Exclusive Interview with Alan Hutton: Insights on Tottenham, Aston Villa, and Rangers

Last updated: November 12, 2024 by Leon Marshal

Alan Hutton, renowned former defender for Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, and Rangers, joins us for an exclusive interview with our best betting sites team to provide his perspective on Tottenham’s trajectory under Ange Postecoglou, Aston Villa’s impressive return to European competition, and the current state of his beloved Rangers. A candid voice in football, Hutton also weighs in on the Premier League title race, shares his thoughts on Scottish internationals excelling in Italy, and discusses how these top-level experiences could benefit Scotland on the international stage.

Questions on Tottenham

Ange played a high-wire, gung-ho brand of football at Celtic, and he brought that with him to the Premier League. Several people have questioned his tactical approach. What are your thoughts on the style, and can it be successful in the Premier League, where there are so many teams that can hurt you?

I think Ange’s tactical style can work in cup competitions because in any one-off game, playing that way, there’s a high probability that you will win. When you start talking about the Premier League, it’s about consistency, bringing a high level every single game.

If you are open against big teams, especially away from home, they’ll pick you off. That’s kind of the be all and end-all of it.

I like the way Ange plays. I think playing all-out attack and playing a high line, you’ve got two centre-backs, a lot of pressure is on them, but they’ve got pace to recover.

It looks good, but if you’re going that way at Man City, if you’re going that way at Liverpool, even at home, they’re good teams who can hurt you. They find spaces, they have the players that are good enough to pick you off and that’s the difficulty. It’s that happy medium.

At times I do believe that defensively they could be a little bit more sound. But look, I’m not a manager. He is. It’s him that makes the decisions and this is the way he wants to play. So, in cup games, it’s probably easier to play that style of football.

Over the length of a season, I think it’s hard to continually play that way and really challenge.

What is holding back Tottenham from competing for silverware on a consistent basis because, if you look at the club from the outside, it seems like it’s ready-made for success. Is it a mentality thing?

I think Ange has got the squad. I think he’s got the mentality. He’s been there and done it before, and he knows what it takes to win. Of course, this is a higher level than Celtic, and where he has managed before, so it makes it more difficult. The opposition is more difficult to play against as well, which makes it harder.

His comments about winning a trophy in his second season did get taken out of context a little bit. I think he was stating a fact where he was saying, ‘In my second season, I’ve won trophies,’ then everybody jumped on board with it and kind of got at him. He was just saying, ‘I was stating a fact.’

People have taken it as he’s putting himself under pressure because this is his second year, and they’re going, ‘Right, well go and win something then,’ so it’s a crossed-wires situation. But it’s out there now. They’ve not won anything since 2008, it’s too long.

Some of the squads that Tottenham have had within that period, they should be competing and winning, especially domestic trophies, and they should be competing in Europe. They can do that; they’ve got the quality to win a trophy this season. It’s not easy; you need a little bit of luck, but it’s about time.

How can Postecoglou get Spurs back on track?

That’s the big question mark, isn’t it? The way the Tottenham team plays at this moment under Ange, it’s kind of all or nothing. That’s what it seems like. They don’t get many draws. They’re quite open at times. It’s good to watch. There’s no getting away from that as well.

The games are normally exciting, but it’s about being consistent. If you’re at the top end of the table and challenging for the top four, consistently being good week in, week out.

That’s maybe a little bit of a problem. In certain games, could Ange change in terms of his tactics and not being so open at times? Possibly, but I just don’t think that’s how he looks at it. He wants to win every game.

He wants to challenge in every game, and that’s how he sees it moving forward. It’s difficult to win every game in the Premier League. Nowadays, when you look at the fixtures in the Premier League, they’re all hard.

I remember back in my day, when I first went down, you looked at fixtures coming up and thought, right, we’ll get three points here, but that one would be a tough game. Now, all the teams are strong, and a lot of them can beat each other, which makes it more difficult, so it’s about being consistent.

Questions on Aston Villa

Other than the last fixture, which was lost because of a really bizarre goal, Villa have been magnificent in Europe. Have you been surprised by how well the club has adapted to playing in the competition?

Am I surprised by Villa’s form in the Champions League? Yes and no. The first game against Young Boys, the first time back in a long period of time, it gave them confidence going away from home. Clean sheet, scoring three goals, then going on to the Bayern Munich game. I thought that would always take care of itself at Villa Park.

I knew the atmosphere would be incredible. To get the victory there, and another clean sheet, that’s really shown everybody that, yes, they are capable of competing at this level.

