The Ange Postecoglou interview that left him ‘unemployable’ 16 years before landing Tottenham manager job
NEW Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou reckons he was once “unemployable” after an astonishing interview.
The Aussie has left Celtic for his biggest job ever – 16 years after a TV row.
Pundit Craig Foster called for Postecoglou to quit as Socceroos’ youth coach after they failed to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup in 2007.
Foster demanded better answers in a fiery exchange on Australian show The World Game and accused the Athens-born coach of ducking blame.
Postecoglou hit back by insisting: “Of course I’m not going to resign” and said of the presenter “You’re enjoying it”.
But he was soon ousted from his Socceroos’ job.
And he has since blasted the on-air criticism he received in the interview as “not necessary” – revealing he struggled to find “even an assistant coach’s role” due to the TV exchange.
However, he eventually found a job back in Greece with Panachaiki in 2008.
Postecoglou then managed Down Under with Brunswick Juventus, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory, taking charge of the Australian senior national side from 2013-2017.
That included guiding the hosts to their first ever Asian Cup triumph in 2015, beating South Korea in the final.
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Then came three years with Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos, followed by great success at Celtic for the past two seasons, leading to his Spurs appointment in Tuesday.
But Postecoglou, 57, has admitted how costly he feared his 2007 confrontation could have been.
He told the Shim, Spider and so much Moore podcast: “I just didn’t feel it was necessary, didn’t feel it was productive.
“I knew that interview wasn’t going to go well because we just failed to qualify for both the World Cups… my reasoning for doing it was trying to explain to people what was coming.
“I didn’t think it was necessary, the accountability already stood with me, but what it did do, it did make me unemployable. I couldn’t even get an assistant coaching role.”
He added: “It was the reason I went to Greece for a year because I wasn’t going to let Australian football stop me from my ambitions as a coach.
“It was disheartening because I just felt everything I had done with South Melbourne as a manager had been forgotten.
“As all things with life we take our knocks and move on, and it’s safe to say it didn’t hold me back for too long.”