A fortnight is a long time in football. For Ange Postecoglou it must feel like a lifetime.
It was just two weeks ago when his Tottenham side had thrashed champions Manchester City and he must have felt like a king among the Spurs fanbase. Fast forward to Thursday night and he’s getting abused by some of the same supporters after a defeat at Bournemouth.
How can a side go from sticking four past the reigning title holders to drawing with Roma and Fulham before losing to the Cherries?
It has to be the style of play and it is alright going ‘but mate we are what we are’ but if he doesn’t find consistency then the axe will come down on him.
Tottenham are just a point above Manchester United, who sacked a manager a few weeks ago who had won two trophies. Now ambitions and size of the club may be different. But it should make Postecoglou worried.
Spurs fans are well aware it is not just Postecoglou’s fault. They have a big amount of injuries and that has led to the need to play Radu Dragusin, who doesn’t look up to standard in the Premier League.
They’re aware that recruitment hasn’t been great and that Daniel Levy has often made the wrong decisions in the market with players. They buy good players but then expect them to play out of their skin. Dominic Solanke is a very good Premier League player.
But if he is to fill the void left by Harry Kane, an elite striker, you can see the problem. That’s no criticism of Solanke but he is - not yet anyways - on Kane’s level. That has happened in other areas at Spurs for more than a decade. Gareth Bale was never replaced with a player who could get anywhere near his level.
Top clubs replace their best players when they leave or age. Tottenham have so often made a mess of it. But they have made some good signings under Postecoglou. Micky van de Ven is certainly a player who can be elite, if he can limit the injuries.
Postecoglou still needs to adapt to the Premier League. He has a style of play and it is electric to watch at times. Nobody is asking him to abandon his principles but tweaks here and there to ensure they’re sometimes a little harder to play against will do no harm.
If he keeps the way they’re going then the results will continue to fluctuate and even though the problems listed above will have added to that, it will be Postecoglou who pays the price with his job.
As it always is in football. Yet it might well be a decent punt to back them to beat Chelsea tomorrow. That’s the season which Spurs are having.