The Mirror

Ange Postecoglou is on the road to trouble if he’s going to get embroiled in public spats with supporters.

After Tottenham’s uninspired 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth, Big Ange marched across to the away fans’ section and confronted a group of supporters because he “didn’t like what was being said.” Sorry, but it goes with the territory that the punters are going to be unhappy with six defeats in 14 games and 10th in the table.

And I don’t understand who Postecoglou thought would benefit by arguing with the fans - certainly not him. You can’t win in those situations - they are best avoided.

The Spurs boss would be better served by solving the riddle of his team’s inconsistency and finding a better balance between entertainment and winning football matches. Only Liverpool and Chelsea have scored more goals than Tottenham this season, but the balance doesn’t seem to be right. Big Ange may have to sacrifice a bit of flair to make them more solid and more consistent.

Look, I love the way his Tottenham teams play. It’s never a dull watch. But if Postecoglou goes into a board meeting and tells the directors, “Don’t worry, we’re entertaining the fans,” they are likely to return serve by pointing out Spurs are 10th and potentially missing out on £40million of income if they don’t finish in the top four.

Are Tottenham any closer to winning a first trophy in 16 years because they are enjoyable to watch? No. Are they any better off than they were last season, when they were top of the league after 10 games? No. Is 10th in the Premier League going to be good enough to keep the board and some of the fans happy? Probably not.

At some point, surely Big Ange has to adapt his approach and sacrifice a little bit of swagger for more substance, because for every manager the holy grail is three points. Winning is what matters most in football.

Russell Martin has stuck to his principles at Southampton and where has it got him? Bottom of the league, tanked 5-1 at home by Chelsea. I doubt if Saints fans went home saying how pretty the football had been.

Postecoglou has more to lose than to gain by being stubborn and standing by his pledge to entertain the supporters. Spurs were 1-0 down at the break against Bournemouth on Thursday night, the game was getting away from them, and yet he didn’t make any changes at the break.

I’ve only been a manager five minutes, and he’s not going to take much notice of a novice head coach in the Northern Premier League. But I’ve spent 32 years in football, and I recognised Macclesfield’s shape and defensively-minded wing-backs were not working at Workington last weekend, so I changed the formation, threw on two wingers, took off my top scorer - and we won 1-0.

I understand that Spurs fans are enjoying their football again after the less expansive styles of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but where is the enjoyment of losing at home to Ipswich? Where is the merit of losing at Brighton and Crystal Palace, or drawing at home to Fulham?

That kind of inconsistency is not going to get you in the top four. I don’t understand why Big Ange won’t modify his approach. And arguing with fans is only going to make it worse.

Ange Postecoglou could be SACKED within weeks, former Spurs star Jamie O'Hara has suggested.

The Australian is under pressure following a hugely inconsistent first half of the season. Postecoglou’s side sit tenth in the Premier League following Thursday’s miserable defeat to Bournemouth.

Fans reacted angrily to Postecoglou after the game, and ex-Spurs star O'Hara has warned him that he could face the sack sooner rather than later should he fail to get the North London side back on track.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former midfielder said: “Daniel Levy ain’t going to stand for this. I’m telling you now. If he thinks he can go all the way through the season and keep defending like this, keep having set-pieces like this, he will get sacked.

“Daniel Levy is all about Champions League football, Europa League minimum. If Spurs are 10th in the table after Christmas, they will sack Ange. I’m telling you, they will sack him. This can’t continue.

“I feel like he’s starting to run on thin ice. I need to see more. One from the players because the players again tonight let themselves down, but I need more from the manager.”

Postecoglou reacted to the jeers from the Spurs fans at the Vitality Stadium. He was spotted in a passionate discussion with one supporter in particular.

Should Spurs sack Postecoglou? Share your thoughts in the comments below

And he did not begrudge fans from letting their feelings known on the South Coast. Postecoglou said: "They're disappointed and rightly so. They gave me some direct feedback, which I've taken on board. I didn't like what was being said because I'm a human being but you've got to cop it.

