Ange Postecoglou may have insisted he usually wins silverware in his second season at clubs, but Jermaine Pennant is less convinced.
The Tottenham head coach, who guided his side to a fifth-place league finish after taking charge in June 2023, has been vocal about his trophy success in his second season with previous clubs.
In an interview with Sky Sports in August, Postecoglou said: "Usually in my second season I win things.
"That's the whole idea. First year is about establishing principles and creating a foundation. Hopefully the second year is going onto win things."
With Spurs without a trophy since 2008, the Australian faced scrutiny for his comments, but has since defended himself, later doubling down and insisting he 'always' lifts silverware in his second season.
Postecoglou has won the Australian title with both South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar, and the Japanese league with Yokohama F Marinos, all of which came in his second full campaign in charge.
Prior to making the move to north London, he led Celtic to back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles during his two years in Glasgow.
But with Spurs sitting ninth in the Premier League table after seven games, talkSPORT's Jermaine Pennant believes that Postecoglou may have underestimated the task at hand.
Appearing on Kick Off, the former Arsenal player was asked about the 59-year-old's comments on his trophy success.
Pennant said: "Every second season he's won something, so he can say that.
“But he's got to understand that he's now in the Premier League. It's not the SPL. It's not the Aussie A-League.
“It's the Premier League. To win something here, you've got to be a good manager and have a good team. But like I said, he's done it. So he can say that."
And it isn't just Pennant who is unconvinced as to whether history will repeat itself for Postecoglou at his current club.
His last league game his side squander a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 to Brighton, and former Spurs star Aaron Lennon believes the result highlighted the tactical flaws holding them back.
Joining Paul Hawksbee and Charlie Baker on talkSPORT, Lennon was asked if he felt Tottenham could win titles under Postecoglou.
Pointing to the shortcomings of their all-out attacking style, the retired ex-winger replied: “I'm not so sure.
"Don't me wrong, I love Ange and I love the way they play. But I also think there's times in games that there's too many forward players on the pitch.
“You've got your full backs bombing on also, and I think you just get left exposed."
Lennon, who made over 250 Premier League appearances for Spurs, went on to suggest that Postecoglou's tactics place too much pressure on both his attacking and defensive players.
He said: "They've got a great back four, but if you're left with just [Cristian] Romero, [Micky] van de Ven and [Rodrigo] Bentancur sat in front, then teams are going to pick you off.
“And for me, there's in-game management at times.
"I'm looking at going: 'Maybe we need to put on two number sixes and just stiffen it up'. Like the Brighton game for example, it's 2-0."
Lennon finished off by pointing on the high scoring demands such an approach places on Spurs in order to secure wins.
He added: “They've got really good players. I just feel if you are going to play that way, you have to put the game to bed every time.
“So every chance you get, you near enough have to take, you need to be near enough, 3-0 up. You’ve seen at Brighton, 2-0 up wasn’t enough.”
“It's a high-risk strategy. And for me in the Premiership, it's too ruthless.
“If you're going to give away chances, every league will punish you. And I think Spurs have found that this season so far.”