Ange Postecoglou is used to mixed reactions when he takes a new job. So the response of Nottingham Forest fans to his appointment on Tuesday was par for the course. At Yokohama F. Marinos in 2018, fans were nonplussed at this Australian coming in. At Celtic, it was a case of, “Ange Who?” At Tottenham Hotspur two years ago, there were concerns about how a coach who had worked all over the world but never in a big European league would manage in the Premier League. Earlier in his career, doubters had been won over with trophies. When he moved on, fans from Australia to Japan to Scotland were sad to see him go.
At Spurs it was more complex. The initial scepticism quickly transformed into loving Big Ange, and then into something else again. The second season a trophy was won, the biggest for Tottenham since at least the FA Cup of 1991, but as the club came 17th in the league, the axe fell. That has been an unfamiliar scenario for the 60-year-old.
The last time came after he failed to take Australia to the 2007 under-20 World Cup and that infamous SBS interview with Craig Foster. That opinion is very much mixed in the English media, whether he is a good coach or not, is an improvement from two decades ago when it wasn’t mixed at all. Few then thought Postecoglou had much of a future in coaching, including the man himself.
The Greek-born tactician bounced back and then some, and once more has a point to prove. Almost every coach has a bad spell or two somewhere on their CVs but to have such questions asked after delivering a major trophy must rankle. Rightly or wrongly, the English media is the most influential in the football world. Postecoglou reportedly had offers from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and elsewhere but a return to England is significant. It is a move that can restore a reputation.
Football is a funny old game, as Brian Clough, the legendary Forest boss who took a team from the old second tier to the English title and two European Cups, probably said. Who would have thought when Postecoglou was fired in June that, three months later, he would be back in the Premier League while Daniel Levy and Son Heung-min would not? Arriving at The City Ground is not going to be easy. A popular and successful coach has just left, and fans upset about Nuno Santo’s departure don’t seem overjoyed at his replacement. After their most successful season for three decades, this is not a case of “the only way is up.”
However, here is a coach who, less than two decades ago, could not even get a job as the assistant for Melbourne Heart. Who then revolutionised the A-League with successful stints at Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory before winning the Asian Cup for Australia. The road wasn’t always smooth, leaving the Socceroos before the 2018 World Cup didn’t go down well but since then many Australians have watched his international exploits with pride.
On social media and in the comments sections, his compatriots defended Postecoglou when he first arrived at Celtic and Spurs and then sat back in satisfaction when the results came. The arguments have started again, Australians adding their opinions to the discussions of Forest fans who are trying to get their heads around the situation. For the coach, it is straight into the fray at Arsenal before the pressure is really on with league games against Burnley and Sunderland, just as the Europa League campaign gets under way with a tricky trip to Real Betis.
If Postecoglou can’t adapt, as many have said he can’t, then he may have problems taking over from a coach who has been an exponent of a more defensive and counterattacking type of football. A certain flexibility is automatic when you have worked in four different countries but there will be huge interest to see how he sets his team up in the coming weeks.
But adapting to Greek owner Evangelos Marinakis, often described as “combustible”, may not be that difficult compared with going to Japan where there is a completely different football and working culture that some foreign coaches find impenetrable and still being able to change the way Yokohama played and deliver their first title for 15 years.
Postecoglou will be a better coach for his two years at Tottenham. How much better? We may be about to see. Unusually in his career, he has unfinished business and a point to prove. As Australians know, that has produced something special in the past.
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