Daily Record

Ange Postecoglou interview enrages Tottenham hero after AZ defeat - 'I wish he hadn't said that'

The ex-Celtic boss faces a huge fight to stay in the Europa League after losing their last 16 first-leg 1-0

Les Ferdinand has rubbished Ange Postecoglou's gripe about AZ Alkmaar's pitch as Tottenham crashed to defeat in the Netherlands.

Struggling Spurs have it all to do in next week's return leg in North London as a freakish own goal by Lucas Bergvall condemned them to a 1-0 loss at AFAS Stadion. Postecoglou's flops failed to register a single shot on target in the first-half and had to wait until the dying minutes to test AZ keeper Rome Jayden Owusu-Oduro with a mis-hit effort.

The ex-Celtic boss must now rely on his lacklustre side overturning the Europa League last 16 first-leg defeat next Thursday to keep the club's trophy hopes alive. It's been a miserable campaign for Tottenham, who have now lost 19 games across all competitions. And former striker Ferdinand delivered an unflinching verdict after Postecoglou claimed the pitch was a factor behind his side's woeful display.

Asked why his side struggled, Postecoglou told TNT Sports: "A combination of things. It was a tricky pitch and we didn't really handle it really well tonight. But aside from that, we just weren't aggressive enough. We were way too passive. And then with the ball, too many times we were just circulating it without a real intent to hurt them."

But his remarks didn't go down well with Ferdinand, who groaned: "Yeah, I wish he hadn't said that. We're not there, so I don't know what the pitch is like. But they (AZ) seemed to play all right on it? They seemed okay on it.

"He said before the game, 'we want to be aggressive, we want to be in their faces'... we never seen any of that. He alluded to it, he said they weren't good enough. But I'm not sure I would blame the pitch for the problems that Spurs had today."

The Premier League legend also claimed Postecoglou is running out of excuses after captain Son Heung-min admitted the damaging defeat was a "wake-up call". He added: "There can't be any more excuses if they go out of this competition. They are sitting 13th in the league. This is a real bad season for Tottenham if that happens. They've got an opportunity to turn it around next week.

"They need to be ten times better than what they were tonight to be able to turn this result around. But they've got the opportunity to do that. They were nowhere near the levels they need to be at to compete in this competition. So he's correct."

Aberdeen have confirmed the signing of defender Alfie Dorrington on a loan deal for the rest of the season from Tottenham.

The 19-year-old becomes Jimmy Thelin's third signing of the January window, following the arrival of winger Jeppe Okkels on loan from Preston and the capture of Latvia captain Kristers Tobers on a permanent deal from Grasshoppers. Dorrington - who made his Spurs' debut as a substitute in the Premier League clash with Southampton last month - will now hope to pick up some valuable minutes in the Granite City to improve his chances of breaking into Ange Postecoglou's first team.

The England U-19 international gives Aberdeen some extra cover at the back with Irishman Gavin Molloy set to be out of action until May and duo Slobodan Rubezic and Angus MacDonald both struggling for form. Speaking to the club's website, Dorrington said: “It’s amazing to finally be here. Everyone has been so welcoming; it feels like home already. I know it’s a big club with a lot of history and the supporters are really passionate so it was a no brainer for me.

“As soon as I spoke to the manager and heard about what he wants to achieve here I just wanted to get up here as soon as possible. I believe the way he wants to play will suit my style and he just wants this to be the best part of my career.

“It’s my first loan so I want to start as many games as I can, work hard and I hope I can repay the faith the manager has shown in me.”

Boss Thelin added: "Alfie is a really exciting young prospect who recently made his debut for the Tottenham Hotspur first team. He has good speed, stature and good ability on the ball and his arrival will further strengthen our options at centre-back.

“We believe this will be an environment in which he can continue to grow and gain some invaluable match experience in a really competitive league.”

Action-packed Aberdeen are looking to further bolster their defence again with a loan for Alfie Dorrington.

The Dons are in talks with Tottenham Hotspur over their young centre half, who made his Premier League debut last month. The Spurs staff want to get the under-19 England international out to get first-team experience. The Scottish Premiership is a league Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou knows well from his time at Celtic and believes a move to Pittodrie would benefit his talented teenager.

Postecoglou, speaking earlier this month, said: “Alfie is training with us and he has been around the first-team squad and part of the first-team squad. He had a pretty significant injury which kept him out of football for quite a while. But he is part of the squad and he probably needs to get some game time so we will look for a loan for him.”

Dons boss Jimmy Thelin has already signed Latvian captain and centre half Kristers Tobers, who made his debut in today’s 0-0 draw with Hearts. The Dons have also agreed a £650,000 deal with Brommapojkarna for Alexander Jensen.

