Spurs managers old and new face off

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

A lot has changed at Tottenham since Mauricio Pochettino was shown the door four years ago this month.

The club is on its fourth different manager since then, for a start.

But, by design or sheer luck, Spurs have stumbled across a coach in Ange Postecoglou who has re-energised the club in double quick time and brought the kind of feel-good factor that hasn’t been present since Pochettino’s departure.

The Australian’s impact since being hired at the end of last season has defied expectations, and Pochettino returns to Tottenham on Monday with his former club undefeated and at the top of the Premier League after 10 games.

Postecoglou is the first coach to win the Premier League Manager of the Month award in his first two months in England’s top flight — a feat even Pep Guardiola did not manage. And he could make it a hat-trick after being nominated again for October.

Even the most optimistic of Spurs fans could not have hoped for such an impressive start — particularly on the back of a chaotic period post-Pochettino.

Jose Mourinho sparked hope that his pragmatism could bring trophies to a club starved of success, but lasted less than two years.

Nuno Espirito Santo always felt like an underwhelming choice to succeed one of the most successful coaches in modern history, and he was promptly fired barely three months into his first season.

Then came the combustible Antonio Conte. Like Mourinho, he was a proven winner. But, like Mourinho, he was also gone in under two years.

After the stability of Pochettino and the joy he spread around the club by leading an exciting team to the Champions League final in 2019, Tottenham were swept up in the turbulent cycle of trying to recapture his magic.

After a revolving door of managers saw the club fail to qualify for Europe for the first time since 2009 last season, fans demanded action.

Postecoglou was the man who under-pressure chairman Daniel Levy turned to. The straight-talking former Australia coach had just won a trophy treble with Celtic in Scotland, but turning Tottenham’s fortunes around had already proved too much for more celebrated managers than himself.

And he had to do it without record goalscorer Harry Kane, who was sold to Bayern Munich in the off season.

Which only makes his achievements so far all the more impressive after winning eight and drawing two of the opening 10 league games, which have included clashes with Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.

Next up is Pochettino’s Chelsea, in a game that will see Tottenham in the rare position of being the favourites against their fierce London rival.

Chelsea have dominated this matchup in recent years. Their loss to Tottenham in February was a first league defeat against Spurs since 2018.

But, under Chelsea’s new owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, the 2021 Champions League winners have undergone a period of major upheaval that saw them record their lowest points total in the Premier League era last season and fail to qualify for Europe.