Ange Postecoglou will not entertain talk of revenge when Tottenham visit Aston Villa on Sunday.
Spurs travel to Villa Park for what will be a crucial match in the battle for Champions League qualification with the hosts currently occupying fourth spot in the Premier League.
Villa have also won the last three meetings with Tottenham, but the narrative of revenge surrounds an incident from the previous clash on November 25.
The fixture marked Rodrigo Bentancur’s first start in nine months. However, it was cut short by an ill-timed tackle from Villa full-back Matty Cash that earned him a caution and forced Bentancur off after 32 minutes with an ankle injury.
Cash’s challenge sparked a melee between both sets of players and had unavailable Spurs personnel gunning for the defender, who was later given an escort by his team-mates to the away dressing room at half-time, but Postecoglou laughed off suggestions payback could be on the cards.
He insisted: “No interest mate.
“For us, the challenge is to face a really good team, with really strong home form and beyond that you’d be surprised about how little that stuff infiltrates what we do and sort of our motivations for a game of football.
“If anything, they’re the type of things where you hope that as you mature and develop as a team become less and less important or a focus.
“When you’re clutching at those kinds of things, you’re losing sense of what’s important. What’s important for us is to be at our best against a very good football team and try to get a result.”
Cristian Romero was suspended for Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Villa in November but made clear his disapproval of Cash’s tackle from his seat by the home dugout.
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The Argentina defender is no stranger to a poor challenge after he was sent off for catching Enzo Fernandes of Chelsea on the shin earlier this season, but that red card is a rare blot on a largely clean copybook for Romero this term.
Appointed vice-captain by Postecoglou last summer, Romero has relished the extra responsibility and been able to swap his previous recklessness for a new-found level of composure that has seen him yet to be booked in 2024.
This time last year Romero had received two red cards and already been shown nine cautions, but alongside one sending-off this season, he has also only been given four yellows, while his average tackles per league game has decreased from 2.5 to 2 and fouls per game reduced from 1.6 to 0.7.
Postecoglou lavished praise on his centre-back, who has developed a new habit for goals after he headed in his fourth of the campaign in last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace.
“He’s outstanding but I thought he was from day one,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s a World Cup winner as a starter. Not just part of the squad or as a contributor.
“He’s got great pedigree, he’s a great defender, great guy, very driven, very motivated. Highly, highly competitive in everything he does and I love that.
“There’s nothing more you’d want in an athlete and he’s a great example for the rest of the guys.”
Spurs will have Pedro Porro available for the Villa Park clash, but Richarlison is set to remain sidelined with a knee injury.
T&T women to get much-needed competitive action against Aruba, Curacao in Carib Queen's tourney
After months of inactivity, Trinidad and Tobago senior women's football team will get the opportunity to shake the proverbial rust, as they are set to participate in the three-team Caribbean Queen's tournament in Curacao from May 28 to June 3.
An invitation from Curacao Football Federation was welcomed by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA), as participation in the tournament will not only assist in player development, but more importantly, will keep players engaged ahead of next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers.
The week-long tournament, which will also involve Aruba, will see each team will play each other twice, in what will be Trinidad and Tobago’s senior team’s first competitive outing since their Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying campaign, last year.
"The respective member associations have been working together to facilitate the tournament to provide competitive matches for our respective women's teams as there are no Concacaf or Fifa women's competitions this year," TTFA said.
The team will once again be led by former Police FC coach Richard Hood, who will be assisted by Rajesh Latchoo, the TTFA Director of Youth Football and Under-17 women's coach.
Hood's squad is expected to be a development team, featuring senior players, members of TTFA's ongoing High Performance programme, and standout performers from the 2024 Republic Bank National Youth Football League campaign.
"This tournament is viewed as an ideal opportunity to continue to expose our younger players to a competitive environment," TTFA stated.
The women Soca Warriors will kick off the tournament against Aruba on May 29, before crossing swords with host Curacao, a day later. After a two-day break, Hood's team will wrap up the friendly competition with matches on June 2 and 3 respectively.
