Ange Postecoglou doesn’t appear liable to introspection and barely succumbs to self doubt however perhaps, simply perhaps, a bit a part of Tottenham’s supervisor needs he had by no means left Glasgow.
Issues have been a lot less complicated for the Australian when he was hoovering up trophies throughout his Celtic tenure. Again then Angeball not merely entertained however just about labored and he revelled in placing Rangers of their place.
Such outdated certainties appeared merciless chimeras as Postecoglou failed to show again time right here, leaving his present Spurs gamers heading again to the airport nursing a file of just one win of their final eight matches.
In fact a draw was the least Rangers deserved from a Battle of Britain punctuated by a soundtrack that includes renditions of “Sacked within the morning” aimed for Postecoglou’s ears.
It was a bitterly chilly evening with temperatures hovering round freezing level by the Clyde however nothing might certainly rival the internal chill Tottenham followers will need to have felt as they watched Philippe Clement’s facet improve their probabilities of direct development to the Europa League’s knockout section, leaving their visitors considering the lottery of the playoffs following January’s last two preliminary stage video games.
Maybe everybody had underestimated a Rangers facet at present third in Scotland’s Premiership. In any case they kicked off unbeaten of their earlier eight fixtures and as Nedim Bajrami compelled the superb Fraser Forster right into a high-quality save involving Tottenham’s former Celtic goalkeeper’s fingertips coming between the ball and the highest nook it was straightforward to see why.
By then Timo Werner was already underwhelming with each contact and a ferociously quick counterattacking Rangers dominated. At instances Tottenham’s defence lived extraordinarily dangerously with Forster required to avoid wasting neatly from Vaclav Cerny earlier than Bajrami one way or the other failed to attach with Jefté’s gloriously inviting cross that demanded to be tapped in from shut vary.
After a slide to eleventh within the Premier League and appreciable debate about each the feasibility of “Angeball” and his personal job safety, Tottenham’s supervisor was in want of a restorative evening on his first return to Govan however, as an alternative, he seemed more and more burdened.
For all his previous success with Celtic Postecoglou gained solely one in every of his 4 visits to Ibrox along with his outdated employers and right here he might have executed with no need to deploy Archie Grey out of place as an emergency centre-half in a defence badly lacking, amongst others, the injured Micky van de Ven.
When Forster once more saved beautifully from Cerny, along with his toes this time, it was clear that Grey and co have been struggling to deal with Rangers’ alacrity on the break. It didn’t assist that the guests handled the ball as a poisonous object. Aside from the environment friendly Yves Bissouma, they forfeited possession with alarming frequency as Clement’s gamers revelled in closing them down at ferociously excessive tempo, leaving James Maddison and co no time to sprinkle any stardust on proceedings.
Rangers deservedly took the lead early within the second half. It began with a deep, lofted cross from James Tavernier and concluded with Hamza Igamane unleashing a chic left footed shot that left Forster completely helpless and Pedro Porro probably reflecting on how simply Igamane had dodged him.
At the very least it served to galvanise Spurs and with Jack Butland lastly making some essential saves an equaliser beckoned. It lastly arrived when Dominic Solanke and Maddison belatedly confirmed their class deconstructing the house rearguard earlier than the substitute Dejan Kulusevski slipped a misleading left-foot end past Butland’s attain.
Though Tavernier’s high-quality block subsequently denied Solanke, one other substitute, a purpose solely additional Forster brilliance prevented Cyriel Dessers from claiming a late house winner that will solely have amplified these “sacked within the morning”choruses.
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