Ange Postecoglou delivered a strongly-worded press conference after Tottenham's 1-1 draw against Rangers in the Europa League and we've got every word he said at Ibrox.
After a tight first half lacking in quality from both sides it was Rangers who scored early in the second period when Hamza Igamane half-volleyed home a deep James Tavernier cross from the right. Spurs grabbed a leveller though as two substitutes combined with Dominic Solanke finding Dejan Kulusevski in the box to hit a shot back across the keeper.
Neither side could find a winner in the final minutes with Solanke sending a header at the keeper and at the other end Fraser Forster made a crucial late save from Cyriel Dessers.
Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the match. Scroll down for a full transcript from the press conference at Ibrox.
What did you make of the game?
A tough game as expected. With the atmosphere, first half was pretty tight with no real clear cut chances on either side. Obviously when they score after half-time the stadium goes up and it’s going to be a tough one to claw back but I thought we worked our way back into the game well. I thought the subs made a difference and we scored a good goal. Had a couple of other moments and in the end a great save by Fraser gives us, in the context of where we are in Europe, I think an important point.
Do you feel a draw was the fair result?
It is the result, what’s fair and unfair I think is for others to judge. I thought it was a fairly tight game for the most part. They had their moments and I thought in the second half better, especially when the subs came on, we got a better foothold in the game. Like I said, in the context of where we are in Europe with the next games in the New Year, which should give us a chance to be in a better place squad-wise, I think it’s an important point.
How did this Rangers team compare to the ones you've taken on in the past?
I think as expected. They're always difficult to play against here at Ibrox, particularly on European nights. Just the nature of the contest, the atmosphere, not many teams come here and win so you expect it to be a tough game. We were not anywhere near our best, it's fair to say, but we're in a period of games we’re grinding through at the moment with a fairly depleted squad and asking players to get up week in, week out. In the context of that in the end it was a good outcome for us.
You took Timo Werner off at half-time, was that just tactical?
Yeah, yeah, he wasn’t playing anywhere near the level he should.
What did you make of Archie Gray on his first start as a centre-back?
He's 18, it's a big experience for him. I thought he handled himself really well. We're asking him to do something that as an 18-year-old in his first year at this level, to play in an unfamiliar position in such big games, I thought it's outstanding what he's doing.
I thought Lucas was excellent when he came on as well. He was due to start tonight but wasn't feeling well today. He was a bit under the weather today. We had to keep him on the bench, but that's a massive positive for us. Those two as 18-year-olds to be already contributing and experiencing these things will be of enormous benefit to us.
You seem frustrated with Timo, do you need more from him?
Yeah absolutely. When you’ve got 18-year-olds it’s not acceptable to me. I said that to Timo. He’s a senior international, he’s a German international. In the moment we’re in right now, it’s not like we’ve got many options. I need everyone to at least be going out there trying to give the best of themselves. His performance in the first half wasn’t acceptable.
How did he take it? What do you put it down to?
Don’t really know. It’s not really of great concern. We need everybody including him to be contributing. because we don’t have the depth to leave people out if they’re performing poorly. We need them to play their part. Especially the senior guys. When I’m asking younger guys to do massive jobs. I expect a level of performance from some of the senior guys and today wasn’t that.
The Europa League has been pretty relentless, is it a benefit to now have the remaining games next month when you can get a few players back?
Like I said, we'll probably look back on this as a good point for us. One more game at home and Hoffenheim away and we’re in that bubble of being able to get through automatically which is ideally what we want. The fact that it's not for five or six weeks, we'll be in much better shape squad-wise. With a bit of luck by the time those games come around, we’ll look back on this as an important point.
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