What Ange Postecoglou’s nuclear rant at his Tottenham squad reveals about where the club are going – and the star players he has charged with saving his season

There are timely echoes of Antonio Conte’s scathing critique of all that is inherently wrong with Tottenham as they prepare to return to Southampton with Ange Postecoglou on the warpath.

‘You can change a lot of managers but the situation cannot change, believe me,’ was the emphatic parting shot from Conte at the end of a blistering character assassination of players during which he accused them of lacking fire in their heart or their eyes in March 2023, when they let a 3-1 lead with a little over 10 minutes to play become a 3-3 draw on the south coast.

Spurs are back at St Mary’s for the first time on Sunday on a miserable run of one win in eight games and Postecoglou is turning his ire on the players.

Timo Werner was selected for public criticism after a draw at Rangers on Thursday and, in the privacy of the Ibrox dressing room, he ordered more from other senior players including captain Son Heung-min, vice-captain James Maddison and Pedro Porro. Postecoglou and Porro were in animated conversation on the pitch after the final whistle.

In his press conference on Friday, Postecoglou went on to question his squad’s character, saying he was ‘sick of excuses’ and did not have time to worry about ‘bruised egos’ when the club was locked in a fight.

Werner’s display at Ibrox was ‘unacceptable’, according to Postecoglou, the same gambit used by his predecessor to kick-start his infamous nine-minute rant.

Like Conte, Ange Postecoglou now finds himself in the midst of a dismal run of form following a promising start at the club

Tottenham go into the clash with just one win in their last eight games in all competitions

Back then, Tottenham had thrown away a two-goal lead against a Saints team destined for relegation. After branding the collapse ‘unacceptable’, Conte went on to call them ‘selfish’ and accused the media of providing alibis by constantly pinning the blame on chairman Daniel Levy.

‘They are used to it here,’ fumed Conte. ‘They don’t play for something important, don’t want to play under pressure, don’t want to play under stress. It is easy this way. Tottenham’s story is this.

‘Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something but why? The fault is only the club or every manager? I have seen the managers Tottenham had. You disrupt the future of the manager and protect the other situation.’

These were his final public words in the job. He flew back to Italy for the international break, was sacked before the next game and Spurs limped home in eighth. Club record goalscorer Harry Kane was off to Bayern Munich a few months later, on the eve of Postecoglou’s reign.

Conte’s brutal judgment though still echoes around the club when times get tough.

His first season was strong. He had an impact and finished fourth but they regressed with a Champions League campaign to handle and personal stresses, including the death of his friend and fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone.

Conte needed time off to recover from gall bladder surgery and there was a feeling he was unhappy and wanted out, dragging down the mood, making those around him unhappy too, and that they would all be better off without him.

Postecoglou lifted the gloom. He brought a smile back to the place but, much like Conte, appears to have hit a stage where progress of his early tenure stalls. The second season – in his case a season in which he insists he always wins a trophy – is threatening to unravel.

Timo Werner was singled out for criticism after the club were held to a draw by Rangers

Postecoglou’s side are now languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table

Southampton is a winnable game on paper, with Russell Martin’s side facing serious problems

Southampton could prove the best of opponents in the circumstances. Rock bottom and deep in their own problems with only five points and manager Russell Martin, not unlike Postecoglou, accused of a stubborn refusal to adapt his style.

Or they might be the worst. This is, on the face of it, a game Tottenham ought to win. And if they don’t, alarm will ripple through fans who hurled abuse at Postecoglou after losing at Bournemouth last week.

The Spurs boss hinted at what he suspected was a flaw in the mentality of his team after that defeat. They started brightly only to yield, conceding the first time they were asked to defend, surrendering initiative to a decent counter-attacking side. He criticised their ‘conviction’ and ‘discipline’ in key moments.

The same pattern was back three days later against Chelsea: strong start, two up early doors and then another chastening defeat followed by vice-captain Cristian Romero pointing the finger at the board for failing to spend like their rivals in an interview with Spanish media.

Conte’s notion that some things will never change appears relevant as ever. Not that Postecoglou is prepared to entertain it. ‘I didn’t go into this job where I felt there was something institutionalised that would stop this club having success,’ he said before the Chelsea game.

And he reinforced this on Friday with advice to players not to join the club if they thought there was ‘some mythical thing’ preventing success.

Tottenham are in a delicate state. Searching for reason, stripped of key players, overwhelmed by demands of the European schedule on minds and bodies. The Thursday-Sunday cycle can be gruelling.

Especially upon young players new to the rigours, especially playing a high-octane brand of football and training daily with intensity.

Injuries have stretched the squad so thinly they cannot rest them or rotate freely and Postecoglou’s public attack on Werner belies his frustration.

But Tottenham chose this route. They knew Europe was coming, they wanted a clear-out and took a strategic decision to go into the season with a younger squad, signing players for the future who could be moulded by Postecoglou to the specifics of his style.

Postecoglou’s issues are worsened by an injury crisis that has left key players unavailable

Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur will play not part against Saints due to suspension 

There is sense in the plan and it may still pay dividends, but they have only won one of the five games following Europa League ties and that was the first, when they thumped Manchester United 3-0 after Qarabag at home. In the others, they have lost against Brighton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich and drawn with Fulham.

They will be expected to beat Southampton although neither Yves Bissouma nor Rodrigo Bentancur will be available in midfield as they serve bans, further weakening a team that was outplayed by Rangers.

Fluent and free-flowing Spurs has surfaced only in flashes since a 4-0 win at Manchester City, which was not yet three weeks ago and yet feels like a distant dream.

After St Mary’s, they face two tricky home games – Manchester United in a Carabao Cup quarter-final and Liverpool in the Premier League. Go to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day wallowing around in the bottom half having been dumped out of the first cup competition of the season, and the natives will be restless.

It is a genuine test of Tottenham mentality. It is a test of Levy’s nerve. Is anything actually changing? Conte, meanwhile, is plotting a title bid with Napoli.