The Guardian

Ange Postecoglou has said the media believes he will be sacked even if Tottenham rescue their season by winning the Europa League.

The manager, who accused critics of always trying to “turn gold into crap”, was in spiky mood before his side host the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt and has clearly taken note of the talk over his future. Postecoglou has talked about ignoring external noise but he responded to a question about wanting to prove people wrong by picking out a reporter who wrote that success in Europe would not save the Australian’s job.

“I just think we’re in that position that the good stuff we may do is going to be turned into a glass-half-full rhetoric and, from that perspective, I don’t think that can be a driver in what we want to do,” Postecoglou said. “The lads are really keen to bring success to the club. I just think there’s a real determination to take the opportunity that they’ve earned at this point.

“I think [someone] wrote that even if we win it I’m gone anyway. That’s not having a go at you, that’s just saying the general sentiment of people. So if you’re trying to use that as a motivation, you’re not going to win that anyway. There’s got to be more in it for us, and for us what is the most important thing as a group is that we’ve been through a really tough time but we’re still in a position where we can make an impact.

“We’re in a quarter-final and I don’t know how many times the club has been in a quarter-final in European competition. You don’t want to let that slip you by or have the wrong mindset going into it. I think the players are handling it well. They’re going to face a top team but they have the capabilities to overcome that.”

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, Brentford’s Thomas Frank and Fulham’s Marco Silva will be in the frame if Spurs, who are 14th in the Premier League after 16 defeats from 31 games, sack Postecoglou. Reports in Germany cite Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner as another contender. Postecoglou is under pressure before facing Frankfurt, who are third in the Bundesliga, and he bristled at the attention paid to a dispute between Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel over a penalty during last Sunday’s win over Southampton. Johnson won the spot kick and looked deflated after the ball was handed to Tel, whose successful conversion put Spurs 3-1 up.

“It’s incredible, it’s just literally turning gold into crap when it’s Tottenham,” Postecoglou said. “Seriously. If we’re 2-1 up tomorrow night and get a penalty in the last minute, I want the best penalty taker to take it. The one slight against this club is apparently it hasn’t been a winner. Well the winner’s mentality in the last minute of the game is to score a goal.

“We scored a goal. And yet somehow in this ultimate universe where everything Tottenham does is wrong, that’s come out as a negative. I was delighted because if that’s tomorrow night and we get a penalty in the last minute and get a third goal which could be really decisive, I’m really pleased with the way the players handled it.”

When the final whistle went, Ivan Juric advanced on to the pitch and stared across at the corner where the away fans were gathered. Southampton had just suffered the earliest relegation in Premier League history, with seven games still remaining, but there was no bitterness. Juric, who seemed almost moved by their reaction, ensured his players applauded them.

“For me, this is something completely new, a new experience,” Juric said. “I said to the players they have to be really thankful that they have fans like this.

“It is something incredible the way they love their team even though we were relegated. They really deserve much more. It’s another type of culture [to Italy]. They show love in this moment; it is a great thing in English culture, Southampton culture.”

Juric seemingly wants to stay on and try to lead Southampton back into the Premier League next season. “If we take the long road to come back here, I am ready,” he said, speaking of the need to develop young players, such as Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Mateus Fernandes, Tyler Dibling and Kamaldeen Sulemana, so they can compete at Premier League level, rather than getting promoted then signing a new team.

“We have lots of young players, talented players. They are good but lack experience. There is a completely different physicality between us and other teams in the Premier League. The same thing happened to Leicester and Ipswich. The gap is huge but from this moment the players can grow up and improve and be ready for the Premier League; this is my idea.”

This season, all that remains is to try to surpass Derby’s record low tally of 11 points with a -69 goal difference. Derby, in the 2007-08 season, went down with six games left, as did Huddersfield in 2018-19 and Sheffield United in 2020-21. “I liked the second half today and the Crystal Palace game was good,” said Juric. “Our goal has to be to avoid being the worst in Premier League history, I want seven games like the second half today.”

Responsibility, he insisted, is collective. In three full seasons under the ownership of Sport Republic, Southampton have been relegated, promoted and relegated again. “It’s clear that the last two years in the Premier League we haven’t competed,” Juric said.

“We’ve been relegated too easily and that means huge problems in a lot of situations. Now it’s important to understand all the mistakes and try to create something good. You cannot see these fans in all places.”

Tottenham’s manager Ange Postecoglou was understandably focused on Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt. “In the first half we were really disciplined, well-organised and every time we went forward we looked dangerous,” he said.

“The second half not so much. We became way too passive without the ball and let Southampton get a rhythm. But overall we got the win, everybody got through unscathed and now we’re ready for a big night on Thursday.”

