Ange Postecoglou has been slammed for doubling down on his public criticism of Spurs forward Timo Werner – with a former Premier League star and one-time Celtic striker suggesting that he could about to lose the dressing room in North London.
Forward Werner was brought off at half-time in the Battle of Britain clash with Rangers at Ibrox on Thursday, with his replacement Dejan Kulusevski going on to bag a late equaliser after Hamza Igamane had put the Gers in front. After the game, ex Parkhead boss Postecoglou offered a scathing assessment of Werner’s display and backed up his comments ahead of his team’s Premier League meeting with Southampton on Sunday.
But Postecoglou’s hardline stance has not been well received by Carlton Cole, who has questioned the 59-year-old’s decision to single out the player amid Spurs’ poor run of form that has ramped up the pressure on the Australian. Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “If it’s that obvious, you go and tell him because now it’s an insult to you and his teammates.
“If you pander to the to the media first, before you’ve gone and told the player, and then the other players hear it in the press… you will lose the dressing room. Because now the players don’t don’t feel that you’ll protect them when it’s tough.
“I understand what he’s saying and he’s got every right to say it. But go say it to him. Because let’s have it here… Werner is not his star player. So why are you picking on him? What about the others? What is he trying to achieve here? It’s strange to me.”
Cole – who scored five goals for Celtic in a brief spell in Scotland in 2016 – then compared Postecoglou’s public condemnation of Werner to former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag’s falling out with Jadon Sancho at Old Trafford. “The Sancho situation could’ve been handled a lot differently”, he added. “Now he’s playing for Chelsea and scoring goals. Man United will look at that and say, ‘We would’ve liked Sancho to be on form like that.”
“But because Ten Hag made it uncomfortable for him to be there, he had to find a new home where he can establish himself and be the player we know he can be.”
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