Ange Postekoglou with another trophy after Celtic won the Scottish Cup on Saturday. Photo: PA/Jane Barlow
For all English footballers, the belief that he is at the center of the world, that he still has a problematic relationship with parts of the game that seem new to him or too different for his taste, is a long ignoble tradition of suspicion.
Perhaps a bit surprising then, that an Australian manager with Greek roots and a background including Japan and later Scotland could find himself rejected as a potential Tottenham Hotspur manager by part of the club's backing. Ange Postekoglou may consider himself the latest in a long line of people or ideas that initially made part of English football mistrustful – its fans, its players, its governing bodies.
Passing the ball, hosting a World Cup final, televising matches, floodlights, organizing European cups, training with (not without) the ball, football with possession, 4-3-3, Glenn Hoddle, No. 10 as playmaker, three defenders, Arsene Wenger. None of them passed the English proficiency test on the first try.
Postekoglu, a 57-year-old Melbourne-raised Greek-born coach who has been successful – and succeeded on his own terms – wherever he has been, is no problem here. The problem is that the old English football is afraid of the new and, in particular, the outsider who does not fit a set of vague criteria. The protest of the Spurs fans against Postekoglu was accompanied by the phrase “we deserve better”. This is the club that has won one trophy in the 21st century and was the last league champion when John F. Kennedy was in the White House. When it comes to what they deserve, wouldn't it hurt to clarify?
It's hard to know where to start with these arguments. It's much easier to look at Postecoglu's career for signs of fitness or otherwise, and what comes out is clear. His career is unusual by the standards of many Premier League managers, but very impressive.
He personifies something: attacking, exciting football and a refusal to compromise – as evidenced by his decision to leave the Australian team ahead of the Russian 2018 championship on principle. He led the Socceroos to the tournament, also winning the AFC Asian Cup – the country's only major trophy outside of Oceania – finishing shortly before the 2014 World Cup. His playing days were an era when there was almost no football infrastructure in the country.
He is a risk-taker and also an adventurer – his J-League stage is reminiscent of Wenger's career wanderings in the mid-1990s. Perhaps Spurs fans are worried about the idea of a coach from a country where football is not traditionally among the top sports. Well known in Australia and much better known in Scotland, Postecoglou's story is more complex. This is the eternal immigrant story. About a culture borrowed from an old country, first as a way to cope with change, and then blended with the best qualities of the sporting power that is Australia.
He talked a lot about how football helped him adapt at the age of five, who arrived by boat with his parents and older sister, and none of them spoke a word of English. His father struggled to gain a foothold in the new country after seeing the successful business embezzled by the Greek state after the 1967 military coup. But father and son had a bond and were going to watch the local South Melbourne club along with thousands of other Greek immigrants.
One only has to look at Postecoglou's career to see that he is as immersed in the game as anyone who walks Tottenham High Road on matchday. Football was the first, he said many times, with an openness not always easily associated with Australian athletic men, a way of bonding with his father that could sometimes be lost due to the hardships of his new life. A more valuable item overall, because sometimes it had to be hidden at school amid the mainstream obsession with Australian rules and cricket.
Once convinced of his football experience, it is worth examining his career, which, like many managers without matchday glory, is essentially a matter of opportunity. For some time he was an Australian national team player. He was also a successful coach in South Melbourne. But none of this got him far in a country where football coaches were typically brought in from overseas.
He has endured major setbacks, including a hiatus after coaching the Australian under-20s . Then there were home triumphs in the A-league, but even his success in the Socceroos did not guarantee a job in a European club. He could be found in Japan because they saw firsthand what he did to Australia in the Asiatic Confederation.
Postecoglu said that when his old friend and agent Frank Trimboli secured a video link interview with the Celtic owners in 2021 for his client, Postecoglu had his doubts. He often sat down on these calls only to ensure that no one connected to the other end. This one was different.
Undoubtedly, Trimboli, an Australian of Italian origin and one of Europe's leading agents, was a strong ally, and you only need them to get in the door. But Postecoglu kept his end of the bargain. Success and a certain style of football accompanied him everywhere.
In a pre-season friendly against Manchester City in 2019, Pep Guardiola was impressed that Postecoglou's Melbourne Victory had the most possession. Postecoglu was assigned by Celtic during the lockdown and did not bring his own staff, preferring to work with those who were there. Coming here when Rangers were champions, now, after winning Saturday's Scottish Cup final, he has won five of six domestic trophies in two years.
It's not an orthodox career, but it's still a great career. about where it started. Not every manager is fully formed in their 30s and ready to take on the world—or just the Spurs—because not every manager has the same opportunities. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but all of Postecoglu's experience is real. Perhaps Daniel Levy will appreciate Champions League winner Luis Enrique, or even veteran Premier League player Marco Silva. But Postecoglu deserves a spot on this list. He deserved it.
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