Repeatedly hearing the word 'mate' in an Aussie accent is close to coming back to Premier League press conferences. Ange Postecoglou's imminent return to the English top-flight is certainly a good thing for the neutral. Handbrake off. Fast and fluid football. Defensive mishaps. All or nothing. That's what we became used to during his tenure at Tottenham, and the 60-year-old is now set to replace the sacked Nuno Espírito Santo as the new Nottingham Forest manager. The Australian has never held back his true emotions, and the prospect of him working with the hot-headed Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis could also add another layer of drama to proceedings.
But on the pitch itself what can Postecoglou bring to the City ground? At Spurs, there was a clear identity under the Australian. A sheer determination to play fast attacking football. It was at times naive. It certainly cost Tottenham points, and ultimately cost Postecoglou his job. But there was something admirable in how he stuck to his principles and beliefs. Will we see the same style at Forest? To try and answer the questions of Postecoglou's future at Forest, Transfermarkt takes a look back into the past and analyses his time at Tottenham.
Tottenham's worst ever Premier League finish
Let's start with the bread and butter which is the Premier League. In his first campaign in north London, Postecoglou led Tottenham to a respectable fifth-placed finish. However, after being top of the table after 10 games, it was a mighty drop off in the second half of the campaign which led to Spurs missing out on Champions League football. That form certainly carried over into last season. Under Postecoglou's stewardship, the 2024/25 season ended up being Tottenham's worst ever Premier League campaign.
As illustrated in the graphic above, the comparison to the previous 15 seasons highlights just how poor a domestic campaign it was for Spurs. They finished in 17th place with just 38 points. In many other seasons that would have been enough to actually get relegated into the second-tier. That meant that in the league last season, Postecgolou had an appalling record of just 1.00 points per game (ppg). In the Australian's defence, Tottenham did have rotten luck with injuries, and he was rarely able to call upon his best defence. However, his lack of adaptability was evident. But it was in Europe, he really showed his worth.
Winning Tottenham their first trophy in 17 years
In what has proved to be one of the coldest quotes in modern football, at the beginning of last season Postecoglou famously said, "I don't usually win things, I always win things in my second year, nothing's changed." It was a quote vilified at the time, but eight months later, those words came to fruition as Tottenham beat Manchester United in Bilbao to win the Europa League - the club's first trophy in 17 years. The first since winning the EFL Cup in 2008.
In truth, the quality had significantly dropped in the competition following the UEFA changes at the start of last term, with Spurs beating Bodo Glimt in the semi-final and a poor Manchester United side in the final, but Postecoglou was the one to finally get them over the line and break the curse. Winning a trophy was the feat that most Tottenham fans wanted more than most, and would have sacrificed a miserable league campaign for the silverware. But it wasn't enough for Postecoglou to keep his job. He was relieved of his duties just two weeks later. Having Postecoglou back in the Premier League is good for the division, but will his all or nothing style lead to success with Nottingham Forest? The jury's out.