ANGE Postecoglou’s second season as Celtic manager was one of the most successful of his entire coaching career - the Parkhead club retained the League Cup and Premiership and completed a world record-breaking eighth domestic treble when they lifted the Scottish Cup.
Will the forthcoming campaign with Spurs, who travel to the King Power Stadium on Monday night to play newly-promoted Leicester City in their opening Premier League match, prove to be as fruitful?
For some observers of the English game, the Greek-Australian, who attained iconic status during the two years that he spent in Scotland, will be doing well simply to survive until May.
Postecoglou made an immediate impact and then some after rocking up in North London in a blaze of publicity last summer. He became the first man ever to pick up the Manager of the Month awards in August, September and October. His entertaining pre and post-match press conferences became viral sensations on social media outlets.
Thereafter, things did not go entirely according to plan. A run of four successive losses in April and May saw Spurs slide down the table. They eventually finished fifth and missed out on a Champions League spot by two points. The occupant of the dugout grew increasingly agitated as time wore on and his interviews became more frosty than frivolous.
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Then there was the penultimate league game against title chasing Manchester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Postecoglou did not hide his unhappiness that many members of the home support wanted their heroes to lose to the visitors so that their despised city rivals Arsenal could not land the English title. He was caught on camera arguing with a fan during the 2-0 reverse.
None of which exactly suggested that everything was sweetness and light behind the scenes.
Postecoglou’s immediate predecessors Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte, a celebrated trio with considerably more experience of the European game than he has, failed to last two full seasons. Can he outlive them? Can he make Spurs a force in the English and European game in the months ahead?
Alan Hutton, the former Rangers, Aston Villa and Scotland right back who was a member of the last Spurs team to lift a trophy, the League Cup way back in 2008, is a huge admirer of the charismatic ex-Celtic manager. He firmly believes that he can build on what he has achieved to date and enjoy a memorable term.
“I love listening to him, I must admit,” said Hutton. “I really enjoy his interviews and everything that he does. Sure, the way he looks at football is very gung-ho – full-backs up and in and playing with No 10s. But it is brilliant to watch.
“Spurs has always been the same. It was exactly the same as it was when I was there. They want to see good football and they need to win something. The last trophy they won was 16 years ago. That is always going to be there.
“The remit for him moving forward is top four and a trophy, it has to be. It will be interesting how it moves forward. The core of the team is very strong. They should be competing.
“But it is, and I have said this for a number of years now, about trying to get it over the line. Of course, he is going to be under pressure because that is what Daniel Levy [the Spurs chairman) wants, he wants to be winning trophies. It will be an interesting season, but I think he can do well.”
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Hutton, who has moved in to television punditry since retiring from playing and can now be seen and heard giving his expert opinion on football matters on Premier Sports, argues that he actually overachieved last season because England captain Harry Kane was not adequately replaced after his €100m transfer to German behemoths Bayern Munich.
He is hopeful the £65m capture of Dominic Solanke, the Bournemouth striker who scored 21 goals for the Vitality Stadium club last season, will be a game changer for Spurs and Postecoglou.
“I think Daniel Levy had to spend the money he needed to bring in a striker and really help him out,” he said. “That is what they have been searching for, that is the difference for me between where they finished last season and possibly breaking into the top four.
“Harry Kane, who guaranteed 20 to 25 goals a season, left. You are taking that out of the side. Richarlison went in there and for me it has not quite worked. Son [Heung-min] went in there, but I prefer him on the left.
“Solanke had an excellent season with Bournemouth, but in my opinion will get more opportunities to score at Spurs. He should get good numbers. He is probably the missing link. They needed to spend big money to get that guy in. Now they have done that I think they could challenge for the top four.”
Hutton, who spent three years at Spurs after being sold for a then record £9m fee by Rangers in 2008, has no concerns about Postecoglou’s attacking style of football, which was branded Angeball when he was at Celtic, working in the Premier League. However, he admits that he would like to see him alter his tactics at certain moments.
“I do think they can be successful playing the way he wants them to if he has right components constantly,” he said.
“They do play with their full-backs up with their No 10s – which I could never have done in my life by the way. You are relying a lot on your two centre backs, [Micky] van de ven and [Cristian] Romero, being fit because they are going to be put under pressure quite a lot within games.
“Sometimes I do think to myself that you need a Plan B. We watched Ange up here and he very rarely changed. Down there he has very rarely changed no matter who they are playing.
“When you get to those final big moments, when you are in a final or are chasing top four, do you have a Plan B? Do you have moments when you say, ‘Well, we want to attack, but we are playing Man City so we can’t be as open as this’. I think there is probably a happy medium there. But he will know better than me.”
Hutton got to know Postecoglou during his time in Scotland and reveals that he warmed to the former Australia and Yokohama F Marinos manager greatly whenever he had any interactions with him despite his frustration at the domestic success which Celtic were enjoying at the time.
“As Ally [McCoist] once said, I would have driven him to the airport when he was going!” he said. “But I genuinely liked the guy. Honestly, he was such a lovely guy. I worked with him a couple of times with Premier Sports.
“Before the League Cup final a couple of seasons ago, he came out with his team he was obviously concentrating on his team. But he came straight over to me and said, ‘Alan, how are you doing? Nice to meet you’. By the way, I had never spoken to him before this. I thought, ‘Alright!’ The Rangers team just walked by me and never said anything.
“I started speaking to him about Alistair Johnston, who had just come to the club to replace Josip Juranovic. I said to him, ‘What is he like?’ He said, ‘Alan, he’s just like you. He likes to get up and down, he’s aggressive’. I thought, ‘How on earth does this guy know me?’.
“He took that time out of his day, which was such a big occasion, to come over and talk to me at that moment. I thought, ‘I love this guy, but I should really hate him at this moment in time’. When he left and joined Tottenham I thought, ‘It’s alright, I can like him now!’.”
There will be huge affection for Ange Postecoglou at Spurs if he can help them fulfil their vast potential this season and Alan Hutton is certain that the arrival of Dominic Solanke heralds the start of an exciting chapter in the history of the London club.
