Ange Postecoglou made a promising start to life at Tottenham Hotspur, but this season has been extremely tough.
After charging to the top of the table in the opening stages of his first campaign at the club, Spurs eventually faded to fifth.
This season, they sit firmly in the bottom half of the table, after an injury-ravaged season has taken its toll.
Ange Postecoglou has the backing of a legend
Despite that lowly league position, Spurs legend Teddy Sheringham is still backing Postecoglou, who possibly increased expectations on himself early in the season by declaring that he always won a trophy in his second campaign at a club.
“I'm quite happy with Ange,” Sheringham said. “I think he’s had a learning period in terms of working with the English press, regarding some of the things that he's come out with at the start of the season.
“He probably wouldn’t use that terminology at different times in the season. He probably wouldn’t leave himself open to such criticism.
“He’s very open and honest, and sometimes that comes back to bite you when you speak to the English press like that, it definitely did with Ange.
“But I'm still optimistic about him because of the way he approaches football matches and the way he takes the game to the opposition.
“They’ve had loads of injuries. For me, he speaks sense, and if you’re missing your two international top performers in your centre-halves, and your goalkeeper, they make a massive difference to any football team.
“Any team from kids’ football to the top level of Champions League football, if you’re without your two main centre-halves and your goalkeeper, it makes a huge difference.”
Lack of respect
Some people have suggested that Postecoglou has used injuries as an excuse this season, but Sheringham believes it’s a perfectly valid reason.
“People haven’t respected that situation,” the former striker said, speaking in association with Prime Casino. “They’re still cutting away at him, chomping away, saying ‘We’ve heard that excuse, come on, tell us something different’.
“Ange can’t tell them anything different. It’s still the same situation, but we need to keep going to get through this period.
“Sometimes when you’re repeating yourself, it becomes tiresome and you don’t want to keep saying the same thing, but it’s the truth.
“I'm backing Ange, and when the players come back, things will look so much more positive and strong for Tottenham.
“That positivity floods through the rest of the team. The confidence will ooze once they come back into their positions.”