"I've been around long enough to know that when things don't go well you've got to understand the frustration and disappointment. And they're rightly disappointed because we let a game of football get away from us. But that's OK. I'm OK with all that. All I can say is I'm really disappointed and I'm determined to get it right and will keep fighting until we do."

Postecoglou still has two-and-a-half years left to run on the contract that he signed to become the permanent replacement for Antonio Conte at Spurs. He will be attempting to get his side back on track this weekend with a clash against Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They then travel to Rangers in the Europa League ahead of a face-off with struggling Southampton.

Ange Postecoglou said he was given "some direct feedback" from the angry Tottenham fans before a steward had to usher him away.

The north London outfit were beaten at Bournemouth as they missed out on the chance to go fifth - and now sit tenth as a result. After their loss at the Vitality Stadium, Postecoglou pointed at a group of fans who were voicing their anger at him and marched across the pitch to confront them.

The Australian has never been shy in voicing his opinion but understood why the travelling faithful were disappointed with the performance. Postecoglou though wasn't a fan of what was being said, although was willing to take it on the chin.

He said: "They're disappointed and rightly so. They gave me some direct feedback, which I've taken on board. I didn't like what was being said because I'm a human being but you've got to cop it.

"I've been around long enough to know that when things don't go well you've got to understand the frustration and disappointment. And they're rightly disappointed because we let a game of football get away from us. But that's OK. I'm OK with all that. All I can say is I'm really disappointed and I'm determined to get it right and will keep fighting until we do."

Postecoglou was asked exactly what was said by the travelling supporters, but didn't divulge anything in the press conference. He replied: “Probably not for here, mate.”

Tottenham have lost as many games as they've won this term as their inconsistency continues to hamper their ambitions. Only once all season, they been able to win successive games.

The north Londoners' next assignment is a clash with Chelsea, who are flying high in second. Another defeat is likely to see fan anger rise as Postecoglou's team continue to be blighted by inconsistencies.

The Australian is into his second season and has spoken confidently about his ability to win silverware - something the club crave. They're still in the hunt for the Carabao Cup with their FA Cup efforts to begin next month. Back in September, Postecoglou said: I always win things in my second year. Nothing's changed. I've said it now. I don't say things unless I believe them."

This evening, Andoni Iraola's unpredictable Bournemouth side will be looking to add Tottenham Hotspur to their list of 'Big Six' victims.

The South Coast side have already recorded seismic victories over Arsenal and Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium this season. Bournemouth's away form has been questionable, but they have proved their capability to beat anybody at home when they are on their day.

Ange Postecoglou's side have also been somewhat of an enigma this season, having lost to the likes of Ipswich Town and Crystal Palace, while also thrashing Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa. Aside from those at the Vitality Stadium, many may be wondering how they can watch two of the Premier League's most unpredictable sides in action.

Mirror Football takes you through how you can tune in to Bournemouth vs Tottenham for free.

What channel is AFC Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur on?

Amazon Prime won the broadcasting rights for two rounds of midweek fixtures: all of the Boxing Day matches and two games on December 27. This year will be the final campaign that Amazon broadcasts Premier League matches, having missed out on the new TV deal that will come into effect from next season until the 2028-29 campaign.

Part of Amazon's deal for this season will see them broadcast Bournemouth vs Tottenham, as well as Fulham vs Brighton and Hove Albion, on Amazon Prime.

How to watch AFC Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur free?

Those who do not subscribe already can sign up to Amazon Prime for a 30-day free trial. This will also enable people to watch the Premier League matches on Boxing Day and December 27 without paying a penny.

Those who are already subscribers to the streaming site will not need to pay any more money to tune in. Amazon Prime will be showing 10 midweek Premier League fixtures on December 26-27. Each match can be streamed free with an Amazon Prime subscription or by signing up for an Amazon Prime 30-day free trial.

What time does AFC Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur kick off?

Kick-off on the South Coast will be at 8.15pm. Those watching the match at home will find Gabby Logan presenting the show while Jermain Defoe, Les Ferdinand and Eni Aluko provide punditry and analysis.