It may be that Southampton pick up the two points they need to surpass Derby’s 2007-08 tally of 11 so as not to be ranked the worst team in Premier League history, but no side has ever previously been relegated with seven games of the season remaining. In that sense, and that alone, this was a historic afternoon, a new high in abjection. A facile win, though, did not bring a huge amount of joy for Tottenham.

It’s remarkable just how bad a team in Southampton’s position can become, how beaten-down players become unable to perform even the simplest functions. Like their 5-0 win at St Mary’s in December, the game that led to Russell Martin being dismissed, there was a sense that it was almost too straightforward to be meaningful. Yes, the knife cut through the butter; that doesn’t make it a good knife.

Spurs’ opener was a case in point, four neat passes leading to Djed Spence’s cross for Brennan Johnson, but probably not the sort of interchange you could perform unchallenged against decent opposition.

When Johnson, mysteriously played onside by not one but two Southampton defenders, poked in a second five minutes before half-time, the crowd’s reaction was a half-hearted, “Wa-hey”, rather than a proper cheer. For both sides for several weeks this league campaign has been something to be got out of the way. Rarely can a late goal, to cut the gap to one, have provoked so little drama as Mateus Fernandes’s strike; Mathys Tel’s penalty restored the two-goal margin.

The spring sunshine could not entirely penetrate the chill. Pockets of misery lingered, the metaphorical shadows extending far further than the actual ones. Everywhere there was dissatisfaction, frustration and gloom. Welcome to the Extremely Well-Appointed Luxury Venue of the Damned. On the one hand a zombie side dreaming of not being the worst in history; and on the other a team limping towards the end of the season looking to the Europa League for salvation.

Only victory in Bilbao in May, surely, can save Ange Postecoglou now. Fans have generally been sympathetic, recognising the deep-lying factors behind his struggles, but cupping his ear to his own support on Thursday has burned through much of what limited credit he had left. It probably wasn’t directly related, but the growing discontent at Spurs was evident in a larger than usual protest in the streets before kick-off, with perhaps 350 calling for the defenestration of Daniel Levy. There were chants of “We Want Levy Out” immediately after kick-off, at every VAR check and at sporadic intervals throughout, a leitmotif for the afternoon.

There’s an Australian documentary Ange and the Boss that details the time Postecoglou spent playing for South Melbourne Hellas under Ferenc Puskas. Midway through the season in which South Melbourne won the grand final, during a slump in form, Puskas was barracked by the home crowd, turned and berated them. That seems to have added to his legend, but it’s one thing for somebody who was once the greatest player in the world to make his point to a low stand in suburban Australia, quite another for a 59-year-old in his second season in one of Europe’s top five leagues to gesture at away fans watching their side losing their 16th game of the season.

Still that’s nine fewer than Southampton, who have won one league game in five months. What, you wonder, did Ivan Juric think was going to happen when he took the job? He remains admirably engaged, giving Will Smallbone extended instructions before he brought him off at 2-0 down, as though any of it mattered.

When he was appointed before Christmas, Southampton were already bottom with a meagre record of six points from 17 games. Did Juric really think he could turn things round? If he had somehow kept this squad up, coaches of the future would have sought out his training notes in the way alchemists once hunted for the mythical works of Hermes Trismegistus.

Ange Postecoglou has lamented that he’s “falling out of love with football” the day after Tottenham’s fans had made it clear they’ve fallen out of love with him.

The morning after his instantly infamous “cupped ear” gesture to the Spurs fans during Thursday’s 1-0 loss at Chelsea became the talk of English football, Postecoglou delivered another painful lament about how VAR was souring his once undying love for the game.

The Australian sounded more disenchanted than ever as he reiterated his reaction to what had appeared as a Spurs equaliser at Stamford Bridge had supposed to be a celebration rather than him giving a provocative riposte to the fans who had moments earlier been goading him over what they felt was a clueless substitution.

The Spurs faithful had serenaded him with chants of “you don’t know what you’re doing” when he brought on Pape Sarr in the 64th minute – but when the sub scored within five minutes, Postecoglou responded in a manner interpreted widely as him snapping back at his critics.

If that was a case, the bad news for Postecoglou was that, within minutes, the goal was chalked off after a VAR intervention.

“My mistake was celebrating a goal, VAR defeated me again. I won’t be doing that again,” sighed the 59-year-old on Friday, sounding increasingly like a man who knows his Tottenham reign will be over unless he can guide them to Europa League glory before the season’s out.

“Everyone says ‘they came to the right to decision’, well, yeah,” said Postecoglou, reflecting on the lengthy wait for the decision to be made about the disallowed equaliser.

