REWIND the clock just over a year and Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs were being applauded off the pitch by supporters, despite losing 4-1 at home to Chelsea.
This Sunday, Tottenham host the Blues again and if it goes badly for the North Londoners, you fear for the Aussie boss and the reception he might get from the terraces.
GettyAnge Postecoglou must be as frustrated as any Tottenham fan[/caption]
ReutersSon Heung-min and Co were outplayed in losing 1-0 at Bournemouth[/caption]
It has been a marked turnaround in 13 months.
From fans serenading Postecoglou with their twist on Robbie Williams’ classic ‘Angels’ of “I’m loving Big Ange instead”.
To many of them falling out of love with the 59-year-old due to the wild inconsistency of his approach and some even wanting him gone.
The fact that Spurs pulled off one of their greatest Premier League results ever with the 4-0 win at Manchester City just 13 days ago but now we are in this situation is remarkable.
But in a way that landmark victory at the Etihad only heightened the frustration felt by fans because it showed just what this team is capable of… yet are regularly failing to reproduce against so-called smaller teams like Crystal Palace, Ipswich and last night, Bournemouth.
Andoni Iraola’s Cherries completely outclassed Spurs and were it not for some horrendously wasteful finishing from their forwards, it would have been 3-0 or 4-0 rather than 1-0.
So what has sparked this reversal in fortunes for Postecoglou’s Spurs?
There is an argument to say it all began with that Chelsea game in November last year.
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Spurs had made an electric start to his tenure, going unbeaten in their first ten league games and flying high at the top of the league.
Things were going so well that Postecoglou had won a hat-trick of manager-of-the-month awards for the first three months of the campaign.
But then disaster struck against the Blues.
Spurs went down to nine men due after Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off, but more significantly they lost James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to long-term injuries.
Amazingly, Postecoglou persevered with a high line and an attacking approach which led to Son Heung-min coming very close to a 90th-minute leveller for 2-2.
He missed, and after that Nicolas Jackson went on to complete a hat-trick.
The scenes afterwards were unforgettable though as fans belted out songs of praise for their brave team and their fearless manager for continuing to take the fight to the opposition despite their two-man disadvantage.
But since then, that passion has dwindled due to how enormously patchy Postecoglou’s side have been.
Their league record since Chelsea has read 17 wins, six draws and 18 defeats.
The collapse towards the end of last season cost them a Champions League spot.
While this term the dismal nature of displays at Selhurst Park, the second half at Brighton and the Vitality on Thursday night has irked supporters no end.
Swedish attacker Dejan Kulusevski played the whole game at the Vitality Stadium but couldn’t inspire an equaliser from misfiring TottenhamRex
Son shows his anguish after the sub had a goal ruled out at BournemouthGetty
At Bournemouth, Postecoglou even exchanged words with angry supporters seemingly calling him names and shouting expletives from the stands at full-time.
Just over 12 hours on at Friday morning’s press conference back in Enfield, Postecoglou said he had no issue with the fans’ venting their fury.
That what matters is that they are behind the team – not him.
He said: “They’re not behind me, they’re behind the club. I’ve got no interest in who’s behind me.
“You got to figure the ones who travel to Bournemouth are pretty hardcore supporters.
“They weren’t happy with what they saw, they felt like they needed to give me some feedback, I took the feedback on board and we move on.”
Injuries have been killing Postecoglou’s side over the last year.
Maddison and Van de Ven getting crocked in the 4-1 against Chelsea last term derailed their progress completely.
While right now he is without his first-choice centre-back pairing of Romero and Van de Ven, his No1 goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and is light up top with Richarlison and Wilson Odobert out injured.
Ben Davies also injured his hamstring against Bournemouth.
Barring the £65million purchase of Dominic Solanke – the most a Premier League club spent on a player this summer – Spurs opted for youth in the last window.
The decisions we made around signing young players are the right decisions for where we are at right now and will bear fruit
Ange Postecoglou
Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall, both 18, 19-year-old Odobert and Yang Min-Hyeok, also 18 and who will join next month, were all brought in.
While experienced pros like Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg and Giovani Lo Celso were let go.
The injury to Odobert in particular has hit hard because Spurs looked in desperate need for more strength in the attacking areas.
But the teenage kicks approach has left some fans thinking the club were too focused on building for the future, rather than the here and now.
Yet Postecoglou defended the transfer policy today, commenting: “It is still the right decision and I own them [transfers] because I believe they are the right decisions for this club.
“I have said numerous times, I make these decisions with the kind of background that I’m going to be here for a while to see this through.
“To be honest, if I was worried about my own existence I would have fought tooth and nail to block Harry Kane leaving but it wasn’t the right decision for the club because he was in the last year of his contract. That is not what drives me.
“The decisions we made around signing young players are the right decisions for this club for where we are at right now and they will bear fruit.”
That may be the case further down the line, but whether Postecoglou will still be at the club in time to see it seems in jeopardy right now.
His Spurs are capable of beating the best, as they have proven in the past, so seeing off Enzo Maresca’s in-form Chelsea is doable.
Lose, though, and the ex-Celtic boss could have a crisis on his hands – with a hostile trip Rangers in Glasgow coming just days after.