Ange Postecoglou and the remarkable sign that hints at Tottenham glory next season if Levy agrees

As mic drops go, this was one for the ages. With Daniel Levy sitting about 30 feet behind him, Ange Postecoglou had at least 150,000 Spurs fans eating out of the palm of his hand on the stage outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

"I told them and they laughed.....I told them and they didn’t believe. But here we are," he bellowed to huge cheers from the sea of white that covered the high road. "And we’re here because of this unbelievable group of people, players and staff, absolute heroes led by the legend Son Heung-min, Cuti Romero, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario. All of them, heroes. And they did it all for you, because you deserve it. This club deserves it."

The Spurs shirt-wearing head coach paused for a moment, before delivering the line that made N17 roar.

"And I’ll tell you something, I’ll leave you with this. All the best television series, season three is better than season two!"

The huge noise that came back from the crowd would have been heard across the capital. The giant swarm of fans sang Postecoglou's name and his players belted it out even louder around him.

Postecoglou is a gifted orator and this was the Australian at the peak of his powers. Every word was carefully selected and timed to perfection to be delivered with the maximum impact.

The 59-year-old leaves his players wanting to run through brick walls for him and in that moment the thousands stood before him were ready to do the same.

A week ago many of them may well have been willing to give up on Postecoglou, but sometimes all it takes is a single match and with those 97 minutes of football in Bilbao the Spurs boss gave them exactly what they had always dreamed of.

Those supporters in the San Mames Stadium felt something many of them could barely remember, others were too young to have tasted those prior glories.

On Friday, in the early evening sun in north London, thousands who had watched it on their TV screens got to live it in front of their eyes as the ticker tape fell from the sky, fireworks were launched and Son Heung-min once again lifted that big Europa League trophy aloft.

Send your messages of congratulations after Tottenham's Europa League triumph here

Tottenham supporters took up every inch of space that you could see. They lined the road, the pavements, they climbed up lampposts, traffic lights, hung out of windows, stood on the top of buildings and bus stop roofs. Some climbed fences and railings, all wanting to revel in what Postecoglou and his players had given them.

Postecoglou's fate will remain in limbo until Levy makes his decision on what comes next public. His chairman's message to the fans on Sunday could go some way to hinting at what is to come.

The problem for Levy is that if he decides to ruthlessly bin off the man who has finally given him the first major trophy of his near quarter-century in charge of Tottenham then the ridicule and criticism will likely come from all sides.

Levy sacked Pochettino for delivering the top four but not a trophy and he would be sacking Postecoglou for delivering a trophy but not top four. That would smack of a man who doesn't really know what he wants, the chairman a rare constant within a club that often appears dizzy with the frequent changes in direction.

The ridicule of pulling the plug on Postecoglou would write itself. Only Tottenham could sack the manager that finally ended their 17-year trophy drought and 41-year wait for a European title.

Postecoglou's Spurs have only just changed the narrative. The term 'Spursy' was finally killed in Bilbao, but this would revive it.

There would be one hell of a backlash now to Postecoglou being ruthlessly dispensed with, especially for a manager who is not a sure thing. Some fans never forgave Levy for dismissing Mauricio Pochettino, but others at least saw the ambition of appointing Jose Mourinho. In this instance, there is no Mourinho-type, there are only gambles.

The vast majority of Tottenham fans are now firmly back behind Postecoglou for what he's done for them and the way he's made them feel. In their eyes, he has earned the right to a season three. football.london spoke to countless fans during Friday in and around the parade and every single one offered up that same opinion. Social media polls, with huge numbers of responses, show the same thing by a landslide.

Postecoglou has handed Levy the trophy he craved and some much-needed respite from the criticism and protests the chairman has faced this season. On Wednesday night, Levy yelled 'We're champions!" to the crowd of player families and staff at the post-match party in Bilbao and it was his head coach's singular vision that ensured he could finally shout that.

But Levy has been brutal before. Pochettino with all his credit in the bank was dismissed just months after a Champions League final and Jose Mourinho only days before a League Cup final.

Erik ten Hag's woeful extended time at Manchester United is constantly used as the reason not to give Postecoglou another chance just because he's won a trophy. Yet that argument often misses out the part where Ruben Amorim came in and United's results somehow only got worse.

There is also the fact that Postecoglou has got all of his players firmly behind him, his leaders in the squad particularly vocal about that. They pulled him into the celebrations on Wednesday night and on Friday they made sure he took his turn in lifting the trophy for the crowd.

But that mic drop moment from Postecoglou was theatre at its best and it was either an act of defiance in the face of the speculation surrounding his future or a hint that the Australian already knows what's coming next. The coming days should start to give us the answer to that.

Postecoglou's biggest challenge post-Bilbao will be naming a team that can walk in a straight line on Sunday against Brighton, let alone run in one.

Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur - souvenir special ON SALE NOW Spurs fans, the wait is over. After 17 years, Tottenham have their hands on silverware. This Daily Mirror special edition tells the story of how Ange Postecoglou and his team battled their way to Europa League victory. From their first tie against FK Qarabag back in September, to the dramatic night in Bilbao, Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur follows their path to triumph. BUY NOW and have it delivered directly to your door. Alternatively you can purchase in participating supermarkets, high street retailers and independent newsagents from May 29, 2025. Pre orders will be dispatched from May 29. Please allow 5 working days for delivery.

