Ange Postecoglou has hit back at a claim that he will be regarded as a “clown” if Tottenham Hotspur fail to beat Manchester United in the Europa League final.
The two Premier League strugglers — 16th and 17th, respectively — face off in Bilbao on Wednesday night, with a trophy and a place in next season’s Champions League on the line.
Postecoglou, speaking to the press on Tuesday afternoon, confirmed that Lucas Bergvall is still injured, while club captain Heung-min Son is available.
On his captain’s availability, the Australian head coach said (all quotes via Football London): “Yeah, massive to get Sonny back.
“We were a little bit worried when he picked up the injury because we just weren’t sure how long he would be out for, but he worked so hard to make sure he was back.
“Really pleased the other night to see him play 60 to 70 minutes and you could see his sharpness coming back.
“He’s just so important to the group and he is so important as a leader. He is such an important figure at this football club and it’s a big motivation and driver for all of us, including me, to give him a trophy that his career deserves.
“Again, he is a guy who has come from the other side of the world. Not many players have come from Asian and stayed in the Premier League, the top league in the world, for so long and maintained that excellence. It would be great to cap that off with a trophy for him.
“He knows and we all know that we have still got to do the work. He’s been in this position before obviously in the Champions League final so he has that experience. I am sure he will pass that onto the players.”
The largest talking point was potentially ending Spurs’ 17-year trophy drought and his future at the club.
Asked if his future will be decided by the club’s hierarchy, Big Ange responded in classic Big Ange fashion: “My future is assured, mate. I wouldn’t be the first person who changes job. We all change jobs. I am sure you’ve had more than one job.
“My future is assured, I have got a beautiful family, I’ve got a great life, I’ll keep on winning trophies until I finish – wherever that is.
“Don’t worry about my future, mate. My future is not intertwined with anything. My future is assured provided god-willing my health remains, my beautiful family is beside me, my friends, there is nothing wrong with my future, mate.
“Don’t stress. Sleep easy tonight. I’ll be OK.”
Postecoglou was also quick to dismisses questions about whether or not the Europa League final will be his penultimate game in charge.
“Does it matter? Really? It doesn’t matter because the reality of it is the opportunity is the same, for me and more importantly for the club. I’ve said before that whatever happens beyond tomorrow is kind of irrelevant when you think about the opportunity that exists right now.
“That opportunity is to provide something special for the football club and for the supporters and for everyone who has worked so hard, not just this year but for the 15, 16 years, however long it has been without a trophy and also the 41 years without a European trophy.
“If I was worried about my tenure at this football club, it’s fair to say we wouldn’t have been in this position because I would have been distracted long ago. I’m pretty good at just making sure all my focus is on giving this football club the best opportunity that it’s had for a while to do something special.
“Whatever happens after that, mate, I’m very, very comfortable that I’ll continue on trying to win trophies wherever I am.”
An article from Dan Kilpatrick for Standard Sport this week claimed Postecoglou is ‘teetering between hero and clown’ and the journalist asked the ex-Celtic boss if he was conscious of the infamy v legendary status if Spurs win or lose against United.
Postecoglou replied: “That depends on your outlook, but I’ll tell you one thing: irrespective of what happens tomorrow, I’m not a clown and I never will be, mate.
“I’m really disappointed that you would use such terminology about a person who for 26 years without any favours from anyone has worked his way to a position where he’s leading out a club in a European major competition (final).
“For you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I’m a clown, not really sure how to answer that question.”
Asked what’s more important between Champions League qualification or the trophy, Postecoglou replied: “It’s a great prize, the significance of Champions League qualification and what it means for every football club.
“There are the obvious benefits but also you get the opportunity to play against the best in the continent. But the club has been in the Champions League before. It hasn’t won a trophy for a long time. So that’s the most important thing.
Asked if having beaten United three times this season adds pressure or makes him more confident, Big Ange said: “Neither because it’s a final and you know that those kind of things aren’t important.
“If we had lost all three games your question would probably be ‘do you feel the pressure because you can’t beat them’, so… What I do know, and I’ve been in this situation a few times in my career in the big games, even your form going into it, even if you’ve got terrible form… it doesn’t matter.
“What matters is how the players cope with the occasion tomorrow. How they cope with understanding the importance of the game. For both clubs, you just don’t know how players are going to react to such a big occasion.
“My role in that is to try to prepare the players in the best possible way and also to prepare the players for Manchester United to be at their best, and that’s what you have to prepare for. If you prepare that way, and then you go out there and play to the potential that you can, you give yourself an opportunity.
“But I don’t think it really matters what you’ve done before any opposition when it comes to big games. Maybe in the league it’s a bit different. But in a final, everything gets decided on the day.”