“If that’s what people want, let’s continue. I don’t like it. I am falling out of love with the game because I love celebrating goals.

“Last night I did and I’m paying a massive price for it. I’ll make sure I don’t do it again, but I reckon that’s kind of sad. Isn’t that sad?

“Maybe I was influenced by England and the old First Division. What I loved about it as opposed to other leagues was the frenetic pace of it. In English football, there was always something happening.

“I’ve tried to design a gameplan that has tempo and energy because I feel if you want people in there for an hour-and-a-half of entertainment and engagement, you want them off their seats.

“But there was 12 minutes of extra time last night. VAR was not brought in last month. It has been here for a long time and it is still taking 12 minutes?

“I am the lone voice. I don’t hear anyone else saying it. That’s why I am sat here and saying maybe I am disconnected. I don’t think anyone else cares. We’re just so accepting.

“Maybe I come from a different generation where we used to rail against anyone who tried to change the fundamentals of our life.

“It is sad for me because I am a lone voice but I don’t think it is sad for the game because I guess people want that. I’ve got to accept it. When I do finally retire, I will probably watch less football and try and find another hobby.”

Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham must make material changes to their outlook as a club if they are to reach the level of success they crave. The manager, who is fighting to continue into next season, described his job as different to anything he had experienced because of the “weight of things you’re trying to rail against”.

They include the isolation of the post, how the Spurs manager is normally the lone spokesperson for the club, nobody from the hierarchy publicly defending its positions. This echoed the sentiments of some of his predecessors, especially Antonio Conte. Postecoglou did not name names but it is a matter of fact that the chairman, Daniel Levy, almost never gives interviews. The chief football officer, Scott Munn, and the technical director, Johan Lange, are similarly low-profile.

On a related note, Postecoglou considered how media pundits with affiliations to certain clubs will speak up in their favour, creating a more favourable climate for them. With Spurs, it is the opposite, everybody – including former players and managers – piling in on them.

More broadly, Postecoglou suggested that whenever there was a bad season at Spurs, the default move was to change the manager, never mind the amount of positivity which had come before. That, he said, had to change. Postecoglou acknowledged that he would say this – it is plainly in his interests – but he hoped that people could take the point without prejudice.

“I just don’t think it’s about the managers themselves,” Postecoglou said. “I’ve almost lasted two years. It’s pretty good for Tottenham! At some point, the club needs to stick to something. If I say it now it sounds self-serving and defeats the purpose, so maybe not now … but I think that if you want to change the course of your events, you need to change materially a lot of things in terms of the way your outlook is as a club.

“It’s fair to say this year hasn’t worked out but that’s the other thing. We finished fifth last year. In another year, that would have been a Champions League spot. With people, it just doesn’t register. If you have five years at a club and you have maybe one or two disappointing years but you have three really strong years you’d say: ‘I’ll take that.’ But it seems like [at Spurs], you have one good year, you have one poor year and then that’s it. Let’s move on to the next.

“That’s what I accepted so I can’t sit here and say: ‘Woe is me.’ It’s fair to say at the moment I’m not doing a good job of turning that mind-shift around. But I am a fighter. I will continue fighting until told otherwise. As has been rightly pointed out, there’s life after this for everybody, including Tottenham and including me.”

Postecoglou was frustrated that his ear-cupping celebration towards the Spurs fans after Pape Sarr’s ultimately disallowed goal in Thursday night’s 1-0 defeat at Chelsea became the major talking point, rather than the VAR processes that led to the over-rule. Postecoglou is a sworn enemy of the technology, feeling it is ruining the game. But he recognised the reaction as being very much of a piece with life at Spurs.

“People tend to focus on the internals of Tottenham rather than the externals,” Postecoglou said. “Whether that’s the fan disenchantment – that’s internal. External is what happened with the decisions. It seems like every fight ends up being an internal fight at this club. There’s never any defending of the club or the club defending itself.”

Postecoglou, preparing for Sunday’s game at home to Southampton, was asked how Spurs ought to do that. “By being more vocal,” he said. “I think you hear enough from me. You probably hear too much from me. It doesn’t have to be just from people at the club, either. I hear plenty of people talking and defending other clubs but it seems with Tottenham, wherever there’s a sore there’s a real pile-on to stick a finger in that sore and then we accept our fate.

“In the time I’ve been here, we’ve had two decisions that have gone for us against Liverpool and there has been a national campaign, almost.”

Postecoglou was referring mainly to the reaction that followed the Luis Díaz goal that was mistakenly disallowed by the VAR team in last season’s Premier League fixture at Spurs’s stadium. The other flashpoint came this time out in the Carabao Cup semi-final, first leg, also at Spurs, when Postecoglou’s midfielder Lucas Bergvall was surprisingly spared a second yellow card. He went on to score for 1-0.