Last year, the women Soca Warriors finished bottom of their three-team Concacaf women's Gold Cup qualifying group with Mexico and Puerto Rico. They ended with a solitary point from four matches.
Trinidad and Tobago women are ranked 75th, while Curacao and Aruba are ranked 179th and 185th respectively.
'The grass is not always greener' – Chelsea target Frank in no rush to leave Brentford
Reported Chelsea target Thomas Frank is in no rush to leave Brentford, saying "the grass is not always greener" for managers who choose to jump ship.
Chelsea are hunting their fourth permanent boss under the Todd Boehly regime, having surprisingly parted ways with Mauricio Pochettino by mutual consent on Tuesday.
With the Blues reportedly looking for a dynamic young coach capable of working within their existing set-up, Ipswich Town's Kieran McKenna and Bees boss Frank have been touted as possible successors.
Brentford's finish of 16th in 2023-24 was their worst since Frank led them to the Premier League in 2021, but they remained comfortably clear of the drop zone despite battling a lengthy injury list and seeing Ivan Toney suspended for the first half of the season.
Across their three seasons in the Premier League, Brentford rank ninth for expected goals (xG) per 90 minutes (1.44) and eighth for expected goals against (xGA) per 90 (1.38).
While Frank has refused to rule out a move after almost six years as Brentford's head coach, he is not actively searching for a new job.
"I will probably be on that touchline on August 17," Frank told The Athletic. "I think that will happen. I'm happy here. I've said it many times and I mean it.
"It's close to the perfect football life. I'm not in any rush or searching to do something else but I also think I've learned in life I'm open for what can happen.
"I can see myself being here for a long period. Can I stay here for seven more years? I don't know and that's not that I don’t love Brentford, it's just, do I want to try something different?
"I'm very aware the grass is not always greener in the garden next door, even if it looks like it. You get in there, take a closer look and see there are a lot of weeds in the grass."
Brentford have already seen set-piece coach Bernardo Cueva agree to join Chelsea, and reports have suggested the Blues' hierarchy were unimpressed with how Pochettino's staff dealt with dead balls.
Brentford ranked second for xG from set-pieces in the Premier League this season (15.7) and allowed opponents the third lowest xGA figure from such situations (8.6), behind only Arsenal and Manchester City.
Newcastle United 1-1 Tottenham (5-4 pens): Magpies win controversial Australia friendly
Newcastle United overcame Tottenham on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Wednesday's controversial friendly in Melbourne, just three days after the end of the Premier League season.
A crowd of 78,419 packed into Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch two of the Premier League's top seven face off in a post-season game which had been criticised on player welfare grounds.
James Maddison celebrated being named in England's preliminary Euro 2024 squad by firing home Spurs' opener after 32 minutes, before his Three Lions team-mate Kieran Tripper was substituted after just 36 minutes.
Alexander Isak levelled from close range on the stroke of half-time, and the game went straight to spot-kicks after neither team was able to force a second-half winner.
Bryan Gil was denied by Mark Gillespie from Tottenham's first kick, with the nine subsequent attempts all successful as the Magpies triumphed 5-4.
After the game, Newcastle boss Howe moved to allay fears over Trippier's condition, saying his withdrawal was planned.
"We spoke with Kieran and thought the best thing to do was for him to start the game," Howe said.
"He's still in the early stages of recovery from his calf problem, we didn't want to take risks with him so half an hour was the aim. No injury there."
Ange Postecoglou, meanwhile, immediately turned his attentions towards the transfer window after failing to oversee a win in his native Australia.
"Last year, it certainly benefited us having a couple in early and having all the whole squad for pre-season," he said.
"Everyone wants to do business early, everyone is keen to bring players in but the reality of it is it usually takes a little bit of time.
"But the good thing for us is we know what we need to do, we've had the plan in place for quite a while and it's just about now going through that process."
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