Ange Postecoglou could well become the next Tottenham Hotspur manager, but fans should not expect to see the Australian coach bring any backroom staff with him, and he has a good reason for travelling alone.
Tottenham are now two months and counting without a permanent manager at the club. However, all the talk at the moment seems to suggest the North London side may have found their man.
(Photo by Alex Todd/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
While many rumoured targets have fallen by the wayside, all of Tottenham Hotspur‘s attention now appears to be on Celtic‘s Ange Postecoglou. ESPN claim the Lilywhites are set to open talks with the 57-year-old early next week.
Postecoglou himself has stated he is not interested in the speculation while he has the Scottish Cup final to deal with (BBC).
Whether he wants the job or not, and whether Spurs chairman Daniel Levy decides to offer it to him, remains to be seen. However, we can glean a little about Postecoglou’s methods from this interview with Optus Sport.
When discussing why he doesn’t bring a consistent coaching staff with him to new jobs, Postecoglou said: “I see [giving people opportunities] as an important part of my career, probably in the past 15 years, even when I started coaching. I’ve always been a believer in opportunity because I know how limited it can be.
“In Australia, I saw so many people who felt deserved an opportunity but never got one. I fell into that bracket working with the Australian youth team.
“I had 12 months where, even though I had so much experience in winning championships over seven years as a national team boss, I couldn’t even get an assistant coach role in the A-League. I just didn’t feel that was right because we live in such a small world there.
Postecoglou stayed positive though, and that has influenced his own support networks: “I knew I would eventually break through and get my opportunity so when I did I’ve tried to open doors for as many coaches as possible along the way.
“All I do is open the door and to their credit, so many of them are doing so well and I’m just as proud of that as with anything I’m doing myself in coaching
“I hate for guys, having had that opportunity, to be denied it as potentially a career just because people weren’t prepared to look at them.
“So when I got [to Celtic], everyone knows I came in on my own. I didn’t bring in my own staff. I don’t have my own staff that comes along.
“In the back of my mind, if an opportunity comes up again and I could find an Australian – it doesn’t even have to be an Australian – just somebody who I think the door looks like it’s closing on them and I see something in them.”
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I do really like this outlook on hiring people and offering opportunities.
Obviously, having a more consistent staff around you can help, but there can be no harm in keeping things fresh and exploring new options each time a position needs filling.
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