Defoe played for both Tottenham and Bournemouth during his career, while Ferdinand turned out for Tottenham between 1997 and 2003. In the gantry, Jon Champion and Alan Shearer will be on the microphone, as they were for Arsenal's 2-0 home victory over Manchester United the night before.

Fraser Forster warned Tottenham may have to forsake their wish to be great entertainers and “grind out results” to negotiate an injury crisis amid December’s breathless schedule.

The former England goalkeeper made his first League appearance in 18 months in the 1-1 draw against Fulham after first choice Guglielmo Vicario broke an ankle bone. And the 6ft 7in giant’s outstanding display underlined the value of an oven-ready replacement who can make the difference when called into action.

Forster, 36, will be Spurs’ able deputy during the absurd run of 11 games in 35 days up to the New Year. Manager Ange Postecoglou is desperate for some of his injury absentees, notably central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, to return while Dominic Solanke missed the Fulham draw through illness.

Forster said: “It’s an incredible schedule of games and obviously it’s a tough one when Dom’s ill - that’s one you’re not really expecting - but you have to deal with it, and it’s an opportunity for someone else. It’s going to be a real squad game and we might have to grind out results. It’s a going to be a big ask for everyone, but ultimately we all love playing football so we have to embrace the challenge.”

Remarkably, Vicario played for an hour in the 4-0 demolition of champions Manchester City with a fractured ankle bone, but an operation on the injury means Forster will be in charge of the gloves well into 2025.

Forster, who won six England caps between 2013-16, told the club’s TV channels: “I feel good - obviously it makes a difference when you play a few games in a row as opposed to one game every couple of weeks, when it’s hard to get that momentum.

“If I look back at the last 18 months, I’ve missed both pre-seasons for different issues - I was out for the best part of six months with my broken foot, and it’s always harder when you miss pre-season. If you put a run of games together, whether you’re a goalkeeper or anywhere else, you grow into that position.

“It’s not an easy role (being back-up keeper) because you want to play every game, but when Vic’s fit and playing you have to think about what you can bring to the squad and the dressing room.

“For me, being a slightly older player, I’ve got that experience and things where you can help the younger guys - keeping the energy high, make sure everyone’s coming in, working hard but enjoying it.

“It’s very important for the lads who aren’t necessarily playing to do that because you could easily get frustrated, and we’ve got to be ready to play.”

Ange Postecoglou defended his “easy targets” after Spurs were booed off - and pointed to their crippling injury list.

Big Ange lost England striker Dominic Solanke to illness hours before Tottenham's latest dropped points at home and he warned: “We are going to have days like today where things are not running smoothly.”

As Solanke joined Richarlison, Mikey Moore and Wilson Odobert on the sidelines, Postecoglou growled: “It doesn’t help. That leaves us pretty thin up top and we are trying to manage that process. I guess people are looking for easy targets but if they don’t understand what we are dealing with at the moment, and how the players are coping with it, I think it’s fairly self evident.

“All you can ask is for the players to give everything, and I think they did that and more today.

"In seven days, we've copped a couple of significant blows since our win at Man City and it's too easy to say, ‘Well, let's just play like we did against City every game.’

“Somehow again, it seems with this club that whatever it is that we do well, it is then used as a millstone to bring us down at every other opportunity. We're still in good shape - we’re still in a decent position in the league, we’re still in the Carabao Cup, we're in a decent position in Europe, so it's about us maintaining our focus and continuing to develop.”

Tottenham were indebted to 36-year-old keeper Fraser Forster, making his first league appearance for 18 months, for an outstanding display after Guglielmo Vicario fractured an ankle bone in the 4-0 romp at the Etihad.

Postecoglou said: “We needed him in some big moments today, and I think when you lose your goalkeeper and somebody as significant as Vic is for us, the key to that is to have somebody experienced who's not going to be overawed by filling those shoes.

“Fraser, certainly, he's done it for a number of years. We see him every day. What you saw out there, we see every day training. He will be important for us moving forward.”

