Ange Postecoglou deserves credit for ending Tottenham Hotspur’s trophy drought: Joe Hart

Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart acknowledged that it was a “difficult season”. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

David Lee

UPDATED May 22, 2025, 10:18 PM

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SINGAPORE – Despite helping Tottenham Hotspur end a 17-year trophy drought by beating Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 21, Ange Postecoglou’s future as Spurs manager remains in the balance, as they are set for their worst English Premier League finish in 17th place.

But former England goalkeeper Joe Hart, who was with the club during the 2020-21 season, felt that the 59-year-old Australian deserves credit for “putting himself on the line and delivering” a first European title for the north London side since 1984 and taking them back to the Champions League.

The 38-year-old, who is in town for StarHub’s Football for All carnival, told The Straits Times: “He’s done something that a lot of great managers haven’t been able to do at Spurs, so he should be proud of that.

“They set themselves up to win the Europa League this year, and you can tell they didn’t prioritise the league. When it works, you deserve all the praise and credit, and I’m delighted for Ange.”

Hart had worked with Postecoglou when they won back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles with Celtic in 2022 and 2023, as the Australian gave the custodian a new lease of life following two seasons without a league appearance at Burnley and Tottenham.

The 1.96m Englishman, who is now a BBC pundit, said: “I was a senior pro and my career wasn’t at the stage that I wanted it to be. He knew that it wasn’t because of a lack of effort or ability, and he gave me new energy at the latter end of my career.

“He is a man of few words, but very motivating before and after the games, and great on the analytical side of it. He keeps to himself and doesn’t want to get too close to his players. He treats everyone the same, and he’s won consistently.

“Tactically, he is really positive, really aggressive. Of course, there are holes in what everyone does, and there are ways that you can get at it. But when the team deliver to the level he expects, they are a very, very dangerous team.”

Much has been made about Postecoglou delivering on his bold claim about winning a trophy in his second season everywhere he has managed for at least two full seasons – with South Melbourne, Brisbane Roar, Australia, Yokohama F. Marinos, Celtic and now Spurs.

With the glass ceiling shattered, Hart, who has 127 clean sheets in 340 EPL appearances, felt Spurs can push on to greater things if the club can work as a unit.

Asked about how previous managers such as Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte fell out with Spurs’ senior management, he said: “Everyone’s got different ideas of what works, and they’ve not quite been on the same page, that would be my only criticism.”

Another of Hart’s former clubs looking to make a statement after a disappointing season by their lofty standards are Manchester City, who will finish their campaign trophyless for the first time in eight years.

While Hart acknowledged it was a “difficult season”, it only served to highlight the incredible spell they have had in the Pep Guardiola era, in which they won six EPL titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups, and the Champions League and Club World Cup once each.

Former England and Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart at StarHub Green on May 22. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Hart, who won two EPL, one FA Cup and two League Cup titles with City, backed them to be “fighting on all fronts next season”.

He added: “I see them making the adjustments and signings they need to make, and be back fighting on all four fronts next season. Liverpool and Man City will be favourites at the start of the new season, but it depends on who make the right decisions in the summer.”

On May 25, Hart will join Liverpool legend John Barnes at the Resorts World Convention Centre in Sentosa, where all 10 matches of the last round of EPL action will be shown live at StarHub’s Football for All carnival.

StarHub’s vice-president of entertainment Yann Courqueux said: “We can’t bring all the fans from Singapore to the EPL stadiums, so we try to get EPL legends here to share that experience with us.”

He also shared that Premier League subscribers on StarHub TV+ will be able to use the new Watch Party feature to host and watch ‘live’ EPL matches together with up to three friends, who need not be subscribers. This can be done with a unique code from the host and a Hub iD to log in to the StarHub TV+ app on Android TV.

“It’s our 25th anniversary, it’s special, and it’s very important for us to connect with our audience, because connecting with people is what we are all about,” said Courqueux.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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