Angelos Postecoglou wasn’t Tottenham’s first choice on belatedly replacing Antonio Conte, but that doesn’t matter now. 

Spurs fans, meanwhile, will be casting dewy glances across at Stamford Bridge, to Mauricio Pochettino’s appointment at Chelsea, and wondering what might have been. Again, that is by the by. 

Because in securing the occasionally mad and often brilliant Australian, the North London giants have finally put an end to four years of stolid, uninspiring football, a period that in reality was relatively short, yet felt like an eternity. And that alone is cause for celebration. 

It began when Pochettino was sacked in November 2019, and club chairman Daniel Levy displayed a brief obsession with recruiting ‘winners’, managers who possessed a ruthlessness that Tottenham supposedly lacked.

So it was that Jose Mourinho was brought in, an elite coach for sure, and one whose C.V. was resplendent with silverware, but it was also true that the Portuguese scowler had sunk as many ships as he had sailed to blue oceans. Indeed, he had form for scuttling them good.

Mourinho took Spurs to a Carabao Cup final but he was gone before the fixture commenced, leaving behind a toxic atmosphere and an overwhelming sense of under-achievement. 

The less said about his successor Nuno Espirito Santo the better, and then came Conte, boasting five league title triumphs inside a decade and a chip on his shoulder the size of Turin. 

Deploying seven defensively-minded players and – like Mourinho – overly reliant on Harry Kane to get them goals and results, Conte sacrificed ambition and any semblance of adventure in order to make his side difficult to break down. Except they weren’t.

Last season, Spurs conceded more times than any other team beyond the bottom six.

Moreover, when assessing these four colourless years naturally we focus on the disappointing league finishes and the cup exits but it’s hard to deny the simple reasoning that winning isn’t everything.

After all, only one team can win the league. Only one, the FA Cup.

What Tottenham fans were also deprived of during this drab hiatus from their norm was entertainment on a weekly basis and pride in their side competing on the front foot.

There was a distinct lack of connection between the supporters and the club’s hierarchy while on the pitch there was very little to compensate for that, only rudimentary fare that exacerbated the disharmony. 

In short, it was grim, with the faithful too often short-changed.

That very conceivably ends now with Postecoglou at the helm, a devout devotee of attacking, attractive football who stations four at the back but typically inverts his full-backs in the manner we’ve become accustomed to seeing at Manchester City. 

Fluidity is key, as evidenced most recently during his highly successful tenure at Celtic that saw the Hoops win five our of six domestic trophies, and if you’re thinking that’s no big shakes, given that Celtic are always strong favourites in the Scottish football betting, remember how far behind they were of arch-rivals Rangers when he took over.

Almost immediately Celtic were a team transformed, with the prolific Kyogo Furuhashi surrounded by a miasma of team-mates, inter-linking, dove-tailing, adhering to a plan that encouraged improvisation and demanded flexibility.

🗣️ “I 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 to win mate, that’s the main thing and I’ve done that wherever I’ve been so the football is designed to bring success.”

Ange Postecoglou says he wants people to associate his Tottenham side with a style that’s exciting and gets people talking about it. 💪 pic.twitter.com/OOTfg9e5cd

— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 1, 2023

On one occasion, so ‘Cruyffian’ was their football – Johan Cruyff being Postecoglou’s hero – the opposition manager remarked afterwards that Celtic’s left-back was their most advanced player throughout. 

Always though, no matter the blueprint, no matter the opponent, the philosophy is to attack. 

On being asked once if he was ever willing to compromise on his intrepid mandate, Postecoglou responded by asking if a vegetarian ever relents to eating a Big Mac just because they’re hungry and whether this is meaningful or not, Tottenham now additionally have a manager who gives decent quote.

He is charismatic, passionate, and engaging.

Admittedly, from time to time this passion does spill over, such as his prolonged and fiery on-air bust-up with a TV pundit in 2007 that, in part, led to his departure as the Young Socceroos coach, heading to Greece to start over.

There have been other examples too of ‘Ange’ biting at journalists, snapping at the world.

Postecoglou it can be said does not suffer fools gladly, but crucially, in comparison to two of his predecessors, his fervour comes from a good place.

If you’re fair with him, he’s fair with you and there is none of the pettiness or rancour that was evident from Mourinho and Conte. 

Still, how his no-nonsense demeanour is received by the English press corp remains to be seen but much more importantly right now, what is about to be implemented ahead of 2023/24 suggests we will see a very different Tottenham when the new season begins. 

And what’s the betting that for the first time in four years, the Spurs fans can start to have a little fun.

• The best football autobiographies give an insight to the sport that isn’t usually available
• Whether Ray Parlour or Andrea Pirlo, there’s a plentiful supply of football books to read
• Read below for the greatest football autobiographies to read

Ray Parlour: The Romford Pele 

In the 70th minute of the 2002 FA Cup final, Parlour gained possession a good 25 yards from Chelsea’s goal and shaped to shoot. He was surprised at how much space he was afforded. 

By his own later admission, Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink was trotting back to the halfway line at the time. Initially concerned, he relaxed when he saw who was about to unleash a speculative effort. 

The Romford Pele promptly pinged one top bins, unquestionably one of the best cup final goals in modern times.

Across a long and trophy-laden career it was common practice to under-estimate Ray Parlour, and this extended to his nickname, that was affectionately meant but ironic. 

Here too he surprises, because even if his life story does include all the laddish anecdotes you expect, it is admirably candid and captivating throughout.  

Andrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play 

L’architetto (‘the architect’) constructs a cracking read, from his days at Brescia right through to lifting the World Cup in Berlin, and by never deviating from being searingly honest, it achieves something that should be a given with autobiographies, but rarely happens.

