Ange Postecoglou has repeatedly insisted he would rather his Tottenham side played their football and showed progress on the pitch than won ugly.
So what could the head coach take from Wednesday’s late show at Coventry, as an abject Spurs scraped into the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with two late goals despite one of the limpest performances of the Postecoglou era?
Before substitutes Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson struck, Spurs were heading for a disastrous result, which would have heaped pressure on the Australian and severely dented supporter confidence in his project.
For the first time under Postecoglou, there were signs of mutiny from match-going fans, with some boos from the away end when he hooked Lucas Bergvall moments before Coventry deservedly took the lead. If Spurs had lost, there would have been some ugly reactions.
The hope is that Postecoglou, who made eight changes from Sunday’s north London derby, takes the win and a lesson from the game: heavily-rotated Spurs teams have struggled against supposedly weaker opposition in the cups, and last night not only felt familiar to three of their first four matches of this season but so many historic knockout defeats down the years.
Spurs were knocked out of last season’s competition at Fulham after he made nine changes, and yet he still chose to shake-up a struggling side, with a first start in more than a year for goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
“We were always going to play these guys because we’ve got Europe starting next week,” Postecoglou said. “Some key players got some good minutes that mean that when we do need to make changes moving forward, they’re ready.”
For many Spurs fans, the cup competitions are the priority this term over a top-four finish
Postecoglou’s reasoning underlined what increasingly feels like a major disconnect between Spurs supporters and club over the domestic cups.
There is no doubt Postecoglou wants to win every game but it is impossible to argue that he regards the Carabao Cup as anything but a low priority when he is effectively using it to get minutes in the legs of players he may need in other competitions.
Mauricio Pochettino took a similar approach but his side were genuinely competing for the League title and he has since suggested he was mandated to keep Spurs competitive in the top-flight while the club built a new stadium.
Today, Tottenham’s executives no doubt want to win the Carabao Cup too, but the £100,000 for the winners and the TV revenues are relatively small-fry compared to what Spurs could make from Champions League qualification, so would they prioritise it over a top-four finish?
For many - if not most - Spurs fans, the cup competitions are the priority this term.
Playing in the Champions League simply does not have the same allure to fans as it did a decade ago. Spurs fans have lived the glory nights against Real Madrid and AC Milan, but now they desperately want to win a trophy for the first time in 16 years.
Asked about the boos when Bergvall went off, Postecoglou said he does not “make substitutions by poll” but if he did, he may find supporters would rather give Forster and Co minutes against Brentford on Saturday or at home to Qarabag in the Europa League next week. Lose in those games, and there is time to recover. Lose in the cups, and you are out.
Postecoglou argues that he is in the midst of a project to turn Spurs into a club that can challenge for every trophy in every season, and suggested last night that he will not “jeopardise” that aim by making his life easier short-term.
That is his prerogative and makes some sense, but as the furore around the strange game against Manchester City in May demonstrated, when Spurs fans and the club are not on the same page, tensions tend to arise.
