The Tottenham Hotspur manager has gone after the social media haters who drove one of his young players to shut their Instagram account
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou has targeted the social media haters that forced Brennan Johnson to shut his Instagram account.
Spurs paid £50 million for the 23-year-old from Nottingham Forest last season, and in his first season, he scored five goals and assisted ten times in 35 Premier League games. The young Wales international has failed to find his rhythm in the first four games of the season, with the exception of a strong performance from the bench against Newcastle United this month.
Johnson has been the target of social media trolls in the past year, and on Instagram, he has prohibited the ability of anybody other than those he follows to comment on his images. However, this does not totally eliminate abuse because it does not prevent users from sending unsolicited direct messages on the site, which are stored in a separate folder.
Following Sunday’s North London Derby and Arsenal defeat, the teenage attacker shut his account entirely, prompting Postecoglou to question whether social media abuse was becoming standard practice among players in the league.
I hope not. “I hate how we’ve just normalised all of that,” remarked the 59-year-old. “I’ve been around long enough, and even when I was playing, I took a lot of abuse, but it was mainly on the terraces, after the game was done and you’d go home. When people are at the game, they become frustrated because you aren’t performing well, and they offer you some really blunt feedback; I’ve had it all.
“You’re talking about a young person who undoubtedly lacks confidence right now. Things haven’t gone his way, but he comes here every day, works his tail off, asks for input, does everything correctly, and is trying so hard to become the player
“It’s not like he’s out on the town, doesn’t care, and shows up late. So, what is his crime? His crime is that he is not performing to the standards that others expect of him. As a professional footballer, you should expect to receive criticism for this; it is part of your development. He’s still a young player, and I believe there is so much more of Brennan that we can get out of him.
“It’s unfortunate for me that we’ve normalised that behavior. That receiving abuse, most of which is personal, is ‘oh well, that’s part of the territory’. “I do not see that.”
He said, “I don’t take it anymore. If someone is abusive to me, they will hear it back. I don’t think that’s right. I will accept criticism because that is my position, and you must scrutinize because that is your role, but I do not have time for abuse. I feel terrible for the young folks who use these social media platforms. I can turn off and my one follower isn’t offended.
“Today’s young men consider it a part of their universe. They appear to enjoy it. I do not comprehend it, but they do. The need to limit or close one’s world is due to… I mean, what type of person?
“Criticism is one thing; frustration with a game is something you accept. If you write something unpleasant anonymously in front of me, you will receive a punch on the nose and will not do it again. But they will not do so. They will hide behind this. I despise the fact that it has become commonplace, but that is the reality of our world.
“When I look at Brennan, I see a young guy who is striving to be the best he can be. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, and how he handles all of this is part of his journey, but he’s a terrific kid, a great footballer, and I’m extremely enthusiastic about what he’ll accomplish for us.”
“Criticism is one thing; frustration with a game is something you accept. If you write something unpleasant anonymously in front of me, you will receive a punch on the nose and will not do it again. But they will not do so. They will hide behind this. I despise the fact that it has become commonplace, but that is the reality of our world.
“When I look at Brennan, I see a young guy who is striving to be the best he can be. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee success, and how he handles all of this is part of his journey, but he’s a terrific kid, a great footballer, and I’m extremely enthusiastic about what he’ll accomplish for us.”
Postecoglou is optimistic about Tottenham’s attacking possibilities in general, as well as the potential for progress among his players in that area.
“I believe there is much more upside. We’re nothing near capacity in terms of the guys we currently have. Dom Solanke is an obvious choice; Richy has yet to play. It’s fair to say Sonny has had a slow start to the season. He hasn’t maintained steady levels. I believe the other guys, such as Brennan and Wilson [Odobert], have a lot of potential. “Timo [Werner] hasn’t had much of an opportunity,” stated the Tottenham manager.
“When I look at our offensive midfielders, I believe [Dejan] Kulusevski has tremendous potential. I’m seeing him improve in that attacking midfield role. I am confident that there is room for improvement in that area.
“Dom and Richy, just having a focal point up there, which is why we signed him, will make a huge impact for us in that area. I believe we have enough there to overcome our current limitations, which are caused by a lack of fluency and coherence in that front third. We just haven’t been able to settle on a formation that will provide consistency.”
Much has been made of Postecoglou’s angry interview with Sky Sports following Sunday’s setback, in which he stated, when asked about his record of winning trophies in his second season at clubs, that he wanted to do the same at Tottenham.
On Tuesday, the Australian was told that his forthright statement may have put too much pressure on him and the players to deliver, especially with a Carabao Cup third round tie at Coventry City on Wednesday night.
“By stating a fact? I am not sure. “What did I do, unfurl banners and get a band out?” he inquired. “Am I supposed to say that it’s not really relevant, doesn’t really count, or isn’t really important?” Because it is for me. That’s what I’ve had to rely on: in my 26 years of management, I’ve had success, with the majority of it coming in the second year, but not all of it. It has occurred in both the first and third years.
