New-look Tottenham praised for giving fans "hope and belief" after Kane exit

13 August 2023 , 16:25

788     0

Emerson Royal of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring the team's second goal (Image: 2023 Getty Images)

Ange Postecoglou praised Tottenham for proving there was life after Harry Kane and giving the fans “some hope and belief in the team.”

After a breathless first half, in which Spurs picked up five yellow cards – including three for dissent – Postecoglou was satisfied with a point after they arrived at the ground to see Kane being unveiled as a Bayern Munich player on TV screens around the concourses. And he was baffled by the lack of running water in the Gtech Community Stadium, saying: “In 27 years as a manager, that's a new one on me – another chapter for the book.”

Goals from Cristian Romero and Emerson Royal book-ended a bitter-sweet first half which was a showcase for the best and worst of Tottenham – threatening going forward but vulnerable at the back.

The new Tottenham boss said: "It is either an impediment to you or an opportunity. Harry Kane was massive figure for this club for a long time and will continue to be whether he is in the building or not. We wanted to go out and give our supporters some hope and belief in the team. I thought they did that today.

“Football clubs move on pretty quickly. I haven’t needed to address it (Kane leaving). I haven’t needed to give them a warm fuzzy cuddle just to see how they are. We had a game to prepare for and they knew that.

Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush

“At 2-1 down, after conceding a penalty and an own goal (although Brentford's second was credited to Yoane Wissa), it would have been easy for us to drop our heads, but we were determined to get back in the game and we did that well.

“We showed a real resilience – which we will need, because it's going to be a challenging year.”

Postecoglou was adamant that he was right to withdraw Romero immediately after he had put Spurs 1-0 up because of an earlier clash of heads.

He added: "I thought it was quite evident, he hurt his head. It's really important that we protect the players. They don't know themselves what's going on and I had medical advice.

The disappointing thing for me was that we filled in the wrong from for a concussion substitute so in this day and age when we are talking about player care, a piece of paper is not important. No hesitation in taking him off, obviously the player wants to continue but he's not the one who makes that decision."

Mike Walters