Postecoglou sends warning to Tottenham stars and reveals what he told them after West Ham defeat

Ange Postecoglou has made it clear to his Tottenham Hotspur players that things will 'never be smooth' while he is at the club and revealed what he told them in the dressing room after their defeat to West Ham.

Spurs began the season with a 10-match unbeaten run in the Premier League which swept them to the top of the table. However, they have now gone five matches without a victory, losing four of those games in the process and culminating in a 2-1 derby loss to West Ham at home which left Postecoglou fuming.

The one benefit for the Australian and Tottenham is that the 58-year-old has been here before, with there having always being some kind of adjustment period at his clubs before the players better understand his methods and very different philosophy. He warned his Spurs squad though that they will never be allowed to truly settle under him.

«I have been there and I have the benefit of experience. I've been through this many times. So I know, unequivocally, what we need to do,» said Postecoglou ahead of Spurs' match against Newcastle United. «But for a lot of these guys, it's the first time and I'm always mindful of that wherever I've been. That's why I know that invariably, sometimes it's happened at the beginning of my tenure, sometimes it happened in the middle, sometimes at the end of the first season, but always in the first season there are challenges.

»Players need to go through that and come out the other side and see that 'okay, we've survived that. It hasn't killed us, we're still going, we're still alive, we're still up for it’, right? Then if anything it can make us stronger going forward, but obviously, I have the benefit of that experience. The players don’t and my role in this is to guide them through it.