New Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has made it very clear that you're unlikely to see him ranting and raving at the officials during a match and that he needs fans to be patient with his football.
The 57-year-old was appointed on Tuesday, becoming the first Australian to manage in the Premier League after Spurs handed him a four-year deal as their new head coach. Postecoglou leaves Celtic after guiding them to five out of six domestic trophies in his two seasons there, including winning the treble this time around.
In the Open Goal podcast earlier this season he was asked about his touchline demeanour with one of the presenters noting that as he watched the previous day's Celtic match he noticed that Postecoglou did not say a word on the touchline during the entire game, instead simply observing.
"I don't like to [shout]. Me watching the game, being calm and being as unemotional as I possibly can. Inside you're still churning, you're still following the game. That's the only way I can help the team," the Australian replied.
"If you look at our team and the way we play, we want to get on with things and we don't want to be there, stopping a game, arguing with the opposition or referees.
"If they see me carrying on on the sideline I think that just reflects in that way. I've always been like that. It's like when I go to the cinema. If someone's talking I don't know what's going on, so don't talk to me at a game. I'm watching. I've got to make decisions here."
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When it was pointed out that he did not even question a decision with the fourth official, he added: "No, again, why? What's the point? If I'm talking to the fourth official it means I might be missing something, something important that's happening. Really is it going to change anything?
"I've just never been into it. There are times I'll get pretty emotional myself but for the most part I'll just try to watch the game and see if I can help the team."
One key element Postecoglou needs to succeed at Spurs as he adjusts the club and squad to his fast possession-based way of playing is going to be the patience of the fans. He admits it was something that helped him when he first arrived at Celtic through the early rocky results while the media and pundits scoffed at his appointment as a relatively unknown manager on these shores.
"It was important for me because I knew that if we were going to make this work we were going to have a bumpy start. I didn't know how long it would last for. I knew it couldn't last too long because I wouldn't be around," he said.
"So I needed fan buy-in. For me looking at the history of this football club, it's not always just about winning for them. They want to see their team play in a certain way, with a certain style of football. I thought right from the start that if I can sell them that hope a little bit. Even if the results aren't there [to begin with] we're going to play some football that's going to excite the supporters.
"They saw that straight away even though we weren't winning games and I think that helped the connection, because then I think the players got confidence from that, that the supporters were behind them. So it was crucial for me.
"Maybe it would have been different if I was more well-known because you get that immediate buy-in, but with me I had to earn that trust from the supporters and to be fair they've been brilliant with me from day one."
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