Ange Postecoglou is refusing to blame Tottenham’s lengthy injury list on a packed calendar.

Spurs face Fulham this afternoon with a squad stretched so thin there were three schoolboys on the bench against Roma on Thursday night.

But after spending last season bemoaning the lack of European football, Postecoglou reckons it would be a touch hypocritical to complain about having too many games now.

Defender Sergio Romero has a slim chance of returning today but six senior players remain out including stricken first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, centre half Micky van de Ven and striker Richarlison.

"It is a challenge for sure,” Postecoglou said. “Where we sit right now I think we have handled it okay considering the issues we have had.

“We haven't had the luxury of a massive squad. We've put big tasks to 18-year-olds, 17-year-olds and we are in a decent position in all competitions.

“It will challenge us – particularly with the way we play. We want to play a high-energy, high-intensity game which takes a lot out of you physically and mentally.

“These are the challenges we've got to face and hopefully we'll get a couple of players back in the period between now and Christmas.

“We will have to be really careful how we manage the team through that and the players' loads to make sure we can be in a good space come the New Year to challenge in the competitions we are in."

But Postecoglou does not think moving league games involving teams who play in Europe on a Thursday to the following Monday night would not make “too much of a difference.”

He added: “We are at the mercy of broadcasters as well and you have to understand that. It is not going to always be ideal in the way the fixtures come out.

“I sat here bemoaning we weren't in Europe last year and the lack of games so I can't sit here and say we've got too many now.

“It's just the balance. I don't think it's just anecdotal but injury rates are going up across the board in elite football and at some point that needs to be addressed."

Topsy-turvy Tottenham Hotspur host mid-table Fulham this afternoon (Sunday) as the north London outfit aim for back-to-back Premier League wins.

Ange Postecoglou’s men are riding high on the wake of their 4-0 demolition of Manchester City and sit in sixth position, just three points off a top-four place.

Fulham, on the other hand, sit ninth but could leapfrog Spurs with a win as they look to redeem a 4-1 home loss to Wolves last weekend.

With Tottenham difficult to predict, and the Cottagers keen to bounce back, the clash promises to be an entertaining one. However, fans in the UK hoping to watch on TV are unable to do so.

Why isn't Tottenham vs Fulham on TV?

Prior to Marco Silva’s men visiting the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the north London side welcomed Roma on Thursday evening. Therefore, this fixture has been moved to a 1.30pm slot on Sunday. Both sides are then back in Premier League action as soon as Thursday.

For this same reason, Manchester United, who played Bodo/Glimt at home on Thursday, and Chelsea, who faced a trip to Heidenheim on Thursday, also play today at the same time against Everton and Aston Villa respectively.

However, British broadcaster Sky Sports has earmarked the Blues’ clash with Villa for TV coverage, with a momentous clash between Manchester City and league-leaders Liverpool taking up the 4pm slot – half an hour earlier than usual due to police intervention in the scheduling times.

Therefore, fans wishing to tune into Spurs’ clash, or even Ruben Amorim’s second league game in charge of the Red Devils, are unable to do so, as they were not picked for coverage. Yet, this will change from next season, when all games that aren't scheduled for 3pm on Saturday will be broadcast live in the UK as part of the Premier League's new TV deal.

How to watch Tottenham vs Fulham

For those wishing to watch outside the UK, the match will be shown via local Premier League TV rights holders. Sky Sports Italy will air the match, for example.

In the United States, NBCUniversal have the rights to all 380 games in the Premier League this season, so fans across the pond can tune in.

However, fans in the UK will have to wait until highlights are made available by Sky Sports shortly after the full-time whistle. Match of the Day 2, which airs at 10:30pm, will also have extended highlights on BBC One.

Ange Postecoglou believes Dejan Kulusevski is just getting started. The Swede has been Tottenham ’s star of the season so far having been moved into a central midfield role.

No player across the league has created more opportunities in open play than his 48 and on a per 90 minute scale he has covered more ground than anyone.

