‘Football harder than Prime Minister’ comment was joke, says Postecoglou

Under-fire Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou on Friday insisted he was joking when he said being a Premier League manager was harder than being Prime Minister.

The 59-year-old Australian told reporters earlier this month that coaches face “an election every weekend and either get voted in or out”, whereas a UK Prime Minister usually faces an election just once every four or five years.

“Can I just say that obviously sarcasm and irony is lost (on people) in this country if people actually believe that I was serious when I said that,” Postecoglou said ahead of Sunday’s Premier League game at home to Wolves.

“There are far more difficult jobs than being a football manager or even than being a prime minister of a country.”

Spurs’ recent league results have been no laughing matter for fans, with Thursday’s 1-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest following an embarrassing 6-3 loss at home to table-toppers Liverpool.

Spurs, without a major trophy since 2008, are now a modest 11th in the table but they remain involved in four competitions, with Postecoglou still on course to maintain his record of winning a trophy in his second season at a club.

Postecoglou, asked if he still had the support of Tottenham’s fanbase, replied: “They love their football club, they care about their football club and they want their football club to succeed. They make those feelings and emotions seen.

“I haven’t felt anything but support since I have been here. I still feel that support is there. I will keep doing what I think is the right thing to bring success to this football club, that doesn’t change.”

Spurs’ injury crisis, however, worsened after Ben Davies suffered a setback in training to potentially leave Postecoglou without a fit centre-back against