Ange Postecoglou addresses Tottenham sack reports ahead of Europa League showdown | OneFootball

The Spurs boss is under pressure to deliver the Europa League trophy but insists reports he will be dismissed are of no motivation

Ange Postecoglou says he is as determined as ever to be successful with Tottenham despite claiming there is a "general sentiment" that he will leave the club at the end of the season even if they win the Europa League.

Spurs host Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League quarter-final first leg on Thursday, with their hopes of salvaging the season and possibly Postecoglou's job on the line in the tie.

Postecoglou's side have lost 16 of their 31 league games this season and are languishing in 14th in the table but can still finish the season with a first trophy since 2008 and a place in next season's Champions League.

Near the start of a tetchy pre-match briefing, Postecoglou accused Spurs' critics of turning "gold into crap" when asked about Mathys Tel taking a stoppage-time penalty over Brennan Johnson, who was on a hat-trick, in Sunday's 3-1 win over Southampton.

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Asked if he and his players were motivated in Europe by proving the doubters wrong, Postecoglou said: "I think that feeling [of motivation] exists, but not because of that.

"I don't think that's a healthy motivation to have because ultimately you can't win that contest.

"I just think we're in that position that the good stuff we may do is going to be turned into a glass half full rhetoric and from that perspective I don't think that can be a driver in what we want to do.

"The lads are really keen to bring success to the club, keep driving the principles of what we started this whole journey with, in terms of the football we want to play, really stick together as they have through the toughest of periods and hopefully we've worked our way into a position where we can make an impact on our season, a really disappointing season for us.

"I just think there's a real determination to take the opportunity that they've earned at this point.

"I don't think you're going to win that argument of convincing people.

"I think [journalist] wrote that even if we win it, I'm gone anyway ... if you're trying to use that as a motivation, you're not going to win that anyway

Ange Postecoglou on sack reports being motivation

"I think John [Cross] wrote that even if we win it, I'm gone anyway. That's not having a go at you, that's just saying the general sentiment of people. So if you're trying to use that as a motivation, you're not going to win that anyway.

"There's got to be more in it for us and for us what is the most important thing as a group is that we've been through a really tough time but we're still in a position where we can make an impact and you don't know how often you get those opportunities.

"We're in a quarter-final and I don't know how many times the club has been in a quarter-final in European competition. You don't want to let that slip you by or have the wrong mindset going into it. I think the players are handling it well in terms of how they're trying to embrace this challenge. They're going to face a top team but they have the capabilities to overcome that."

Postecoglou was referring to a column in The Daily Mirror which suggested that winning the Europa League could be "too little too late" for Postecoglou given the club's dismal league form.

"The only reason I mention John’s article is because I think that is the general sentiment," Postecoglou added. "I have said before, that is not what drives me. I came to this club with a clear purpose and vision of what the club needed and what I could offer.

"That is to change the way the team plays, to obviously rejuvenate the squad because it was a squad that was coming towards the end of a cycle and to bring success.

"As long as I’m in this position, that’s always my focus irrespective of whatever noise there is or what there may or not been in the future. I don’t see that, that should diminish my burning ambition, my desire and my determination to make that happen.

"Anything you achieve in life usually comes with a struggle. Certainly everything I have achieved in my life has come with a struggle from a professional perspective.

"This is just another struggle, but never through this struggle have I lost the will to fight for what I think is the right thing to do and I’ll continue to do that."