Ange Postecoglou became the first Australian manager to win a trophy in a major European club competition after Spurs beat fellow Premier League club Manchester United.
Ange Postecoglou has delivered the greatest triumph of his career, clutching a potentially job-saving lifeline by steering beleaguered Tottenham Hotspur to Europa League glory in Spain.
The trailblazer became the first Australian manager to win a trophy in a major European club competition as Spurs beat fellow Premier League strugglers Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao for their first trophy in 17 years.
Goalscorer Johnson paid tribute to Postecoglou, saying: “He’s done his job. He says he wins in his second year and he has — and if there’s ever a time for a mic drop, it’s now.”
But referring to his now-celebrated early-season observation that he always wins a trophy in his second season, Postecoglou reflected: “It wasn’t me boasting. It was me just making a declaration — and I believed it.”
“The only thing that was going to change this football club is us winning something, and when I said that, that was my intent,” Postecoglou said.
“If I fell short. I was happy to cop it, but I believed it inside me. That was my ambition. I wanted it stated — and I was prepared to wear it if it didn’t happen.”
It did happen — and his players wanted to remind everyone about Postecoglou’s quote as they carried around a banner proclaiming it.