The fiery Tottenham Hotspur boss hit back at a journalist at his press conference in Bilbao ahead of Wednesday night's Europa League final against Manchester United
Ange Postecoglou launched a furious attack on his critics ahead of the Europa League final, declaring: “I’m no clown.”
Asked in the final media conference ahead of Spurs’ showdown with Manchester United in Bilbao if he was conscious of a ‘fine line between two different types of infamy and history’, an angry Postecoglou responded: “I'll tell you one thing, irrespective of tomorrow, I'm not a clown and never will be.
"You really disappointed me that you (the reporter’s publication) used such terminology to describe a person that for 26 years, without any favours from anyone, has worked his way to a position where he is leading out a club in a European final.
"For you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I'm a clown, I'm not sure how to answer that question …”
The final against United will be Postecoglou’s 100th game in charge of Spurs and most observers expect it to be his penultimate match in charge. Spurs will wrap up their season against Brighton on the final day of the Premier League on Sunday.
At times in Bilbao, Postecoglou gave hints that he knows he is very unlikely to be in charge next season but said that talk about his future was “irrelevant”.
He did, however, claim his long-term Spurs project is still on track, saying: “I don't think my job is done here. I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that.
"I still think there is a lot of work to be done. That is quite obvious with the challenges we've had this year, but I think there is some reasoning in the context of that but also there has been some growth that I would like to see through.
"Whether that happens or not, that's not important right now but I don't think this job is finished. I feel like there is some growth there that we can take this club where it needs to be."