Tottenham’s Postecoglou whimsical on future: Que sera

BILBAO, Spain — Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has insisted he is unaware of any meetings about his future at the club, but said “whatever happens, happens” after ending Spurs’ 17-year wait for a trophy.

Brennan Johnson scored the only goal as Tottenham beat Manchester United 1-0 in Wednesday’s Europa League final at San Mames to deliver their first silverware since the 2008 League Cup.

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It is Spurs’ first European honour in 41 years and ensures Postecoglou delivered on his vow of “always” winning things in his second season following past triumphs at Celtic, Yokohama F. Marinos, Australia and Brisbane Roar.

However, sources have told ESPN that Postecoglou faces an uphill battle to keep his job after Tottenham slumped to 21 Premier League defeats and sit 17th in the table ahead of Sunday’s final round of matches.

By winning on Wednesday, Spurs booked their place in next season’s Champions League and secured a windfall estimated to be worth around £100 million. When asked whether any meetings were scheduled with the club’s hierarchy to discuss his future over the coming days, Postecoglou said: “No planned meetings. I haven’t had any discussions.

“No one has spoken to me about anything. Maybe they felt like they don’t need to or maybe they are waiting for this game.

“Look, what I do know is I’m going back to my hotel room, get my family and friends together, open up a nice bottle of scotch, have a couple of quiet ones, get ready for a massive parade on Friday, play Brighton on Sunday — really important last home game, I want to finish strong — and then Monday I am going on holidays with my beautiful family because I deserve it.

“And que sera sera.”

Postecoglou said he opted to prioritise winning the Europa League as early as January after analysing the state of his injury-ravaged squad.

“It has definitely been the toughest thing I’ve ever done, without a shadow of a doubt,” he said. “And I knew that going into it. This club has had some unbelievable world class coaches and world class players and they haven’t had a night like this.

“I knew what I was taking on. It is fair to say it has been really challenging because where else I’ve had success by this stage, I’ve kind of had the faith and trust of everybody.

“Here it has been different. I understand, that’s not a criticism, it is just the club with its recent history, I don’t think they could always ever go all in on one person. For me, that’s how it has always worked well.

“People back my vision. But within that, we got to the end of January, the end of the transfer window, I assessed our situation and I made a decision there and then that this was the trophy we were going to go for. It was probably at odds with what other people at the club believed at the time we should do, again that’s understandable, but I just really believed we could win this.”

Postecoglou reiterated his desire to keep working with the group. The 59-year-old has two years remaining on his current contract and he said: “I’d be disappointed if I couldn’t continue on this path. I understand why it would be difficult for a club like this to buy into one person’s vision

“Even when I signed, [chairman] Daniel [Levy] said ‘we went after winners, it didn’t work and now we’ve got Ange.’ Mate, I’m a winner. I’ve been a serial winner my whole career. It’s what I’ve done more than anything else. I know people talk about my football which I’m very proud of.

“I know people dismiss my achievements because they didn’t happen this side of the world but they were all hard earned.”