Pressure grows as Ange’s Spurs throw away more Premier League points

Ange Postecoglou’s honeymoon period is a distant memory after he was torn to shreds following another poor performance by his Spurs.

Brennan Johnson and Ange Postecoglou react during Friday’s loss to West Ham. Photos: Getty Images

Not only is the honeymoon over for Ange Postecoglou, some Tottenham fans are already pleading for a divorce.

The man who was revolutionising Spurs and charming the Premier League is suddenly a little on the nose judging by reaction to the Australian's latest result on Friday morning (AEDT).

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That undefeated start, record three consecutive manager of the month awards and widespread celebration of “Ange-ball” is already a distant memory following four defeats and a draw from the club’s past five matches.

It has been an incredible slump, moving from five points clear atop the table to nine points behind leaders Arsenal and three points outside the top four.

Spurs fans are often a disconsolate bunch, a legacy of supporting a so-called “big team”, but one that has celebrated one lonely trophy in the past 32 years, the 2008 League Cup.

Brennan Johnson and Ange Postecoglou react during Friday’s loss to West Ham. Photos: Getty Images

Now that Spurs have slumped from first to fifth, and haven’t tasted victory since we were still being inundated with Halloween rather than Christmas merchandise, the fairly predictable #AngeOut hashtags are gaining momentum.

“Tottenham”, “Ange” and “Spurs” were all trending shortly after the game.

The rumblings against Postecoglou were growing even before Friday’s game, with football journalist Jonathan Liew launching a fierce spray against the Aussie on the Football Weekly podcast, stating “as a coach I can’t stand him”.

On the pitch, Spurs have developed a worrying trend of throwing away points, giving up an extraordinary 16 from winning positions through just 15 games.

It happened again in the London derby against the Hammers, the home side taking a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute through Christian Romero before Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse turned it around in the second half and won it for the visitors.

Postecoglou wasn’t shying away from the disappointing outcome in his post-match interview.

“You get what you deserve,” he said. “It’s another game where we were well in control, probably should’ve scored a lot more goals, and we kept West Ham in the game and conceded two soft goals.

“So ultimately what you deserve really isn’t important, it’s the fact you haven’t got anything out of the game.

“It’s disappointing, disappointing for our fans (and) for us in terms of the progress we’re trying to make, but it is what it is.

“We’ve still got a long way to go as a football team and days like today show that.”

The reaction has been swift towards Postecoglou, the first Australian to manage in the Premier League.

It’s been a tough couple of months for Postecoglou. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

“Ange is clueless! Just sack him now,” was one post on X, formerly Twitter.

“Ange has to go, awful manager #AngeOut,” wrote another.

Some were also doing their best to get creative with the Aussie’s Greek surname.

“Ange Imposter-Coglou, mate,” was probably our favourite.

“Fraudecoglu or some s**t,” was one that landed wide of the mark.

“Ange lost-ecoglu btw. That’s what I’m going for,” was a better attempt.

A comment on the BBC website during the game also poked fun at the hyperbole around Spurs during the club’s winless run.

“Spursy have been really poor since they won the league back in October,” the quipped.

Im convinced your knowledge of football comes purely from FIFA… you’re also probably in middle school.

Let the big boys do the big work. Ange is fine, the squad is not. That’s all

— Andrew 🇵🇹🇺🇸 (@CaptainAstro412) December 7, 2023

Ange ball, mate. pic.twitter.com/PdJQcl9IDi

— Sam North (@Sam_North_07) December 7, 2023

Due to the huge amount of money available for successful teams in the Premier League, club owners are notoriously fickle and often sack managers when it is perceived they haven’t had a fair opportunity.

Thankfully, plenty of Spurs fans are sticking with the Aussie, knowing he has inherited a team that finished eighth last season a whopping 29 points behind Manchester City and lost talismanic striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.

“People have seriously forgot how awful every god damn part of our club was last season and now everyone is mad like we’re doing worse,” wrote one fan on X.

“What ange has done to this club in literal months is mind blowing and for people to blame him and think he’s the problem is crazy to me.”

West Ham is the latest club to grab points from a Tottenham clash. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

”Hopefully spurs don’t get rid of Ange,” wrote another. “He’s starting out with the same sort of squad injuries Liverpool had 2 years ago. (For what it’s worth) I think Ange deserves time.”

“We go again on Sunday boys. Ange knows what he’s doing,” commented a third.

Sunday is another home fixture, this time with a Newcastle side also on a difficult run after its own honeymoon period under Eddie Howe across the 2022/23 campaign that ended with a surprise top-four finish.

Postecoglou’s many fans can only hope Spurs chairman Daniel Levy won’t be filing for a divorce with “Big Ange” anytime soon.

Originally published as Pressure grows as Ange’s Spurs throw away more Premier League points