“You guys [in the media] know the landscape better than I do but it seems like … I never switch on and hear any sort of strong voice [for Spurs]. The only voice you hear is me. When we’re talking about the bigger clubs, there seems to be a lot more voices. And not always defending them. You need scrutiny and constructive criticism, as well. We definitely get enough of that. But we never get any of the other stuff.”

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Brighton: Fabian Hurzeler takes his Brighton side to Selhurst Park tomorrow for what promises to be a spicy M23 derby between two sides whose extreme animus mystifies many but dates back to the 1970s. Brighton go into the game on the back of an emphatic midweek defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, while Crystal Palace will be hoping to retrun to winning ways after their late, late smash-and-grab to rescue a point at Southampton on Wednesday.

With his side just four points away from the fifth place that will almost certainly guarantee qualification for next season’s Champions League, Hurzeler has urged his players to prepare for a succession of finals during the run-in. “The whole season we have to deal with setbacks and it’s always about how you come back,” he said. “It is always the question, if the glass is half full or half empty and I always see it as a half-full glass and that’s the main message. It’s to see all the upcoming games like a final, and like this we have to prepare, and like this we will go into the games.

“Everything in the past was in the past and now it’s really about winning something and we have to be on our highest level. We need two things. We need this togetherness and we need this positive energy. We will go all in with the staff, with all the players and then we see what we get.”

Palace inflicted the first home defeat of Hurzeler’s reign by romping to a 3-1 success at the Amex Stadium in mid December and the 32-year-old German is fully aware of the importance of the fixture to Brighton supporters and admits his side have a duty to make amends.

“I can feel it [the passion] and I think it’s also our responsibility to give them something back,” he said. “In the first derby we weren’t on our highest level, we didn’t give the fans what they deserve and tomorrow it’s an opportunity for us and also our responsibility to make it better than the last time. There’s already a big motivation because it’s the final third of the season, it’s about achieving something, it’s about winning something, and every game will be important, and therefore the motivation is very high. We will go all in, we will try to win this game for our fans.”

Joel Veltman, Adam Webster, Tariq Lamptey, Igor Julio, Ferdi Kadioglu, James Milner and Georginio Rutter remain sidelined for Brighton.

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An email: “On the subject of Ange Postecoglou,” writes Peter Wilkinson. “I’m not a Spurs fan so I don’t have a dog in the race but it amuses me that while fans give players and managers absolute pelters, as soon as they get a bit back the fans start clutching their pearls saying it’s a disgrace. If you can’t take it, don’t give it out.”

A fair point well made, Peter. Ange is due to face the press shortly in an appointment he’s probably looking forward to with as much relish as a trip to the dentist for root canal surgery. It could get spiky, mate.

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José Mourinho: Fenerbahce have issued a strident defence of their manager after he grabbed the nose of Galatasaray boss Okan Buruk in bad-temperered scenes that followed the Turkish Cup quarter-final clash between the two sides on Wednesday night.

The altercation occurred following Fenerbahce’s defeat at the hands of their bitter rivals, but Fenerbahce claim Buruk was play-acting by tumbling to the floor after Mourinho pinched his hooter. The Portuguese was shown a red card for his troubles and now faces a potentially lengthy ban but his club are standing resolutely by their man, insisting his opposite number incited the incident and then dramatised his reaction.

“[Buruk] had the audacity to make disrespectful hand gestures after crossing the police line,” harrumphed a Fenerbahce statement posted on X. “After our manager touched his nose momentarily in response to these provocations, the person in question threw himself to the ground in an exaggerated manner.

“The disrespectful statements and actions of this person, who professionally threw himself to the ground with a ‘shot’ reflex as a continuation of this plan after excessive provocations, are recorded in the images.

“The meaninglessness of a person whose nose was touched jumping to the ground and writhing for seconds and the acting that was played are known to the entire public. It is obvious that the images of this person throwing himself to the ground from his football career continued in his coaching career, and that this attitude is a characteristic stance.

“It is clear that the evaluation of the ugly provocations and what happened afterwards should not be one-sided, but should be based on a cause-and-effect relationship.”

As Elton John famously sang, sometimes sorry seems to be the hardest word.

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Updated at 11.06 CEST

Leeds United: In news that is unlikely to comfort fans who are worried their team will “do a Leeds” and blow their chances of promotion o the Premier League, Daniel Farke has assured Leeds fans their team will not “do a Leeds” and blow their chances of promotion to the Premier League.