For those Tottenham players have been enjoying themselves thoroughly in the 72 hours or so since they made history and rightly so.

That continued on the open-top bus parade through the streets around N17 on Friday as the fun, high spirits and the alcohol flowed for some, and the others just revelled in the moment.

Even captain Son was swept away by it all, unexpectedly swearing to the crowd when given the microphone.

"I love you, we won the Europa League and you all deserve it," he said, only with two swear words in the first two parts of that sentence. Everyone was so delighted for Son to fulfil his 10-year mission for Spurs silverware with a big beaming smile on his face that this relaxed version of the South Korean was all the more endearing.

"Come on you (insert swear word) Spurs," added Maddison before Brennan Johnson told us all that the feeling of scoring in that Europa League final was "(insert the same swear word) unbelievable".

Johnson was the hero of the hour, playing the crowd to his tune in a very different slapstick way to Postecoglou.

The Wales international was celebrating his 24th birthday and he ensured he enjoyed every moment of it and that everyone else did too. Maddison led the crowd in singing 'Happy Birthday' to his friend.

Afterwards, Johnson was every inch the impish schoolboy lapping up the cheers of his class-mates as the teachers tried to rein him in. That brought hilarious scenes after the other players had left the stage as Spurs' top scorer kept evading the security team's efforts to get him to join them.

He would pretend to leave, wave his hand only to then whip back around to take the cheers from the crowd. Then when he spotted one member of the security staff had the trophy, he grabbed it off him and spun around to hold it aloft to the supporters.

It all looked to be finally over as the same security guard put an arm around him to haul him away only for that same quick-witted member of staff to spot a fan trying to climb the scaffolding to the stage.

He left Johnson to deal with the intruder and that allowed the Spurs attacker another go at milking the applause of the crowd with the trophy, which was always just a slipped hand away from disaster.

Somehow Johnson did not drop it and two members of staff led the birthday boy away only for him to run back out again a minute later to laughs and cheers from the crowd before he was finally taken away for good.

They were a heart-warming five minutes, especially when you factor in how some supporters had treated Johnson earlier in the season, to the extent that he stepped away from social media.

Here he was at the end of the campaign, having forced the goal that gave Spurs that trophy, and the supporters couldn't get enough of him nor him of them. His 'Johnson Again' chant was one of the most heard on the day.

This was another day that neither the players nor the supporters will ever forget.

The fans got to see the squad at their most relaxed. Romero, Van de Ven, Bentancur and Porro, who kept grabbing the microphone on the main stage, were among those who seemed to be sampling the delights of the day, let's say, and rightly so. They were the cool kids at the back of the bus, while players like Bissouma, Sarr and Richarlison were dancing the day away. The latter reached out from the bus at one point to high five a fan who had climbed a set of traffic lights.

Teenagers Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall waved at everyone, trying to take it all in. This was something they had never seen before and they were determined to enjoy it.

Some players wore sunglasses, some wore ski masks, while Romero wore a straw hat at times that almost looked like a tribute to Postecoglou.

Then there were the academy kids involved. Mikey Moore is just 17 but was standing in front of the crowd as thousands sang his name. What an experience for someone so young. What an experience for anybody.

At the other end of the age scale were the legends, some from the last team to win a European title in 1984, like Graham Roberts, Micky Hazard and Mark Falco, as well as other stars of days' gone by such as Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, Pat Jennings, Ledley King, David Howells, Sandro and Clive Allen among others.

There was also a special family day out as Postecoglou's assistant boss Matt Wells was joined by his grandfather and double winner Cliff Jones. Now 90, but still looking incredibly sprightly, Jones was in the Spurs side that became the first English team to win a European trophy with the Cup Winners' Cup in 1963.

This was another day to remember like that, one that the players, staff and fans will never erase from their memories. The key now is whether everyone has to wait years to experience it again or whether it ushers in a new era of success.

Postecoglou made one strong statement that came true last season and he's now made an even bigger one that he will be hoping he's allowed to bring to pass. He's earned the right to enjoy the fruits of the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup by delivering a slice of history that he said he would when few believed him and many mocked him.

However, only one man can decide what comes next. Will Levy spin the biennial wheel of change yet again or will he allow us to watch season three of Postecoglou's Tottenham Adventures?

If you believe in signs then here's two for you. First up, in 2015, Son Heung-min cried tears of despair on the pitch as Postecoglou's Australia beat South Korea in the Asian Cup final. A decade later and Son was crying tears of joy on Wednesday night as Postecoglou helped him win a European title instead.

Second up, in 1991, Postecoglou won the National Soccer League title as a player in Australia with South Melbourne Hellas with a certain Hungarian football legend Ferenc Puskas as his manager.

Fast forward 35 years and look no further than where the 2026 Champions League final will be held. Yep, it's at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, named in honour of Postecoglou's former boss and mentor. Now that would certainly deliver a fitting finale for season three if the series is given the green light by the most ruthless of producers.

Click here to read article