Ange Postecoglou tracking down ‘leak’ inside Tottenham
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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou joked that he had become fictional detective Jack Reacher to find out the source of the information leak.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said an information leak from inside the club
Injury news has regularly found its way to social media before Spurs’ games during a troubled second season for the Australian.
Ahead of their 1-1 first-leg draw with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League quarter-finals on April 10, Wilson Odobert’s absence from the starting line-up was leaked long before the first 11 was officially announced.
“There is no doubt we’ve got a leak inside the club. Someone continues to leak out information and they have all year,” Postecoglou said on April 11.
“I don’t know why as it just makes our job even more difficult... you don’t want to give the opposition a helping hand.”
The under-fire Australian’s team are languishing in 14th place in the Premier League ahead of a trip to 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers on April 13.
With seven games left, Spurs are eight points behind 10th-placed Bournemouth and look set to finish in the bottom half for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign.
Postecoglou is convinced someone outside the squad is trying to undermine his bid to avoid the sack. The 59-year-old joked that he had turned into fictional detective Jack Reacher to find out the source of the leak and has narrowed it down to where the leak is coming from.
“It’s not agents. Definitely not agents. The stuff that is coming out is pretty specific. The language used is not used by agents. It’s definitely not the players,” he said.
Tottenham’s lengthy injury list has played a major role in their disappointing Premier League season. Last weekend’s 3-1 victory over bottom-placed Southampton, which sent the Saints back to the Championship, was their first in the EPL since Feb 22.
Pressure is mounting on Postecoglou, who had earlier proclaimed that he always wins a trophy in his second campaign. His future at the club appears to solely depend on winning the Europa League and ending a 17-year wait for silverware.
With that in mind, he is expected to make changes for the trip to the Molineux, with one eye on the second leg in Frankfurt on April 17.
“We’ll need a big game, a big performance on Sunday, so having some fresh legs will help,” he added.
There is better news for Postecoglou on the injury front.
Swedish winger Dejan Kulusevski, who has been out for six weeks with a foot issue, is set to return for the second leg of their Frankfurt tie. But defenders Kevin Danso and Radu Dragusin remain sidelined.
Wolves will welcome Matheus Cunha back from a four-game suspension, but manager Vitor Pereira said he will start with the same side who have won three successive games in the Brazilian forward’s absence.
Pereira said: “It’s fair to keep going with the same team... Matheus will come to help us. He understands – I had a conversation with him – but I will play with the same team.” AFP, REUTERS
