Tue 06 June 2023, 15:00
Tottenham HotspurAnge Postecoglou has had quite the journey in football to date – and that includes several encounters with Spurs players, past and present.
Appointed as our new Men's First Team Head Coach this morning (Tuesday 6 June), while he might be the first Australian to take charge of our side, he has a number of links to some of the players and staff who have represented us over the years.
Take a look at a few of his Spurs connections below...
Celtic crop
Joining us after winning a domestic treble with Scottish giants Celtic, in Glasgow, Ange coached two former Spurs men.
Both members of that treble winning side, Joe Hart and Cameron Carter-Vickers were managed by the Australian in his two seasons at Parkhead.
Both signed by our new Head Coach, Joe Hart was one of Ange’s first additions at Celtic Park with the goalkeeper moving to Scotland after just a season in north London. Having made 10 appearances for us in the 2020/21 campaign, Hart has made over 100 appearances to date for the Celts since making the switch in August, 2021.
Carter-Vickers joined Hart later that month, initially signing on loan before making the move permanent at the end of the campaign. A defender who came through our Academy and went on to make five first team appearances for us, the USA international has made 84 appearances so far at Paradise.
A scouting masterstroke
When Ange was appointed as Australia’s Head Coach in October, 2013, he faced a huge task. After years of difficulties which culminated in consecutive 6-0 defeats to Brazil and France, a regeneration was needed in order to build a team that was capable of competing at the upcoming World Cup as well as the 2015 Asian Cup, but the Australian managed to do exactly that - producing exciting performances that stirred the national feeling at the World Cup before he led Australia to a first-ever Asian Cup.
That triumph was one of his greatest achievements to date as a manager, but that largely came thanks to his endeavours in expanding Australia’s scouting radar and his will to try and test a number of players to find the best personnel for his system. One such discovery was former Spurs man Massimo Luongo, who played a pivotal role in that Asian Cup win.
A midfielder who came through our Academy before making his first team debut for us in a League Cup third round tie with Stoke in September, 2011, Luongo had barely represented his nation at youth level before Ange gave him debut for the Socceroos in September, 2014. The Sydney-born player had made earned just four caps before the Asian Cup in 2015 but, at that competition, he was named the Player of the Tournament after scoring twice and providing four assists, including his side’s opener in the final, as they defeated South Korea 2-1 in extra-time.
Sonny strikes
And it will come to little surprise to Spurs fans that the man who scored for South Korea in that final was our Heung-Min Son.
Coming in January, 2015, six months prior to his move to north London, Sonny fired the Korea Republic level in the last few minutes of the final against Ange’s Australia in Sydney. The Socceroos did ultimately edge Sonny's nation though as an extra-time winner from James Troisi settled the showpiece.
Redknapp on the touchline
In the subsequent qualification campaign for the 2018 World Cup as Australia looked to build on their cup final win, Ange took on one of our former managers in Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp, who managed us between 2008 and 2012, guiding us towards Champions League qualification for the first time in 2010, was then in charge of Jordan's national team. The meeting between the middle eastern nation and Australia came at the ANZ stadium in Sydney in March, 2016, and it Ange who triumphed, overcoming our former manager 5-1 with Luongo amongst the scorers for the Socceroos.
