Postecoglou urges Spurs to ‘make impact’ by Europa win

[Pelican Press 0]

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Postecoglou urges Spurs to ‘make impact’ by Europa win

Tottenham Hotspur are a club haunted by failure. The stadium may be new but it sits on the old White Hart Lane site and the ghosts remain.

In the quieter moments the club’s *********** manager Ange Postecoglou has walked the corridors and studied the photos of past glories: Bill Nicholson’s 1961 double-winners, Keith Burkinshaw’s 1984 Uefa Cup winners, Terry Venables’ 1991 FA Cup winners.

The most recent winners’ photos date back to 2008, and that was the unheralded Football League Cup, a minor trinket for a club of Tottenham’s resources and ambition.

Ever since Spurs have blown it whenever they get close to silverware, “Spursy” has become shorthand for throwing away winning positions.

Postecoglou wants to change that perception, and he has urged his players to “make an impact” by winning the Europa League next week. Beat Manchester United in Bilbao on May 21 (0500 May 22 AEST) and there will be new photographs on the wall.

With Tottenham 17th after losing 20 of their 36 Premier League games, on course for their worst finish since being relegated in 1977, Postecoglou knows success may not save his job. But it will mean he made an impact. It will be the club’s biggest cup win since that 1991 FA Cup triumph under Venables, like Postecoglou a former Socceroos boss.

Referencing the recent Papal conclave Postecoglou said: “I could have been sitting here fifth last year, fifth this year – maybe people wouldn’t be waiting for the white smoke to see if it’s my last one – but they’d still be saying, ‘you know Ange, that’s great but it’s all been done before. Until this club wins something, you haven’t made an impact’.

“I knew throughout my tenure last year, that’s what I was going to be judged on. so now we have an opportunity to do that.

“For me personally, great, it’s another trophy I can reminisce in my old age about, but more importantly it’s what it means for the club.

“When you look at the historical backdrop of this club, and what it’s been through in the last 20-odd years, I feel it could be a turning point in terms of the way the club is perceived, but also more how it perceives itself, which I think is the biggest thing.

“That’s the hurdle this club has to overcome because it’ll always be there. Until you actually do it, then you are fair game for people to say ‘you’ve always fluffed it on the big stage.’

“Irrespective of what the opposition say, or what anyone else says, what you’ve got to try and do is break that cycle. Whatever motivation you need to do that, you tap into.

“I often say to the players that at the end of your careers, what you want to be able to do is go back to the clubs you served and know you’ve made an impact.

“The photos I see up on the walls at the stadium are all of Bill Nicholson, the 1984 winning team. A lot of them are in ******-and-white. Can we get this group up on that wall?”

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