Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has doffed his cap to the intuitiveness of West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady after she predicted in May he would take the Premier League by storm.
Spurs host West Ham on Thursday aiming to end a four-match winless run, but they still sit fifth in the table after an excellent start to the campaign.
Postecoglou has been without a host of players during the past month but earned plaudits for an unwavering commitment to his attacking philosophy, which resulted in Tottenham fighting back to earn a 3-3 draw at Manchester City last weekend.
Back in May, Brady used her column for the Sun to tip the then Celtic boss to flourish in England if given the chance.
Asked if he had seen Brady’s “love letter”, Postecoglou said: “Ha ha, no. I don’t know Karren, I’ve never met her and I don’t think I’ve ever come across her, but in many respects, wouldn’t that make her fairly ahead of the game?
“I reckon she’s a pretty smart operator! I’m not sure about the love letter stuff, mate.
“I guess me moving to Celtic kind of brought me closer to this part of the world.
“I was aware, particularly Celtic-Rangers, everyone down here watches it and it gets into people’s consciousness. I guess if Karren knows, then all credit to her.”
Tottenham head into Thursday’s London derby having ended a three-match losing streak.
Dejan Kulusevski 90th-minute effort at the Etihad Stadium earned a draw for Postecoglou’s injury-hit team, who were predicted by some pundits to lose heavily at the Etihad if he continued to adopt his bold tactics.
“With a game like that, when you come out of it, what you want is to give the players something,” Postecoglou said.
“Show them something to say, ‘look, you did it. It’s not just words, this is not just an idea, you did it’. And it may have only been for small parts of the game, but if you can do it for small parts, then the challenge is can we extend that to bigger areas?
“Whereas if you never even try it, you never know. So, if I changed my approach for the Man City game, that’s where I would have lost. I wouldn’t have had any opportunity to give that feedback to the players.
“So, from that perspective, we got a lot of good information out of that game. Good and bad, like areas where we really struggled.
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“Like I explained it to the other coaches, when you’re panning for gold, there’s a lot of dirt there, but you’re just looking for that little speck.
“And we’ve got quite a few specks of gold that I can show the players after the game that say, you know, if we keep digging here, this will get some nuggets eventually.”
Tottenham will have Cristian Romero back for the visit of West Ham and Richarlison returned after minor surgery on his groin to make a cameo in Manchester in a welcome boost after their list of absentees had entered double figures.
It has forced Postecoglou to use the majority of his squad, but one player without an appearance this season is former captain Hugo Lloris, who had been expected to depart the club this summer.
Postecoglou has kept Lloris part of the first-team fold, but it is widely accepted he will depart in 2024, either during the January transfer window or once his contract expires next summer.
Postecoglou added: “Whilst Hugo hasn’t been playing, he hasn’t changed his demeanour in any way. He is very professional and great for the other keepers to have him there with his experience.
“January? It’s a decision for Hugo and the club. I don’t have that power and don’t want that power (to release him).
“Hugo is a member of this squad and how he trains every day is important to me. If he wasn’t then I’d be dealing with it but I haven’t had to. He has been absolutely first-class and as a manager, I don’t take that for granted.”
Glenmuir stay perfect in Zone I of daCosta Cup after 2-0 win over neighbours Garvey Maceo
Glenmuir High extended their perfect start to the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Wata daCosta Cup as they blanked neighbours Garvey Maceo 2-0 in a lopsided Zone I affair in May Pen, Clarendon, on Saturday.
Ricardo Binns’ third goal of the season in the 29th and Orel Miller’s seventh of the season in the 40th was enough to seal the three points, which kept Glenmuir atop the standings on maximum nine points.
The defeat, Garvey Maceo’s first of the season, saw them slip to third on six points as Foga Road (seven points) jumped to second after a 6-0 beating of Porus High.
Glenmuir’s Head coach Andrew Peart welcomed the win.
“I am pleased with the win and the maturity shown by the players. For most of them its three years so as they get older, you expect more of them and I thought they showed that. One of the key things for us was not to get the game stretched and I thought we did that well,” Peart said in a post-game interview.
“It is step by step where our title ambitions are concerned; for us, the main thing now is to get out of the group and then we go from there. Yes, we plan long term but we are working short term so its day by day for us right now,” he added.
It was expected to be a close contest between two of last season’s semi-finalists, but Glenmuir had other ideas and should have won by a wider margin.
The Champions Cup holders dominated proceedings from the start as they were enterprising in the attacking third and created numerous chances, though they struggled to apply the finishing touch.
