Ange Postecoglou opens up on 'bizarre' thing Daniel Levy told him before Europa League final win

The former Tottenham boss has been reflecting on his time at the north London club and his chat with the ex-chairman in Bilbao

Ange Postecoglou has opened up on the conversation he had with former Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy just before the Europa League final triumph.

The 60-year-old head coach led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years and their first piece of European silverware in four decades before being sacked by the north London club last summer after taking his focus off the Premier League to win the Europa League and the club finished 17th, albeit 13 points off the drop zone.

Postecoglou's successor Thomas Frank was sacked on Wednesday with Tottenham 16th in the table and just five points above 18th-placed West Ham.

In an appearance on The Overlap podcast, Postecoglou explained that the 'Spursy' mentality does exist within the club and his conversation with former chairman Levy ahead of the Europa League final in Bilbao summed up for him the feeling that ran through the organisation.

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"It is 'Spursy', you can use 'Spursy'. Yeah [that is a thing]. 100% there is. Yeah, absolutely and that was the thing I was trying to break," said the Greek-born Australian. "And my whole statement about winning things in the second year, I was doing that for the club because no one internally would dare say that because they were just scared. They'd been close a few times.

"Even I remember the day of the Europa Final, and by that stage, the players were brilliant and I knew we'd win that day. I was just convinced the path we'd taken and everyone in the hotel was really calm.

"And I remember it was one of the few times actually Daniel came in and we had a coffee in the morning and he said 'everyone's really relaxed'. Even he was. And the only thing he said to me, which was bizarre as a motivational point, he said something like 'oh, you know what? I've been in seven finals or seven finals and we haven't won one'.

"But I know why he said that, because of that. So that's what I'm saying. So you've got that and that does exist. Absolutely. And I think and then you break that by winning something and what do you do? You tear it all up and you go again.

"Like we had the Super Cup final and I'll back myself to win that. We've could have had two trophies in the space of two months and then all of a sudden that's out the window, that they can't win a big game. You've done that. You've broken that. So that's what I mean. That's the curiosity in me of understanding why, and it's not because it's me, because at the end of the day, I've done what I've done."

Postecoglou believes that a walk through the corridors of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium helped him cement what would happen in Bilbao in the minds of his players.

"I was there for two years. But what are you trying to achieve? The biggest thing hanging over you was this 'Spursy' tag and I'm sure you all thought, you know what? Come the final, Man United will win because they just know how to win. And that exists there," he said.

"There isn't a Tottenham supporter that I see now that doesn't want to hug me, because they just never thought it would happen. They've been close so many times. They had world-class managers, world-class players. They've made finals, semi-finals.

"To be honest, the reason I was convinced we'd win was because that's what I sold to the players. Outside the Tottenham dressing room at the home ground, there's all the photos, but it's only of the teams that have won things. I walked them through that and I just said 'have a look at those walls. What do you notice?'. I said 'most of them are in black and white because that's how long ago it was'.

"And I go, 'who's not on these walls? Harry's not on these walls'. I said 'Sonny, you're not on these walls, only one way we get on these walls, boys'. So that was a big driving force for me. I used it.

"That's why I was convinced, get to the final, that we would win, because I think when it got tough and it was going to get tough, I think we had more to win than Man U on the night. I said 'Man U, they've always got something to lead them to the crunch of success'.

"This was a chance for this group of players. That's the story I sold them. 'Mate, you guys have got a chance to elevate yourself above all the other players that have come in the last 40 years'."

Postecoglou admitted that he knew he was going to get sacked regardless of the result in Bilbao and had believed it months before that triumph.

"I knew I was gone. I knew I was gone probably around, I think, the end of January, early February. I knew I was gone," he said. "And I said to the coaches, look, it's quite obvious. At the time, we weren't in a relegation battle. We were, I think, 16 points away from relegation.

"I said 'look, we're in the quarter-finals of the Europa League. I think we can win it, and that means not just winning a trophy, you know how that is, but that also means Champions League football'.

"I said 'but the reality is, get your helmets on because every week we're going to be copping it, but I'll take that, don't worry. I'll take the responsibility for that'.

"But also, if we get knocked out of any stage of the Europa League, I said I'm pretty much sure it's over. So I knew I was gone because you get a sense of that with the conversations you have about people. No-one was talking to me about the transfer window or pre-season so you kind of know. And that was fine. I didn't understand it, but I'm thinking, you know what? Again, I didn't want to get distracted. I was so laser-focused.

"Even for myself, it's taken me 30 years to get here. What a unique opportunity to win a European trophy at a club that hasn't had success for such a long time. I know I'll remember. So I wasn't going to let that distract me, but yeah, I knew I was gone."

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