Ange Postecoglou acknowledged that while there might be historical reasons why the term ‘Spursy’ might be attached to Tottenham, he insisted that he does not listen to those noises while trying to change the culture at the club.
Tottenham are undoubtedly the biggest club in Europe to have gone without winning silverware for so long, with the club lifting their last trophy all the way back in 2008.
The Lilywhites have certainly come close on many occasions, often falling at the final hurdle, which is why opposition fans have coined the term ‘Spursy’ to refer to their inability to get over the line.
However, Postecoglou has insisted that everything is in place at N17 for the club to be successful, insisting that he does not pay too much attention to what is said on the outside.
The Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “I think that (Spursy term) is OK but that’s an external viewpoint, it doesn’t help me and that’s my way of thinking my way through the process going into a new environment and turning it into something that I believe can be successful.
“I will give you an example – what do you reckon the first thing happened when I was appointed? It was that I got about a million different opinions about what needed to change here, and if I put them on a spreadsheet I would probably have had to get rid of all the players and all the staff, balanced by keeping all the players and all the staff. Just about everyone was great or not great.”
Tottenham fans will have to be patient with Ange
Postecoglou acknowledged that the club is willing to commit to real change which is why they turned to him last summer but he pointed out that change does not happen overnight.
He added: “It’s not like people start with a clean slate because that doesn’t exist either, everyone has a history, but you have got to look beyond the obvious – and the obvious was that the club wanted change and very few people are willing to commit to real change.
“Real change means people, habits, behaviours and making strong decisions around those things – and not just a new manager comes in and everything’s going to be all right. It doesn’t work that way.”
“It’s an ongoing process but usually within the first month or six weeks, you get a good pretty good indication with the direction and how strong I need to be.
“The reality is that sometimes you can’t make the changes anyway, there are people committed to the club and you can’t change. Then you have to find a way to work through that process.
“For me, it’s usually the first month where I keep my mouth shut, look and listen and breathe in what information I can. Then I make my assessments from there.”
Spurs Web Opinion
The Spursy label has no meaning anymore as the playing squad and the coaching staff at the club now do not have those scars of the previous Tottenham sides and there is no reason for them to feel burdened by the club’s recent history.
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