But Postecoglou believes Kulusevski’s laser focus, which he considers comparable to that of Harry Kane or Cristiano Ronaldo, will ensure the 24-year-old continues to improve.

“He's very ambitious about how good he can be and that's a great thing,” the Spurs boss said ahead of tomorrow’s meeting with Fulham. “He's still relatively young and there's a lot of improvement in him.

“I've just got a feeling with Deki that he's not going to settle for any level apart from being the absolute best and it's great for us.”

Kulusevski said last week that he is so determined to become one of the top players in the world that he no longer uses his phone. He has even taken to measuring the pH level of his drinking water to optimise his condition.

And while he does not possess the league’s most devastating burst of acceleration, Postecoglou reckons few can match his endurance.

“It’s not a fluke, it’s a lot of hard work,” he added. “There’s some science there, some genetics or DNA. He just has a real capacity to be able to run at a certain level consistently.

“His recovery rates are really elite in that he can go and rest quickly and go again. But there’s also that mental strength to do it. A lot of players have the capacity but maybe reach the limit where they naturally get tired and don’t go again until they need to.

“But Deki will keep going and going. It’s a big part of his football, it’s a big strength of his. I’m not a biomechanist but his running efficiency is really good. He doesn’t seem to use too much energy. Or that’s how it looks to me. That could be a load of crap, I don’t know. But he does.”

Equally, Postecoglou is wary of squeezing him dry. Apart from the opening weekend draw at Leicester, he has started every league game and racked up 1,278 minutes across three competitions.

“We have to be mindful of not overburdening him because he’s played a lot,” the Australian added. “And with the squad we’ve got he’s played in the middle and on the wing. We don’t want to diminish that [influence] but at the moment he still feels really good.”

Kulusevski’s shift in from the wing, where he spent most of last season, has also had an impact on James Maddison. The England international’s importance appears to have waned slightly but he has bounced back well from being dropped for two games earlier this month.

Postecoglou said he has no problem if a player is upset when left out of the team, adding: “I’m not in the happiness business.”

But the sight of Maddison using that sense of grievance to respond with a rip-roaring performance in last weekend’s big win at Manchester City has quickly looked like rather effective man management. “If he misses a couple of games, he’s disappointed, that’s fine,” Postecoglou added. “What I am looking at is when you do play, make your biggest possible impact and that’s what he did.”

Tottenham are ready to trigger an option to extend Ben Davies' contract by 12 months to keep the defender at the club for a 12th year.

Davies' current deal expires at the end of this season but the north Londoners have the option to tie him down for a further year, which they intend to take up, meaning the Welshman will continue playing at the club he signed for back in 2014.

The 31-year-old is Tottenham's longest-serving player and was the first signing of the Mauricio Pochettino tenure more than a decade ago. During that time he's played more than 330 times for the London outfit and has been part of some of their most successful periods of the modern era.

Davies is the only remaining Tottenham player who was part of the team who made the Champions League final in 2019 and the 31-year-old made his first Premier League start of the season in Saturday's 4-0 win at Manchester City.

He underlined his quality with a stellar performance and Ange Postecoglou described him as "outstanding". His other five starts this term have come in Europa League and domestic cups.

The Australian manager underlined Davies' quality recently with the defender poised for more involvement this week. He said: "I doubt anyone who has any sort of real passion for this football club or real passion for football wouldn't say that he'd be very highly respected within or outside of this football club.

"He's captain of his country. Testament to his ability is the fact that a number of coaches at this football club have all trusted him at different times. Whether that's my opinion or Jose [Mourinho], Antonio [Conte] or Mauricio or anyone else he's been managed by."

Spurs are also poised trigger a 12-month extension to keep Heung-min Son at the club, unless the South Korean signs a longer-term contract extension in the meantime with the striker still vital to their ambitions.

Tottenham, despite suffering injuries to some of their key players, remain firmly in the top four picture at this early stage of the season. Their win at the Etihad means they are just three points off Arsenal in fourth ahead of their next league outing against Fulham.