Second in the Championship table after surrendering a five-point lead, Leeds have won only one of their last five matches and could fall out of the automatic promotion places if they fail to beat Luton Town tomorrow and Burnley get a result against Coventry, but Farke is convinced they will be in the top flight next season.

“I was involved in that [2018-19 promotion, with Norwich City] battle and yes, Leeds fell apart and I was struggling to explain it because they had a really good coach in Marcelo [Bielsa],” he said. “And for me, I liked the Norwich team, but Leeds had by far the better players and by far the better side and I was thinking, ‘why does this happen?’.”

Farke sensed the weight of expectation at Elland Road from the opposition dug-out when his Norwich side won 3-1 there in February 2019 when both teams were vying for top spot.

“I was thinking then I loved so much to be in this stadium and the atmosphere and what a big club this is,” he said. Of course I was working for a different club at this time, but I was thinking one day I would like to come back and help this club to stay, in these situations, a bit more calm and positive. This is why I wanted to sign two years ago. I know how difficult it is to stay calm and cool with this club, believe me.

“So my composure and calmness is more than enough for all Yorkshire. Everyone is allowed to panic, it shows how much they care. But my task is to make sure we stay cool, that we stick together, don’t over-react, that we’re not over-motivated and that we totally believe.

“This is what I bring to this club. I can’t guarantee [promotion] right now, but I’m totally calm right now, totally composed and I totally believe the boys are doing a great job. And believe me, in the end, next season we will play in the Premier League. I’m 100 per cent convinced of this.”

Leeds face relegation battlers Luton tomorrow at lunchtime and Farke, who has no new injury worries, has confirmed goalkeeper Karl Darlow will start in place of Illan Meslier after a string of costly errors by the Frenchman.

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Updated at 10.55 CEST

West Ham: Graham Potter’s side host out-of-sorts Bournemouth at the London Stadium tomorrow, hoping to win for the first time in four Premier League outings. West Ham go into the game on the back of a defeat at the hands of Wolves on Tuesday, their sixth loss in 11 matches since Potter took over from Julen Lopetegui. The 49-year-old has told his misfiring West Ham stars they are “some way off” what he expects of them and says they are playing for their futures.

“You can’t play for West Ham and throw games away,” he told reporters. “It’s impossible. Every game is massive for us. So we have to remember that, starting with Bournemouth on Saturday and finish as strong as we can. I would say we are some way off, for sure. In the end we want to control games and dominate games through attacking football, and we are far from that.

“When you understand where we’ve come from and what the bigger picture is, it’s a bit more understandable. But at the same time we have to acknowledge we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll need to carry on improving daily and then see how we can improve the team in the next transfer window, and keep taking steps. But with the ambition I have for this football club, we are some way off from where that is.”

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England women: Leah Williamson has praised the form of her Arsenal and England teammate Alessia Russo before the No 9 spearheads the Lionesses’ attack in their Women’s Nations League double-header against Belgium, starting in Bristol tonight. Tom Garry reports …

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Updated at 10.38 CEST

The weekend’s Premier League fixtures

Everton v Arsenal (Sat 12.30pm BST)

Ipswich Town v Wolves (3pm)

Crystal Palace v Brighton (3pm)

West Ham v Bournemouth (3pm)

Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest (5.30pm)

Tottenham Hotspur v Southamptopn (Sun 2pm)

Brentford v Chelsea (2pm)

Fulham v Liverpool (2pm)

Manchester United v Manchester City (4.30pm)

Leicester City v Newcastle United (Mon 6pm)

View the Premier League table

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Absolution of Hillsborough officers prompts fury

A 12-year investigation into the Hillsborough disaster by the police watchdog has concluded that no senior South Yorkshire police officers were guilty of misconduct for falsely blaming misbehaviour by Liverpool supporters. David Conn and Peter Walker report …

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Postecoglou cops earful during Spurs loss

Tottenham Hotspur: Despite his post-match protestations to the contrary, Ange Postecoglou appeared to goad Tottenham’s travelling fans at Stamford Bridge last night with a gesture that further damaged the increasingly fragile bond between the Australian manager and dissatisfied supporters. Jacob Steinberg reports from Stamford Bridge …

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Updated at 10.38 CEST

Premier League: Enzo Fernandez scored the only goal of Thursday’s game to move Chelsea into the top four, while a clearly exasperated Ange Postecoglou may have finally fractured his relationship with Spurs fans beyond repair. David Hytner reports from Stamford Bridge …

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Updated at 10.38 CEST

The weekend is almost upon us ...

Welcome all as we strap ourselves in ahead of another weekend of piping hot football action. The weekend’s first order of business is tonight’s Women’s Nations League match between England and Belgium at Ashton Gate, but before that we’ll get to see and hear no end of top flight managers fielding interrogatory projectiles from the men and women of the Fourth Estate ahead of the latest round of Premier League action.

