Ange Postecoglou is used to mixed reactions when he takes a new job. So the response of Nottingham Forest fans to his appointment on Tuesday was par for the course. At Yokohama F. Marinos in 2018, fans were nonplussed at this Australian coming in. At Celtic, it was a case of, “Ange Who?” At Tottenham Hotspur two years ago, there were concerns about how a coach who had worked all over the world but never in a big European league would manage in the Premier League. Earlier in his career, doubters had been won over with trophies. When he moved on, fans from Australia to Japan to Scotland were sad to see him go.
At Spurs it was more complex. The initial scepticism quickly transformed into loving Big Ange, and then into something else again. The second season a trophy was won, the biggest for Tottenham since at least the FA Cup of 1991, but as the club came 17th in the league, the axe fell. That has been an unfamiliar scenario for the 60-year-old.
