“I always win things in my second year.”
Eight months later, Tottenham -Baas Ange Postecoglou remains on course to realize his daring promise.
After the 1-0 home defeat of September, his claim came to the Premier League losing against North London Rivals Arsenal-a's 21 Club record this season.
Friday's 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa leaves them a gloomy 17th in the table, while it was the 25th time that this season they were in all competitions, the joint highest in a single campaign in their history (level with 1991/92).
But bizarre enough can still be considered a success this season.
The Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao offers Postecoglou the chance to not only make its cutlery with its silverware guarantee, but also to end Tottenham's 17-year-old trophy-dry and secure Champions League qualification.
That achievement interspersed with the worst Premier League campaign from Spurs would present a real mystery about the future of Postecoglou.
“It would give [Tottenham chairman] Daniel Levy probably one of the biggest decisions of his life because you would keep him? Or would you fire him? “, Ex-Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp told Sky Sports.
“A part of you looks at the Premier League form and goes:” How can I keep it? ” Because it has been devils.
“But if he wins a European trophy – and these Spurs fans have been shouting at a trophy for so long – I think it would make it really difficult to fire him from that perspective.
“If they win a cup, that's like the hero status.”
Van de Ven: Everyone has stayed behind ange
But that is the knife-edge perpetual situation of Postecoglou, he could easily become a villain.
The sound around the 59-year-old, however, is excluded by his players on their way to the final.
Spurs -defender Micky van de Ven told Sky Sports: “Everyone in the media doubted us and doubted the manager, but within here everyone continued to believe, everyone knew the quality we had and everyone stayed behind the Gaffer.
“I think that has made us a really tight group, and hopefully we can end strong and perfectly this season with lifting a trophy.”
Redknapp believes that Europa League Glory would make up for their terrible Premier League season.
“There is an argument to say that they would rather win a cup than fifth, and I agree,” he said.
“And we all go,” it's wrong, “but I don't look back and don't say” remember that that year we arrived, it was brilliant, “you look back and think:” I won a trophy ” – that's the best time of your life.
“For Tottenham this is an opportunity to change the story and history of the club.
“If they win a cup this year, we will forget that competition position, it will not be relevant because all celebration is after it.”
'Photos of us on the stadium walls when we win'
Glorie in Bilbao would be the first European silverware of Spurs in 41 years – and the prospect of such a historical performance is not lost at goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
He told Sky Sports: “I don't know how often during a career this [a European final] Can happen, so it's a big chance for our players and for everyone involved in this football club for the fans.
“We have the desire to bring the trophy here, because it would mean for us that we would be in the history of this football club, we would be on the pictures of the wall in the stadium, so it's something that we are looking forward to doing.”
The top goalscorer of the club, Harry Kane, is already on those walls, despite the fact that he does not win silverware at the club. But he recently broke his trophy -duck in Bayern Munich and tasted the success of Bundesliga.
There are also trophy -drys that have been terminated by various clubs in Europe this season -Crystal Palace won the FA Cup to secure their very first big trophy, the success of Newcastle, the success of Newcastle, ended 56 years without silverware, and Bologna lifted the Coppa Italia to wait.
Tottenham can now become the next club that ends their Hoodoo trophy.
Van de Ven said: “Everyone talks about traces that win trophies or not, but you say that it is a 'Spursy' thing. It is also a big thing to change that, but the most important thing is that we are the boys who can change everything for this club and the long drought for no trophy.”
Can Spurs avoid new failures of the end suit?
The mention of the Dutchman of the 'Spursy' tag will send shivers to the back of Tottenham fans.
Since that carling Cup victory of 2008, there have been a second Premier League finish in the course of the Carling Cup: Three League Cup final, a second Premier League finish and a final loss of the Champions League in 2019.
For Sky Sports' Roy Keane, these painful mistakes are in the final squat, which gives his former club Manchester United the lead in Spain.
“I think the history of man is bearing a little weight,” he said. “If you look at the competition performance, then there are not much between them, they have both been desperate, but I just think that the crunch, the history of United in the final and even a few cups wins in recent years that you think they have more knowledge about the big game more than traces.
“I am not going to win self -confident Man Utd, but I think that might just be for them.”
Defeat against Man Utd would feel even more 'Spursy', given their strong recent record against the Red Devils.
The side of Postecoglou defeated them three times this season, while Tottenham is unbeaten in their last six games in all games against Man Utd.
“This is the past. We can't look back on the past,” Vicario was on.
So what kind of final does Italian expect at the San Mames?
“It's about a game of details, of moments,” he said. “It will be a very tight game, so it's about understanding and trying not to make mistakes, because the team that has the right mindset and the right discipline to make fewer mistakes than the other person will cancel this trophy.
“It is a game to be focused for 90 minutes or 120 minutes, whatever it is needed to lift the trophy.”
Redknapp has called it a “50/50” match, because the High -Wire Act of Postecoglou all comes to its conclusion on Wednesday evening.
It is really bilbao or bust for the Australian.
Sky Sports to show 215 Live PL games next season
From next season, the Premier League coverage of Sky Sports will increase from 128 games to at least 215 games that are exclusively live.
And 80 percent of all Premier League matches broadcast on television will be on Sky Sports next season.