They got three wins in a row, and it just keeps going higher and higher, the belief that they can go and do it and have a great season in the Champions League. He made a lot of changes for the Bruges game, something like five. It wasn’t their best performance.

I don’t know, it didn’t have a Champions League game feel to me when I was watching it. It felt like they were in the Conference League or something like that. It just didn’t seem to have that kind of spark.

I don’t know if that was something to do with the way that they played, but I think they’re more than capable of going and getting in that top eight. They’ve got some big games coming up, don’t get me wrong, but the belief is definitely there within the squad, and if they hit the heights, then they can do that.

Questions on Rangers

What’s gone wrong at your old club Rangers since the start of the season?

What’s going on at Rangers? I think there’s been a huge shift at the club in terms of finances and players coming in and out. The player trading model has not worked in recent years, contracts have been allowed to run down, and they’ve lost a lot of experience. That being said, the manager has spent money. They’ve spent about £16 million this summer but I don’t feel that he got the people in that he wanted.

I thought he would probably want more experience within that squad, and he’s not been able to get it. It’s obviously taken time; he’s had that, but it’s still very inconsistent at the moment. Performances are very up and down. They’re so far behind in the league.

If it was just Celtic, people wouldn’t accept it, but they would understand that they’re at a different level at this moment in time. Jimmy Thelin has come into Aberdeen and done the same thing. He’s got them flying. That’s why the red flags are out, and the alarm bells are sounding at this moment in time.

Rangers, where they are, even at board level, the stability is not there, so there’s a huge turnaround within the club. Everything’s changing and I did feel sorry for the manager at times, because he kind of had his hands tied behind his back, especially at the beginning of the season. Now we should be seeing signs that they’re moving forward, but we’re still not seeing that.

Rangers are miles behind Celtic and Aberdeen in the table. Are you confident that they can close the gap on either team and what does a good domestic season look like for the club from here?

Nobody would have wanted to see this situation at this moment in time. They’re nine points off Aberdeen and Celtic, so at the start of the season they want to compete for the league, simple as that, and both cup trophies. They want to have a good run in Europe. The league at this moment in time, to claw back nine points, it’s very difficult to bridge that gap against a very good Celtic team.

Celtic are a different animal and Aberdeen have done exceptionally well, so you have to look at the other two trophies and think those are a must. Rangers, Celtic, these big clubs must win silverware, so that has to be a priority.

They’re doing well in Europe, even though the Lyon defeat was a difficult one to take, but again, Lyon was an outstanding opponent, so you can’t really complain too much about it. Rangers are doing well in that competition, but they need to carry that form week in, week out in the league, and they’ve not done that. The performances have been too inconsistent. The League Cup and the Scottish Cup are a must, but you just feel at this moment in time the league, the gap’s just getting too wide.

Questions on the SPL

Can Aberdeen keep their form up and challenge for the title?

I thought, ‘The new manager has come in, they’ve made a really good start to the league campaign. They’ll probably fall apart.’ But as the weeks go on, I don’t think they will.

Will they drop points? Of course they will. That’s going to happen. But I believe with the squad that they’ve got and the manager that they’ve got, they’ve got an idea.

You can see the way they want to play football. The recruitment’s been good. The manager’s getting the best out of the players that were already there. There were players there that looked like they would be moving on, but he’s brought them back into the fold, and they’re showing their quality, so he’s doing something very good at this moment in time.

I believe they can sustain it. I think if January comes round, they’ll probably have funds to go and kind of freshen up the squad a little bit to help them with that last push.

They’re doing excellent. The manager, his game management of what he does. He always wants to win games. He sees opportunities. He’s not scared to make decisions and substitutions that impact the game. So, if he continues that way, there’s no reason why they can’t fight for the title this season.

Questions on the Premier League

There are a lot of talented right-backs in the Premier League. Who would you consider the best, and who is the right-back with the most potential?

If you’re talking about the best right-backs in the Premier League, you’re going to be looking at Trent and you’re going to be looking at Kyle Walker. I know Walker’s 34 now. Trent’s 26. Those two players set the standard even though different types of players.

We see Trent, how he plays, he goes into midfield, his passing range, his creativity. He could be better at times with his defending, but everybody has things to work on, and the likes of Walker, his pace helps him, and his all-round game is superb.

They’re your top end, but Livramento, I really like the way he plays, and he’s young. Rico Lewis is another one. If you want to play a full-back with a brief to go into midfield then he gives you different options.

