Ange Postecoglou has said the doubters only strengthen his resolve as he looks to turn around Tottenham’s season.
The Australian was involved in a heated exchange with supporters following the 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Thursday night. Defeat at the Vitality Stadium leaves Spurs 10th in the Premier League table, six points adrift of the Champions League places.
Postecoglou is under pressure ahead of a huge London derby with in-form Chelsea this weekend but the 59-year-old remains confident that he will bring success to Spurs.
“As I said last night, no messages. I am here, I am going to fight to make sure we bring success to this football club,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“Nothing really changes. Where there is doubt, whether that is internally or externally, it just gets my resolve stronger to make sure we get it right.”
Spurs have struggled for consistency this season, combining big wins over Manchester City, Manchester United and Aston Villa with disappointing defeats to teams lower in the table.
Postecoglou is hoping his team will produce another ‘big game’ performance when Chelsea arrive this weekend.
“We have done well against the teams up the top end of the table, not just wins but played really well. Whether that is City or United or Villa. But it doesn’t eliminate what happened last night. That still needs to be addressed. We will put that to one side, it is a big game on Sunday.
“Chelsea are going really well, they are in a good space at the moment with a fairly healthy squad and in good form. Always a tough game against them but we are at home and we need to make sure we produce a performance like we have in the other games.”
On his side’s inconsistency, Postecoglou said he needs Spurs to break the ‘cycle’ of fading after strong starts. His side have already lost six times in the Premier League this season. Asked how difficult the current period is with his side’s injuries and absentees, he added: “We know that, I think that is put to one side. For me the disappointment last night, there was a repeat of cycle of us going into games, starting well enough but then allowing the opposition to get a grip on it by either conceding a sloppy goal – like we did last night – or not taking our opportunities.
“We need to break that cycle, irrespective of where we are at at the moment. We know we are really thin on the ground in terms of squad numbers. We know there is not a lot of opportunity to rotate and rest players. We paid the price with Benny [Davies] last night.
“Those are known things. what also is known is we repeatedly shot ourselves in the foot in games like last night and we need to change that.”
