Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has given an extraordinary interview in the aftermath of his side’s 1-0 defeat to Chelsea.
With 30 games in the Premier League, the Lilywhites have lost over half with the latest loss in a London Derby at Stamford Bridge becoming Postecoglou’s 16th of the season – and the Australian took exception to a number of questions from Sky Sports interviewer Patrick Davison.
With Tottenham seeing a goal chalked off for a foul and the travelling support booing the choice of substitutions, Postecoglou came out fighting in his post-match interview…
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou’s post-match interview with Sky Sports: the full transcript
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Sky Sports’ Patrick Davison: Your reflections at the end of what I guess is a difficult night?
Ange Postecoglou: Yeah, difficult night, tight game obviously. Yeah, it’s not an easy place to come and, you know, we had to work hard to stay in the game. We let in a disappointing goal, then sort of fought our way back into the game and unfortunately weren’t able to get anything out of it.
PD: In terms of your team, your players getting on the ball, playing your football, did you get to the levels tonight, do you think?
AP: We almost did. We tried to. I mean, I still think it’s a work in progress. It’s, you know, it’s the first time we sort of got the whole group in together, but I thought there were elements of that tonight. I didn’t feel like we were getting locked in at all. I thought in the final third we could have been a little bit cleaner without the football, but for the most part, I thought we handled it pretty well.
PD: Is part of that then maybe going up another level again, cohesion, rhythm? These players, a lot of them have been out a while, it doesn’t just magically all come back, I guess?
AP: Yeah, that’s part of the process. As I say, it’s a tough ask coming here anyway, but I still thought there was enough there tonight that shows that the lads are are kind of getting back to the level we need to.
PD: Obviously VAR plays its part. There’s two long delays, two goals ruled out. Their one’s tight but I guess factual. I could see you didn’t agree with Pape Sarr’s goal being ruled out. Just tell us how you saw it.
AP: Look, it’s killing the game, mate. It’s not the same game it used to be. We all sat on, you know, on our couches last night, watched TV, and I guarantee if Jared Gillett was the VAR last night, we’d have got a different outcome. So you just don’t know what you’re going to get and you’re standing around for 12 minutes. It’s killing the game but no one cares about that. I think everyone loves the drama, the controversy. I’m sure there’ll be 24-hour discussion around it and I think that’s what everyone wants. They’re not interested in [the fact] that it’s just killing the spectacle of the game.
If the referee saw that and then he needs to see that for six minutes, tell me what’s clear and obvious about it, mate. Just a clear explanation, what’s clear and obvious about last night? We all sat on our couches and saw one replay and gone, “Oh my god.” Tonight we sat there and we waited for six minutes for something that apparently the VAR official Jared Gillett thought was clear and obvious. It’s crazy, mate. It’s madness, but we accept it. And when you accept something, I guess you have to take the fallout from it.
PD: So I guess part of your issue then, or a big part of your issue, is the delay. But do you think that decision’s wrong?
AP: Look, Pat, you can try and force me into a corner.
PD: Ange, I’m not trying to force you into…
AP: You are – did you think last night was a red card? Was it clear and obvious?
PD: Yes.
AP: Okay. How many minutes did it take this referee to figure out whether it’s clear and obvious – in your basic knowledge of human vocabulary: clear and obvious. What does that suggest to you? That on the first replay… is that clear and obvious? If you have to watch something quite a few times, is that clear and obvious? No, it’s maybe not clear and obvious.
PD: I do think it’s a foul, if I’m honest.
AP: Okay. All right. Well, there you go. So there you go. So the referee didn’t see it. He then needs to see it for six minutes, but you get the right outcome, so you’re happy. And, uh, that’s why the game’s going the way it is. And I guess people like you will continue to be happy, sitting on your couches waiting for six minutes for clear and obvious stuff? That’s fine. I don’t agree with it, but that’s fine.
PD: What happened with you and the supporters tonight?
[Postecoglou looks quizzically]
PD: Because they booed the substitutions you made – Bergvall for Sarr – and when Sarr thought he’d scored, I saw that you looked at them, you heard the chants, “You don’t know what you’re doing,” you heard that?
AP: No, mate. I know what you’re talking about.
PD: You don’t think you looked at the supporters
AP: I did, yeah, yeah. I wanted them to be happy, mate. We’ve just scored a cracking goal, and I was listening, you know? I wanted them to cheer because they haven’t had a lot to cheer about.
PD: Fine. So that that’s that was nothing to do with the substitution being booed?
[Postecoglou shakes his head]
PD: If it’s a no…
AP: It’s a no. I’ve got it wrong, you know. If you’ve followed my sort of tenure, it’s not the first time and they’re allowed to boo, but I wanted them to cheer because I thought it was a cracking goal.
PD: But look, you said in the week, you did an interview with Mark Schwarzer and you talked about losing a large portion of the Tottenham fans. Is that what we saw tonight? Do do you feel like you’ve lost some of them?
AP: I get it, Pat. You’re trying really hard. That’s fine. Look, you’ve already decided what the outcome is. My outcome tonight is it was a really tight game. I thought it was decided by a really poor decision. And apart from that, everyone got through healthy. We got some great minutes into some guys and we move to Sunday.
PD: Okay. All right. And you saw enough for Thursday, but that’s because that’s the season hinges on that ultimately, doesn’t it?
AP: No, no. We’ve got to get [through] Sunday first. We’ve got to go out there on Sunday. I think it’s important that we continue to play okay.
PD: Ange, there’s no agenda.
AP: That’s fine, mate. No worries.
PD: No problem. Thanks.