The deal for their versatile Danish full-back is expected to be finalised this week. Aberdeen have also signed winger Jeppe Okkels on a loan with an option to buy from Preston. Thelin has been looking to strengthen his defence with Gavin Molloy and Jack Milne out injured, while Slobodan Rubezic is currently suspended.

Fraser Forster's Tottenham future is under threat as Ange Postecoglou is set to fork out over £10m on a new shotstopper.

The former Celtic keeper has been under increasing scrutiny following a number of gaffes while deputising for injured number 1 Guglielmo Vicario. The Italian broke his ankle in the Carabao Cup win over Manchester City, and is seen as one of the major reasons for Spurs' recent drop-off, especially with how specific a role Ange Postecoglou has for his goalkeepers.

Forster's poor ability with the ball at his feet has drawn scathing criticism, including from Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher. The nadir was two howlers in the 4-3 win over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup semi-finals last month.

The club have been searching for an alternative since Vicario required ankle surgery in November after not signing a new No 2 in the summer. The club hierarchy has now given the green light to sign 21-year-old Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague. Despite breaking into the first team this season, he has drawn admirers from across Europe and is expected to cost the Premier League club around £12.5m.

Kinski is represented by Sport Invest, who Petr Cech has worked with, and are seen in the industry as adept in eyeing the best Czech goalkeepers. Kinski is the son of Antonin Kinsky, who was Cech's own No 2 in the country's run to the Euro 2004 semi-finals. Czech media have meanwhile been reporting that a deal with Spurs for Kinsky is already struck.

Ange Postecoglou has been blasted as 'naive' by a former Premier League star, who doesn't believe the Tottenham boss can get away with his gung-ho style of football much longer.

The Aussie takes his Spurs side to Ibrox to face Rangers in the Europa League tonight off the back of just one win in the last seven games in all competitions, with his team throwing away a 2-0 lead in a dismal 4-2 defeat to London rivals Chelsea last Sunday. Spurs have kept just five clean sheets in 22 games on all fronts so far this season and are currently seven points adrift of the Champions League places.

And ex Liverpool, Aston Villa and England star Stan Collymore has branded the under-fire former Celtic gaffer's preference for front-foot attacking football over defensive stability as 'gross naivety'. He told CaughtOffside: "I’ve got a soft spot for Ange Postecoglou and for anybody that wants to play football on the front foot, attacking, creating chances, scoring goals… because that’s the type of player that I was.

"He’s managed in Japan, he’s managed in Scotland, however the Premier League is unforgiving. You can’t win a title in the English top-flight without having a real cast-iron defence. Leicester proved you can do it without scoring bucket loads of goals, but it’s telling that only the bottom three in the Premier League have a worse goal difference than Spurs at the moment.

"A couple of weeks ago, Tottenham were the highest scorers in the division, so there’s something structurally, fundamentally wrong at the club. This isn’t just a blip. This is a team that can score goals and create chances, but whatever they do, they can’t keep it out at the other end. I think it’s gross naivety, and the last time a team played like this was in the late 90s when I was playing; Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle.

"The ‘they’ll score three but we’ll score four’ way of playing is all well and good in the lovely days of August, September and October when everybody’s flying, everybody’s fit, everybody’s healthy, but when you start to take international breaks, FA Cup ties, League Cup ties, European commitments, injuries, suspensions and poor form into account, Spurs are not going to get away with it."

I wake up every morning hoping the sun is shining, so I can put some shorts and a t-shirt on but if it’s raining, you put your coat on. You can’t have this idea about playing one way, it won’t work. If it doesn’t change, he won’t be here next season.

Absolutely. I'm right on board. Brendan's (Rodgers) done a brilliant job, as I knew he would. He's got great staff there, great players. He's taken the group to another level. They're doing really well in Europe as well, which is brilliant. If they're on the TV, I'm watching it and loving the way they're going.

I'm looking forward to it. I had a great time up there in the two years I was there [at Celtic]. Fair to say, Ibrox can be fairly intense and I'm sure we'll feel that.

But it's a great stadium to play football in. The atmosphere, European nights. Even when I was there, they did awfully well in Europe - the first year I was there they got to the Europa League final.

A furious fan live on the scene has moved to set the record straight over what triggered Tottenham punters to dress down under-fire Ange Postecoglou.

The 59-year-old was left smarting after being on the receiving end of "direct feedback" and now further information has trickled out – with the call for Celtic hero Fraser Forster to keep playing it short named as a defining factor which led to Spurs supporters to let rip.

