TOTTENHAM’s search for a new manager is about to end.
Spurs are set to announce Celtic’s Ange Postecoglou as their new boss as early as next week.
The Greek-born, Aussie-raised coach, 57, grew up in Melbourne, where he developed a love of the beautiful game.
It was at South Melbourne Hellas, a club set up for Greek immigrants in the 1950s, where he would meet legend Ferenc Puskas, who managed the side from 1989-1992.
They would form a close bond, where Ange would act as interpreter for the Hungarian in return for his fountain of football knowledge.
Postecoglou would become a boss in his own right and eventually coach the Australian national team.
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Last year, behind-the-scenes footage emerged of the ex-Socceroos coach losing his temper with his players, which should act as a warning to Harry Kane and Co.
Number 24
Raised in the Athens suburbs, Ange’s dad Dimitris lost his business following the 1967 Greek military coup, so the family emigrated to Australia in 1970 by boat.
“I just can’t believe what my parents went through,” he said.
“What they would have gone through to take a young family halfway round the world, on a ship that takes us 30 days, to a country where they don’t speak the language, they don’t know a soul, they don’t have a house, they don’t have jobs.
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“People say they go to another country for a better life. My parents did not have a better life, they went to Australia to provide opportunities for me to have a better life.”
The future football manager was just five when he posed for a photo holding up immigration number 24, giving off a steely stare that would later be used in full force to get the best out of team-mates and teams.
It was his dad who would give Ange his first taste of football, which was something of a release for the old man who was out early and home late because of work commitments.
Sundays were dedicated to church in the mornings, followed by a South Melbourne Hellas match in the afternoon.
A fine tutor
Ange joined semi-pro Hellas, who are now known as South Melbourne FC, when he was nine.
“As a kid, I just wanted to fit in, I didn’t necessarily like the fact I came from another country and had a really long surname that nobody could get their mouth around. For a young boy the best way to fit in was sport,” Postecoglou said.
He rose through the youth ranks to play in the 1984 side that won the National Soccer League. Something he would achieve again in 1991, but under a more inspiring and pioneering manager.
Between 1989-1992, Ange was coached by football’s first international superstar, Ferenc Puskas. He was skipper and left-back, Puskas his mentor.
The Galloping Major played an attacking 4-3-3 formation – with the full-backs supporting the wingers. Never before seen in Australia.
Puskas couldn’t speak English, but was fluent in Greek following spells at Panathinaikos and AEK Athens.
That allowed Greek-speaking Ange to be the chief communicator on and off the pitch.
They soon became firm friends, as Ange would chauffeur Puskas around town and the two would discuss football for hours.
Ange said of Puskas: “He was just a gentleman. From the moment he wandered through, he was just humble.
“We were constantly pestering him to tell us stories about Real Madrid, what he did at Hampden, what he did at Wembley.
“He was forever downplaying everything and it just showed you the greatness of the man was his humility in dealing with people.
“I was lucky because when he came to Australia his English wasn’t great, but he had coached Panathinaikos to a European Cup final, so his Greek was decent and I acted almost as an interpreter.
“I used to pick him up from his house and drive him to training in my crappy old car, which I was embarrassed about.”
Destined for management
Ange was just 27 when he had to retire with a knee injury.
Three years later, he would return to South Melbourne as a coach and win two national championships from 1996-2000
But a more senior role with Australia’s youth sides would nearly put a nail in the coffin of his career.
An on-air bust-up with football pundit Craig Foster during an interview on Aussie TV left a sour taste in the mouth.
He was sacked from coaching Australia’s U20s in 2007, and forced to take on a role at third division Greek club Panachaiki to continue his management journey, only to return to Australia in 2008.
He had nothing, and had to move in with wife Georgia and his mother-in-law for eight months to get by.
His next job at Brisbane Roar would define him.
Going on to success
Many believe that the brand of football Brisbane played during Ange’s tenure between 2009-2012 was the best ever seen by an Australian club side.
Fast, ferocious, possession-based, he was inspired to use the same 4-3-3 formation Puskas had taught him.
After winning back-to-back league titles in 2011 and 2012, he moved to Melbourne Victory and after a year was appointed as Socceroos boss.
They competed in the 2014 World Cup, won the 2015 Asian Cup, and qualified for another World Cup in 2018.
A month after securing qualification, Ange resigned and accepted a job in Japan with Yokohama Marinos.
He would lead the club to their first J-League title in 15 years in 2019, before Celtic brought him to Scotland in 2021.
Postecoglou would wrestle the Scottish Premiership back from fierce rivals Rangers in his first season, before winning it again this year – adding two League Cups to the Hoops’ trophy room in his two years in Glasgow.
However, a fiery temper that could install fear into his players to perform better was uncovered last year.
Filled with rage
In a clip from a Paramount Australia documentary about Postecoglou’s time in charge of the Socceroos, a more prickly side became evident.
He was filmed showing his players a soft goal they conceded from a set-piece on a screen during a team meeting.
He begins: “We’ve got to be better than this, we must be better, that’s just careless.
“And not only that, there’s one, two, three… we cannot f***ing concede there.
“There’s f***ing got to be a reaction there.”
As he vented his fury, he punched the screen with his hand.
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“Someone!” he continued, “f***’s sake!”
Tottenham’s defenders, you have been warned.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
