Ange Postecoglou feels he already has a very healthy relationship with Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, but will not go white water rafting with him any time soon.
Postecoglou will on Monday night come up against former Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, who once revealed in his book ‘Brave New World’ that a staff-bonding exercise in Argentina resulted in himself, Levy and his coaches taking to the water.
While Postecoglou laughed off any prospect of a repeat occurring, he did acknowledge the importance of gaining Levy’s trust and gave credit to the previously under-fire chairman for a strong start to the new season.
“Nah, it’s not happening. Nothing against Daniel but I’m not going white water rafting,” Postecoglou said.
“Look my relationship with Daniel is pretty consistent with the relationships with all the people I’ve worked with at other clubs that have major influence as decision-makers.
“I need them to believe in me. That’s the basic core of it and you can get to that space in many different ways. It doesn’t mean you have to socialise with them, it doesn’t mean you have to talk to them every day.
“It’s about gaining their trust and belief, because without their trust and belief, I can’t do what I want to do. I can’t make decisions around staff, bringing players in, all these things unless the people above me have total faith and trust.”
Chants calling for Levy to leave Spurs were a regular occurrence during the second half of last season, but the discontent has quietened following a flying start to the campaign, although protests over ticket pricing has continued.
Postecoglou, whose side will return to the top of the table if they beat Pochettino’s Chelsea on Monday evening, said: “It’s not an unusual position. When I walked in at Celtic, the board weren’t too popular at the start either, but they backed me.
“They believed in me and when they do that, yes of course they deserve the credit because they’re the ones that have made the decisions and backed me to bring the club to where it is currently.
“So, of course they should get the credit, but I’ve treated those relationships all the same.
“The number one task I have when I go into a club is to get people to believe in me, trust me. Whether that’s the person working on the floor down here or the person who runs the club. It’s the same.
“I’ve got to get all of them to believe in me because I can’t do what I want to do by myself. It just doesn’t work that way.
“I’ve had a really healthy working relationship with Daniel and hopefully I’m gaining more of his trust to continue to do what I want to do.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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