Ange Postecoglou admitted that a large number of Spurs fans have lost confidence in him – and confessed that he would start the season differently if he could.
Tottenham is killing in the bottom half of the table, lost to Liverpool in the semi -final of the Carabao Cup and went out of the FA Cup after a defeat of the fourth round against Aston Villa.
However, their miserable, injury hit campaign could still end gloriously if they can win the Europa League, with a quarter-final first stage at home at Eintracht Frankfurt next Thursday.
But Boss Ange knows that he no longer retains the full support of many disillusioned supporters, despite the promise of his debut campaign last year.
The 59-year-old said: “There is no doubt that there is probably a large part of Tottenham fans who have lost a little faith and faith in what we do.
“They were encouraged by what they saw last year, but that certainly did not manifest this year.
“I am still really optimistic and bullish about the team we have. I think there will be enormous growth in it if we can navigate through it.
“Surviving difficult times can be such a strong uniter of people.”
Postecoglou has had a paralyzing injury list to deal with a whole series of players who suffer from muscle problems.
And in an interview for Optus Sport, the Aussie told countryman and former goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer that he wanted his players not to work so hard at the early season.
The former Celtic chef explained: “We probably got the start of the year wrong. Nowadays it is getting bigger for football players, they don't get the traditional break.
“We went very hard in the season and this year we probably underestimated the challenges of Europe with the two extra competitions and we had a deep cup run.
“You add to the mix that we have lost a number of important players in the beginning and it feels like we have been having to chase our tails since then. We are no longer for the challenge we have had.
“Every time we try to get a solid ground, something else happens that shifts and much of it goes back to the beginning of the year.
“We might have followed a different approach, knowing that we had the season.
“I tried to restore things while we continue.
“In retrospect, with a better planning at the start of the year, I would have gone a bit of a softer start to the season in terms of the way we have tackled things.”
Spurs travel tomorrow through London to Rivals Chelsea, host Basement Boys Southampton on Sunday and then have their first stage at Frankfurt four days later.
Postecoglou added: “The Europa League is a huge opportunity. We are one of the eight clubs [still in it].
“If you can go through what we have experienced this year and come out the other side and have successful, it is a great builder for the future.”
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