Ange Postecoglou has been warned “look at me” speeches won’t work in the millionaire’s playground of the English Premier League.
After taking over as Tottenham’s new boss, an old clip of the former Celtic manager addressing his Australia squad before their 2017 Confederations Cup match has resurface has resurfaced. It shows Postecoglou telling his players to think of inspirational family members, friends and coaches who will be “walking out” with them, referencing his own father in a bid to inspire his men to a famous win.
While it gains traction online and on social media, Simon Jordan has warned more substance is needed in the English top flight and, regardless of how Ange got his Hoops team purring, one wrong word to his new mega rich squad and they won’t buy into his vision, forcing him to fight an uphill battle. “I can just imagine Richarlison responding to all that,” Jordan scoffed after co-host Jim White played the clip on talkSport.
“I’ve never been one for those because you can take them out of context. I could get Michael Sheen to trot that out like he did when giving a speech to the Welsh rugby team. The bottom line is, this is about how you manager players - not in individual moments - but how manage them over a period of time, how you connect with them individually, with players of highfalutin levels. Not Australian footballers that are playing for a second rate international side and aren’t going to compete at the highest level.
“Great that they get to World Cups. They’re not going to win World Cups. Great that you can get Celtic to play in a certain way. You're moving into the Premier League now. You're moving into multi-millionaire territory where they are all individuals in their own right and all have their own opinions. That sport of stuff is great. I like it and I understand it but it has limited benefit. Those are moments that we will see and go, ‘Oh look at that! What a Churchillian speech that is’.
“Neil Warnock never did that. He went down to an individual level, talking to players like Victor Moses and Shaun Derry on an individual level. He didn’t give one of these Churchillian speeches across a dressing room saying: ‘Look at me! Cometh the hour, cometh the man!’ There’s a place for it. But if we’re going to suggest that’s what’s going to get Tottenham Hotspur to win leagues, we’re a little bit naive.
“But I also think there’s a place for it. Being around professional footballers, we know what they’re like. The moment you misspeak, the moment they don’t buy into something and the moment they think this is a load of old fanny, it will make no difference how many different versions of the Anzacs you can create in your mind about what they did in the First and Second World War."
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