Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has explained his gesture to Spurs fans during their 1-0 loss to Chelsea in a prickly interview with Sky Sports.
Enzo Fernandez scored the only goal of the game on 50 minutes as the north Londoners remained in 14th place in the Premier League table.
Tottenham have been in awful form this season with Postecoglou’s side winning just ten of their 30 Premier League matches so far.
After Pape Matar Sarr’s long-range strike got Spurs back on level terms, which was eventually ruled out by a lengthy VAR check, Postecoglou appeared to cup his ear towards the away end.
Postecoglou was booed by the away section for bringing on Sarr in place of Lucas Bergvall and his reaction to the disallowed goal seemed in direct response to that.
When asked about his gesture by Sky Sports journalist Patrick Davison, Postecoglou said: “Yeah, I wanted them to be happy, mate. We’d just scored a cracking goal. So I wanted them to cheer – because they haven’t had a lot to cheer about.”
When asked whether his gesture was in reaction to his substitutions being booed, Postecoglou replied: “It’s not the first time my substitutions have been booed. If you followed my tenure, it’s not the first time. They’re allowed to boo. But I wanted them to cheer – because I thought it was a cracking goal.”
But Davison kept pressing, he said; “You said in the week – in your interview with Mark Schwarzer – that you felt you’d lost a portion of the fans. Is that what we saw tonight?”
Postecoglou hit back: “I get it, Pat. You’re trying really hard. That’s fine. You’ve already decided what the outcome is.”
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The Tottenham boss has never hidden his disdain for VAR and Postecoglou once again highlighted his frustrations with the technology.
“It’s killing the game, mate. It’s not the same game it used to be. We all sat on our couches last night and watched TV – I guarantee you, if [Thursday’s VAR] Jarred Gillett was the VAR last night, we’d have got a different outcome.”
Postecoglou was referring to the Merseyside Derby, still fuming he continued: “You just don’t know what you’re going to get. We waited for six minutes for something that apparently the VAR thought was clear and obvious. It’s madness, mate.”
When asked whether Sarr’s disallowed goal was the wrong call by Davison, Postecoglou said: “Look, Pat, you can try and force me into a corner.”
Davison: “I’m not trying to force you into anything.”
Postecoglou replied: “Did you think last night was clear and obvious? How many minutes did it take this referee to figure out whether it was clear and obvious? In your basic knowledge of human vocabulary – ‘clear and obvious’ – what does that suggest to you?”
Davison admitted: “No, it’s maybe not clear and obvious. I do think it’s a foul [by Sarr], if I’m honest.”
Postecoglou finished: “OK. Right. Well, there you go. So the referee didn’t see it. He then needs to see it for six minutes, but you get the right outcome so you’re happy – and that’s why the game’s going the way it is. And I guess people like you will continue to be happy sitting on your couches waiting for six minutes for clear and obvious stuff. That’s fine. I don’t agree with that, but that’s fine.”