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The story behind Steven Naismith and Ange Postecoglou's Hearts-Spurs relationship

Submitted by daniel on Tue, 16/07/2024 - 06:00

The two managers will meet up once more when Spurs travel to Tynecastle

Hearts' bond with Tottenham Hotspur goes way back to the days of Dave Mackay in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mackay, one of Hearts' greatest players, was sold to the north London outfit in 1959 for £32,000. The Scotland international went on serve Spurs with distinction for nine seasons and the two outfits have shared a close link ever since. They most recently met in 2011 in the Europa League and will do battle again at Tynecastle on Wednesday night as part of the Jambos sesquicentennial celebrations.

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The men at the helm of the current version of Hearts and Tottenham share a close relationship, too. Steven Naismith and Ange Postecoglou only came up against each other once in Scottish football at the tail end of the 2022/23 season, but they have stayed in touch ever since. The Australian boss has offered Naismith advice since he became permanent Hearts head coach and been supportive of the young coach's work.

"The way he plays was different and it gets you intrigued," Naismith said of Postecoglou, who won five trophies in two years at Celtic and guided Spurs to a fifth-placed finish in the Premiership last season. "You definitely learn from that.

"My experience of Ange was when I was caretaker with Hearts. We played Celtic on the day they could win the league and he didn't really need to give me much time of day, but he did. He made a point of it before the game and was very complimentary.

"He had never met me. He probably asked a few people around at Celtic who had worked with me at Scotland. After the game, again he was very complimentary. He just said if he could ever help, he will be in contact.

"Then he texted me randomly out of the blue. He didn't need to give me that time of day, he never knew if I would become the manager here or not. For a young coach, that's invaluable to get somebody of his experience to lean on. Fortunately, I have done that since then."

Naismith likes how passionate Postecoglou is for football general, but also his support for the Scottish game. "He's got the players' backs and the managers' backs," continued Naismith. "I think he has a good understanding of the game. He's got loads of knowledge and experience.

"The biggest thing that comes to mind for me is his calmness. At the start with Celtic, he was getting hounded by everybody but there was a calmness there and that helped him to be successful in Scotland - and also in the tougher moments with Spurs.

"I think he appreciated what the product is in Scotland. Not everybody appreciates what it is but it does have a lot of talent in it."

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Naismith is expecting some of Spurs' bigger names to make the journey north, with English playmaker James Maddison and new signing Archie Gray potentially in attendance.

"I think there will be quite a few of their bigger names, just by going off the internationals and what were teams were at major competitions," he added. "The quality will be at a high level. Defensively we will need to be switched on, that's a big area we will be focused on. Ange's teams are always through of energy so we will need to deal with that."

The Scotsman