Ange Postecoglou’s diminishing returns threaten more than just Australian pride | John Duerden

The Tottenham manager has broken new ground in the Premier League but if the axe does fall the blow will be felt by coaches around the globe

It is not just Australian fans hoping that Ange Postecoglou can turn things around in North London. Bar owners in South Korea have fingers crossed too. Jongno, in central Seoul, is the place to be on New Year’s Eve and on the run-up to the big night, big screen TVs in the window displays of fried chicken and beer establishments are still showing Tottenham’s 5-0 thrashing of Southampton from mid-December, hoping to tempt punters in off the freezing streets to watch Son Heung-min. Even two weeks after that win, it was a marketing tactic of diminishing returns. It’s now been six weeks, and just one point has been added in the league.

Diminishing returns could describe Spurs’ second season under the first coach from the Asian Football Confederation to manage in the world’s most popular league, and the man in question is looking as haggard as the team’s backline. Die-hard Australian fans can be evangelical about football’s status at home – understandably so given its position in the sporting landscape down under – and sensitive about how their game is perceived abroad. But all of Asian football will also be hoping, or should be, for that second-season trophy.