Malo Gusto at Chelsea is another young, exciting right-back who does the same thing in terms of moving into midfield. There’s a lot of talent at right back in the Premier League, but as the years have gone by, the role of the right back has changed. It used to be you were a defender when I was first coming through. Then you needed to be an attacking full-back that got up and down. Now you’re looking at guys that go and play within midfield, so it’s always developing. It just really depends on the team and what you’re looking for.

Kieran Tierney was on his way out of Arsenal in the summer and picked up a horrible injury for Scotland. His next move is going to be absolutely crucial, and he’s been linked with a return to Celtic. What is the most important step in Keiran’s future in your opinion and would a return back to Scotland in an environment that he knows perfectly help him rebuild his career?

I’ve always said that KT is one of the best players to have come out of Scotland, and at Celtic, he outgrew them at one stage. The big money move came; it was inevitable that it was going to happen. It just didn’t quite work for him at Arsenal. I was gutted for him because I really thought he could kick on and be there for a long period of time.

He’s definitely got that mentality, the winning mentality that you need to be a world-class player. The question mark that’s always going to be there is the injury side of it. It’s a real shame. That’s obviously a problem, and it didn’t help him at Arsenal.

Moving forward, I think if he is going to leave Arsenal, it has to be to a club where he’s going to play regularly. First and foremost, stay fit and play regular football. At this moment in time, Celtic are linked, and I’m not so sure about that. They have got two left backs at the club.

I think they could afford to take him; wages could be a problem, but if they can keep going in the Champions League, then they could probably find the finances to make a deal work.

For him, mentally, it’s about staying fit and playing regular football. If he can get back to that, there’s no question he’s an outstanding footballer.

At 27, he’s still got a lot to give, especially in the Premier League. He’s more than capable of playing at that level for a sustained period of time, so it has to be where he’s going to get minutes. He can’t go to a team and not play. That’s not going to be great for him, so if he can get a move like that, he can kick on again.

Who’s impressed you most?

I love seeing people scoring goals and I know Haaland doesn’t get the most touches and stuff, but he’s always there to score goals.

Curtis Jones, I think has been brilliant for Liverpool in recent weeks. He’s taken his game to the next level, but you can go through every single team and there will be standout players. This is one of the best leagues in the world, so I could flick through any team and give you a player from there. So it’s a difficult question to name just one outstanding player this season.

Who is a player in the Premier League you wouldn’t want to come up against?

Right now, I wouldn’t want to come up against any left-wingers (laughs). When I was playing, you had the likes of Zaha and Bolasie and all these guys that would give you a real problem. Even Adama Traore, and he’s still playing.

The evolution of wingers, the things that they’re bringing to the party now, week in week out, I’d be in for a tough gig there. The way the likes of Salah’s playing, it’s very difficult.

You have to be at the top of your game to even last against them. I wouldn’t fancy facing any of them, to be honest.

Alan Hutton on the English Premier League Title Race

I did the Liverpool game against Aston Villa, and they were very good. I just feel the way the league is at this moment in time: if you start losing too many points, you’re out of it.

Liverpool are five points in front, and then you’ve got Arsenal nine behind that. That’s a lot of points to reduce. That’s a lot in this day and age; when you think of previous seasons, teams hardly lost a game. To pull that back is going to be very difficult for Arsenal.

You can never write off City. That being said, at this moment in time, it would be between Liverpool and City. But things can quite easily change in football. I think Chelsea have done really well. I think it’s probably too soon for them to really be talking about competing for the title over the full length of season, but they’re coming up quickly, and they’ve done really well so far.

I said Arsenal at the start of the season with City, but it’s strange how it’s quickly changed. So, I’m looking at Liverpool and Man City now as the main two contenders for the title.

Alan Hutton on the Premier League Top Four

At the start of the season, I wouldn’t have said Chelsea would have been up there, but I’m starting to see signs from them that they can go on a run and they can compete.

We know they’re so strong in terms of their squad, so I think they could maintain it. Liverpool Man City will be up there, I think Arsenal will be up there, and then it’s one after that for me. Could it be Chelsea?

Tottenham seem a little bit back now, but then you’ve got Villa that’s right up there as well, so it is very tight. I think it’ll kind of flip-flop between now and the end of the season, but the top three will be Liverpool, Man City and Arsenal, with a lot of clubs fighting for that last Champions League spot throughout the season.

Scottish Internationals

Are Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay demonstrating their top player credentials by starring in a table-topping Napoli team?