As is customary, we’ll be here throughout the day to flag up all the major talking points and bring you any other news that happens to present itself as the day unfolds. In the meantime, our crack team of writers have been scouring the weekend fixture list to come up with these 10 things you ought to keep your eyes peeled for in the Premier League this weekend.

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Updated at 10.38 CEST

In fairness to Ange Postecoglou it will go down as one of the great managerial ear-cuppings. It was bitter, it was undignified and, rather than an act of defiance, it is probably going to be remembered as the moment of high farce that finally broke Postecoglou’s relationship with Tottenham’s fans.

Here was a man on the edge, the list of grievances piling high, the emotion impossible to contain as he watched his side somehow cancel out Chelsea’s 1-0 lead at Stamford Bridge. Postecoglou had heard the chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” from the travelling supporters when he brought Pape Sarr on for Lucas Bergvall in the 64th minute. Now came vindication. On 66 minutes: a first shot on target. This was progress. Three minutes later, Sarr charging into midfield, knocked Moisés Caicedo over and unleashed a shot that went in thanks to more dreadful goalkeeping from Robert Sánchez.

Nobody seemed quite sure how to react. Spurs were lucky not to be 4-0 down, but now the entire feel of the evening had changed. Stunned, Chelsea pointed at Caicedo lying on the turf and complained to Craig Pawson about his decision to play on. Postecoglou, though, was not to know that the video assistant referee was about to get involved. Too wrapped up in his own redemptive arc, he did not anticipate that there was a strong chance that the goal was going to be chalked off.

And so Postecoglou made his move. What was that, mate? I don’t know what I’m doing? The satisfaction was immense. Postecoglou could not stop himself. He looked left, gazing at the celebrations in the away end, and lifted his right hand to his ear. Spurs, at long last, had finally seen a cup. Postecoglou sarcastically waved at the critics. He had not counted on Pawson wandering over to the pitchside monitor to have a closer look at Sarr’s tackle. He had not imagined the moment would slip from his grasp so quickly.

It did not take long to see that Sarr had caught Caicedo before making off with possession. There was no way the goal could stand. Postecoglou looked disbelieving but the reality was that his self-indulgence had backfired. Nobody was buying it when the Australian later insisted that he had only been trying to tell the away fans to make some noise.

The situation looks almost impossible to salvage. Success in the Europa League could change everything but Spurs do not look like a team ready to win silverware. They are a clownish proposition under Postecoglou. Conviction is missing with and without the ball. The defence is a mess and there are no patterns in attack. Chelsea, who have lacked creativity in recent months, could have been out of sight inside the first 20 minutes.

Doctor Tottenham will see you now. Chelsea needed their appointment with the Premier League’s most effective healing force. Enzo Maresca, another manager dealing with a fanbase teetering towards mutiny, relished the chance to divert from his patient approach and target Postecoglou’s inviting high line with a series of direct long balls. Nicolas Jackson, back from a two-month layoff, could have scored after speeding away from Cristian Romero inside a minute. The striker’s shot was saved and Micky van de Ven, sprinting back to help out, whacked the rebound against the woodwork.

The tone was set. Malo Gusto shot just wide and Jackson continued to bully Romero. Spurs were frazzled, timid and uncoordinated. There was no composure. Guglielmo Vicario made a good save from Jadon Sancho, who produced an improved display on Chelsea’s left, but he also flapped at crosses and sent simple passes into touch. Djed Spence tripped over his own feet trying to dribble out from the back. Bergvall dozed off and lost Cole Palmer, who almost set up Enzo Fernández for a tap-in. Dominic Solanke waited forlornly for someone to pass to him. James Maddison drifted around, offering nothing. The wingers made no impact.

Playing at a sharper tempo than in recent months, Chelsea were always going to break through. They had the incentive of reclaiming fourth place and reigniting their push for Champions League qualification. They still have flaws but this was better. Jackson’s movement made a difference up front and when the goal came, Fernández taking advantage of awful marking to head home early in the second half, there was joy for Maresca in seeing Palmer emerge from his slump to claim his first assist since December.

Spurs were well beaten. This was their 16th defeat of a dreadful league campaign, heightening the sense that Postecoglou is on borrowed time. He hung around on the pitch when it was over but he did not dare go to the away end. The divisions are probably too big now. Faith in Angeball was already dwindling. The ear-cupping will do nothing to bring back the believers.

It was a typically incident-filled meeting between these sworn enemies but, really, there was only one place to start. Ange Postecoglou, the remorselessly under-fire Tottenham manager, had been barracked by his own club’s supporters when he replaced Lucas Bergvall with Pape Sarr in the 64th minute.

