Postecoglou says not winning a trophy with Spurs would be a failure for him

Ange Postecoglou is bullishly sticking by his claim that Tottenham can win a trophy this season, admitting that it is fine for others to judge him as a failure if he falls short of silverware.

Spurs last won a trophy back in 2008

There has been a lot said and written over the past few days about Postecoglou’s assertion about always winning a trophy in his second season at various clubs.

There is no doubt that the Australian now faces the biggest challenge of his career if he is to preserve that record, with Spurs not having lifted any silverware for 16 years.

When asked if that statement about trophies might have heaped more pressure on his side, the Tottenham boss told Football.London: “By stating a fact? I’m not sure. What did I do, did I unfurl banners and get a band out? Am I supposed to say that’s not really relevant or that doesn’t really count or that’s not really important? Because it is to me.

“That’s what I’ve got to rely on, that in my 26 years of managing, I’ve had success and most of that has come in the second year, not all of it. Sometimes it’s happened in the first year, sometimes in the third year. I rely on that. It’s something I’ve achieved.

“If by the end of your career, you’ve won a couple of Pulitzers mate, and somebody asks you about winning a Pulitzer, would you say, ‘Well it’s not really that important’? I don’t see why that puts extra pressure. It doesn’t put extra pressure on me because I love the fact that I’ve done that. It’s what I want to do here.

“I’d like to think that just saying the truth is the way to go forward, but I think sometimes that’s too confronting for people. They’d much rather I didn’t.”

Anything short of a trophy will be a failure

Postecoglou pointed out that it is his desire to always win trophies that have got him to the level that he has, given where he started from.

When asked if this season would be a failure if Tottenham fail to get their hands on silverware, he responded: “Yes. I failed last year in my head because that’s how I’m geared. I think I’ve made it pretty clear what my expectations are, but that doesn’t mean that I stop, that just fuels the fire of ‘Why didn’t I do it? Why didn’t we achieve last year? Why didn’t we win something last year?’

“That gets me going for this year and this year it’s about progress. That’s been my whole career, that’s my foundation. That’s why I’m sitting here. There’s no other way I could have got here. No chance in any universe I could have got here from Australia and been sitting here answering questions at one of the biggest clubs in the world and the best competition in the world if I didn’t have some sort of self-belief based on something of substance. I was never going to get here with my charm and good looks.”

The 59-year-old is adamant that he is not going to stop setting his sights on the biggest prizes just because others think he or his side cannot achieve them.

The Spurs boss insisted that he has no qualms about others judging him to have failed at Tottenham if he does not walk the walk and achieve what he set out to.

When asked if everyone can judge him on his own high standards, Postecoglou responded: “Yeah. I’ve never tried to steer it another way. Have I ever downplayed anything since I’ve been here? So I’m willing to be measured against that, that means that I’m fair game. I’ve never said no to that. Now, how you come to your summary at the end, that’s as much on you as it is on me.

“You can make your assessment on just one thing or many things, but I’m happy to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard, that’s what I’ve done in the past and I don’t want to dilute that because then I miss the opportunity to continue on the road I’ve been on. I have no problems with people using that as a yardstick.

“I will say we’re four games into a new season, it’s pretty early. I realised in Scotland, they’d rule me out after two games. They said it was all over in the year we won the double, so…I just find it…It’s just me, I’m going to be me. I’m just going to say these things the way I always have and I’m not going to change.”

Spurs Web Opinion

While the jury is still out on whether Postecoglou can achieve success at Spurs, this is what a real winning mentality sounds like.

Unlike Conte or Mourinho, who constantly played down expectations and shifted blame in an effort to absolve themselves of criticism, Ange is happy to cop flak if he does not achieve his grand ambitions.

The post Postecoglou says not winning a trophy with Spurs would be a failure for him appeared first on Spurs Web.