How our recent managers fared in their first Premier League outing

Ange Postecoglou is set to become the first Australian to manage in the Premier League this Sunday as we kick-off our 2023/24 campaign with a trip to Brentford (kick-off 2pm).

Ahead of his first game in charge in England's top flight, we take a look back at how our last 10 managers have fared in their first league games…

1 - Ryan Mason - Spurs 2-2 Manchester United, April, 2023

In what was Ryan Mason’s first game back in temporary charge, a battling performance saw us turnaround a 2-0 deficit to earn a point at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. First-half goals from Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford put the Red Devils in control at the break before we responded brilliantly in the second half, Pedro Porro halving the deficit and Heung-Min Son equalising from close range late on.

Highlights - Spirited comeback against the Red Devils

2 - Cristian Stellini - Everton 1-1 Spurs - April, 2023

Cristian Stellini was denied a first win as interim Head Coach by Michael Keane’s long-range strike in the dying embers at Goodison Park. Everton midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure's straight red card on 57 minutes injected some much-needed life into a tense encounter after an off-the-ball incident involving Harry Kane. The striker then put us ahead from the spot 11 minutes later after Keane had fouled Cristian Romero in the box. Substitute Lucas Moura was then sent off for a challenge on the former Burnley man with two minutes to play before the defender salvaged a point for the Toffees in the 90th minute.

Highlights - Incident-packed draw with the Toffees

3 - Antonio Conte - Everton 0-0 Spurs - November, 2021

After a few days working with the squad, Antonio Conte began his tenure with a 3-2 win over Vitesse in the Europa Conference League before preparing for a Premier League away trip at Goodison Park. Substitute Giovani Lo Celso came closest to giving the Italian a winning start when his effort hit the post with two minutes remaining. But Rafa Benitez’s Everton proved stubborn opponents and held on despite being reduced to 10 men late on when Mason Holgate was sent off for a dangerous challenge on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Highlights - Conte's first league game

4 - Nuno Espirito Santo - Spurs 1-0 Manchester City - August, 2021

It was an opening weekend to savour under new Head Coach Nuno Espirito Santo at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as we welcomed our supporters back to N17 with a 1-0 win over defending champions Manchester City. Heung-Min Son was the man to get the only goal of the game - his first in his Golden Boot winning campaign - as he struck with a low shot 10 minutes after the restart which gave Nuno the ideal start.

Highlights - Victory over City as fans return

5 - Ryan Mason - Spurs 2-1 Southampton - April, 2021

In his first stint as interim Head Coach, Ryan Mason went into our behind-closed-doors home fixture against Southampton as the Premier League’s youngest head coach at 29. Danny Ings nodded the visitors in front on the half hour mark before Gareth Bale’s superb curling equaliser sparked our comeback with 30 minutes remaining. A late VAR intervention saw us awarded a penalty after a foul by Moussa Djenepo on Harry Winks and Heung-Min Son made no mistake from the spot to cap a spirited fightback.

Highlights - Mason oversees win over Saints

6 - Jose Mourinho - West Ham United 2-3 Spurs - November, 2019

Without an away win since 20 January, 2019, Jose Mourinho’s first league game at the helm looked like a tall order with a London derby away to West Ham United. However, first-half strikes from Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura and another shortly after the break from Harry Kane gave us a commanding lead at London Stadium. Late goals from West Ham's Michail Antonio and Angelo Ogbonna provided a late scare as Mourinho enjoyed a winning return to management.

Highlights - Jose gets off to a winning start

7 - Mauricio Pochettino - West Ham 0-1 Spurs - August, 2014

A new era under Maurico Pochettino got off to the perfect start with an incident-packed 1-0 victory over Sam Allardyce’s West Ham at Upton Park. Both sides ended the match with 10 men, with Kyle Naughton first to be dismissed for a handball inside the area on 29 minutes. Mark Noble missed the resultant penalty before Hammers defender James Collins was sent off for a second bookable offence just after the hour mark. Impressive rear-guard action kept it goalless deep into stoppage time before debutant Eric Dier – fresh from his move from Sporting Lisbon – fired in a 93rd-minute winner.

Highlights - Debutant Dier scores dramatic winner

8 - Tim Sherwood - Southampton 2-3 Spurs - December, 2013

Following Andre Villas-Boas’ departure on 16 December, Tim Sherwood assumed caretaker duties in his first league game in charge in our dramatic 3-2 win against Pochettino’s Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium. We fell behind to Adam Lallana’s early long-range strike but Emmanuel Adebayor’s close range volley and an own goal from Jos Hooiveld turned the game in our favour. Saints striker Rickie Lambert levelled just before the hour mark before the Togo striker curled in the winner on 64 minutes to open his account in his first start that term.

Highlights - Comeback win for Sherwood

9 - Andre Villas-Boas - Newcastle United 2-1 Spurs - August, 2012

We started life under Andre Villas-Boas with an opening day defeat at St James’ Park in the 2012/13 season. We dominated the first half as Jermain Defoe and Gareth Bale were both denied by the woodwork before Demba Ba’s curling effort gave the hosts the lead shortly after half-time. Defoe levelled from close range on 76 minutes but it ended in defeat with Hatem Ben Arfa scoring from the spot just four minutes later.

Highlights - Villas-Boas opener at Newcastle

10 - Harry Redknapp - Spurs 2-0 Bolton Wanderers - October, 2008

After Juande Ramos' winless start to the 2008/09 campaign, we parted ways with the Spaniard just shy of his one-year anniversary at White Hart Lane and brought in the experience of Harry Redknapp. The English manager's first game in charge came in a 2-1 win at Newcastle United in the League Cup third round before a league encounter against Bolton at White Hart Lane. The Englishman’s impact was immediate as we secured our first league win of the season over 10-man Bolton – who had midfielder Gavin McCann sent off for a second bookable offence – with goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and Darren Bent in each half.