Inside Postecoglou's lowest moment as a coach & how it set him up for UEL glory

Failure isn't always fatal, as Winston Churchill once said. It is, perhaps as Ange Postecoglou showed last night, part of the path that one must take to achieve great things.

And while the Australian football coach took a thinly veiled swipe at Tottenham boss Daniel Levy during his post-match interview on Thursday, saying: 'I have been a serial-winner my whole career', the path to Thursday night's Europa League final victory has been an incredible ride for the 59-year-old.

While the humble football coach is pretty accurate that he is a serial-winner, snapping Tottenham's 17-year trophy drought will go down as the biggest triumph of his career to date but things haven't always been plain sailing for Postecoglou. You may only ned to look as far as Tottenham's current position in the Premier League to see that.

'I remember even when I signed, the club and even Daniel sort of said, ‘we went after winners, it didn’t work and now we’ve got Ange,' he said after the match.

'Mate, I’m a winner.

'I know people dismiss my achievements because they didn’t happen on this side of the world but for me, they’re all hard-earned and all I’ve done my whole career is win things.'

Postecoglou, who played for South Melbourne as a defender during his playing career, hung up his boots in 1993 and turned to coaching.

It was here that he has worked his way up from football's shop floor, slowly and quietly laying the foundations for what would become a distinguished career in management.

But while the 59-year-old has gone on to win 13 major titles in his senior career, his journey has not all been plain sailing.

Postecoglou began working as the manager of his former club South Melbourne in Victoria's National Premier League two years after his retirement.

Five years later, he'd go on to take charge of the Australian U20 and U17 sides before returning to manage senior football in his country of birth, Greece.

After a nine-month spell with second-tier side Panachaiki, Postecoglou landed back in Australia and joined up with Melbourne minnows, the Whittlesea Zebras in 2009, now known as Brunswick Juventus and play in the Northern Premier League - Victoria.

It was here that the Tottenham boss experienced one of the greatest lows of his career, after the Zebras were relegated.

Postecoglou took charge with the club floundering at the bottom of the league and would guide them to winning two wins in 16 games.

Despite results not turning around for Postecoglou on the field, who was snapped up by Brisbane Roar the following season, the Aussie boss left a lasting impression on the football club.

'I can't stress enough how tumultuous those times where, those two or three years, where we really did it hard after relocation,' the Zebras' then-football operations manager Joseph Sala, told Optus Sport.

'But he [Postecoglou] was instrumental and he’s always kept in contact. Every time he's come back into the country he's always been gracious with his time.'

Sala revealed at the time that the coach had been between jobs at the time that Whittlesea had hired him.

Postecoglou had notably been linked with A-League side Melbourne City at the time.

But he had taken the time to understand a little more about Whittlesea's journey, which ultimately helped land him the gig.

'He was on a path to being successful. So we got a taste of the future there for Ange Postecoglou’s football,' Sala added.

'It was a short stint with us, but his philosophy was one of progress and progress in the right manner. Very idealistic, he understands what he wants to do. He's just a genuine leader.'

For Sala, he had always hoped that the Spurs boss would have stayed on, believing that things could have been much different the following year.

'I dare say if he had of stayed the next year we would have progressed further than what we did. We had a tough run until very recently,' he added.

'We had an exit discussion as you do at most football clubs and he helped pinpoint the type of player to retain and those not really able to extend themselves at this level. We got promoted a couple of years later.'

The positive impression that Ange left on the footy club is also not lost on him either.

'You've dug up the one little stint where I didn't win any silverware! It's fair to say I started on the factory floor,' Postecoglou told The Scotsman.

'I've been at the bottom of the food chain. I worked my way up so I know about every level of the game. It's kept me sort of grounded and on the course I've been on. It's this game of football. Everything you get along the way, you need to earn it. You need to work hard.'

'That was back then and I was young and it was pretty much a semi-professional team and they had their problems. It didn't mean I was any less passionate than I am now about what I wanted to achieve.'

Two seasons after his arrival at Brisbane Roar, he'd clinch back-to-back A-League titles. He'd later be appointed manager at the Socceroos and guided the team to their historic Asian Cup victory in the 2014-15 season.

His journey is an interesting and unique one. While there are many former pros who have landed big jobs at the start of their managerial careers, Postecoglou's work slowly cultivating a body of knowledge in Australia has this week led him to European glory with Tottenham.

'There's nothing wrong with that,' the Spurs boss adds, qualifying his comments. 'Sometimes, particularly in today's world, people want to skip things, you have players who want to become managers straight away.

'I kind of like the fact I've done it at every level. I am where I am because of hard work and the success achieved along the way.'

'All I've done wherever I have been is I've tried to make an impact. If, when it comes to the time to go through those doors at the end that you are always welcomed back, that means you have been appreciated.

'It doesn't always involve success. For the most part, I've managed to have that, but even when I haven't I think people will know I tried to do the best I can for their club.'

Five titles with Celtic would follow after he parted company with the Socceroos and now finally, he has become the man to lead Tottenham out of their long wait for a trophy, something that Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte could not do.

On Thursday night, he revealed that after what's been a gruelling season of football, he'll take a well-earned vacation with his family next week because as he puts it 'I deserve it'.

A weight of pressure will have now lifted from the Australian's shoulders after concerns had mounted over his future at the club.

He confirmed that he had no planned meetings with Levy coming up.

'I haven’t had any discussions, no one has spoken to me about anything,' he said.

'Maybe they felt like they don’t need to or they were waiting for this game What I do know is, I’ll go back to my hotel room, get my family and friends together, open up a nice bottle of scotch, have a couple of quiet ones, get ready for a massive parade on Friday.'

But but after his holiday, he'll be getting back to work pretty quickly, admitting that even after winning silverware with Spurs, the 'job is not complete' yet.

'We're still building this team. It's a young team, we need to add experience and now we are in the Champions League. I've been trying to build a team that can be challenging for the next four or five years.

'Since I came here I had the belief of trying to win something and we have done that and I want to build on it.'