Postecoglou is staring down one of the biggest challenges of his career and knows full well defeat to either Chelsea, Rangers or both would put the former Parkhead boss under serious strain after being unable to arrest his team's inconsistent form. Speaking on talkSPORT, a fan, who was inside the Vitality Stadium, explained all. "What really upset the Tottenham fans, if you watch the game, the last half hour, Bournemouth could have scored four times. They all came from our stupid, short goal kicks, and playing it about at the back like we are Manchester City.

"Surely you play to your strengths? If your players aren't that capable on the ball, why would you play yourself into trouble? I don't get it, he (Ange) came over and half the crowd are singing 'we want Levy out', and the other half want the manager gone. And we told him, not so polity to go back to Australia.

Rodrigo Bentancur will still be able to take on Rangers despite being hit with seven match ban.

An independent regulatory panel upheld the FA's initial call to sideline the Uruguay international and have fined him £100,000 for racist remarks made about Tottenham pal Son in a TV interview back in June. Bentancur was asked by the interview for Son's shirt, and he responded that it could be he cousin's as they "all look the same."

The midfielder sent an emotional apology to the South Korean star, who has forgiven the former Juventus man. But he'll still be unavailable to Ange Postecoglou until they play Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day. However, Bentancur WILL be available to face Philippe Clement's men on Europa League duty early next month. the former Celtic boss returns to Ibrox for the first time since leaving Glasgow in May 2023 after securing a domestic Treble.

And he will be able to deploy Bentancur against the Light Blues, with his ban only applying to domestic fixtures. That includes both English Premier League and Carabao Cup clashes, but not continental fixtures.

Spurs are just outside the Europa League playoff places, while Gers are still eyeing the knockout rounds after a convincing win over FCSB and a 1-1 draw away to Olympiacos. Rangers travel to Nice in ten days time before welcoming Ange back to Govan on 12 December Spurs play host to Claudio Ranieri's Roma before heading north to Glasgow.

Four Premier League heavyweights have reportedly filed legal notices to seek compensation if Manchester City are found guilty of their alleged 115 breaches of Premier League financial rules.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur have all lodged potential compensation claims ahead of a possible statute of limitations deadline last week, as reported by The Times.

It's suggested that legal advice prompted the clubs to register these potential claims now due to the 1980 Limitation Act's six-year period for legal claims for contract breaches.

The Football Leaks documents, which first brought the allegations against City, were initially published by German website Der Spiegel in early November 2018.

If City are found guilty, it's expected that the clubs will claim for loss of earnings, reports the Mirror.

An independent commission continues to review City's case and if they're found guilty of a number of the 115 charges, it's been suggested they could face expulsion from the Premier League.

Among City's alleged rule breaches are failing to provide accurate financial information for nine separate seasons starting in 2009, including full pay details of former head coach Roberto Mancini and players.

City, with their legal team headed by Lord Pannick, maintain they have not violated any rules. Pep Guardiola, the head coach, has publicly stated that if the club's management had deceived him about their innocence, he would resign.

A verdict is anticipated towards the end of this season, and there may be room for further appeals. The current Premier League champions are five points behind Liverpool in the league as we approach the final international break of 2024.

City have suffered four consecutive losses in all competitions - a first in Guardiola's managerial career - and have found it difficult without injured midfielder Rodri.

However, defender Ruben Dias has warned rivals not to underestimate them. "I would say, please doubt us, doubt us, feel welcome to do so," the centre back said.

"When we did the treble, we even called it the dark January," he said. "We had a tough period. But it is what it is."

"What matters is how you bounce back from these moments. That's why our team has won so much because in moments of difficulty, the characters come up and we stay together."

"We don't find people to kill, we find people to bring into the cause and fight together. That's what we need to do once again."

Paul Gascoigne says he couldn't believe it when Tottenham tried to charge him £400 per ticket - and that's part of why he'll be cheering on Rangers when the two sides meet in the Champions League.

Gascoigne is a revered figure at both clubs and might have been expected to sit on the fence when Spurs come to Ibrox on December 12. He scored 33 times in 112 games in North London, before his move to Lazio eventually led him to Rangers, where he won two league titles and became one of their most iconic ever players.

But he's pinned his colours firmly to the mast ahead of the Champions League showdown in eight months' time. And that's because Rangers always make him feel welcome - not so much the case with the Premier League side who he claims fleeced him for a pair of matchday briefs.

Gascoigne told sportscasting.com: “At Rangers I’m welcomed in every way. Whereas at Tottenham, I asked for a couple of tickets and they said ‘that’ll be £400 each.’ I was like, wow, with all I did for that club?' I made the right choice in going to Rangers, the fans were fantastic and they love me up there. When they play the Spurs, I'll be a Rangers fan.”