Ange Postecoglou’s charm is that he wins trophies in his second season. Also, he may just have the hardest quote in modern football. He said he would win a trophy, and he did.
“Usually in my second season, I win things”. Ange Postecoglou said this in September 2024, and it felt like a fleeting statement, but to Postecoglou, it was just pure facts. It’s what he’s done all his life. Win.
Reporters kept asking him questions about his statement, if he meant it, especially considering that he was managing a Tottenham side that was in their worst Premier League season, managing to scrape out a win against teams in the lower half of the Premier League table.
But every time he was asked, he made sure to state he believed it because that’s what he had done in his career as a manager.
READ: How Postecoglou Predicted Tottenham’s Europa Final Victory
The Australian manager is a serial winner and had every reason to make a statement like that. He started his career in the Australian National Soccer League, and in his second and third seasons at the club, he guided them to back-to-back championships.
In his time coaching the Australian U-17s and U-20s, he was also successful, winning three regional championships each with both youth teams. He moved to Brisbane Roar, and he didn’t need to wait till a second season as he won two consecutive league titles with the club. He continued this fine form in his second year with the Australian National Team by guiding them to an Asian Cup trophy in 2015 after beating current Spurs captain, Son Heung Min’s South Korea in the final.
The Australian manager had a three-and-a-half-year spell at Yokohama F. Marinos in the J1 league, and as you may have guessed, he won again. His time at Celtic needs no new introduction, as he won 5 trophies in two years at the club.
So when he said ‘I’m going to correct it. I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second season,’ he was talking from a place of experience, he’d seen it happen.
Now with Spurs, it felt impossible. Talking about this Tottenham side that has struggled and were without Harry Kane, you wouldn’t have expected it, but Postecoglou believed, and despite what fans were saying, the players believed it too. Yesterday’s victory in the Europa League final just showed the pedigree and class that Ange has.
He’s given Tottenham their first trophy since 2008 and fulfilled his promise. He is a man of his word and will go down as a top manager in Tottenham folklore.
