Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has defended underperforming star forward Brennan Johnson from online abuse and claimed trolls would get a ‘punch on the nose’ if they made such comments in front of him.
Johnson joined Tottenham Hotspur in a £47.5m deal last year from boyhood club Nottingham Forest but has failed to live up to the hype that brought him to London.
The 23-year-old’s signed a six-year contract with Tottenham but has returned only five goals across 38 appearances for the club. With some fans not pleased with his performance, Johnson have become a target on social media.
Johnson has since taken the decision to deactivate his Instagram account after being slammed online in the wake of Tottenham’s north London derby defeat to Arsenal last weekend.
Postecoglou has now leapt to his winger’s defence and condemned individuals who have been making hurtful comments online about Johnson’s performances.
Brennan Johnson during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Arsenal FC (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s third-round Carabao Cup clash against Coventry, Postecoglou said: ‘I hate how we’ve just normalised all that stuff.
‘I’ve been around long enough and even when I was playing, I copped a fair bit. But it was usually on the terraces and then the game was over and you’d go home.
‘You’re talking about a young guy who is probably lacking a bit of confidence at the moment. Things haven’t gone his way.
‘But he comes here every day, he’s working his backside off, he’s asking for feedback, he’s doing everything right, he’s trying so hard to become the player he wants to be. It’s hurting him a lot.
‘It’s not like he’s out on the town and he doesn’t care and he rolls up late. So what’s his crime? His crime is he isn’t performing at the level that people expect of him.’
Johnson has started three of the club’s opening four Premier League games this season, he is expected to continue his role in the team.
Postecoglou further showed his support for the youngster and lashed out at how online trolls can make comments without fear of repercussion, adding: ‘That getting abuse, and it is abuse and a lot of it personal, is oh well, that’s part of the territory. I don’t see that’
‘The fact that they’ve got to limit their world, close their world a little bit because of… I mean what kind of person writes abusive things to an individual?
‘Criticism is one thing, exasperation at a game, you accept that. To sit down and write something abusive anonymously… say it in front of me, you’ll get a punch on the nose, you won’t do it again, mate. But they won’t do that,’ he added.