“I rely on it. This is something I’ve accomplished. If you’ve won a number of Pulitzers by the end of your career and someone asks you about them, would you answer, ‘Well, it’s not really that important’? I don’t see why that adds pressure. It doesn’t put further pressure on me since I enjoy the fact that I’ve accomplished that. This is what I want to do here.
“I’d like to think that simply telling the truth is the way to go, but I believe that it can be too confronting for certain individuals. They’d rather I don’t.”
“That gets me going for this year and this year it’s about progress. That’s been my entire career; it’s my foundation. That is why I am sitting here. There was no other way I could have gotten here. There was no way in hell I could have gotten here from Australia and been sitting here answering questions at one of the world’s largest clubs and the best tournament unless I had some form of self-belief based on anything substantial. I was never going to make it here with my charm and good looks.”
So by that logic, everyone else can rate the Spurs manager based on his own standards?
“Yeah. I’ve never tried to steer it in another direction. Have I ever downplayed anything since I came here? So I am willing to be assessed against that, which means I am fair game. I’ve never said not to. Now, how you get to your summary at the end is up to you as much as it is to me,” he stated.
“You can make your assessment on just one item or several things, but I’m delighted to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard, that’s what I’ve done in the past, and I don’t want to dilute that because it would mean missing out on the opportunity to continue on the path I’ve taken. I have no issue with people adopting that as a benchmark.
“I’ll say we’re four games into the new season, which is quite early. I realised in Scotland that they would rule me out after two games. They said it was over once we won the double, so…I just found it.It’s just me; I’m going to be myself. I’m just going to say these things the way I always have.
“You can make your assessment on just one item or several things, but I’m delighted to be judged against that standard because that’s my standard, that’s what I’ve done in the past, and I don’t want to dilute that because it would mean missing out on the opportunity to continue on the path I’ve taken. I have no issue with people adopting that as a benchmark.
“I’ll say we’re four games into the new season, which is quite early. I realised in Scotland that they would rule me out after two games. They said it was over once we won the double, so…I just found it.It’s just me; I’m going to be myself. I’m just going to say these things the way I always have.
For a club like Tottenham, which has been devoid of silverware for what will be 17 years by the time this season’s finals arrive next year, it may not be the worst thing to have a manager normalize the word that has hung like a weight around the team’s neck over the years: trophies.
“Maybe, but it is still me. I am not putting it on.I’ve never tried using it as a tactic. I keep repeating that’s why I came here. I came here to try and win things for the club. I believe that should be our standard, and if we fall short, we must strive to be better and improve,” he stated.
“That is up to me to attempt to achieve throughout my tenure, and I don’t see anything wrong with embracing that. Again, I’d be amazed if anyone could find something I said where I tried to minimize anything; even when we started well last year, I said, ‘Look man, if people want to dream about us winning things, let them go for it’.
“It’s simply the way I’m wired; I believe it’s the way forward, and you should embrace it if you want to be a successful club, not avoid it. Although saying “this will take three or four years” might reduce strain, I do not want to wait that long. This year is an opportunity, and if we succeed, the following year will be an opportunity. So that’s how I think of it.”
He said, “I just think there are a lot of reasons why we can’t be successful, so it’s pointless to dwell on them. There are numerous reasons why you could say this club will not win anything.
“I believe I’ve always tried to focus on the way I see it, which is that there are no barriers to us winning anything if we’re willing to plan for it and be extremely aggressive in our approach to achieving it. I don’t think there’s anything stopping this club from succeeding. I honestly don’t believe that. That is why I am here, but that does not imply we are prepared for it right now. It just signifies that this is what we should strive toward.
Postecoglou believes it is his obligation to deliver Tottenham the silverware that a club of its scale should be holding aloft, since 16 years is too long.
“In isolation yes, because with the fanbase we have, and we’ve seen clubs of similar stature win trophies in that time, it’s a long time, but in context, there was also a period of time when we got very close, and sometimes there are fine margins between success and failure, so when you’ve been at the doorstep of success it hasn’t been a total waste of 16 years,” he replied.
“We built a stadium in that time, and it wasn’t just about money. It’s disruptive, and other clubs that have gone through a similar process have discovered that it doesn’t prepare you to win trophies, so those 16 years are contextual.
“But if you are a fan of this club, I believe you will look at it and say, ‘Yes, it’s time.'” That is my obligation, and that is why I am in this chair; to change that, we must also change the way we do things, because, eventually, if you keep doing the same thing, you will get the same results.”
That process starts on Wednesday evening with a trip to Coventry, when all eyes will be on Postecoglou’s lineup. He faced a lot of criticism early in his term last year for making nine changes and exited the Carabao Cup early after a penalty shoot-out loss to Fulham.
“Fulham reached the semi-finals, which means they are a pretty good side, we were playing at their place and we lost on penalties,” he shared. “Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we had an experienced line-up that night, and I didn’t put any kids out there.
“I didn’t ignore or underestimate that game, and I didn’t go into it thinking it was fine if we lost. We definitely wanted to win, but it was early in the season with a completely new group, and we still had a formidable lineup.”
Postecoglou will be hoping that his team can make amends this time with a victory over their Championship hosts, propelling them closer to a long-awaited silverware.
Leave a Reply