By the end of its relatively slender 150 pages, you feel like you really know the subject.

And Pirlo is worth knowing, a fascinating individual who intellectualised football, appreciating more than most that when played a certain way, it is an artform. 

Steve Nicol: Five League Titles And A Packet Of Crisps 

The former Liverpool full-back’s tome is a trojan horse in the sense that it has all the tropes you would expect. Pranks are recalled from his playing heyday. Banter is celebrated. Drunkenness is seemingly a state of being for many of his team-mates. 

In fact, it’s amazing to think how this team achieved so much success, short-priced in the football betting in every competition they entered. 

Yet above and beyond the anecdotes, this is a wonderfully evocative study of Eighties football, and more so the era itself.

There is also a poignant retelling of the Hillsborough tragedy that stays with the reader long after the final chapter. 

Paul Lake: I’m Not Really Here 

Technically a biography, but as it’s written by the player’s wife Jo, from countless hours of recorded conversations between them, it can be overlooked.

Emerging as an elegant, immensely gifted footballer in the late-Eighties, ‘Lakey’ was soon tipped for greatness and so highly was he regarded at Manchester City he was handed the captain’s armband aged just 21.

A matter of games into his captaincy however, the midfielder succumbed to a career-ending injury. 

Lake’s unflinching account of the depression that followed, as well as how he was treated as a broken commodity in a sport hardly known for its empathy, leaves a lasting impression. 

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic 

What’s the betting the generously-conked Swede believes this to be the greatest book ever written?

The iconic striker’s arrogance imbues every page but that only serves to make moments of crisis, even self-doubt, from a career packed full of incident all the more affecting.

From stealing bicycles in Malmo as a boy to reaching the very zenith of his profession, ‘Ibra’ has one hell of a story tell. Here he tells it in compelling fashion.

*Credit for the main photo belongs to Sang Tan / AP Photo*

Juventus vs Torino: Bet Preview

A goalless draw away to Atalanta last weekend wasn’t the worst result for Juventus. With many of their top four foes in European action, the Old Lady might have an opportunity to make up ground. As ever, Juve are a heavy Serie A betting favourite for the Derby della Mole. 

Torino have lost just two of their opening seven matches, but they have claimed only two of the last nine available points. They were on the wrong end of a league double in the Turin rivalry last season. 

Juventus manager Max Allegri was relatively balanced in his assessment of his team after the draw with Atalanta.

“We took a risk, in the end gaining a good point which allows us to remain in the top positions,” said Allegri in his post-match interview via La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“In the first half, we could have been more clinical and calm with the ball at our feet. The boys played a good game, but we weren’t too convincing when it came to scoring goals.

“In two or three situations, we should have finished from 20 or 25 meters. We should have thought about hurting the opposition rather than maintaining possession. We had two opportunities with Fagioli. From those positions, you have to shoot from outside.”

The Italian also briefly looked ahead to the derby, noting the time both teams have to prepare.

“We didn’t lose and the point is important to stay close to the leading pack. Now we have a week to prepare for the Derby.

“Torino aren’t playing in European cups either, so we’ll both have a week to prepare for the match. In the league, they always say who is favourite or not, cups or no cups, we have to stick to the Top Four places, to also grow in self-esteem”.

It’s a fixture Juventus have dominated, and we expect them do the same this weekend. It looks like a home win to nil with Torino scoring just six goals so far.

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Reckon Juventus can return to the top of Serie A in 2024? 

The Old Lady were competing on multiple fronts in the second half of 2022-23, but failed to claim any of the major trophies that were up for grabs - and they were also eliminated from Champions League outright odds.

Juventus Club History

There is no bigger or more successful club than Juventus in Serie A betting odds. Their first league title came in 1905, just eight years after the club was founded, and they have enjoyed numerous periods of dominance since then. 

The club was started by a group of students in 1897, but it took six years for them to don the iconic black-and-white stripe kit, which has been the home attire ever since.

At first, it was an athletics club, and behind Genoa, it is the second-oldest institution of its kind in Italy. 

Their only season competing outside of the top division in Italian football was 2006-07, when the club was relegated to Serie B as part of the punishments for Calciopoli.

First established as a footballing powerhouse with a string of league titles in the 1930s, Juventus were again the predominant force in Italian football during the last three decades of the 20th century.

They won a first European Cup in 1984-85, and added a second 11 years later. Their tally of three UEFA Cup wins is a joint record for an Italian club.

Six players have won the Ballon d’Or while playing for Juventus (Omar Sívori, Paolo Rossi, Michel Platini, Roberto Baggio, Zinedine Zidane, Pavel Nedvěd), and their list of former players features many other all-time greats. 

After Calciopoli, Juventus returned to Serie A and set an array of records, including a streak of nine consecutive league titles. The club is still searching for a third Champions League win, however, after several heart-breaking exits in the 21st century.

Juventus Honours List

• Serie A – 1905, 1925-26, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1957-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20

• Coppa Italia – 1937-38, 1941-42, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1964-65, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1989-90, 1994-95, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2020-21

• European Cup/Champions League – 1984-85, 1995-96

• UEFA Cup – 1976-77, 1989-90, 1992-93

Juventus Competitions This Season

Juventus began the 2023-24 season competing in Serie A and the Coppa Italia, with restrictions on the club competing in the Europa Conference League this term.

They finished well down the field in Italy’s top flight in 2022-23 and fans will be hoping for a revival in the coming months.

888Sport has you covered for markets to bet on football, including all competitions Juventus are involved in.