From heartbreak in Panachaiki to an unbeaten start with Tottenham has been a wonderful ride for Ange Postecoglou with Spurs already feeling a new aura!
Celebrating his 58gh birthday, Ange Postecoglou, couldn’t possibly had pictured it better when he was stepping in for Tottenham job. Listening the crowd chanting rhythmically, his name the Greek Australian head coach of Spurs surely had given a thought how lfar away it seems the time he was having his first job at Panachaiki of Greece that lasted only ten weeks!
By CHRISTOS SOTIRAKOPOULOS
He was born in Athens In the turbulent summer of 1965 for the Greek politics and Ange Postecoglou’s family settled in Melbourne, in 1970 specifically in the Victoria area, with its strong Greek element. Little Angelos started playing football at the age of nine. He registered with Hellas Melbourne, a team that basically had Greek footballers. He made his debut in the first team in 1984, played for nine whole years and managed to lead them as their captain, to the top.
The coach of that "historic" team for Hellas Melbourne was the "galloping colonel" of Hungarian football, Ferenc Puskas, who had a lot of Greek admirers and friends making leading Panathinaikos to the Champions Cup final in 1971, at Wembley against the mighty Ajax and later also winning the championship with AEK. Postecoglou, after a serious injury in 2000 to his knee, made the decision to retire and to under take an active role in coaching, becoming an assistant on the very team he had played for so many years.
In March 2008, he made the decision to return to Greece to take over Panachaiki of Patra the biggest Greek port in the Peloponnesus area. The proposal was made by the then president of the team, also a Greek-Australian, Kostas Makris. Reading the newspapers of the time, you see the visions and dreams he had.
"It was my dream to bring him to Panachaki and I didn't think that a coach of his value would come to the team. He has won everything and I asked him to build the team of the future" declared Makris, while Angelos Postecoglou stated that: "It has always been a dream of mine to come to Greece. I don't want to say much, I like to work. It doesn't matter what I have achieved so far, but what I will achieve from now on. All I ask is a little patience until I get to know the team. I like to take firm and sure steps. If I didn't think I would succeed in Panachaki, I wouldn't have come."
Continuing, he explained what his philosophy in football is and one can understand it by seeing the development of his career both at Celtic and already with the football that Tottenham plays and performs. "My philosophy is not only for the team to get results, because that's what counts, but also to play good football and bring people to the field."
Panachaiki how, historically a very important team in Greek football, which was the first from the region to play in the UEFA cup apart from the clubs from Athens and Thessaloniki, in 1973, under the guidance of former Manchester United manager, Wilf Maguiness.
Unfortunately the departure of Kostas Makris and the arrival of Alexis Kougias a famous but controversial lawyer in the administration of the club, led to the end of the cooperation! Postecoglou recorded 17 wins, 9 draws and 8 defeats before being fired, and the partnership proved to be the first and only time to date that he would work in Greece.
After leaving Panachaiki, his upward trajectory began. Taking over as Australia's national coach, qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil was a first honor and a year later won the Asian Cup in 2015. In 2017 he continued to Japan, on behalf of Yokohama Marinos and in 2021 he took charge of Celtic, a few months after the first time in 10 years that the 'Hoops' were not champions.
He won the next two Scottish league titles with record points, winning in total five trophies in Scotland, and the club's fans loved him. Of course, when the Premier League calls you, it's hard to say no. He took over Tottenham in a difficult summer, which was obvious that Spurrs and Harry Kane would part ways. From the first moment, he made it clear that for him the next day is planned like this, and in the friendlies there was already a different... aura in the locker room.
It is almost certain that this also facilitated the work of Daniel Levy in saying "yes" and giving him to Bayern. Already the football played by Tottenham is beginning to be felt, it has the stamp of its new manager. Of course, it is still very early but for a man who 15 years ago in Greek football did not last more than four months in charge the development of his career is extraordinary.