Fans of Tottenham turn Ange Postecoglou’s name into a chant. The chant echoes across the Tottenham Hotspur Football Stadium in North London. It comes as the Spurs established themselves at the top of the English Premier League table, with 20 points from eight games, having a record of six wins and two draws. The London side remains undefeated in the League since Postecoglou took charge.
He says it’s all thanks to the player’s efforts.
“I keep saying, it’s a credit to the players. They’ve really brought into it, they’re really tight as a group. You see that because of the manner of, you know, we’re winning games, it’s not like they’ve been easy, any of them and, apart from the football, which I think has been good, (it’s) just the resilience and character, you know? They want to change the destiny of this football club and that’s what they’re trying to do.”
Postecoglou has quickly risen the ranks to become a fan favourite at Tottenham Stadium.
But things weren’t always as bright for the Greek-Australian coach.
Raised in a country where football is considered third or even fourth in popularity, Postecoglou was the son of Greek migrants. His father was a big supporter of football club AEK Athens, with Ange himself getting those influences from early on in his life. Sports journalist and columnist for Greek community newspaper Neos Kosmos Elias Donoudis, who has a close relationship with the Postecoglou family, recalls how Ange first joined the South Melbourne football club.
“He must’ve been over 10, around 12-13 years old when his older sister Liz, who owned a video club, renting movies near the former Neos Kosmos offices on Lonsdale street in the CBD, approached me one day and said ‘Elias, my brother plays football and he’s really good. Could you write something in the paper or add a photo of him in?’ And that’s how it all began. I put the photo in, I wrote a few things about him, he got excited, he continued to play and I was always beside him, for whatever he needed or wanted, because I could see something special in him.”
This special something and his dedication to the sport was obvious even to his classmates.
Nick Dallas played on the same team as Postecoglou, leading the Prahran High School Boys to the Victoria Juniors championship back in 1978. He says Ange was always determined to succeed.
“On the one hand, he wasn’t the best player, the stand out player, because he was a defender. However, at the same time, he did have those leadership skills and, it terms of the game, no one took it more seriously. You could see his maturity, you could see his passion and his determination to succeed in the sector.”
Mr Donoudis goes on to talk about Postecoglou’s career as a football player.
“Even though he wasn’t that great as a player, I mean, he wasn’t at the level of Roberto Carlos or even Kostas Tsimikas, to name a more current example, or like some more established players, the one thing that always set him apart from the rest was his passion for football. He knew what he was doing. No matter what that was.”
In the highlight of his football career, under the leadership of the great Hungarian manager Ferenc Puskás, Postecoglou scored 11 goals as a left back.
He began to attract attention from other clubs, both domestically and internationally, but with no concrete offers, his career as a player eventually came to an end at the place where it began. But he could not remain away from football for too long.
After training a few local teams in Melbourne, with a great level of success, he was given the opportunity to become head coach at his childhood team South Melbourne.
Current president Nick Maikousis says it was the one of the best decisions the club has ever made.
“Obviously it was the highest successful part of the club’s history, the Postecoglou period, when he was the coach. Obviously we won two national championships in the old NSL, prior to the A-League. And of course, we were Oceania Champions, we went off to Fiji where we won the Oceania Confederation which qualified us to the (FIFA) World Club Championships in Rio De Janeiro, where we played Manchester United, Vasco Da Gama and Necaxa.”
After four successful years with South, Postecoglou then went on to manage the young national teams of Australia.
In 2008, he made his first overseas effort at Greek club Panachaiki, which ended up being short-lived. But the Greek-Australian was determined to succeed and returned home to take over the Brunswick Zebras.
At the same time, he tried his hand at becoming a journalist.
As Neos Kosmos editor Sotiris Hatzimanolis says, Postecoglou maintained a weekly column in their newspaper.
“I remember him quite well. Once a week, he would bring his piece to our offices. Mind you, at the time internet was not very well developed. And he would discuss with us certain issues, mainly about soccer. He was very polite, very friendly and his column was also very well read.”
According to Mr Hatzimanolis, due to his column’s popularity, the Aussie manager began to attract the eyes of bigger publications.
“Of course, soon the mainstream media channels and other English newspapers discovered how good a communicator he was, not only (a good) coach and they approached him and he moved on to the mainstream media.”
Mr Donoudis, who understands well how the Greek-Australian coach thinks and operates after knowing him for so many years, says his time working for the media has helped him in his role as a manager.
“Ange has a certain sensitivity in his relationship with journalists and he always wants to feel safe in that aspect (of his job). And he has largely succeeded.”
South Melbourne President Nick Maikousis describes Ange Postecoglou as a no-nonsense man who remains dedicated to those he grew up with.
“I don’t think he tolerates fools. He’s very confident in his football ability which he’s clearly demonstrated from region and club all over the world that his formula, his views are successful. And (he’s) very respectful of the game.”
Postecoglou’s managerial skills saw him expand his reach beyond Australia, to the point where he is now leading one of the most well-known clubs in the world.
Mr Donoudis says he initially thought a jump to the Premier League would be too premature for the Greek-Australian and admits even he’s been surprised by the success of his friend.
“I was scared, because I knew beforehand through information that came from Postecoglou himself, that his next step after Scotland and Celtic would be to England and the Premier League. But I never expected that he would go so high up. Because I love and respect him, since I’ve known him from around 10-years-old, so I follow his progress, I was afraid of him going to such a big club. But it seems as though luck is on his side.”
After winning trophies in Japan and Scotland and leading Australia to an Asian Cup triumph in 2015, Postecoglou has now set his sights on his next goal: the Premier League.
Based on all the testimonies regarding his skills and determination, but also his previous success, it seems it’s only a matter of time until he reaches that target as well.
As the first few months have shown, he’s off to a great start.
