Ange Postecoglou will have known two things when he walked into the press conference room at Hotspur Way on Monday afternoon to meet the assembled media as the new Tottenham Hotspur head coach.
Firstly the Australian was well aware that while he was the one sat there in front of the cameras, most people were waiting for news on another man - Harry Kane. Postecoglou also knew that if he was to shift the attention back to him and Spurs then he had to deliver a commanding, assured performance in the hot seat. Thankfully he did and he did so looking entirely at ease.
The press conference room within the Enfield-based training complex was busy. It wasn't Jose Mourinho-levels of busy. The same room was so packed out on November 21, 2019 with the assembled world media that people were standing, crowded along the walls and the back of the room submerged in cameras, but this was busy enough for Postecoglou.
Mourinho is a huge global name, with millions hanging on his every word, and while Postecoglou is a sporting star back home in Australia nowadays, the lower key nature of this introduction allowed for a better connection with the room as he engaged with the journalists on a more personal level than the Portuguese's grandstanding.
Postecoglou spoke for a long time across the press conference as the questions were thrown at him, just under 53 minutes in all. Only Mourinho managed more in his first press conference, with one hour and 12 minutes in total spread across the broadcast section and then the written part for the next morning's newspapers.
For context Nuno Espirito Santo's first press conference as Tottenham head coach lasted just 28 minutes. That was to become a theme for the former Wolves boss, who had little time for speaking to the media, or it would later emerge, a number of his players.
READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou gives update on status of potential Harry Kane move to Bayern
Postecoglou did not look like a man walking into the unknown. At 57-years-old, he's got experience aplenty, whether that's managing at a World Cup or within the cauldron of the Old Firm rivalry. This might be seen as a step up, but as he said it's "just another challenge" to relish.
The Australian's opening words would have been music to Tottenham fans' ears.
"Delighted to be here," he said, something the Spurs supporters were never entirely sure of when it came to Antonio Conte.
The first Harry Kane mention arrived in the third question and immediately drew a smile from the new head coach.
"Question three was Harry, was it? We were running a pool with the coaches, I think Mile Jedinak won actually. I had over six because I thought you'd care more about me," joked Postecoglou.
The Australian managed to deal with the Kane situation well, treading the fine line between not disrespecting the player and making it clear that while he had not had any assurances from the club over what happens next, the situation had not reached any point for him to be concerned about.
"Nothing’s landed on my desk at this moment from anybody at the club to say there’s a decision to be made there. Not even close to that, so because of that I’m looking forward to having Harry here on Wednesday and getting ready for the tour," he said.
It was in his dealing with how he would approach his first meeting with Kane this week that Postecoglou hit the right notes across the board, praising the player while treating him no differently but also making it clear that he would be creating a team that the England captain would relish.
"I don’t think it's my role to sit down and treat people in a manner because of their circumstances. I’m really big on treating everyone the same, and Harry has already entrenched himself in the history of this football club," he said. "He’s a very important part. He’s one of the premier strikers in the world and I want him involved. My conversation with him will be about how we can make this club successful. And I’ve got no doubts that what he wants as well.
"So within that context, whatever that narrows into the personal stuff around Harry as an individual. If the conversation takes it that way then we’ll take it that way. But I doubt it’s going to be defined in the manner that people think it’s going to be. It’s not going to be a conversation where we walk out of the room and have an understanding. I don’t want that kind of conversation, what I want is to introduce myself to Harry and give him my vision of the football club. And get a sense from him on what he thinks the club needs to do to be successful and walk out on that training pitch and try and make it happen."
The first signal that Postecoglou is not going to be the butt of any jokes came when one reporter awkwardly attempted to begin his first question with "G'day Ange".
"That's a good start, yeah g'day, how are you mate?" came the reply with a look that suggested there was more than a touch of sarcasm in there.
What followed was a question about the step up to the Premier League and within his answer Postecoglou made it very clear that being Celtic boss is no simple task.
"I had the same sort of questions when I moved to the SPL, but I’ve coached in a World Cup and in lots of different leagues. I think every challenge is the same to be honest because it’s relative to the competition you're in.," he said. "I’ve never gone into any job thinking this is going to be easy compared to anything else I’ve done. It’ll be a massive challenge, absolutely.
"But Celtic was a massive challenge. I know people say that in Scotland if you’re Celtic you’ll finish first or second, but for Celtic second is last. Second I’m not in a job. You have to finish first. So irrespective of what outside thoughts are, there’s still a demand there. And it’s not just about winning, it’s the manner of how you do it."
