Ange Postecoglou has laughed off talk he is in the honeymoon period at Tottenham but promised they will continue to improve.
Spurs’ flying start to the new campaign earned their new head coach the Premier League manager of the month award for August on Friday.
The last Tottenham manager to receive the accolade was Nuno Espirito Santo at the start of the 2021-22 season but he was sacked months later in October.
When it was put to Postecoglou that he was still enjoying the honeymoon phase of life in north London, he was happy to point out some of the challenges he has faced in N17.
“I don’t know what your honeymoon was like, but mine didn’t have me losing the greatest player (Harry Kane) in the history of this football club on the eve of a transfer window, me trying to scramble to get players into the club, fighting for everything I do mate. That’s not what my honeymoon was about,” Postecoglou reflected.
“I don’t sit here and think this has come to me or been served on a platter. I’ve worked hard, mate, I’ve worked really hard. It’s been a really tough period, nothing like my honeymoon.
“At Celtic I lost three of our first six. At Yokohama, we were battling relegation, but I can tell you the same sort of building stuff I did at the those clubs, I’m doing here.
“The only difference is the results have been better, encouraging, for sure, but I love this period because there is pretty much a day-to-day uncertainty about where we’re at. That will be here for the next six months to a year.
“Everywhere I’ve been, the second year is where I’ve felt like the team has really taken hold, but I also understand at this football club I can’t go three, four, five months without results because I won’t last. That’s the reality of it.
“If you measure on outcomes, yes, this looks like this has been smoother than the others.
“But I can assure you this has been just as challenging, if not more challenging because of the stakes here in the Premier League.”
Postecoglou admitted it would take two more transfer windows for him to feel his playing group has the squad depth it needs, with Spurs only required to challenge in the Premier League until January.
He added: “I definitely think we need at least two more windows to get to a space where I think ‘okay, we (are happy) as a squad.’
“Don’t forget this year we’re out of the Carabao Cup now and we’ve got no European football, so the fixtures are a little bit kinder to us between now and Christmas, but that’s not our aim.
“We want to have games, we want to be in Europe, we want to be in cup competitions. So we’re going to need a stronger squad and I don’t think we’re anywhere near that point where we’ve got a robust enough squad at the moment.”
Villa draw buys Ten Hag a little time, says Neville
Gary Neville believes Manchester United bought Erik ten Hag time with their 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, but is not sure how much.
United are winless in their last five games in all competitions, with their stalemate at Villa Park the fourth draw in that run, having also lost 3-0 to Tottenham in their last home match.
Ten Hag's side have won just three of their opening 10 matches in all competitions, while their eight points in the league cements their worst-ever start to a Premier League season.
Only 19th-place Southampton (four) have netted fewer goals than United (five) in the competition so far, while only in 1972-73 (four) have the Red Devils ever netted fewer in their first seven matches of a top-flight campaign.
Against a Villa side who beat Bayern Munich in their last outing before this meeting, a draw could be seen as a good result, but Neville believes that shows the "low bar" the team is currently working with.
"It's a small step forward," Neville told Sky Sports. "Before the game, if you offered any Man Utd fan, player or coach a draw, then they would have snapped your hand off.
"That's where, at the end of the game, when you see Erik ten Hag's interview, there's an element of relief because it keeps the wolves at bay for a couple of weeks at least. It gives them a little bit more time.
"I don't think anybody who thought a major incident would happen after the game thought it would happen with a draw. They always thought it would need to be a difficult day or difficult defeat like it was last week against Tottenham. I think it buys Ten Hag a little bit of time.
"It's Manchester United's worst start in Premier League history so we can't celebrate. When we're thinking it's a decent point when you draw at Villa, it tells you how far Villa have come - but it also tells you how low the bar is for United in this moment in time."
Ten Hag, who signed a new contract in the off-season, continues to insist that he has the backing of the club's hierarchy despite the less-than-stellar start to the campaign.