It wasn’t until close to the half-hour mark that they inevitably broke the deadlock from a sustained attacking spell, when Binns headed into an empty net after a decent first touch kept the ball alive ahead of the advancing Garfield Tomlinson in goal for Garvey Maceo.
The lead was doubled 11 minutes later courtesy of Miller, who sidewined his way through four defenders before driving a firm left-footed effort past the hapless Tomlinson to make it 2-0 at the break.
Down, but not out, Garvey Maceo showed more purpose on the attacking front on the resumption and created a few half chances, which amounted to nothing.
From there, the contest offered very little to write home about as Glenmuir showed very little in attack, seemingly content with what they already had, while Garvey Maceo did little to trouble their opponents defensive line.
Garvey Maceo’s head coach Lester Hibbert believes indiscipline led to their demise.
“We gave them instructions to stay with their markers because Glenmuir was doing a lot of movements. When we started the game, we kept them behind the ball but we lost the discipline and conceded two goals, so we just have to brush ourselves off and come again for the next game on Wednesday,” Hibbert said.
Saturday’s results
Vere Technical 0, Kemps Hill 2
Glenmuir 2, Garvey Maceo 0
Foga Road 6, Porus 0
William Knibb 5, Holland 0
Maggotty High 1, Newell 0
Mannings 9, Godfrey Stewart 0
Alston 1, Troy 0
Herbert Morrison 3, St James 0
Anchovy 1, Rusea’s High 0
B.B Coke 1, Munro College 0
Lennon 0, Clarendon College 2
Irwin High 3, Green Pond High 3
Spot Valley 2, Cedric Titus 0
Port Antonio 2, Wycliffe Martin High 0
Grange Hill 1, Black River 2
Maldon 0, Cornwall College 1
'We played two different games' - Maresca hails Chelsea response in Bournemouth win
Enzo Maresca felt Chelsea reaped rewards for "getting your t-shirt dirty", as they snatched a late victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
The Blues endured a steady start with their hosts generating the greater attacking threat for most of the contest, with Robert Sanchez keeping out Evanilson's first-half penalty.
Marcus Tavernier and Ryan Christie also struck the woodwork for the hosts, but substitute Christopher Nkunku landed the decisive blow five minutes from time.
And Maresca was pleased with his side's response to a difficult first-half performance.
"We played two different games," he told Sky Sports. "The first half, we struggled. We didn't win duels; we didn't win second balls. The second half, we were much better.
"We knew before the game that Bournemouth are very high-pressing, man-to-man orientated. We faced a team who are very aggressive, it was more off the ball that we struggled. [The] second half completely changed the picture.
"This is football. Last time against [Crystal] Palace, we completely deserved to win the game. We had chances and we drew. Today, it was there, and, in the end, we won.
"You cannot come here to this stadium and think about winning the game without getting your t-shirt dirty. You need to win duels, you need to fight. If we are able to do this for 95 minutes, you have more chances to win games."
Maresca handed a debut to new signing Jadon Sancho, who was introduced as a half-time substitute before providing the assist for Nkunku's winner.
And the Manchester United loanee lifted the lid on how he is finding life since his switch to Stamford Bridge.
"It's amazing to make my debut for Chelsea," he told Sky Sports. "Just being back playing, I'm very grateful. The team played very well; we dug in to the end and got the three points.
"I've been working hard for this moment, and I'm happy I got my chance. Going into this season, I wanted to have a good start, and I'm happy.
"I have to say thank you to the staff and teammates. The first day I came in, they made me feel welcome and comfortable."
Real Sociedad 0-2 Real Madrid: Vinicius, Mbappe penalties close gap on Barca
Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both scored penalties as Real Madrid saw off Real Sociedad 2-0 at the Reale Arena.
Carlo Ancelotti's side moved to within a point of LaLiga leaders Barcelona, who visit fifth-place Girona on Sunday.
Already without the likes of Jude Bellingham, David Alaba, Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni, Madrid suffered another injury blow in the 24th minute when Brahim Diaz was forced off with a muscular issue.
After a goalless first half, the visitors broke through 13 minutes after the restart with Vinicius slotting home from 12 yards after Sergio Gomez handled Arda Guler's shot.
Vinicus was then felled for Madrid's second penalty, which was awarded following a VAR review, with Mbappe making no mistake in sealing all three points.
Data Debrief: Madrid extend unbeaten streak
Extending their unbeaten LaLiga streak to 37 matches, Madrid have now won four successive away league games against Basque opposition for the first time since a run of four such victories between 2011 and 2013.
By contrast, Sociedad have now suffered four straight home defeats in the Spanish top flight for the first time since 2007.
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