At long last, Tottenham are no longer the butt of the joke. After 17 gruelling years, Spurs have finally put an end to their trophy drought and showcased that they have the bottle and grit to perform when the pressure is on.

But will the success be remembered for Brennan Johnson’s goal? Of course not. For Cristian Romero’s Man of the Match display? Nope. The success will be recognised as the point in which Ange Postecoglou silenced his critics and proved he has what it takes to take Tottenham back to where they feel they should be.

The Aussie put his neck on the line when he said he wins trophies in his second season, but it was at that point that the flick switched in north London. The team had a manager who truly believed in them.

Gone were the times of hot-headed bosses who would throw their squad to the wolves like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Instead, the team had a manager who was willing to put his 27-year coaching career on the line for them.

Make no mistake, Spurs’ league form is beyond not good enough. A squad with Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski should not be loitering above the relegation zone – but Postecoglou put all his eggs in the Europa League basket and reaped the benefits.

The potential 17th-placed finish isn’t without asterisks though, which can be dealt with over the next few months. Injuries have run riot at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium throughout the season, with Postecoglou only having a handful of senior players available in some periods, and any manager who has more players in the treatment room than in his senior dressing room deserves to be cut some slack.

Postecoglou moulded teenage midfielder Archie Gray into a centre-back, leaned on Lucas Bergvall,19, to step up into a first-team regular having only played in Sweden previously, and that’s without mentioning Mikey Moore’s development being accelerated and the need for a new goalkeeper to be signed due to Guglielmo Vicario’s injury.

Of course, some tactical tweaks will be required to prevent Tottenham’s leaky backline from conceding each week and for the midfield and attack to more consistently create chances. But Postecoglou has now shown he is far from a one-dimensional coach. He can adapt and overcome, and now he deserves a show of faith from Daniel Levy.

If the Aussie is backed in the transfer market with a sprinkling of floor-raising signings and their generally bleak squad depth is dealt with, then Postecoglou can truly be judged. Now is the chance for the Spurs owner to send a message to the squad and supporters that his side now mean business, and they trust their manager to guide them in the right direction.