Chris Sutton has dismissed talk of Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou needing a strong start to the new season as ‘nonsense’.
Postecoglou guided Spurs to fifth in the Premier League during his first season in charge, while having to cope with the departure of talismanic striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich.
However, despite getting the club back into Europe and making them easy on the eye, there was an air of disappointment that Tottenham didn’t qualify for the Champions League — thanks largely to a run of five defeats in their last seven games, allowing Aston Villa to seal fourth place.
With that in mind, there have been suggestions that Postecoglou must make a strong start to the 2024/25 campaign, which could prove difficult as the Lilywhites face Newcastle United, Arsenal and Manchester United all within their first six matches.
But former Chelsea, Blackburn and Celtic striker Sutton doesn’t buy into this ‘nonsense’ way of thinking, branding criticism of Postecoglou as ‘deeply unfair’.
“I am hearing a lot of nonsense about Tottenham and how their manager Ange Postecoglou ‘needs a good start’ to the new campaign. I don’t understand why he is under pressure now at the start of his second season,” Sutton wrote in his BBC Sport predictions column, in which he tipped Spurs to beat Leicester City 3-1 on the opening weekend.
“The Spurs fans were bored and fed up every weekend under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, but they were entertained last season and almost made the top four too – all without Harry Kane.
“Nobody can argue that Ange did not make progress, so why is he being questioned? It feels like people are waiting for him to fail, and I think that is deeply unfair.
“I don’t think it will bother Postecoglou, though. He will just plough through it. He has managed for a long time and has had huge success.
“I am expecting Spurs to have another good season under him, especially now they have signed Solanke, which looks like an astute bit of business.”