Postecoglou was ‘sacked’ by Southend after ‘taking them to Champions League’
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed he once took Southend United to the Champions League – only to be sacked.
Of course, the Australian was talking about the many days he used to spend playing the iconic football management computer game 'Football Manager'. He is not the only top-level boss to have honed some skills on the game, as Sunderland linked Stade de Reims boss Will Still was inspired to become a manager by playing the game.
Postecoglou has had to develop a thick skin at Spurs, after his excellent start to the campaign was followed by a run of damaging defeats to Chelsea, Wolves, Aston Villa and West Ham. But while those losses would have stung – before a 4-1 thumping of Newcastle restored some smiles – perhaps none were as big a shock as the time the 58-year-old was sacked by the Shrimpers.
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In an interview with GOAL, he opened up on his heartbreak at Roots Hall by saying: "I probably started playing [Football Manager] not too long after it sort of came out. And then around that time, I was working with Australia's national team. National team football is really great but you get a lot of downtime in between. It was all in. You had a little bit of freedom in the game to do things that real life doesn't allow you to do.
"I loved taking the small club all the way to the highest possible level. The one for me was Southend United. The reason I picked them was because they were the closest thing I could find to South Melbourne, the club that I grew up and played with.
"I took them all the way to the Champions League and my greatest moment was also my biggest heartbreak because they sacked me six months later, when I was expecting a statue. It just goes to show."
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His firing from the now National League side appeared to have a rather profound effect on the ex-Celtic manager. It is not the first time he opened up on his Football Manager heartbreak.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald three years ago, he said: "I had to knock back some big clubs to stay the course.
"I used journeymen and loaners to get out of the lower divisions, then bought young unknowns from Italy and South America.
I didn't mess about with tactics – I just wheeled and dealed. Harry Redknapp on steroids."
"I got sacked six months after winning the Champions League. I'd knocked back Juventus, Real Madrid and the England national team before then.
"No loyalty after everything I did for them. I was gutted. Hopefully got a statue there."
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