- Tottenham have been the suprised package of the Premier League season so far
- Postecoglou’s side are coming off a comfortable 2-0 home win against Fulham
- Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s podcast ‘It’s All Kicking Off!’
Ange Postecoglou will only be comfortable calling Tottenham title contenders if they are still flying high in the Premier League with just a couple of games of the season left.
Unbeaten Spurs could go five points clear on Friday and the mood around the club is so upbeat and especially celebratory post-match he joked ‘most clubs want to turn their grounds into a fortress – ours is becoming a nightclub’.
But rather than showing off his dancing feet Postecoglou is keeping them firmly on the ground.
He said: ‘Look if we’re in this position around 36, 37 [games] I might look at the subject [Spurs being in a title race].
‘There is a real good reason no manager will talk about winning a title in October or November because we know there’s a long way to go.
Ange Postecoglou insists that he is not thinking about the contending for the Premier League
Goals from James Maddison and Son Heung-min sent Spurs back to the top of the league
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Postecoglou has no plans to emulate Palace boss Roy Hodgson and manage into his seventies
‘It’s not jokes or giggles or me coming in and throwing my significant weight around. I am the same, it doesn’t matter.
‘I am hoping that when people see me they don’t know where we are, what position we are.
‘At Celtic we were on top for a very long time but at the beginning when we were on top, I don’t think people saw anything different in my demeanour. I don’t think they will (here).’
Instead, Postecoglou is happy to leave the dreaming and displays of joy to others.
He said: ‘I’m not skipping about the place but I’m really happy. I love what I do. There’s no other levels of satisfaction in me.
‘The success is not what it does for me, it’s what it does for others. Where I have had success it’s usually come off the back of prolonged periods of no success and a lot of people have suffered from that then you see them enjoy that [the success] and that’s where you get the buzz.’
Postecoglou’s priority is to keep making Spurs better and all that they are doing now sustainable.
To underline his point, he said when asked where his table toppers can improve: ‘All of it. We still have to grow in every area.’
As well as his impact as a manager, Postecoglou’s self-deprecating attitude is part of the reason he has endeared himself at Spurs.
And asked if he will be managing well into his seventies like his opposite number on Friday, Roy Hodgson, he said: ‘That’s not the plan – 76… somewhere on a Greek island, lying back watching football from around the world, maybe doing some punditry and becoming an expert overnight. That’s the plan but you never know in life.’