Postecoglou comes clean on comment Levy made before Europa League win | Football | Sport

Ange Postecoglou has revealed details of the conversation he held with former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy just before the club won the Europa League.

The 60-year-old guided Spurs to their first major piece of silverware in 17 years and their first European trophy in four decades before departing the north London club last summer – having prioritised winning the Europa League over Premier League form – with the club finishing 17th, albeit 13 points clear of the relegation zone.

Postecoglou’s replacement Thomas Frank was dismissed on Wednesday with Tottenham languishing in 16th position and only five points ahead of 18th-placed West Ham.

During an interview on The Overlap podcast, Postecoglou confirmed that the ‘Spursy’ mindset genuinely exists throughout the club, and his exchange with former chairman Levy before the Europa League final in Bilbao encapsulated for him the sentiment that permeated the organisation.

“It is ‘Spursy’, you can use ‘Spursy’. Yeah [that is a thing], 100 per cent there is. Yeah, absolutely and that was the thing I was trying to break,” said the Greek-born Australian. “And my whole statement about winning things in the second year, I was doing that for the club because no one internally would dare say that because they were just scared. They’d been close a few times.

“Even I remember the day of the Europa League final and, by that stage, the players were brilliant and I knew we’d win that day. I was just convinced the path we’d taken and everyone in the hotel was really calm.

“And I remember it was one of the few times actually Daniel came in and we had a coffee in the morning and he said to me; ‘Everyone’s really relaxed’. Even he was. And the only thing he said to me, which was bizarre as a motivational point, he said something like; ‘Oh, you know what? I’ve been in seven finals or seven finals and we haven’t won one’.

“But I know why he said that, because of that. So that’s what I’m saying. So you’ve got that and that does exist. Absolutely. And I think and then you break that by winning something and what do you do? You tear it all up and you go again.

“Like we had the Super Cup final and I’ll back myself to win that. We’ve could have had two trophies in the space of two months and then all of a sudden that’s out the window, that they can’t win a big game. You’ve done that. You’ve broken that. So that’s what I mean. That’s the curiosity in me of understanding why and, it’s not because it’s me, because at the end of the day, I’ve done what I’ve done.”

Postecoglou is convinced that strolling through the corridors of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium assisted him in solidifying what would unfold in Bilbao within the minds of his squad. “I was there for two years. But what are you trying to achieve? The biggest thing hanging over you was this ‘Spursy’ tag and I’m sure you all thought, you know what? Come the final, Man Utd will win because they just know how to win. And that exists there,” he stated.

“There isn’t a Tottenham supporter that I see now that doesn’t want to hug me, because they just never thought it would happen. They’ve been close so many times. They had world-class managers, world-class players. They’ve made finals, semi-finals.

“To be honest, the reason I was convinced we’d win was because that’s what I sold to the players. Outside the Tottenham dressing room at the home ground, there’s all the photos, but it’s only of the teams that have won things. I walked them through that and I just said; ‘Have a look at those walls. What do you notice’? I said; ‘Most of them are in black and white, because that’s how long ago it was’.

“And I go; ‘Who’s not on these walls? Harry’s not on these walls’. I said; ‘Sonny, you’re not on these walls, only one way we get on these walls, boys’. So that was a big driving force for me. I used it.

“That’s why I was convinced, get to the final, that we would win, because I think when it got tough and it was going to get tough, I think we had more to win than Man Utd on the night. I said; ‘Man Utd, they’ve always got something to lead them to the crunch of success’.

“This was a chance for this group of players. That’s the story I sold them. ‘Mate, you guys have got a chance to elevate yourself above all the other players that have come in the last 40 years’.”

Postecoglou confessed that he knew his dismissal was inevitable irrespective of the outcome in Bilbao and had sensed it months prior to that victory.

“I knew I was gone. I knew I was gone probably around, I think, the end of January, early February. I knew I was gone,” he said. “And I said to the coaches, look, it’s quite obvious. At the time, we weren’t in a relegation battle. We were, I think, 16 points away from relegation.

“I said; ‘Look, we’re in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. I think we can win it, and that means not just winning a trophy, you know how that is, but that also means Champions League football’.

“I said; ‘But the reality is, get your helmets on because every week we’re going to be copping it, but I’ll take that, don’t worry. I’ll take the responsibility for that’.

“But also, if we get knocked out of any stage of the Europa League, I said I’m pretty much sure it’s over. So I knew I was gone because you get a sense of that with the conversations you have about people. No-one was talking to me about the transfer window or pre-season so you kind of know. And that was fine. I didn’t understand it, but I’m thinking, you know what? Again, I didn’t want to get distracted. I was so laser-focused.

“Even for myself, it’s taken me 30 years to get here. What a unique opportunity to win a European trophy at a club that hasn’t had success for such a long time. I know I’ll remember. So I wasn’t going to let that distract me, but yeah, I knew I was gone.”

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