Ange Postecoglou admits many fans expect him to leave Tottenham even if they win the Europa League ahead of their clash with Eintracht Frankfurt.
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Postecoglou under immense pressureSpurs languishing in bottom half of tableEuropa League their last chance of salvationFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Spurs are languishing in 14th in the Premier League and their clash with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League offers perhaps the last chance for Postecoglou to save his job. Reports suggest that the club are already monitoring potential replacements and have been linked with the likes of Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, Fulham's Marco Silva, and Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner.
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Now, Postecoglou has claimed that there is a "general sentiment" that he will leave the club regardless of whether Spurs manage to pull off an improbable Europa League triumph in Bilbao in May. He cited an article from Daily Mirror journalist John Cross, which presented the idea that winning the competition could be "too little, too late" for the Australian.
WHAT POSTECOGLOU SAID
Speaking ahead of this week's first leg, Postecoglou said: "I think that feeling [of motivation] exists, but not because of that (proving people wrong).
"I don't think that's a healthy motivation to have because ultimately you can't win that contest. I just think we're in that position that the good stuff we may do is going to be turned into a glass half full rhetoric and from that perspective I don't think that can be a driver in what we want to do.
"The lads are really keen to bring success to the club, keep driving the principles of what we started this whole journey with, in terms of the football we want to play, really stick together as they have through the toughest of periods and hopefully we've worked our way into a position where we can make an impact on our season, a really disappointing season for us.
"I just think there's a real determination to take the opportunity that they've earned at this point. I don't think you're going to win that argument of convincing people. I think John [Cross] wrote that even if we win it, I'm gone anyway. That's not having a go at you, that's just saying the general sentiment of people. So if you're trying to use that as a motivation, you're not going to win that anyway.
"There's got to be more in it for us and for us what is the most important thing as a group is that we've been through a really tough time but we're still in a position where we can make an impact and you don't know how often you get those opportunities.
"We're in a quarter-final and I don't know how many times the club has been in a quarter-final in European competition. You don't want to let that slip you by or have the wrong mindset going into it. I think the players are handling it well in terms of how they're trying to embrace this challenge. They're going to face a top team but they have the capabilities to overcome that."
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Postecoglou's focus will be on attempting to guide Spurs to their first silverware since 2008, as he also bids to rescue his own reputation, and his job.
