On Wednesday they sang for him, just as they were at the beginning. In Bilbao, Ange Postecoglou was the man who had won the Europa League.
Back in the intoxicating days of the beginning of last season, he was Robbie Williams' Angel, the brave and innovative coach who started a new and daring Tottenham team to an exciting future.
What happened in between has many layers and speaks to issues of recruitment, editions, player injuries and all other changes in sporting life.
But it was mainly about Postecoglou and his suitability or otherwise for Tottenham and their ambition to be a top prime minister League side. And on Friday, while Tottenham is preparing to parade their first trophy through the streets of North Londs for 17 years, this is still about this.
Tottenham – chairman Daniel Levy decided a while ago, as stated here on this page, that a Europa League triumph – if it were to come – would make part of his review of the two seasons of Postecoglou, but nothing more than that. It was unlikely that it would be the decisive factor and that is completely correct.
And now that it is here, what do we see? We see a charismatic, talented and largely sympathetic coach bathing in the sunlight that is accompanied by winning something.
The Europa League final was invoiced as a shootout for a Champions League place and the money that goes with it. But once it was won, it didn't feel that way at all.
It felt much nicer and rudimentary than that. It felt like a night when the pain was finally calmed down in the heart of Tottenham Souls. It felt like adrenaline. It felt like an answer. It felt like home. It felt like validation. It felt like belonging. It felt like love.
Yet we still return to the question. What do we see here?
We see a man who has given all these things to those who sang for him, a man who has changed the lives and career of his players forever, a man who has just added a lot of zeros to Levy's precious balance.
Yet we see context and a larger image and therefore a man who has probably reached the end of his own way in Tottenham.
To be invited now, Postecoglou would do this as his legacy this night and maybe there is a lot to be said for that.
It was fascinating to view him full -time on Wednesday. The way he shook the hand of every player of Manchester United. The way he hugged his wife and sons. The way in which he had to be pronounced by his players to participate in the podium celebrations. There was no fake there. That was all genuine, a warm and real man who did warm and real human things.
Part of this is the reason why those among us are happy enough to meet him, love him. Time spent with him on the Tottenham training field during the intoxicating days of autumn 2023. Look in the eyes of Postecoglou and more often than not you will see the truth stare again.
But perhaps he has proven himself a bit too human for this elevated level of this most demanding trade. He told us that day that he was not someone for cows and calves, whether with a player or employee. “I wouldn't know what to say,” he admitted.
Some in Tottenham have closed it and found it insulated, especially because poor results put pressure. Some thought he needed more experienced coaching staff or, at least, people he knew better. They saw the burden becoming heavy and feared that he was wearing him alone. They looked for change and growth in him, but did not see it.
In the meantime, in public it was sometimes painful to see him wilt to the extent that much of this season has been less a football trip and more an open window to human vulnerability.
Postecoglou admitted on Wednesday that the competition season of his team was 'unacceptable and terrible'. At the same time he spoke about people who came to me 'and this has been a theme of his second season in particular.
Postecoglou has taken a lot of control that desperately comes with poor results, which at a certain moment suggests that it was because he is Australian. That was a low point. The 59-year-old was analyzed on the back of the performance of his team and nothing else.
To see him all come and stand up with a trophy in his hands and a medal around his neck is uplifting and exciting and testimony to his determination and ability. It also indicates that he has succeeded in keeping his players on a difficult journey. Postecoglou has a survival spirit and that can take you a long way in the sport.
Nevertheless, we still see what there is to see.
We still see a 17th place Premier League position. We still see a desperate regression in the results and performance that actually started halfway through last season. We still see 21 League -Nederlanden and a departure from his days of 'angeball' to something that has no clearly identifiable form. It worked against a desperate united side in North Spain, but it does not have the shape of a springboard.
Levy and his club have a lot of work to do this summer. Another raft of young players is probably not the answer to the question of the next steps. A football club does not go alone and only retreats to the back of a head coach.
But it is also difficult to promote a watertight matter for the preservation of the man who will hold the trophy in his hands on the bus parade, will have the proof of a glorious and beautiful night in Bilbao.
Postecoglou didn't like it when the crowd sang that reworked version of Angels to him at the beginning of last season. He never wanted the story about him.
But it is of course and always. He said on Wednesday that he hoped that he had changed something vital in the soul of Tottenham with this triumph, that he hoped that Spurs -Staf, fans and players would now see themselves differently.
He did that and maybe there can be no greater legacy, not for him. What a way to go. What a way to be remembered.
Postecoglou also said after this victory that he hoped he put something down on which a future can be built. Maybe he has that. And maybe someone else should now be invited to do it.
We have to protect Foden – there are no excuses
The recognition of Phil Foden that he is being physically and emotionally damaged by this season was so close to a sporty cry for help if you will ever hear.
He should not play for England next month and may not be included in the Manchester City Party for the Club World Cup.
He is a broken football player and we want him to heal or we don't. There are no apologies.