Manager Watch: Ange Postecoglou

[Styopa]

In a weird way as much of a disastrous decision it would be, I might actually take Ange being sacked mid season for Ryan Mason because the knives would well and truly be out for Levy. Not something he could quash easily at all. No big name managers he could bring in to shut it up. No sticking plaster players he could bring in for a temporary manager. Might speed up the takeover.

I think Levy could ride it out. He's pulled off similar tricks before. He even got away with sacking Mourinho mid-season before a cup final, then taking months and months before finally appointing Nuno and then sacking him two or three months into the season for Conte. And let's not forget, fans were buzzing the day we appointed Conte, despite the shambles leading up to it.

 

[THOWIG]

I don't want him gone by any means, but thanks to Bournemouth, Brighton and Ipswich our next manager recruitment is a lot clearer.

 

[WiganSpur]

I think Levy could ride it out. He's pulled off similar tricks before. He even got away with sacking Mourinho mid-season before a cup final, then taking months and months before finally appointing Nuno and then sacking him two or three months into the season for Conte. And let's not forget, fans were buzzing the day we appointed Conte, despite the shambles leading up to it.

Maybe. It would depend on how late in the season he pulled the trigger. In the case of Jose it was quite late on so a coherent argument might have been to say that he wanted more time to get the next appointment right. And in addition to that although nobody agreed with the timing of the sacking, Mourinho was nowhere near as popular with the fans as Postecoglou is.

In Nuno’s case he already had Conte lined up immediately to distract everyone from his incompetence. He won’t be able to do that this time around.

Add in the fact that it’s been yet another manager vastly different in style without success and I think he would do extremely well to ride it out.

Our best chance of getting him out is him making a PR blunder like this which really leaves a chink in his armour. He’s been superb at playing the game all this time but maybe he’s due a slip up.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Maybe. It would depend on how late in the season he pulled the trigger. In the case of Jose it was quite late on so a coherent argument might have been to say that he wanted more time to get the next appointment right.

He once took over 9 months to get the right man. And he fucked off after a dozen games

 

[mil1lion]

We’ve had a pretty kind run of fixtures to hit the ground running this season. Arsenal and City are faltering massively. Liverpool and Chelsea have new managers. United have already sacked their manger. We are still in 10th place and have given two relegations candidates their first wins of the season.

We didn’t lay a glove on winless Palace. We blew a two goal lead to Brighton. 2-0 down to a winless Ipswich at home by half time. This isn’t fine margins, this is a royal fuckup.

Not sure how kind it has been. Away at Brighton and Newcastle we lost both last season. Home to Arsenal we lost last season. Away at Utd where we draw last season. Generally 4 games we really struggle with. Plus Villa and West Ham in previous 2 season won at our place. But absolutely agree on the games at Palace and the newly promoted sides. We absolutely have to maximise points in those ones which we did last season against Burnley, Luton and Sheff Utd. When you take those new teams out things are better than last season points wise. When you add the cups to that its actually progress as 3 wins 1 loss in Europe and 2 wins in the EFL to 1 loss last season.

Last season
Everton home won
Newcastle away lost
Arsenal home lost
Utd away drew
Brentford home won
Brighton away lost
Villa home lost
West Ham home lost
Palace away won
10 points

This season
Everton home won
Newcastle away lost
Arsenal home lost
Utd away won
Brentford home won
Brighton away lost
Villa home won
West Ham home won
Palace away lost
15 points

It's just the 5 points set us back at Leicester and home to Ipswich , otherwise I'd say that would be good progress.

 

[WiganSpur]

He once took over 9 months to get the right man. And he fucked off after a dozen games

As hilarious as that is, unfortunately for us there were barely any games during that time. At the end of the season the expectation was that a top manager would come in.

When Nuno came in it was “well not the standard I’d want but he’s not terrible and he’s a nice bloke so let’s give him a chance”

And when Nuno did go Conte was immediately drafted in to shut everyone up.

The point is if he fucks up like that mid season he’s gonna be getting pelters by the fans every week like never before.

I’m still hopeful that he will make a brand Levy strategic fuck up that this time he can’t fix to take the heat off him.

The fans best way of engineering this is to cheer Ange and boo the fuck out of Levy no matter the results. If he feels the heat he might pull the trigger and cause himself more harm than good.

 

[Yiddo1982]

I think A&C is talking about Santini?

 

[cliff jones]

I've seen it all now. Why don't football fans moan when their team wins? But they do when they lose? Hahaha, what do you fkin expect?

Why do they say, I'm really happy after beating a top team, but what would be the point if we then lose to a shit team the next week? And when that actually comes to pass theyre disappointed?! How so?

And then take a step back, realise weve taken a single point off Leicester, Palace and Ipswich and are squarely in mid table,
how irrational would it be to pay the highest prices in the land, read about the owner striving to slash an already under control wage bill, and dare to question the culture of failure that permeates from his unaccountable backside all the way through our once proud Club?

But we never see him, like we don't see our full backs when we are countered on, or anyone close to replicating the playing style of Mickey or Udog when they expire due to overplay?

If Ange is happy with all that, hes a Dutchman. Or looking up at Anfield, he should have been...

