By CALUM CROWE
Published: 17:43 EST, 12 December 2024 | Updated: 17:45 EST, 12 December 2024
The second half wasn’t yet two minutes old. Yet, already, the Ibrox crowd had decided to clear their throats and break into song to offer their thoughts on Ange Postecoglou’s job prospects.
Sacked in the morning, you’re getting sacked in the morning. Postecoglou stood motionless on the touchline, unflinching with his hands in his pockets, as it echoed around the stadium.
Trailing 1-0 to a goal from Hamza Igamane and staring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat in the city he once called home, there might even have been a few Tottenham fans tempted to join in.
At that point, Postecoglou was a man on the brink. A manager under major pressure amid a dismal run of results, his life expectancy as Spurs boss was shortening by the minute.
His team had been awful. Second-best all over the pitch to a vibrant Rangers side, this wasn’t the slick attacking style of football for which Postecoglou became renowned during his time in Glasgow.
Truth be told, this was a poor imitation of what was once known as Angeball in these parts.
Ange Postecoglou went through the full range of emotions on his return to Ibrox
The former Celtic manager embraces Rangers boss Philippe Clement at full-time
Another former Celtic man, goalkeeper Fraser Forster, denies Cyriel Dessers a goal
With a squad assembled for multi-millions of pounds, it was proof that money doesn’t always guarantee success.
Throughout his two years spent in this city, Postecoglou’s Celtic team were miles better in this stadium that anything Spurs produced last night.
But what unfolded in the final half-hour may well have saved his job. With the game threatening to spiral out of control, Postecoglou made a triple substitution which helped turned the game.
It was 30 minutes of tension and drama as Spurs picked themselves up off the floor, equalising through Dejan Kulusevski, before Rangers thought they had won it at the death through Cyriel Dessers.
When Dessers was flagged for offside and his goal was ruled out, Postecoglou breathed a sigh of relief.
He remains a long way from turning this ship around. Tottenham have still only won once in their last eight games in competitions. But a defeat at Ibrox last night could well have prompted the Spurs board to send him a P45 rather than a Christmas card.
The fact he lives to fight another day will be of immense relief, despite the fact his team rarely flickered into anything above the ordinary.
Postecoglou had spoken pre-match about the fiery reception he was likely to receive as he returned to this particular neck of the woods in Glasgow.
Postecoglou's substitutions saw his side belatedly come to life, but all is not well at Spurs
He wasn’t wrong. As Tottenham’s team bus pulled up outside the main doors of Ibrox on Edmiston Drive, a group of Rangers fans had gathered to wish him the best of British.
A wry smile came over Postecoglou’s face as he hopped off the bus and into the stadium, the big Aussie seemingly humoured by some of the remarks aimed in his direction.
He wasn’t the only member of the Spurs camp with past Celtic connections. Playing in goal for the visitors was Fraser Forster.
Forster won seven trophies across five seasons throughout his various spells at Parkhead. Perhaps it was he who was in charge of the pre-match choreography.
Kulusevski hails his equaliser after dragging Spurs back into the contest
German forward Timo Werner was a peripheral figure and was deservedly subbed at half-time
As the Tottenham players huddled together in front of their fans in the corner of the Broomloan Stand, Ibrox erupted in into a crescendo of boos and jeers.
Postecoglou would have demanded a response from his players on the back of their capitulation against Chelsea last weekend. Having led 2-0 early in the piece, they eventually crashed to a 4-3 defeat and arrived in Glasgow on a run of just one win in their last seven games in all competitions.
But the flying start so associated with Postecoglou’s style of football was conspicuous by its absence. Spurs looked rattled and unsure of themselves.
Roared on by a raucous home crowd, Rangers pounced on every second ball and pressed Tottenham to the point of distraction.
Postecoglou had said recently that Tottenham’s current injury woes are the worst he has ever encountered in 25 years of management.
They were without both first-choice central defenders in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven due to injury, with Radu Dragusin and young Archie Gray depositing.
A midfielder by trade, 18-year-old Gray is the grandson of former Scotland international Frank and the great-nephew of Leeds United and Scotland winger Eddie.
Whilst there were moments when he looked tidy and composed, there were too many others when his desire to overplay saw him lose the ball in bad areas.
Hamza Igamane was an impressive presence for Rangers up front and deserved his goal
Igamane celebrates after his fairy-tale introduction to life at Rangers continued
He wasn’t alone in that regard. As Rangers grew stronger, Postecoglou grew more animated on the touchline, furious at some of the slack play from his team.
Early in his tenure at Celtic, there was a video which went viral on social media which saw Postecoglou berating certain players for playing too many backward passes.
It’s a trait he hasn’t lost. Timo Werner and Pedro Porro were two who were caught in the crosshairs as Angry Ange took aim from the technical area.
His blasts were not unwarranted. Particularly in the case of Werner, Spurs were as good as a man down.
The German looked like he hadn’t ever played football before, so it was no surprise to see him hooked at half-time as Postecoglou looked to shake things up.
Yet, whatever choice words may have been uttered inside the Spurs dressing room at the break, they plainly didn’t work.
Within two minutes of the restart, Rangers were ahead when the excellent Igamane steered a brilliant finish low into Forster’s far corner.
The decibels inside Ibrox rose immeasurably, with Postecoglou copping it as the Rangers supporters taunted their former tormentor from across the city.
Rangers were good value for it, too. Sharper all over the pitch, a lead of more than one goal would not have been unjustified.
They were pegged back when Kulusevski reversed a neat finish into Jack Butland’s far corner and, for a spell, Rangers had to hang on.
But they got there and nobody would be able to claim to a point was ill-deserved. The only tinge of regret for Philippe Clement and his players was the failure to take all three.
After the final whistle had blown, Tottenham fans were kept behind in the stadium and aimed chants at chairman Daniel Levy, telling him where to go.
On a night when his return to Glasgow threatened to go badly wrong, Postecoglou could be glad that it wasn’t him on the receiving end of those chants.