Bergvall had enjoyed a few bright moments. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” the travelling hordes informed Postecoglou. And so just imagine how the fiercely proud Australian must have felt shortly afterwards when Sarr won the ball off Moisés Caicedo and unloaded a low shot that the Chelsea goalkeeper, Robert Sánchez, inexplicably allowed to beat him.

We would not need to imagine because Postecoglou turned to face the Spurs fans, who were celebrating wildly, and cupped his ear in their direction. It was simply a stunning illustration of just how frayed the relationship between them has become. Was this breaking point?

There would be a twist when the VAR, Jarred Gillett, went over the Sarr challenge on Caicedo and he did not need to look too long to see the obvious foul. The goal was disallowed. Sarr was booked. Postecoglou was crushed.

Chelsea had been in complete control up until the Bergvall/ Sarr change, leading through Enzo Fernández’s header, the only wonder being how they were not further ahead. The outstanding Caicedo would see a goal chalked off by the VAR early in the second half.

The passions raged, the game broke up and out of the chaos came a Spurs revival. They got on to the front foot, making Chelsea nervous and Enzo Maresca’s team needed a fine Sanchez save to deny Son Heung-min at the far post. In the end, Chelsea hung on to fire their hopes of a Champions League finish. The future for Postecoglou and Spurs remains less certain.

It is always possible to feel the ghosts of previous meetings when these two collide and Chelsea’s 4-3 win at Tottenham’s stadium on 8 December was a part of it. At that point Chelsea were being talked about as dark horses for the title. They have had to realign their sights. Spurs lost Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to muscle problems that night and this was the central defenders’ first league start together since then.

It fed the line about whether we would see the real Spurs because, after all the injury misery, this was pretty much Postecoglou’s strongest XI. The only certain starter who was missing was Dejan Kulusevski – a big loss.

Maresca’s answer to several selection teasers and the injury-enforced absence of Wesley Fofana had been to start Malo Gusto at right-back and drop Reece James. He stuck with Jadon Sancho ahead of the fit-again Noni Madueke. The return of Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson was a boost.

Tottenham got a warning about Jackson’s threat inside the opening minute. His speed is not a secret. But being forewarned does not equal being forearmed. It was a long ball over the top by Trevoh Chalobah and Jackson was able to get in between Romero and Van de Ven, taking a touch and prodding goalwards. Guglielmo Vicario half-blocked and when Van de Ven’s panicked clearance hit Jackson, the ball ricocheted against a post and away.

Chelsea were in the mood from the first whistle, pushing high, bringing the intensity. Spurs struggled to get out. Postecoglou felt the frustration bubble. He delivered a rollicking to Bergvall in the 20th minute after the midfielder failed to track a run into the area by Palmer, who crossed low. Destiny Udogie would make a saving challenge on Fernández in front of goal.

Chelsea’s dominance of the first half was total. It was there in their physicality. When Van de Ven tried to burst upfield, he was stopped unceremoniously by Caicedo, who promptly suggested he should not try that again. Or choicer words to that effect. There were numerous examples of Spurs looking weak in the duels. Caicedo was like a wrecking ball.

Chelsea were able to find spaces in between the lines, to work their passing patterns whereas Spurs were tentative on the ball, gripped by anxiety. Time and again they misplaced passes before the interval. Son Heung-min fired in a low shot from a tight angle, which Sánchez shovelled away but that was it from them as an attacking force in the first half. The lack of cohesion was startling.

It was frustrating for Chelsea that they could not take a lead into the interval. Gusto had rifled into the side-netting on eight minutes and there was the staggeringly good Vicario reflex save from Sancho in stoppage-time. Sancho was one of two Chelsea players over at the far post on Pedro Neto’s cross and he was always going to cut inside and shoot, having seemed reluctant to do so on a couple of previous occasions. He got a hold of it from about six yards. Vicario, who had been a little erratic, threw out a hand to tip over.

When Romero barged into Levi Colwill to spark a bit of the argy-bargy with which this fixture has become synonymous, the half-time whistle was looming. It was an isolated illustration of first-half fight by Spurs and the hope from their side was that it could re-emerge with them for the second period.

Instead, it was Chelsea who kept their feet against Tottenham’s throats. Palmer had worked Vicario when he floated over the cross to break the deadlock. No one could say the goal had not been advertised. Fernández was unmarked, Spurs’s defensive structure in tatters. His header was firm and true.

Spurs got away with one shortly afterwards when Caicedo fizzed home the sweetest of volleys after the visitors could only half-clear a Fernández free-kick. Following a lengthy VAR review, Colwill was adjudged to have been offside in the middle.

