Ange Postecoglou was trudging off the field, having watched his Tottenham Hotspur side surrender to a dismal 0-2 loss at the hands of Fulham, when a fan’s complaints reached his ears.
“What was that? What was that? What was that?” Called a young supporter filming the Australian manager on his phone.
For whatever reason, the question stopped Postecoglou in his tracks; he was offended.
Swiveling his head towards the youngster, the Spurs coach said, “Behave,” pushing his palm downwards to emphasize the point.
At this point, the players around Postecoglou tried to intervene: “Hey, respect. Respect.” Mathys Tel told the fan.
Had the supporter unloaded some scathing abuse, said something demeaning about his appearance, or insulted his family, such a reaction would have been warranted.
But that was not the case. The fan asked him, “What was that?” which, given the circumstances, was entirely reasonable.
What more did he need to add? “Excuse me, Mr Postecoglou, what was that?” Would adding a pleasantry allow the coach to think he was ‘behaving’ himself?
Fans pay good money to watch Premier League soccer and have the right to express themselves verbally if they see fit.
This isn’t the theatre; people should be allowed to shout sometimes harshly. That is unless the Spurs manager would prefer polite applause for the next goal they score or spoken words of encouragement to inspire the team when a crucial in-game moment occurs.
Seeing Postecoglou snap at such a mild remark demonstrated how much the Australian’s relationship with the fans has deteriorated.
In those first heady six months of his tenure, his unbridled ambition had the affection pouring from the terraces to the dugout.
The Tottenham Hotspur faithful would belt out an adapted version of Angels by Robbie Williams with the line “I’m loving Big Ange’ instead” at the end as they raucously dared to dream.
That bond began to fracture when Postecoglou misread supporter sentiment ahead of a crunch clash with Manchester City at the end of last season.
Having said that, “100%” of fans wanted a Spurs win that would have put Arsenal in the driving seat for the league title. The Australian got a rude awakening when he realized a great deal more in the stadium felt differently and were happy for City to do the business.
“That’s probably the worst experience I’ve had as a football manager in a game,” he said after the game.
“All I can say is to offer my opinion on what you need to be successful. For me, you can’t be successful if your motivations change depending on the contest. You’ve got to want to win all the time.
“It wasn’t just Spurs supporters. Everyone I heard said they understand how they feel. Well, I don’t understand. I just can’t think of anything worse than not going all in on victory every time you’re out there.”
While it was clear Spurs were moving in the right direction under Postecoglou, the relationship could persist; after all, they both wanted the same thing.
However, cracks have appeared as the form has deteriorated, and the club has fallen to levels far lower than those of the manager’s predecessors.
In December, Postecoglou confronted the traveling support at Bournemouth because he “didn’t like what was being said.”
Even worse were his comments about the support a few days later when he said: “They aren’t behind me, they are behind the club. I have got no interest in who is behind me.
“Last night you have to figure the fans who travel to Bournemouth are fairly hardcore supporters.
“They weren’t happy with what they saw, and they felt like they needed to give some feedback. I took the feedback onboard and we move on.”
The trouble is that the club has not progressed. Although beset by injuries, Spurs is languishing in 14th place, well off what its supporters expect and a far cry from the regular title challenges of a decade ago.
Understandably, the fans feel totally disillusioned. Since Mauricio Pochettino left in 2019, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have been unable to revive the club back to the levels the Argentine oversaw during his time in charge.
Postecoglou offered a different method to those big names; he is a manager who believes a pioneering philosophy can deliver results rather than a blank checkbook.
This was a departure from Mourinho and Conte, who both moaned about investment, attacked the club culture, exited unceremoniously, and bad-mouthed them afterward.
Yet, after a promising beginning, the man who charmed the press core by calling them “mate” started to resemble those previous coaches.
It’s getting to the point where you have to wonder if there is some problem at the heart of the club that transforms managers into angry messes.
A significant number of Spurs fans believe the answer lies at the top of the club, and this season has seen protests by a range of fan groups calling for long-time chairman Daniel Levy to leave.
Two prominent banners unfurled by supporters read: “Our game is about glory, Levy’s game is about greed” and “24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy – time for change”.
It’s easy to blame Levy; a far harder task is to explain what decisions of his you’d take differently and why.
Spurs play in what is arguably the league’s best stadium, are on a strong financial footing, and have hired two of the most renowned names in world soccer as managers in the past five years.
Whilst the club’s spending is far lower than its rivals, it’s not a pittance.
When you take all of that into consideration, it’s hard to know what to do. The club feels broken and lost, needing some savior but with little clarity of who and where they’d come from.