Tottenham have made the decision to sack Ange Postecoglou, despite him leading the north London club to Europa League glory last month. Spurs won Europe’s second-tier competition after beating Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao, with Brennan Johnson’s first-half strike the difference.
However, that couldn’t keep Postecoglou at Tottenham, as a 17th-place finish in the Premier League – the club’s lowest since 1976/77 – was the biggest contributing factor to his dismissal. Spurs lost 22 of their 38 top-flight fixtures last season, the joint-most in their 143-year history.
Spurs confirmed in a statement on Friday afternoon that Postecoglou had been relieved of his duties “following a review of performances and after significant reflection”.
They added: “It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond.”
Thomas Frank has emerged as the leading contender to replace Postecoglou, while Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with a shock return, with Kieran McKenna and Marco Silva among the others in the frame.
Here, football.london take a look at whether sacking Postecoglou was the right decision and who Tottenham should pick to replace him…
Kieran King
Daniel Levy has received a lot of backlash from Tottenham fans for sacking Postecoglou, but I think he has made the correct decision. Yes, you can’t ignore the Europa League success and winning their first major piece of silverware for 17 years, but overall, it was a disappointing season.
Finishing 17th in the Premier League with a staggering 22 losses is unacceptable for a club the size of Tottenham, and their drab top-flight form stretched back to the second half of last season. Even if Postecoglou was unfortunate with injuries, he still had a squad to win more matches.
Losses at home to Leicester and Ipswich stick out like a sore thumb and that should not have happened. Tottenham must be better in the league next season and I don’t think Postecoglou is the man to take them forward, meaning appointing a new manager is the right thing to do.
Looking at who could replace the Aussie, I think that Andoni Iraola should be Tottenham’s first choice candidate. His attacking, high-press style of football would suit the Spurs squad and could appeal to the fanbase, plus his record at Bournemouth is outstanding and I believe he could take that to north London.
Jack Flintham
I have always said with this decision that Spurs may need to take a leaf out of Manchester United’s book and showed they have learnt the lessons of Ineos. Sir Jim Ratcliffe panicked and gave Erik ten Hag a contract extension after he masterminded victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
That decision is one of his worst to date. They gave him another transfer window and set the club back even further in their return to the top. Postecoglou may have delivered the club a trophy but he was Spurs’ Ten Hag.
Tottenham could not stick with him after the Premier League campaign they had. Seventeenth was a truly atrocious finish and the sacrificing of the Premier League could have backfired badly if they had not been victorious in Bilbao.
In the end, it proved to be a fitting swansong for Postecoglou, who leaves with his reputation intact. Ultimately, I believe this decision will prove to be the right one for all parties as time goes on.
Isaac Seelochan
Spurs were poor all season, bar the Europa League final. Ange Postecoglou got off to the perfect start when he arrived in 2023/24, but teams generally worked them out in his second campaign.
Injuries haven’t helped, but one of the most damning facts for Postecoglou is that a Bournemouth team under a manager who has been there for the same period of time finished above his side in the table. The Cherries played them off the park when the two sides met in December, despite spending a fraction of the money Spurs have paid for some of their stars.
Postecoglou has often come across as quite arrogant and thin-skinned in some of his responses to journalists, despite the fact he has received a lot of goodwill in the media since he arrived in the United Kingdom. As time went on and with results continuing to deteriorate, his position felt increasingly untenable so it was the right decision to dismiss him.
Sam Truelove
What a mad club Tottenham Hotspur is. Ange Postecoglou deserved more time, in my opinion. Two weeks ago exactly the Australian declared “season three is better than season two” as he addressed thousands of Spurs fans at the Europa League trophy parade. It turns out, though, that there will be no season three after all.
The decision to relieve Postecoglou of his duties is a brutal decision by Daniel Levy. Postecoglou may have won the club’s first trophy in 17 years but he was rewarded by being sacked. Simply wow.
Who knows whether it will be the right call. The names mooted to replace the former Celtic man don’t exactly excite me, either. That’s no slight on Thomas Frank by the way but I’m just not sure if the Brentford boss will be able to take this Spurs side on.
Postecoglou was loved by the players. Loved by the fans. But, it turns out, not by Levy.
Hannah Pinnock
The head says he had to go based on league form; the heart says he deserved more time. Sacking Postecoglou was always going to be a divisive decision, but ultimately, it was one that had to be made.
The club needed to assess the season as a whole and, make no mistake, it was abysmal in the league. That said, there’s something fitting about Postecoglou ending his tenure by ending the club’s long trophy drought. He leaves north London with a positive legacy.
Ideally, Spurs should now be looking at Premier League-proven managers, given the magnitude of the task ahead. Thomas Frank is the leading candidate, and it’s no surprise. He’s one of the most promising coaches in the English top flight right now.
What he’s achieved at Brentford is remarkable, especially considering they’re a club punching well above their weight. While Spurs may boast far greater resources than Brentford, they don’t operate at the financial level of some of their top-six rivals. That’s why they need someone capable of doing more with less – and Frank fits that profile perfectly.
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