LONDON: By cupping his ear and waving sarcastically, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou went head-first into a confrontation with his critics.
Unfortunately, those critics were the club鈥檚 hard-core fans.
Postecoglou, whose future at Tottenham has been looking increasingly uncertain in a tough season for the underperforming London team, might have gone a step too far Thursday when he appeared to goad his own supporters during the 1-0 loss at Chelsea 鈥� even though he later denied having that intention.
Tottenham鈥檚 away contingent had serenaded Postecoglou with a chant of 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e doing鈥� after the combative Australian coach made two substitutions in the 64th minute at Stamford Bridge, including bringing on Pape Sarr to replace fellow midfielder Lucas Bergvall.
Within five minutes, Sarr scored a goal from long range and Postecoglou reacted by facing the end containing Tottenham鈥檚 fans, cupping his hand to his ear and then waving.
Unfortunately for Tottenham and Postecoglou, the goal was disallowed and Chelsea went on to secure a 1-0 win that consigned Spurs to a 16th loss in 30 Premier League games this season.
Postecoglou was asked about his actions after Sarr鈥檚 鈥済oal鈥� and, in his unique style, said 鈥淚 wanted them to be happy, mate.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檇 just scored a cracking goal,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted them to cheer because they hadn鈥檛 had a lot to cheer about.鈥�
Tottenham fans sure will attest to that this season.
And his explanation might not wash with many fans who appear to have turned against their manager, maybe because of the team鈥檚 results, maybe because of his style of play, and maybe because of increasingly unhappy demeanor.
It was only a couple of months ago, after a 2-1 loss to relegation-threatened Leicester, that he attempted to confront a fan who had directed criticism the Tottenham manager鈥檚 way as he walked down the tunnel.
That is one thing, however. Appearing to taunt supporters 鈥� though he denied doing so again in a news conference on Friday, maintaining his actions did been misinterpreted 鈥� is another.
鈥淚鈥檇 heard the supporters weren鈥檛 happy with my decision, which is fine,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd my response was to celebrate and get them to make some noise and get them behind the team.鈥�
Postecoglou, who is coming to the end of his second season at Tottenham after joining from Celtic, said he wasn鈥檛 affected by fan criticism.
鈥淚 have been fighting my whole career,鈥� he continued, 鈥渁nd I鈥檒l continue to fight until I鈥檓 told to stop by someone.鈥�
Given the growing disconnect between Postecoglou and the fans, winning the Europa League 鈥� and thereby ending Tottenham鈥檚 17-year wait for a major trophy and securing a place in next season鈥檚 Champions League 鈥� might be the only thing that keeps him in his job.
Tottenham play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarterfinals, with the first leg on Thursday.
Lose and Tottenham just have Premier League games left to play. The team are in 14th place in the 20-team league, making it a woeful campaign for a team among the so-called 鈥淏ig Six鈥� in England and which were one of the clubs pushing to join a breakaway Super League four years ago.
Postecoglou, who has previously blamed injuries for his team鈥檚 poor results this season, said Friday he understood the criticism heading his way and didn鈥檛 want to 鈥渟ay something that somehow will change the mood of the fans.鈥�
鈥淚 still believe we鈥檝e got a massive opportunity for ourselves this year,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd I鈥檓 not going to let that slip away 鈥� whether that鈥檚 from external or internal pressure.鈥