Ange Postecoglou sends message to Tottenham board as pundit makes 'argument stopped' claim

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou silenced his doubters on Wednesday night when his side won the Europa League title. Spurs defeated Manchester United in the final in Bilbao thanks to Brennan Johnson’s first-half goal.

The North London side defended excellently for the rest of the game, limiting United to very few clear-cut chances, with the back-line producing a stellar display. The win means Tottenham have not only won their first silverware in 17 years, but they have also secured Champions League qualification for next season.

A disastrous Premier League campaign cannot be forgotten, especially not one that will go down in the Tottenham record books, but the Champions League qualification does mean Postecoglou has achieved the club’s objective, and with silverware to boot.

Speaking after the game, Postecoglou said: “I’m taking it all in. I know what it means for this football club. The longer it goes on the harder it is to break the cycle. I can sense the nervousness at the club and until you break that and get the monkey off our back you don’t know what it feels like. Hopefully tasting this success will feed into them feeling differently about themselves and mainly for the supporters. There will be some who have been following us for 41 years and never seen us win. It’s incredible.

“Knockout football is different to league football. It comes down to good organisations and having a clear gameplan. If you can minimise the moments the opposition have and have a strong foundation. Having the back five, we haven’t had that luxury, I felt we were going to be hard to break down. I always felt comfortable that if we got ahead then we’d have enough to deal with what Man Utd had to offer.

"It wasn’t me boasting. It was me making a declaration. I believed it. Finishing third wasn’t going to change this football club, us winning something changes this football club. I’m not afraid to declare that, if I felt short then I was happy to cop it. That was my ambition. I could say that. I was prepared to wear it. People kept reminding me of it but that was only because there was an opportunity to win something.

"It's how the club perceives itself. People are quick to take shots at the club who haven’t defended themselves as much as it should. I understand that as people have been here a long time and haven’t had anything to lean on. I’m hoping this does. There’s no reason why they can’t go into next year believing they can win again and building a team that strives to win things. If you see yourself in that way, irrespective of what the noise is, that’s what the great clubs do. They expect success as they’ve had it. Hopefully this takes the club forward.”

On his future, the Spurs boss made it clear he sees a future for himself, adding: “I’ve had such a laser focus on winning this. Whatever happens, happens. We’re still building this team. It’s a young team. We need to add experience. We’re in the Champions League. My thought process has been about building a team that can be successful for five or six years. But I’m the manager – that decision is not in my hands. It doesn’t affect me. You would have seen that in the build-up. All I care about is [the medal] – as this means this football club has won a trophy.

"I don’t feel like I’ve completed the job. We’re building. The moment I accepted the role I had one thing in my head, win something. We’ve done that now and I want to build on it."

Pundits on Postecoglou’s future

Speaking on TNT Sports after Wednesday night’s final, Rio Ferdinand said: “They’ve been the butt of many jokes from other teams about how they can’t win a trophy. But they’ve proved today, they’ve shut a lot of people up. And that argument in the pubs and in front rooms all around the country will have to be stopped now, because they’ve proved that they’ve got that monkey off that back now and they can hopefully build on this."

He added: "I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for Ange Postecoglou because I think he’s come in for a lot of criticism, some of it unfair. Yes, he’s been prickly at times, but who wouldn’t be, someone under that type of scrutiny and criticism?"

Tottenham legend Gareth Bale added: “He's won a trophy, he's the first to do so in a long time. The board have some decisions to make"