Tottenham head coaches have not always provided the greatest clarity when it comes to injury news. Cristian Stellini in particular would do anything to ensure an injury remained hidden before a match in order to prevent the opponent from having an advantage. You half-expected the Italian to get any injured star to run past the press conference window just to complete the illusion.
Postecoglou had little worry about telling football.london that Fraser Forster would be not be among the tour squad departing on Friday, along with Rodrigo Bentancur, while some others were doubts, Djed Spence and Troy Parrott believed to be among them, while Ryan Sessegnon has undergone successful surgery which are expected to finally clear up his persistent hamstring issues. How clear the Australian is on the latest injury news amid the hustle and bustle of the Premier League season could be a different matter.
There was also a feeling that players will be given a fresh slate to work from if they fit the new head coach's plans and give him everything in return.
That could even apply to Tanguy Ndombele, who is looking to make a strong first impression in what is his fifth pre-season at the club since his big money move from Lyon.
"Tanguy has been good. He is working hard at training, to be fair they all are, they have got no option!" he told football.london. "Again, I take things as I see them. For me, he is obviously a very talented footballer, he was part of team that won Serie A last year and within that context, I am pleased to have him here and part of the group. What that means long-term, again I will not get into the definite of that because a lot of that will depend on how the team shapes up and how he shapes up.
"He may decide this is not for him. I'm not sure. Like I said, the group I have had in so far have been really good at embracing the change of direction, the way we are doing things. As I said, once we get all the other guys in, it will be great to see how everyone measures up and decisions will be made moving forward from there over who will be involved and who won't."
The first test for Ndombele is to be named as one of the squad, which could contain as many as 28 players, stepping on to the plane for the flight to Perth on Friday.
Captain Hugo Lloris may be left at home to sort out his next move as could players such as Ivan Perisic and perhaps Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg among others. Postecoglou's discussions with his returning international players in the next two days will inform those decisions.
Postecoglou made it clear that his new signings - Guglielmo Vicario and James Maddison at that point - were very deliberately chosen by him because they can deliver his style of relentless possession-based attacking football, starting at the very back.
It would have been refreshing for the Tottenham fans to hear Postecoglou speaking about how good things can be in the future, rather than being told to be realistic and to just accept mediocrity for the immediate future.
Postecoglou grinned when one reporter began his question by saying "you've taken over a Spurs side without European football, one that finished eighth in the league and that hasn't happened in a long time, so what will success look like for you?". The Australian sensed another moment to lighten the atmosphere.
"Gee, you have created a pretty bleak picture there! I was excited about this role!" he said.
"To be fair without sort of being dismissive of it that is why I am here. That is what I love about of because of all that is not here, and that is what I want to bring. I want to bring success to this football club and I want to bring European football to this football club and I want to bring it to where it deserves to be.
"As much as the excitement of joining a massive football club in the best competition in the world was attractive to me, the biggest thing about it was that there is an enormous challenge here. I love that. It's what I've done my whole career. Every club I've taken over, I have always taken over a side who have had a disappointing season or disappointing seasons. For me that is something I've cherished most in my career, to do things that will last and make a difference.
"To create something that hopefully lasts beyond my tenure because I wont be here forever. The kind of scenario you've painted of where we are at the moment is what attracted me most about this role. What a great challenge. What a great story if we get it right. So what does success look like? I think the fans will tell me that."
Every manager likes a good analogy and Postecoglou's came towards the end of the broadcast section of his press conference, even if it got a little bit mixed with road becoming railway and got messy with a derailment that apparently did not stop anything.
It involved what we'll now call 'The Ange Train', a locomotive that can derail but seemingly jump back on the tracks, and the new Spurs boss made it very clear that if you don't want a ticket for his train then you're only delaying the inevitable.
"[I told the players] just to be open-minded and not be too much bogged down too much by expectation or history. Just to understand that we are going to go down a different road. We are going to do things differently, not because I think it's better or anything but because it's me. I’m different to the other managers that have been here and I’ll do things my way," he said.
"The more we have people buy into that the quicker we will get to where we want to because when there is resistance it just slows down the process down but what I've made it clear is that it won’t change the process.
"It won't change where we're going, it won’t change me or the way we do things, it might just derail it for a little bit and it won't derail it for long because I won't allow it. The quicker they jump on the train the quicker we will get to our destination."
Everybody knew what he meant and Postecoglou's track-jumping train might just end up being the most exciting thing seen at Spurs for a long time.