I think so. If you look at Scott McTominay, especially over the last couple of seasons at Manchester United, I think he scored some really important goals for them and as well for Scotland. He’s been excellent, but for some reason, he was probably overlooked, or maybe not appreciated enough, at Manchester United. He felt the need to have to go elsewhere, so I totally get that.

I think he’s now showing his quality in class, especially when he moves forward on the pitch. I think he gives you a lot. We’ve seen that in Scotland before the move. When he plays higher up, he’s got more than enough ability to score goals, get back, defend and do everything else that a midfielder has to do.

Billy Gilmour, I felt for him a wee bit as well when he left to go to Brighton, and then it didn’t quite work for him. I’ve always known him as a highly technical player, so for him to go somewhere like Italy, I think it does suit him. It suits the way he is as a player.

I had no doubt that they would go there and flourish, and they’re actually showing that now. Napoli are a point ahead at the top of the league, and those two are showing their quality, playing week in, week out. It just shows you the quality that the Scottish players actually have.

Do you think that Manchester United will regret letting McTominay leave the club?

Perhaps United will regret it, but it’s in the rearview mirror now, McTominay and Man United. I think that he will have a burning desire to show everyone at United it was a mistake to let him go. That will always be there for a player, and I think he probably felt that he deserved to get more of a chance, because for a long period of time he wasn’t playing. He made cameo performances, but he was great when he played, he scored important goals. I think he probably felt that he warranted an opportunity for more playing time, and he didn’t get it.

Manchester United is a team with a lot of quality players. The likes of Bruno Fernandes, he plays higher up the pitch in Scott’s position, so he was competing with some world-class players at United to get into the team.

When he did play, he played more as a six, and you don’t get the best out of him playing in that position. He felt the need to move, and It’s been justified.

It would have hurt him leaving Manchester United. There’s no getting away from that. United are one of the biggest teams in the world. He wanted to stay there and show his worth, but now he’s shown everybody, and now people are talking about him and suggesting that it was a mistake to let him go.

He’s been outstanding at Napoli. He’s playing at a high standard and is going to want to keep showing Manchester United what they’re missing out on.

There are a number of Scots playing in Italy. Why do you think that is a league that suits their style?

In the Scottish nature, you want to always give 110%, and I think the fans take to that as well. They can see the passion in these players, the desire that they have to play for that team and give their all. I think that counts in their favour as well.

Look at the likes of Lewis Ferguson at Bologna, who’s been outstanding. I know he’s had a bad injury, but he was a captain of the team at times as well. You see that these guys have got quality. They’ve been given the opportunity.

If you look at the Italian leagues over the years, it’s a brand of football that is defensively sound with that bit of flair to go and win games. I think the Scottish players that have gone over that have got that in abundance, and they are really flourishing, so it’s great to see, and I think it not only benefits them as people and players, but also us as a nation.

To come back with that experience and to then go and play with the Scotland national team, I think that is only going to make us a better team.

Will the national team reap the benefits of having key players playing big roles for big clubs outside of the British Isles?

It can only be a good thing having key players performing for top clubs in Europe. You look at players, especially the likes of Lewis Ferguson. For him to go and play at that level, to introduce himself into a different culture, constantly learning new things from new managers at a high level.

Coming back with that experience is only going to benefit Scotland moving forward, and I think if you look at the squad in general, they’re better now because they are playing at higher levels.

It’s not just players coming out of Scotland. They’re playing in the Premier League, they’re playing in the Championship, they’re playing in Italy. Bringing that all back together is only going to be a good thing moving forward, and we can see that in our performances.

In recent months, the Scotland team haven’t really been hitting the heights that they have shown before, but we’ve seen that they’re more than capable, and that’s through the experiences of these different players playing in different countries.

It’s been a difficult Nations League group for Scotland so far. Are you confident that they can get some points on the board and record their first win when they play Croatia on Friday night?

Yeah, I’m confident that we can get our first win on the board against Croatia on Friday. Croatia are a good team, but we’re capable of beating them. There’s a lot of players that are aging there and Scotland will look at this as a game to try and get three points.

I think we’ve have been close. I know they’ve not had a win yet, but they’ve not been ripped apart really. The next step for this Scotland team is to go over that barrier where you are playing bigger teams. You are coming up against the best nations. They’ve worked hard to get there, and I know the Nations League isn’t the be all and end all, and it is about the World Cup qualifiers, but you look when they’ve got to tournaments.

At certain stages they’ve frozen a little bit, so I think playing regularly against these top sides is only going to help them in the long run.