Preamble

From the Cockney Cup Final to the Battle of the Bridge, Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur is a rivalry that rarely disappoints. The Blues’ last two trips to Spurs have seen them win 4-1 and 4-3, punishing two of the Angiest performances of their rivals’ Postecoglou era.

Tottenham’s permanently embattled manager needs a win, but must try and get it done at a ground where Spurs have won just once in the league since 1990. Having finished three points clear of Chelsea last term, Postecoglou’s side are 15 points adrift as it stands, playing out their games while Enzo Maresca’s team chase a top-five finish.

Despite that, there’s a debate to be had over which of these two coaches is more popular with the fans. Postecoglou remains loved and admired by a significant chunk of Spurs fans, with anger at their plight trained on Daniel Levy. Maresca, meanwhile, appears to be tolerated rather than cherished by Chelsea fans.

In fact, the Italian is only a couple of rungs below his opposite number in the “sack race” betting, with his team drifting from surprise title contenders. Chelsea can go back up to fourth with a win tonight, and shake off the nagging doubt that they lack the extra gear many of their top-five rivals are deploying with the season’s end in sight.

Kick-off is at 8pm. Will anyone actually enjoy it? We’ll find out.

A few months ago I was assaulted on an overground train by a Brentford fan after a home win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The British Transport Police were rapid in their response, unsuccessfully but immediately halting a Victoria line train to find him, before arresting him the next week on his own way to his team’s home match. Over a few months of back and forth updates with the BTP the case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

This Saturday at a sunny pub with my dad, among chatter about Tottenham’s seasons’ woes while an FA Cup tie played out on the TV screens I got an unexpected call from BTP for a final update. The CPS had decided there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction against the individual.

Of course I wasn’t naive enough to think this wasn’t a probable outcome. The train was disgustingly packed and the case officer had already explained the issue with securing usable footage from the train or even the platform. The officer subsequently explained that the footage recorded by the assaulter’s sons as they filmed the incident in bouts of laughter was not looked at because they are not the individuals under arrest. Essentially, the case was never going to go anywhere with the available evidence coming from such a crammed environment.

Despite assuming the outcome, it was still a punch in the gut. I remembered his smug face looking at me as I asked him to stop, fully knowing he held all the power in that moment and that nobody would stop him. With the case now complete, I wonder if the arrest itself was a big enough wake-up call for the individual or if the outcome will empower him to keep up his toxic behaviour with the knowledge that he can essentially “get away with it”.

The second punch in the gut would come a few hours later when I saw a post by Women of the Lane, a group set up to be a community and bridge between the club and women and non-binary fans, revealing their correspondence with the club over Chris Brown’s scheduled appearance at the stadium. I hadn’t even seen the announcement but in finding the event online I was disgusted.

Spurs were forthcoming with their support over the assault on me, opening an encouraging and frank dialogue. They explained their numerous projects and plans that support women at Spurs, including becoming the first club to sign up to the mayor of London’s women’s safety charter, co-launching Women of the Lane, participating in Haringey council’s “Walk For Women” through Tottenham, and ongoing conversations with Transport for London on how to create a safer environment for travelling fans.

The appearance of a man with convictions for violence and who was once subject to a five-year restraining order after his ex-girlfriend alleged he had been abusive, and who has previously been denied entry to the UK due to serious criminal offence, performing at the very home of my and other women’s beloved football club is more than saddening and disappointing. It rocks the very bones of my fanship for the team I’ve followed and adored for most of my life, through thick and thin. The stadium may be a venue with shrewd revenue capabilities for the owners, but at the very heart is still ultimately the home ground for one of the biggest and oldest Premier League clubs.

The email from Spurs reminding me to renew my season ticket is still lingering, unopened in my inbox. Owning a season ticket was once a dream of mine but that is now muddied, inviting a complex conundrum where I want to continue watching and enjoying my club’s football, yet continuously dreading every journey there and back, feeling anxious and tense as match-day approaches and knowing that despite progress, the club is still platforming an abuser such as Chris Brown.

There is no perfect football club, and in a sport tarred with historic sexist, racist and homophobic abuse, navigating shifting attitudes allows some bumps in the road. But with a club like Spurs in 2025, you somehow expect better, and begin to question whether these positive conversations are inherently just lip service. My mind keeps returning to the two teenage boys on the train, laughing and filming as their dad committed assault and verbally abused a woman on public transport. I’m not sure what the future of fanship in the men’s game holds, but with the unapologetic platforming of an abuser and the lack of retribution for those carrying out toxic behaviour, it doesn’t feel very hopeful.