I heard Liew on one of the pods on this and basically it came across as he was too lazy to properly look into his past record or was unable to acknowledge any work done outside the big 5 leagues as valid. Basically “I’m too lazy to do some proper work, or others already did and have taken that turf, so it’s easier for me to do a contrarian hot take”
Having said that, Ange is starting to lose a few now
Yeah I heard it on the pod and understood that he had also called Ange a PE teacher at the live show.
The commentary around Ange, whether Spurs are doing well or not, is always going to be mostly Euro-snobby from some quarters in the press over there. Liew’s hot take was really just that of someone who can’t understand what football must be like for people in countries where it is not the number 1 sport.
Ange is like most Australian football die-hards, he actually does care about the game itself as he has had to fight hard to make a living out of it and spent years watching it get trashed here. Also, as others have said, those comments really smack of somewhere who just wants to take an opposing view to the current popular one and rile people up a little. Everyone else on the pod, if I recall correctly, where in opposition to Liew’s view - Rushden could really gives some additional insight now having been here for a while, but he too I think still doesn’t quite grasp the football landscape outside of Europe.
I actually recall Muscat being sacked at the Belgian club being a surprise to the fans, or at least not as popular as Kisnorbos sacking was among the Troyes fans
Didn’t they appoint him despite not having the proper badges yet so the first few games someone else was officially the coach but Muscat was unofficially? His wiki record there reads P15 W2 D5 L8.
There’s an issue with the AFC Pro not being automatically recognised as equivalent to a UEFA Pro. You’d think FIFA would knock that on the head somehow (even if only by mandating that AFC and its member associations meet certain requirements in awarding their Pro) but it’s still a problem, so lots of Aussie coaches do their Pro in Wales or Ireland…
I’m no Ange sunshine pumper but hes done a great job considering the short time he’s had with the players, just 1 transfer window to freshen the squad, losing Harry Kane and the ridonkulous injury list Spurs currently have.
In general the press & pundits love Ange because he’s so shamelessly attack minded, it kinda brings the fun/romance back to a sport which has become so cynical and cold.
Yes hes lost a few now, but you can’t really say that Spurs were outplayed in any of those games. The Chelsea game we all know what happened there. The Wolves game was lost to a top shelf screamer of a goal, and West Ham scored two very lucky goals. But swings & roundabouts, Spurs will have some lucky days too.
It should be expected that Ange will cop some snobbery. He’s a bit of a pioneer coach, like those Aussie players who went to the UK in the 70s like Craig Johnstone etc who got treated pretty crappy when they arrived. I watched Gary Linneker interview Ange and whilst he was polite & respectful he commented how unusual it was for him to talk football with someone with an Australian accent. So theres definitely a learning curve happening in the UK to comprehend that someone from outside Europe or Sth America actually understands football.
As a spurs fan, I’m pretty content at the moment. We’ll probably finish 5-6th, but really can’t complain given last season.
Fans, over here in UK at least, seem quite happy and willing to give him time.
First win for Ange in a while. Very impressive performance against Newcastle
Luongo and his Ipswich side are first in the Championship now. Fingers crossed for another Aussie in the EPL soon
Burgess also started for them today.
He starts every week
Yengi scored for us against Bolton. Portsmouth now 5 points clear at the top of League 1.
Got MoM too, was on telly here so watched the 2nd half, he looked very dangerous. There were 3 Aussies on the pitch at one stage.
Had a great start to the season before hw got injured.
Keeping him on the pitch will be key to us going up.
I have read / heard a few times how Robertson is a game changer for Pompey whilst on loan and has been really impressing a lot of people since arriving.
I’ve read him being called one of the best footballers in League 1 at the moment on a couple of occasions.
He and Yengi seem to have a good on field relationship.
It’s nice not to be scrambling for a spot in the 6 at the moment - though it is Portsmouth, so I’m still waiting to see how we’ll fuck up our promotion chances later this season…
Muscat has ended up becoming the manager of Shanghai Port. Seems a bit of a sideways move if I’m being honest…
Lots of Swansea fans in the replies I see on twitter about it, there must have been a link to them.
You’re being very kind, it’s definitely a backward step, with the financial restrictions and the lack of free-spending in the CSL, Chinese teams are a shadow of their recent past. Yeah, they’re the champions but they also lost to Filipino and Thai opponents in the ACL qualifying round in the last couple of years.