Ange Postecoglou said Tottenham have suspended Yves Bissouma for Monday's Premier League opener against Leicester City after the midfielder posted images on social media of himself inhaling laughing gas.
The Mali international apologised after videos emerged on Snapchat showing him using the Class C drug, also known as nitrous oxide, and Spurs released a statement saying it would be “treated as an internal matter”.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Postecoglou suggested Bissouma had failed in his responsibilities as a role model and needed to rebuild trust in his teammates as he sat out the club's first game of the season.
“I've been in the game a long time, and whenever situations like this come up, and they do happen, I've always tried to look at it a couple of different ways,” Postecoglou said.
“One is that there is a person involved: in this case it is Biss [Bissouma]And he made a very bad decision. We have to understand that and try to help him get over it and, as a club, see what we can do to make sure he doesn't make those kinds of decisions in the future.
“In that context, there are still sanctions involved, and some of those sanctions are educational and allow you to clearly understand how wrong you were. You always want to give people the opportunity to learn from their mistakes.
“The second part is that he is a footballer of this club. He has responsibilities. He has responsibilities to the club, he has responsibilities to his teammates, he has responsibilities to the fans and to everyone associated with the club, and he has breached those obligations. There have to be sanctions for that.
“He won't be available for Monday. We've suspended him for Monday's game. Beyond that, we need to build some trust between Biss and myself and between Biss and the group.”
“That's what he has to work hard on from now on, to get it back. That has nothing to do with one game. He may be suspended for one game, but he has to earn it.”
“The door is open for him and we hope we can help him realize that the decisions he makes affect more people than just him and will allow him to make better decisions in the future.”
Nitrous oxide was made a Class C drug under the UK government's Misuse of Drugs Act last November. Possession of nitrous oxide, which is not used for pain-relieving purposes, is now a criminal offence punishable by up to two years in prison, but it is unclear at this stage whether Bissouma will face any criminal charges.
Asked how Bissouma is going about regaining that trust, Postecoglou replied: “With his behaviour, my friend. It's quite simple. It's that he makes better decisions in the future and with his behaviour. He's obviously disappointed and he's been very apologetic, not just to me but to the club and to everyone involved.”
“But that's just the first part of the process, the next part is behaviour. Making sure you do what you need to do, like all of us. We all make mistakes. The important thing is how you recover from those mistakes, and what you do is much more important than what you say.”
Postecoglou expects £65 million ($83.2m) signing Dominic Solanke to be available against Leicester, while Richarlison has recovered from a calf problem but needs “game minutes in the coming weeks”.
