The Aussie revolution at Spurs has gathered pace with Mile Jedinak announced as part of the new coaching team. (Chris Davies will also be a very sound appointment, despite not being Australian.)

This is, I believe, a master-stroke by Ange. My biggest concern for him entering the managerial maelstrom of the EPL was the potential for him to be undermined by sleazy player cabals and agents playing games to feather their own nests.

Let’s face it – Spurs are a basket case and no manager worth his salt would touch them. If the likes of Mourinho and Conte failed there, what are the prospects for a man who’s never operated at EPL level before?

Pretty good, as I’ve suggested before, but let’s look at some of Spurs’ problems:

  • They are a big club with massive fan expectations (this can be crippling)
  • They do not have the money to compete with the petro-dollar clubs
  • They have a dominant Executive Chair (Daniel Levy) who (it’s said) interferes too much in the football department (he’s a serial coach sacker also)
  • Their prime asset (Harry Kane) looks like he wants away
  • Their senior players have an unhealthy relationship with Levy (a regular meeting in the coach’s absence)
  • They are (currently) very much in the shadow of their archrivals (Arsenal)

Ange will need to overcome many obstacles to make a success of the Spurs job, but I suspect that’s what most attracted him to the role. He has form for taking on problem clubs and rebuilding them from the ground up. He even did that (arguably) with the National team.

But Spurs is by far the biggest problem he’s dealt with and I suspect he was on the phone to Mile Jedinak within minutes of being appointed.

They have worked together before, obviously. When Ange took over the NT, the first thing he did was pension off the last of the Golden Generation (with the exception of Tim Cahill). Then he made Mile captain. (“Mike” as Tony Abbott called him.)

In professional or international football, a captain’s main role is to translate the manager’s instructions on the pitch, and while Mile will not be joining the Spurs players across the stripe, he will be ever-present among them at training and on match day.

Most crucially, Mile will know from his own experience as captain of Crystal Palace every trick in the book when it comes to player politics and agent shenanigans. He will be Ange’s attack dog behind the scenes working to ensure that the group psyche and strategic messages are being absorbed, and that the cliques and conspirators are being dissolved.  

As a captain, Mile was very much the “leader by example” rather than a talker. He never missed a penalty for club or country in his entire career (I think) which speaks volumes for his mentality. I imagine he’ll be a bit like Roy Kent – tough, uncompromising, with the sole intent of making sure Ange’s style is reflected (and explained) in every training drill and every match transaction. He’ll be demanding that players win their personal battles while also being always in exactly the right spot – with or without the ball.

It will be fascinating to watch how Mile’s impact works in concert with Chris Davies – appointed as Senior Assistant Coach. Davies (who made his reputation at Swansea and was recently Brendan Rodgers’ assistant) is noted for an aggressive, strategic approach which ought to mesh very well with Ange’s famously unrelenting style.

In my opinion, this is a formidable coaching team with every prospect of turning Spurs back into a strong, ball playing side that the fans will enjoy on the condition that the issues listed above can be overcome.

It all starts with the football though, and Ange’s insistence that the players believe in him and the vision will be critical to whether Ange can work his usual transformation. If the Spurs team (already bolstered by a couple of key players in Vicario and Maddison) truly buy into Ange and his “We Never Stop” mantra then anything might be possible.

Those who don’t buy in will be shown the door, and that includes Harry Kane.

 

 

Adrian's books can be purchased at any good bookstore or through ebook alchemy. His first sci-fi novel (Asparagus Grass) will be published by Hague Publishing in July 2023.