Ange Postecoglou will move on without regret if the Europa League final, his 100th game in charge of Tottenham, proves to be his penultimate in the job.
The prospect of the sack will not distract him from what is at stake tomorrow against Manchester United, he said, although he made it clear he wanted to carry on with the work he has started.
‘I’ve been in this position before where the big game was the last game I managed,’ said Postecoglou, sounding resigned to his fate in Bilbao, as he listed teams he had left on a high, including Australia, Celtic and Brisbane Roar.
‘It’s not unusual territory for me. I qualified for a World Cup and left. Won the Treble with Celtic and left. Won at Brisbane and left. It’s actually more common than you think.
‘I’ve always navigated it pretty well. I’m pretty good at just making sure all my focus is on giving this football club the best opportunity it’s had for a while to do something special.
‘Whatever happens after that, I’m very, very comfortable that I’ll continue on trying to win trophies wherever I am.’
Ange Postecoglou will move on without regret if the Europa League final is his final Spurs game
Wednesday’s Europa League final against Manchester United will be his 100th Spurs game
Spurs have endured a miserable domestic campaign and sit in 17th place in the Premier League
Postecoglou appears increasingly likely to leave the post after two years, regardless of the result against United, with Spurs already embarking upon into the task of finding a successor.
Despite this successful Europa League campaign, they languish 17th in the Premier League with one game remaining, at home against Brighton on Sunday, in another season devastated by injuries.
He insists, however, there has been progress and that bringing home Tottenham’s first trophy since 2008 and their first in Europe since 1984 would be confirmation of that.
‘I don’t think my job is done here,’ said Postecoglou. ‘I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that. So, I still think there is work to be done.
‘It is quite obvious with the challenges we’ve had this year, which I think are well chronicled, but there is some reasoning in the context of that, but also there has been some growth and I would like to see through.
‘Whether that happens or not is not that important right now, but I don’t think this job is finished, far from it. I certainly feel there is some growth there that we can take this club to where it needs to be.’
