Postecoglou has something Mourinho doesn't - and it's nothing to do with winning
Although American Football has long been a staple on our TV screens, the casual observer is probably not up to speed with the sport's intricacies.
So, when the Detroit Lions head coach, Dan Campbell, declined to take a relatively routine field goal opportunity and instead tried to convert a fourth down in the NFC Championship game last Sunday, the significance of his decision might have passed some people by.
But at the time, with 22 minutes of the game remaining, the Lions led San Francisco by 14 points and a three-point field goal would have meant the 49ers needed three scores to win.
If you want to think of an equivalent, think of a rugby team leading by that score at that stage and not kicking a penalty from in front of the sticks but instead trying to run it in for a try... and failing to run it in for a try and then going on to LOSE the match.
Think of going all-out for the jugular but ending up paying for it. That is what happened to the Lions and Campbell - who, later in the game, did it again - but the coach has no regrets in the way he fell one step short of the Super Bowl.
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That is the way we play, he essentially said. It was Bazball stateside, and representative of a culture change in sport - one in which coaches, whether it be Detroit's Campbell or Brendon McCullum, challenge convention.
It was not quite Ange Postecoglou playing a gung-ho high line when down to nine men but it was spawned by the same mentality. Talking of Ange, why is he loved when a couple of his notable predecessors were not?
Postecoglou's first 22 Premier League games as Spurs manager brought 43 points. Antonio Conte's first 22 Premier League games as Spurs manager brought 42 points. Jose Mourinho's first 22 Premier League games as Spurs manager brought 42 points.
Not much difference… but a world of difference. And that world of difference? Ange's gung-ho high line. His style is fun. Following sport is an expensive business nowadays. Tickets, transport, TV subscriptions, merchandise, etc, etc.
Ange Postecoglou is very popular at Tottenham (CameraSport via Getty Images)To simply grind out wins is not good enough any more. These are worrying, difficult times - sport as escapism works if it is entertaining. And any coach or player or athlete who challenges convention - and consequently puts themselves at greater risk of being defeated - should be lauded.
In Campbell's approach in that NFL game, in McCullum's approach to England's cricket team, there is a sense of adventure that is becoming more and more important to so many sports fans.
That is why Mourinho might get another job in the Premier League but it will not be with one of the marquee clubs. And perhaps that is why Gareth Southgate's popularity does not appear to tally with his impressive results, his conservatism costing him in defining matches.
So maybe if and when England get to the later stages of the Euros, Southgate might go all Campbell, all McCullum, and might produce Gazball. For entertainment's sake, let's hope so.
Wilder by name
Perhaps if he had not made himself sound utterly ridiculous, Chris Wilder would have been facing an FA charge.
In an interview after Sheffield United's 3-2 defeat at Crystal Palace, Wilder labelled referee Andy Harrington’s performance as ‘ridiculous’ and then gave some ludicrous diatribe about how officials would always give 50/50 decisions against his team.
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But perhaps the Football Association overlooked his disparaging remarks because they were too busy laughing at Wilder’s opening gambit.
“I’ve been to see the referee and one of his assistants was eating a sandwich at the time. I thought that was a complete lack of respect,” huffed Wilder. “Hopefully, he enjoyed his sandwich while he was talking to a Premier League manager.”
Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder (Getty Images)It is a bad enough thing to talk about yourself in the third person but astonishingly worse when referring to your occupation.
A Premier League manager. Like that makes him royalty. Like drop what you are doing because someone way more important than you has just walked in. Seriously, the cult of the manager is getting out of control.
If that hungry assistant has any humble pie going spare, Wilder and his like could do with a very large slice.
Money and success
There were no surprises in the official Premier League report into the 2022-23 season but a look at the income table gave another reminder of what makes it such a successful competition.
Let’s take the comparative incomes of Manchester United and Fulham. Which of those two draws the greater TV audience, both domestically and globally? It’s a rhetorical question, obviously.
Which one is of greater commercial value to the Premier League? Rhetorical, again. On top of that, United finished 33 points ahead of Fulham in the final standings.
Yet while United collected more money from the Premier League pot, Fulham’s £138.1million (for finishing tenth) was only £30million shy of what went into Old Trafford coffers. It is not a perfect competition, for sure. But a fair distribution of wealth helps make it the success it is.
You're on your loan
Kalvin Phillips looked suitably crestfallen when one of his first deeds in a West Ham United shirt was a mistake that led to Bournemouth's goal at the London Stadium on Thursday night.
Briefly, Phillips looked suitably contrite. But he did not need to be, because it really does not matter to him. He is a Manchester City player and will be going back there at the end of the season.
Kalvin Phillips struggled on his West Ham debut (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)From a personal point of view, Phillips must play well to try and rubber-stamp his place in the England squad for this summer's Euros.
But what happens to West Ham United while he is there doesn't matter one jot to him. And that is another reason why the Premier League loan system is rubbish.
Vidal goes home
If you have not yet seen Arturo Vidal's return to Colo Colo, his Chilean boyhood club, then seek it out. I promise you will never see a better player 'unveiling'. Spoiler - it involves a horse, a sword, a chopper and a crown.
Gossips
After Jude Bellingham was alleged to have aimed an insult at Mason Greenwood during Real Madrid's win at Getafe in midweek, one newspaper brought in an expert lip-reader, who said he was '97 per cent' certain of what the England midfielder said. Mate, if you are only 97 per cent certain, don’t bother telling us.
Tweet of the week
@conorbradley03 "Special night at Anfield! +3" The 20-year-old Northern Irishman could have said that again after a goal and two assists in only his second Premier League start for Liverpool. A nailed-on star of the future.
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