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- Ange Postecoglou admits he may lose his job before he can turn things around
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Ange Postecoglou admitted Tottenham were as low as they have been during his time in charge and that he did not know if he would be given the time to salvage the season.
A crushing home defeat by relegation-threatened Leicester extended a dismal run of form for his depleted Spurs team to just five points from their last 11 games in the Premier League.
They are 15th, but alive in three cups with key players back soon from injuries. He insisted the campaign could still be transformed into a success and that the players were behind him.
But when asked if he expected to be given time to turn it around, Posteocglou said: ‘Who knows, I reckon there is probably a fair chunk that will say no.
‘When you are the manager of a football club you can be very vulnerable and isolated. I don’t feel that. I feel like this group of players, not for me, are giving everything for the club. I have a group of staff that is really committed. I focus on that.
‘I can even see in training when the guys coming back are going to give everybody a lift. There is a fantastic opportunity this season to really make an impact, and I know we can. But in terms of the question, is there anything I can say about that that is going to change anything that I need to do tomorrow morning? Nothing.’
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou insists that his squad are still right behind him
Jamie Vardy equalises for Leicester from close range a minute into the second half
Leicester’s Bilal El Khannouss celebrates grabbing the winner at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Postecoglou’s squad has been ravaged by injuries through a congested winter schedule. James Maddison was absent against Leicester, Richarlison was forced off with a problem and Pape Matar Sarr played despite injury.
Daniel Levy, conscious of the circumstances, has resisted any urge to sack another manager. Fans booed Postecoglou’s decision to take off Richarlison early in the second half but they turned their anger mostly on Levy during the 2-1 defeat.
‘Certainly, something I wanted to try and do when I took this role was to unify the club and create an environment here where we are all focused on the one thing,’ said Postecoglou. ‘Obviously it hasn’t worked out that way.
‘It’s understandable, the fans are not happy with our current situation. It is a difficult one to navigate because we need them right now, especially at home to create an atmosphere. It wasn’t that long ago we played Liverpool here and it was a great night.’
That was the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final. Tottenham lead 1-0 with the second leg at Anfield on Thursday week. Before then are a Europa League tie at home to Elfsborg and a tricky trip across London to Brentford on Sunday.
Postecoglou said: ‘I have felt all along that the players are still very committed to what we’re doing. That’s important to me, because I firmly believe in it, and I really believe that this is as low as we’ve been so far this year but I still think that in these last three months we can do something really special and these players believe that. Right now it’s very hard to visualise that.
‘It doesn’t really come into my consciousness about trying to convince people. I have been around long enough to know that some will just judge on where we are at at the moment and rightly so in some respects. It’s not good enough.
‘If people want to put context to that they can, if not so be it. From my point of view, I’m still very much stuck on the fact that the players are just giving everything they can. They did on Thursday night, they did today.’
