Ange Postecoglou: Under-fire Nottingham Forest boss hits back at critics in extraordinary press conference | OneFootball

Australian takes aim at perception of his Tottenham spell during passionate five-minute monologue before crucial Chelsea clash

Ange Postecoglou has said that he needs more time as Nottingham Forest manager as the story at his previous clubs “always ends the same... with me and a trophy.”

"I guess from my perspective I just don't fit - not here, just in general,” the Forest boss said on Friday.

“If you look at things through the prism that I am a failed manager who is lucky to get this job - I know you're smirking at me, but that's what's been said - then of course these first five weeks look like ‘this guy is under pressure’. “

Floating “an alternative story,” Postecoglou said he was “slightly offended” when then-Spurs chairman Daniel Levy told him, upon his appointment two years ago, that Tottenham “need something different” after trying and failing to achieve success with “winners” like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

"I took over Spurs who finished eighth; massive club but no European football, and one that can't go two years without European football,” Postecoglou said.

“We finished fifth in my first year and every time [former Spurs striker] Harry Kane scores a goal [for Bayern Munich], I go, 'I wish he stayed just one more year'. It would have been handy to have him after finishing fifth.

"But somehow that [first] year has disappeared from the record books. It was even used as a reason for me losing my job because even Tottenham decided to exclude the first 10 games (when Spurs were unbeaten, winning eight times), yet the first 10 games [at Forest] are important apparently.”

Of his second season in north London, Postecoglou continued: "We win a trophy. We shed the tag of being 'Spursy' and get Champions League football, which brings some rewards and the opportunity to bring greater players. But all I have heard since I finished at Tottenham is that we finished 17th [in the Premier League] last year.

Postecoglou celebrates winning the 2024/25 Europa League with Spurs

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"If you look at it through the prism of finishing 17th, then I am a failed manager who is lucky to get another opportunity. But again, if I have to explain why we finished 17th, it's really basic. It doesn't have to be too in-depth.”

Pointing to Spurs’ injury record last season and his prioritising of the Europa League, the 60-year-old said: "Just look at the last five or six team sheets of last season to see what I prioritised, and who was on the bench.

“The last game against Brighton, the players were out partying for two days, which I sanctioned because I felt they deserved to. So, yes, we finished 17th. But if people think that's a reflection of me and my coaching then again, I think they are looking at it through the prism of I just don't fit.”

He concluded: "We get to the current space [at Forest] where there is a different story to tell; maybe I am not a failed manager who was lucky to get this job.

“Instead, maybe I am a manager who - if you give him time - the story always ends the same, at all my previous clubs, with me and a trophy."

Postecoglou insisted there have been “no talks” with Forest’s hierarchy about his future despite the team’s form and that the “major” mid-season change in management meant his players were still “adapting” to his style of play.

“Some look at the weeds but I look at what is growing,” he said. “I am really excited as I have a group of young players willing to change. I am not wasting my time on what people think.

"It is always important to win the next game, we are facing a very good opponent. We've had a good few weeks training and everyone has come back [from the international break] in good condition."