However, the pressure is starting to pile on the manager once more, with United failing to score in each of their last three Premier League games, equalling their worst run without a goal in the competition under the Dutchman (also a run of three in both December 2023 and April 2023).
While Neville does not think the club will rush into a decision on Ten Hag's future, he admits they might have to if things have not changed by the November international break.
"The club did make the decision to keep Ten Hag in the summer, so they won't want to reverse that decision within the first six or seven games," Neville added.
"They have just got to hope [something happens] in this next couple of weeks - through maybe a reset, some thinking time, some planning.
"Manchester United fans, coaches, players have talked about this new structure that surrounds Ten Hag, it needs to go to work quite quickly in the next few weeks.
"If the next international break comes around and Manchester United are still in that 13th, 14th position in the league, I think there's going to be a lot of pressure.
"The next few weeks are critical in making sure they can somehow get some momentum for the rest of the season so that Ten Hag can keep his job."
Fiorentina 2-1 Milan: Gudmundsson seals win after De Gea penalty heroics
David de Gea saved two penalties for Fiorentina, setting the stage for Albert Gudmundsson to score the winner in a 2-1 victory over Milan.
In a pulsating encounter that saw three missed penalties and two red cards, Fiorentina prevailed to halt Paulo Fonseca's Serie A winning run.
The hosts had the first spot-kick of the game, with Moise Kean's tame effort being kept out by Mike Maignan before the forward had a goal disallowed for offside.
Former Milan midfielder Yacine Adli did break the deadlock soon after, ricocheting a low shot in off the far post from the edge of the box, and De Gea kept them ahead at the break, superbly denying Theo Hernandez from the spot.
Kean had a second goal chalked off for offside in the second half and Milan wasted another golden opportunity from 12 yards, as De Gea got down well to keep out Tammy Abraham this time.
On the hour mark, an in-form Christian Pulisic finally pulled the visitors level with a perfect volley, but the drama was far from over as Gudmundsson drilled his low shot past Maignan to put Fiorentina back in front in the 73rd minute.
Emotions ran high in the final moments as Fiorentina coach Raffaele Palladino was sent off, while Hernandez also received his marching orders for arguing with the referee after the final whistle had gone.
Data Debrief: De Gea's penalty redemption
For all the plaudits De Gea received while at Manchester United, one blip on his record was his struggles against penalties.
However, with his impressive showing against Milan, he became the first goalkeeper to make two penalty saves in a single Serie A match since Federico Marchetti in May 2016.
Since his debut in the top five European leagues (2009-10), the Spaniard has saved 10 of his 52 penalties in the league, including each of the last three, having also saved one against Fulham in May 2023.
Rangers 2-0 St. Johnstone: Cerny double provides Ibrox redemption
Rangers got back on track in the Scottish Premiership as Vaclav Cerny scored both goals in a 2-0 victory over St. Johnstone.
Philippe Clement's side were thrashed 4-1 by Lyon in Thursday's Europa League clash at Ibrox Stadium, where they made amends with a routine domestic victory on Sunday.
Cerny broke the deadlock 11 minutes before the interval, cutting inside and curling a sumptuous effort into the bottom-left corner of Ross Sinclair's goal.
Czech Republic winger Cerny added Rangers' second, and doubled his account, just before the hour after combining with returning midfielder Ianis Hagi before producing a right-footed finish into the far corner.
Hagi – who had not played a first-team game for over a year due to a contract dispute – was sent off with nine minutes left though, following a VAR review for a high challenge on Benjamin Kimpioka's standing ankle.
Rangers still recorded a comfortable triumph to move back within five points of the league-leading Celtic, who are clear of Aberdeen on goal difference, heading into the October international break.
Data Debrief: Defensive recovery after Lyon pain
Rangers were well off the pace in the Lyon hammering in which they shipped four goals, though the hosts rediscovered their defensive solidity here.
Clement's men have now won three matches in a row without conceding in the competition for the first time since doing so across January and February last campaign.
It came as no surprise, however, given St. Johnstone have lost each of their last seven away league games against Rangers without scoring a single goal in the process.
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