Ange Postecoglou casts doubt on Tottenham future as Karen Carney brands him 'so stubborn' after Leicester loss

Ange Postecoglou has questioned his own future as Tottenham Hotspur manager after his side slipped to a 2-1 home defeat to Leicester City, while TNT Sports expert Karen Carney claimed recent results "just haven't been good enough".

Spurs, sitting 15th in the Premier League table, were beaten by Ruud van Nistelrooy’s visitors, who themselves ended an eight-game winless streak in the league thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannous.

As a result, The Foxes hauled themselves out of the relegation zone, where they hover a point ahead of Wolves in 18th.

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Postecoglou’s side are still in the Carabao Cup – holding a 1-0 aggregate lead over Liverpool in their two-legged semi-final – and they are into the fourth round of the FA Cup thanks to a 3-0 win over non-league Tamworth, who took them to extra time.

In the UEFA Europa League, they sit sixth in the group stage league table and are on course to qualify automatically for the knockout stages.

Despite their form in cup competitions, the pressure has piled onto Postecoglou.

"Who knows, mate," the Australian replied when asked whether he would still be in his post when his first-choice defenders - chiefly Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero - returned from injury.

"I'm sure there will be a fair chunk that say no. As a manager, sometimes you can feel really isolated. I don't because of the players – not for me – but they're still giving everything for this club, and I've got great staff who are doing the same.

"I have been around long enough to know that some will just judge on where we are at the moment and rightly so in some respects. It’s not good enough.

"If people want to put context to that they can, if not, so be it. From my point of view, I’m still very much stuck on the fact that the players are just giving everything they can. They did on Thursday night [a 3-2 win over Hoffenheim], they did today.

"There are probably at least two who shouldn’t have been out there. They were just desperate to try to turn our fortunes around. Hopefully over the next 10 days, two weeks, we should get some significant players back, which I think will help this group a lot. It will give them the boost they need.

"We have still got some fantastic opportunities this year to make an impact in the second half of this year, and I’m sure that will happen."

Carney worried about 'stubborn' Postecoglou

Meanwhile, Carney admits that she "worries" about Postecoglou's future at the club.

"As soon as the fans start having a go at Daniel Levy, usually that means Daniel Levy acts and takes the pressure off him a little bit," said Carney ahead of Fulham v Manchester United on TNT Sports.

"He [Postecoglou] has had money this year and obviously a lot of criticism has been because he's been so stubborn.

"The results can't lie, and I think for Ange it might be a little too far.

"I like him, I love his football. I love the entertainment that he has brought to the club, and the fans wanted that, but the results just haven't been good enough."

Rio Ferdinand believes that Postecoglou needs to be "more adaptable with his tactics" given the injuries he has been faced with.

"If I was Ange, I'd turn my phone off for a couple of days minimum just to try and get through to the next game," said Ferdinand.

"I interviewed him at some point last season and I was really impressed with him.

"One of the things I actually thought was quite refreshing about Ange was his attitude: ‘I am what I am, I'm not going to change.’ I respect that and I understand that.

"But when you’ve had the amount of injuries they’ve had and the amount of young and inexperienced players they've had to bring in, that makes me think you have to be a bit more adaptable with your tactics, just to support those young players and give them a bit better of a foundation and build around them.

"Give them an opportunity to get their foot into games and maybe nick a couple of results to build some confidence. He hasn't done that, and I think they've been hugely punished."

Asked if Postecoglou deserved more time at Spurs, Ferdinand commented: "I think you’ve got to speak to him and check his temperature to see where he is.

"In his last few interviews I’ve seen he's been very, very tetchy, prickly, and understandably, because the results haven’t been good and he hasn’t liked the line of questioning.

"He looks a man under pressure right now and that'll be a concern."

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