.jpeg)
Ange Postecoglou has insisted that he will deliver a trophy for Nottingham Forest if he is given time at the club as the embattled manager gave a staunch, lengthy defence of his managerial qualities.
Postecoglou has endured a difficult start to his tenure at the City Ground, failing to win any of his first seven games after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo.
It has led to speculation that Forest could part ways with the Australian, although the manager revealed that planned talks with owner Evangelos Marinakis did not take place during the international break as the club prepare to return to Premier League action against Chelsea.
Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham earlier this year despite leading Spurs to Europa League triumph, securing the club’s first trophy since 2008.
And the Australian believes his managerial record is still disrespected as he promised to turn things around.
“I guess from my perspective, I just don't fit. Not [talking about] here. Just in general,” Postecoglou said.
"If you look at it through the prism of: I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get this job - I know you're smirking at me and that's what's being said and I can find the print where that's being said - then of course it looks like this manager is under pressure.
"There is an alternative story. I came to the Premier League two years ago, I took over Tottenham - 'Spursy Tottenham'. I was told by the chairman at the time: 'This club has to win a trophy. We've tried to bring winners in, Jose [Mourinho] and Antonio [Conte] and it hasn't worked, we need something different’. I was slightly offended by that as I see myself as a winner.
"I took over Spurs who finished eighth. No European football. Massive club who can't have two years without European football. We finished fifth in my first year. And every time Harry Kane scores a goal, I wish he'd just stayed one more year. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.
"But somehow that year has disappeared from the record books. In fact it was used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first 10 games because they were an anomaly apparently. Although the first 10 games here are very important apparently.
"We finished fifth, I got them back into European football where Tottenham should be. I was in meetings and people still at that club were in those meetings where I was told winning a trophy is everything for a football club. That's fine.
"We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being 'Spursy'. It's Champions League football which brings some rewards, the opportunity to bring in better players. But all I've heard since I finished at Tottenham is I finished 17th last year. So if you look at it from that prism of we finished 17th, then yeah, I'm a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity.
"But if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it doesn't have to be too in-depth. Just look at the last five or six different team sheets in the league last year to see who I prioritised, who was on the bench and who I was playing. The last game against Brighton, the players were out for two days partying - which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to.
"So we finished 17th, if people think that's a reflection of me and my coaching, then people are looking at it through the prism of: I just don't fit.
"So we get to the current space where there's a different story to tell that maybe I'm maybe not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job - but maybe I'm a manager where if given time, the story always ends the same. At all my previous clubs it ends the same: me with a trophy.
"You can look at these first five weeks and say, 'he is under pressure because he was lucky to get this job'.
"Or you can look at it and say there has been a major change. I am trying to change the way we play. The players are adapting but there's been inconsistency in there for sure. But some will look at the weeds, I will look at what's growing.
"The flip side is I'm really still excited about the opportunity here. That's how I'm embracing it. I have a group of young players who are willing to change, that's the first thing. I'm heading down that road.
"The rest of it? I'm not going to waste my time or my energy worrying about that. Whether it's internal or external I couldn't care less. At the end of the day, I will do what I think is the right thing to do to bring success to this football club and that's what I'm focused on."
Nottingham Forest begin the weekend 17th, one point clear of Burnley and West Ham in the relegation zone.
English (US) ·