 

[Tucker]

But we didn't win them, and it's a consistent pattern. We didn't show up in them either

This simply isn’t true. While it could be argued we didn’t turn up against Palace and Ipswich, we played well at Newcastle and deserved at least a point, and we absolutely battered Leicester but just couldn’t score another that would have won us the game.

 

[cliff jones]

Spot on but This has been happening for years! All of a sudden Dragusin is bad recruitment..forgetting the meltdown was had when he nearly went to Bayern.

We have to give him time, we have a great opportunity in the cups.

Why do you try to paint this as anything other than normal? We all want good quality, and depth, we think he's coming, then he might not, then he hits a bad patch- it's normal to begin wondering whether he's going to be a hit or a miss?

No one's suggesting his head should be chopped off, especially when he looks off balance playing on the left of the two.

Which hes doing because we were left short in the summer

 

[mil1lion]

This simply isn’t true. While it could be argued we didn’t turn up against Palace and Ipswich, we played well at Newcastle and deserved at least a point, and we absolutely battered Leicester but just couldn’t score another that would have won us the game.

Also the 2 league games where we were particularly bad against Palace and Ipswich were both teams who kept wasting time and stop starting. Similar to the NLD actually. That seems to be an achiles heel for us in particular. When teams stop our flow we need to find a way to win ugly.

 

[JW72]

Jenas on Ange (from an instagram Q&A today mostly on golf)…

 

[sidford]

Jenas on Ange (from an instagram Q&A today mostly on golf)… View attachment 147861

Kiss of death if ever I read one

 

[spark7586]

He rejected us.

I thought it was the da t that left wouldn’t pay his release clause. Didn’t this come out when he went to liverpool that they paid it straight off whereas Levy haggled and didn’t want to pay it.

 

[DiVaio]

I thought it was the da t that left wouldn’t pay his release clause. Didn’t this come out when he went to liverpool that they paid it straight off whereas Levy haggled and didn’t want to pay it.

Just not true, as at least one offer from Liverpool was rejected by Feyenoord. We paid 5m gbp for Ange, while LFC paid 7,5m gbp for Slot which isn't that different after another successful season. He didn't have release clause in 2023 and removed his 5m eur release clause for 2024 when extended his contract.

 

[parj]

The main problem we have is we have some small mentality players that don't show up for the games against Ipswich and palace. Move those players on and replace with better mentality.

I think for me it's Romero, Maddison, Bissouma, and Werner. Players prone to severe brain farts or disappearing.

 

[parj]

What the heck am I reading that people happy for Ange to go?

I didn't even want the guy at Tottenham but I was wrong. When we click, it's beautiful. We just need a better bench and options to bring in for players that can't handle it

 

[mil1lion]

The main problem we have is we have some small mentality players that don't show up for the games against Ipswich and palace. Move those players on and replace with better mentality.

I think for me it's Romero, Maddison, Bissouma, and Werner. Players prone to severe brain farts or disappearing.

Those are the ones I'm most disappointed in and Richarlison more for his constant injuries. They're the peak players and while we talk about lack of senior signings they're the peak players we rely on. I think Bentancur and Solanke are the only 2 in their peak years who are playing at a high enough level. Davies and Son are fine for those over 30s still will do a job for the team when called on and Son still has those world class moments. Upgrading the peak players has to be the priority.

 

[PLTuck]

I see a few folks calling for him to be sacked or give him the season and most likely sack him after that. I think my question is who would be the next man up, if that happened? Thomas Frank? Meh. Marco Silva? Meh x2. We missed the boat on Slot, Amorim, etc. Iraola could be intriguing.

I think that’s my fear; that the grass is not greener (we’ve learned this numerous times over the past few seasons) and I’m kind of struggling to see an obvious upgrade on Ange. It’s a genuine question in regards to who comes next, because I really have no clue.

How's that Gallardo guy doing that was high on SC's wishlist pre-Ange? TBH I still want Howe if Ange leaves. I wanted him post Poch, post Jose and post Conte. I think he's an excellent manager.

But really I want us to stick with Ange longer than 2 seasons. If we want to "grow" a team then we have to have patience with that team. Galatasary would have been invaluable experience for the youngsters but it takes time. It doesn;t just change after 1 bad match.

Also, stats analysis take time to build up a coherent picture. Even a whole season with a squad is a small sample size in the big picture.

 

[Styopa]

How's that Gallardo guy doing that was high on SC's wishlist pre-Ange? TBH I still want Howe if Ange leaves. I wanted him post Poch, post Jose and post Conte. I think he's an excellent manager.

But really I want us to stick with Ange longer than 2 seasons.

Howe seems like a good manager, but Newcastle are only a couple of points above us and finished six points below us last season. They've also lost away to Brighton and Fulham and dropped points at Everton—results similar to the ones we've been frustrated by this season. Last year, they also lost to Palace, Luton, Forest, Everton, and Bournemouth, among others.

I don't follow Newcastle closely, so maybe Howe is on the verge of taking them to the next level, but I can imagine many of the same criticisms being voiced by Newcastle fans about Howe that Tottenham fans have expressed about Ange—three years in, still lacking consistency and losing to weaker sides. I know it's different circumstances but I'm sure many Newcastle expect to beat the likes of Everton, Luton etc.