If you’re an Australian, you probably have a soft spot for Big Ange, aka Ange Postecoglu, the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur. Even if you’re not from the Land Down Under, you probably kinda like him.
He certainly has had his fair share of critics. In the Premier League, almost all the managers are European, many of whom have played for the world’s top clubs themselves. Arne Slot, the manager of championship winning Liverpool, was occasionally criticised for only playing in the Dutch 1st Division.
Compare that to big Ange, who spent his playing career at South Melbourne Hellas, a semi-professional (I think they gave you like $50 a game) outfit that played about 1km from when I grew up. This was in a time when the main criteria to get on the pitch was if you were 1) Greek and 2) any good. Number 2 was optional. Back then, the highlight of the season was playing cross town rivals Melbourne Croatia. Yep, that was their name. They even played in the Croatian national strip. Wild times.
Tottenham have had a stinker of a year. They lost their best player (ever?) two years ago, and this year will be lucky to finish 15th out of 20 teams. 80% of their fans have been baying for Ange’s head, #AngeOut and all the rest. But this evening, in a balmy Bilbao, he was able to wrangle a 1-0 victory to win the Europa League, Europe’s second biggest trophy, and Spur’s first of any kind since 2008.
Many months ago, when asked if he was going to survive, Big Ange bet his career on a single sentence, “I usually win trophies in my second year.”
And he did.
As a final note, the real reason I really like him is that unlike all the other coaches who dress up in Italian designer suits, Ange always looks, and talks, like he is coaching some rag-tag suburban team playing at 11am on a Saturday.
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