‘Gold into crap’: Ange blows up at innocent question, says ‘I’m gone anyway’

Ange Postecoglou has blown up at an innocent question and hit out at the vibe around Tottenham, explosively claiming “I’m gone anyway”.

Ange Postecoglou has addressed sentiment he will be sacked by Tottenham very soon, as a prickly answer to an innocent question in a press conference shed light on the Aussie manager’s mentality.

Postecoglou believes there is a “general sentiment” in football that he will be sacked by Spurs even if he wins the Europa League, The Sun reports.

The under-pressure Aussie appears in last chance saloon territory as Spurs host Eintracht Frankfurt in their quarter-final first leg on Friday morning (AEST).

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If Tottenham are dumped out by the Germans and it could be curtains for Postecoglou after an awful league campaign, or at least that’s what he thinks the world expects to happen.

But Postecoglou insists proving his critics wrong is not a motivating factor and that he is hell-bent on turning things around, starting by seeing off a team third in the Bundesliga.

Postecoglou said: “I think (it was written this week) that even if we win it, I’m gone anyway.

“The only reason I mention it is because I think that is the general sentiment.

“I have said before, that is not what drives me.

“I came to this club with a clear purpose and vision of what the club needed and what I could offer.

Ange Postecoglou is feeling the weight of pressure. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

“That is to change the way the team plays, to obviously rejuvenate the squad because it was a squad that was coming towards the end of a cycle and to bring success.

“As long as I’m in this position, that’s always my focus irrespective of whatever noise there is or what may or may not be in the future.

“I don’t see that, that should diminish my burning ambition, my desire and my determination to make that happen. Anything you achieve in life usually comes with a struggle.

“Certainly everything I have achieved in my life has come with a struggle from a professional perspective.

“This is just another struggle, but never through this struggle have I lost the will to fight for what I think is the right thing to do and I’ll continue to do that.”

Postecoglou is feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders judging by his answer to a question in a press conference this week about one of his players being denied the chance to score a hat-trick in Tottenham’s 3-1 win over Southhampton on the weekend.

Brennan Johnson scored two goals in the first half and many were surprised he wasn’t given the chance to complete a hat-trick when Tottenham were awarded penalty deep into stoppage time just before the final whistle was blown.

Johnson wanted to take the spot kick himself but Pedro Porro took the ball off him, passed it to stand-in captain Cristian Romero who then gave it to Mathys Tel.

Tel slotted the penalty but Johnson looked deflated after the game and was consoled by several Spurs teammates, including star players Heung-min Son and James Maddison.

Ange Postecoglou wasn't happy with the question about his penalty takers. Photo: X.

Postecoglou was not impressed at all when asked about Johnson not taking the penalty in a midweek press conference, giving a fiery answer you can watch in the video above.

“We scored, we won,” he said before his tone turned harsh.

“Delighted. It’s incredible, it’s just … literally turning gold into crap when it’s Tottenham.

“Seriously. If we’re 2-1 up tomorrow night and get a penalty in the last minute, I want the best penalty taker to take it. I mean the one slight against this club is apparently it hasn’t been a winner.

“Well the winner’s mentality in the last minute of the game is to score a goal. We scored a goal. And yet somehow in this ultimate universe where everything Tottenham does is wrong, that’s come out as a negative.

“Be that as it may. From my point of view, I was delighted because as I said if that’s tomorrow night and we get a penalty in the last minute and get a third goal which could be really decisive, I’m really pleased with the way the players handled it.”

Brennan Johnson (right) of Tottenham Hotspur was disappointed to miss out on a hat-trick. (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Speaking to Spurs media after the game, Johnson said: “It’s only normal for me to want to take the penalty. “There’s only a certain amount of talking to do before it gets quite messy.

“I’ve been in the situation before when I’ve had people wanting to take the ball off me and it kind of unsettles you a little bit.

“I knew the game was pretty much done but still, I didn’t want to unsettle anyone or start any disagreements.

“So, once the decision was made, I just had to get on with it.”

Spurs have slumped to 16 defeats in the Premier League this season. They went out of the Carabao Cup at the semi-final stage and early on in the FA Cup, meaning the only way to save their season is in the Europa League.

It also remains Tottenham’s last chance to qualify for Europe - and possibly to save Postecoglou’s job.

This article originally appeared in The Sun and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as ‘Gold into crap’: Ange blows up at innocent question, says ‘I’m gone anyway’