Ange Postecoglou cut a frustrated figure again on Sunday after his side fell to an unexpected and damaging 2-1 home defeat to newly-promoted Ipswich, who had failed to win any of their opening 10 Premier League games.
Goals from Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap put the visitors 2-0 up at half-time, before Rodrigo Bentancur put the hosts back in contention on 69 minutes. But there was to be no dramatic comeback in North London.
It condemned Spurs to a second defeat of the week - after their 3-2 reversal at Galatasaray in the Europa League - and left them languishing in 10th in the Premier League. Suddenly, the positive mood after the EFL Cup victory over Manchester City and 4-1 drubbing of Aston Villa has dissipated.
Ange Postecoglou directs anger towards Tottenham crowd
FULL-TIME: Tottenham 1-2 Ipswich.A fan shouted something at Ange Postecoglou at the final whistle, he clearly didn't like what he heard.There were a lot of boos at the final whistle.#COYS #THFC pic.twitter.com/O7AC7ohC4vNovember 10, 2024
And Postecoglou appears to be feeling the strain. Never one to shy away from confrontation, there was a moment of drama as he left the pitch towards the tunnel following the Ipswich loss.
Amid various shouts of encouragement and other inaudible exclamations, the Australian seemed to hear something offensive. He stopped in his tracks, turned towards the fans to the right of the tunnel and glared, momentarily, in their direction.
After seemingly being unable to locate the source of the shout, a visibly disgruntled Postecoglou continued down the tunnel.
It is not the first time the Spurs boss has directed his ire towards the crowd, of course. During last season’s dramatic 0-2 defeat to Manchester City, Postecoglou was seen arguing with a supporter close to his technical area. Clearly, he is not afraid to stand up for himself.
Plenty of Spurs fans admire their manager’s evident passion, but the mood may begin to change if results remain inconsistent. And Postecoglou acknowledged his fallibility after the Ipswich defeat.
"It's just down to me. I’m not getting consistent performances from the players," he told BBC Sport. "It's something I need to address. I'm the person in charge so that's usually the way it goes. I take responsibility when their performances don't meet the levels that they should."
Postecoglou will hope the upcoming international break serves as an opportunity for him and his players to recharge ahead of another busy period.
Spurs play Manchester City at the Etihad in the Premier League next, before hosting Roma in the Europa League, followed by an all-London clash with in-form Fulham.
