans,
00:45certainly the fans I speak to and are sort of in the circles with our,
00:48you know, it's time, you know, it's time.
00:5018 league defeats, you know, eight defeats at home,
00:52which is the worst in a 38-game season.
00:54And I actually think there's merit personally now
00:57in announcing his departure, you know, imminently, you know,
01:01now keep him on to the end of the season.
01:03But I just think that gives everybody a bit of clarity over,
01:07you know, in terms of the fans for the future.
01:09We know that we're going to be looking at another change.
01:12It gives the club time to start planning
01:13and start thinking about a replacement,
01:15albeit, you know, they may be doing that behind the scenes
01:17without our knowledge.
01:18And should we pull off the miracle
01:20and end up winning in Bilbao in a couple of weeks' time?
01:23You know, Ange Postacoglian lives a hero.
01:25I mean, if he does deliver a trophy,
01:27and don't forget we got in the semi-final,
01:29the League Cup as well,
01:31you know, he'd be sort of forever in a lot of Spurs fans' hearts.
01:34But certainly the league form,
01:36you know, it's been abysmal, embarrassing,
01:39you know, running out of sort of adjectives
01:41to describe how bad it's been.
01:43And, you know, it was the same against Nottingham Forest on Monday,
01:45you know, largely, you know, a poor performance.
01:48You know, Ange came out and said it was a good performance.
01:52You know, that's been a little bit divisive among the fan base.
01:55You know, he says a lot of the same things every week.
01:57He's not fixing the problems.
01:59The players are not concentrating.
02:00To me, a lot of the players look like they've lost belief
02:02outside the Europa League.
02:04You know, they look like they've given the league up now.
02:06And, you know, it's just not good enough
02:08for a club of Tottenham's size and standing.
02:10So, you know, we certainly need, in my eyes, to make a change.
02:13I think we should probably make it sooner rather than later
02:15and, you know, give that clarity to everybody going forward.
02:19Yeah, you feel it's probably one of the most bizarre situations
02:22because of Spurs' sort of trophy drought that they,
02:25you know, this whole stigma around them
02:27that you need to return a trophy.
02:29An awkward situation in terms of, you know,
02:32Ange's standpoint, the league form has been terrible.
02:35They are in a Europa League semi-final.
02:38That's something that they could be proud of any other season
02:41as long as the league form wasn't as bad as this.
02:44What's your thoughts on the Europa League in terms of,
02:46you know, we've mentioned it's all eggs in that basket now
02:48and you can probably tell the players are on that same ship as well.
02:52But it becomes a strange situation.
02:55If he does go and return the trophy for the club,
02:57then, you know, where do the fans sort of stand on that?
03:01And Levy as well and Ange as well, you know,
03:04he can leave, you know, most likely leave
03:06knowing that he has returned that trophy and ended that drought.
03:10Yeah, I mean, it's kind of bizarre, isn't it?
03:12Because I think we always joke at the start of the season
03:14and say if Spurs finish 17th and win a trophy,
03:17you know, a lot of Spurs fans would take that
03:19and that's kind of the situation that we're in at the moment.
03:22I mean, as you say, the league form has been beyond abysmal.
03:26Mitigating factors throughout the season with the injuries,
03:29but sadly Ange was able to hide behind the excuse of the injuries.
03:32Now all the players are back.
03:33The performances might have improved marginally,
03:36but the results are largely the same
03:37and, you know, we're on a dreadful, dreadful run in the Premier League
03:40and, you know, ultimately we're very, very lucky
03:43that there's three worst teams in the division, you know,
03:45because Spurs would have been in a relegation dogfight.
03:48Now, you know, the mentality of the players has got to be questioned.
03:51We've spoken before about senior leadership on the pitch.
03:53But, you know, in terms of the Europa League,
03:57it's been sort of chalk and cheese.
03:59You know, the performances have been very, very solid.
04:01You know, we've had some tough away games that we've managed to counter.
04:04You know, Fennem-Varos and Hoffenheim in the group stages.
04:08You know, some tough games at home in the groups as well
04:11that we've managed to come through.
04:12We're unbeaten at home in the Europa League this season,
04:14which is a positive.
04:16And over the two legs against Frankfurt, you know,
04:18we fully deserve to win.
04:19So, it kind of makes it all the more frustrating because, you know,
04:23you know we've got the talent.
04:25I say it a million times.
04:26I still don't think we're a million miles off with the squad that we've got
04:29and the young talent coming through.
04:30We're not delivering it in the Premier League for whatever reason
04:33that is going on behind the scenes.
04:35But the Europa League, you know, the performances have been fantastic.
04:39And, you know, to a man in Frankfurt,
04:41the team were absolutely outstanding, you know.
04:43And, you know, ironically, Ange tweaked the tactics.
04:46You know, we didn't have a lot of the ball.
04:48It was backs-to-the-wall stuff.
04:49We defended stoutly.
04:51And we took the chance when it came with the penalty.
04:53And, you know, you wouldn't say we were really ever that much in trouble
04:58against Frankfurt in the second leg.
04:59You know, the hostile atmosphere, we caught with it brilliantly.
05:02We've obviously had experience at tough Europa away games this season
05:05in Galatasaray as well, where, you know,
05:07that was a white-hot atmosphere.
05:08And we pretty much crumbled there with a young side
05:11and a lot of changes that night, it must be said.
05:13But it was absolutely fantastic.
05:16And, you know, as I say, to a man,
05:18every Spurs player that night was absolutely magnificent.
05:21We looked organised, we looked hungry, desire.
05:24We kept the ball very well.
05:25You know, we really did defend properly, you know,
05:28as a team when we needed to.
05:31You know, the centre-backs were fantastic.
05:32Benson Kerr was very, very good in that six over the two legs.
05:36And as I say, we looked a threat on the break
05:37and we probably should have finished it off.
05:39Not necessarily clear-cut chances, but certainly openings
05:42with a bit more craft in the final third
05:44or the better final ball.
05:45We'd have finished that off.
05:46So, one of the best teams in the competition are out.
05:50You know, Bodo Glynn's not going to be easy.
05:52You know, they've already put paid to Ange Postacoglu
05:54before in the Champions League when he was at Celtic.
05:57They've knocked out some pretty big teams
05:58in the Champions League and the Europa League as well.
06:01And, you know, the way they dispatched those penalties
06:03against Lazio, very, very cool.
06:04We shouldn't underestimate them.
06:08However, I think they've got three of their key players
06:10suspended for the first leg.
06:12And, you know, 8,000 capacity crowd in the second leg,
06:16albeit on a plastic pitch.
06:17And I know Spurs have got an interesting record
06:20on plastic pitches before.
06:21I remember a Champions League game at Young Boys
06:23and obviously we struggled at Tamworth
06:24on an artificial surface this season.
06:26So, the first leg is going to be absolutely crucial,
06:28but we're never going to have a better chance
06:29of getting to a final, Owen.