Ange Postecoglou has nowhere to hide after angry Tottenham trophy retort

Seething internally after a North London Derby defeat, Ange Postecoglou had already worked his way through a long line of interviews for television and radio outlets on Sunday - every one quizzing him about set-pieces - when one more interview pushed him to a place he will later regret or point to.

Managers are always potentially tetchy and on edge after a loss, particularly a big derby one, and in this particular interview the broadcaster unfortunately moved the microphone away from the Tottenham boss a couple of times as he began to answer their question, in order to add more to it.

"Am I going to answer the question or are you going to keep asking it?" the 59-year-old said with an exasperated head movement that belied his frustration.

The question in its entirety was about Postecoglou's first season at clubs being ones that set his principles and philosophy and in the second season he "normally" wins things. He was asked, with those added extras, whether he had seen enough in this Spurs side to suggest that pattern will be repeated with silverware and competing at the top.

"Absolutely and I'll correct myself, I don't usually win things, I always win things in my second year, nothing's changed," he declared defiantly.

The follow-up question was essentially a repeat, asking whether he was confident that he can do that with this Spurs side.

"Well I've just said it now. I don't say things unless I believe them," he hit back.

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In that moment, the Australian removed the get out clause that those before him have been able to use. For the path from Tottenham is littered with managers who won titles and trophies elsewhere only to find that it's not quite that simple when they step through the doors in N17.

Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho are the two best recent examples of that rule. The two former Chelsea managers boasted CVs packed full of silverware over decades of coaching at various clubs, but neither were able to last a full season at Tottenham - a club that matches the lack of patience of their former London employees only without the success to justify it.

Mourinho in particular has not been slow in reminding people that Spurs are the only club in his career - from Porto onwards - where he did not win something and often bringing up the fact that he was sacked days before a cup final - something he claims as a half-trophy.

Now Postecoglou has made his definitive and televised statement and he's said that he's confident the squad he's got can continue his winning second season pattern despite all of that Spurs history of spurning silverware. It's a statement that the football world will come back to and remind him of.

In an ideal scenario that will be with Postecoglou holding aloft a trophy and finally ending what will be a 17-year-old drought at Tottenham, with a grin that clearly says 'I did tell you'.

In reality, it's of course not as simple as that. Tottenham have the Premier League and the Europa League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup to compete for but only one club can lift the trophy at the end of each of those competitions. The odds are that you are more likely to fall short than claim that piece of silverware, especially Spurs with their recent history.

The north London club have no choice but to back what has been a huge rebuild by Postecoglou on and off the pitch. That the Australian is the first Tottenham manager to last a full season in half a decade says everything you need to know about the flip-flopping decision-making going at the club when it comes to managerial directions.

Spurs have had more identities in recent years than a credit card thief. The club often speaks of its DNA, but in truth for a long period it became more like a genetic splicing experiment gone wrong. That Tottenham didn't have a single outfield senior club-trained player to register in their Europa League squad last week is a big indicator of the mess that Postecoglou inherited when he walked through the doors last year. It was a Frankenstein's monster of a squad patched together for different managers with entirely different needs and philosophies.

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The squad Postecoglou has put together in the past year is finally starting to resemble something he can work confidently with, one that fits his system with exciting players for the now and the future - although a bit more for the now would no doubt have been helpful.

The performances so far this season have been good on the whole, just missing that final pass or shot that turns dominance into results as it did against Everton. That is what Postecoglou knows must be fixed if his bold statement is to become reality. The goals always end up flowing under the Australian and he has no doubt that they will.

A North London Derby defeat, however narrow, is always going to bring heightened emotions and reactions and the quick turnaround to play a potential banana skin of a Carabao Cup tie at Coventry City on Wednesday night has plenty of danger signs that need to be heeded after Postecoglou's big words.

Whether the Tottenham head coach's statement ends up being prophetic or pathetic will be decided in time, but that final word is the key one. He needs time. It's only four games into a new season with a squad that is now unrecognisable from the one he inherited.

The Ricoh Arena awaits as does football fate's constant desire to make bold statements look ridiculous. We'll eventually find out whether Postecoglou backed himself into a corner with his frustrated answer on Sunday afternoon or whether he was simply letting us know what lies ahead.

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