Ange Postecoglou, the former Tottenham manager, has delivered a stinging assessment of the north London club, declaring them “not a big club” in the wake of his successor Thomas Frank’s sacking. Frank was dismissed following a dismal 2-1 defeat to Newcastle, marking Tottenham’s eighth consecutive Premier League match without a win and plunging them to 16th in the table, a mere five points clear of the relegation scrap.
Postecoglou himself was controversially let go at the end of the previous season, despite securing Europa League qualification, after the team finished 17th. At that time, Thomas Frank, then managing Brentford, was widely considered the frontrunner to take the reins at Spurs.
Speaking on The Overlap’s “Stick to Football” podcast, Postecoglou didn’t mince words when dissecting the club’s current predicament. He argued that despite boasting a state-of-the-art stadium and impressive training facilities, their financial approach, particularly concerning their wage structure, disqualifies them from being considered among football’s elite.
“They’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities but, when you look at their expenditure and particularly their wages structure, they’re not a big club,” Postecoglou stated. “I saw that because, when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players.”
He further elaborated on the perceived disconnect between the club’s motto, “To Dare Is To Do,” and their actual operations. “When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To Dare Is To Do’ [the club motto], and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. I think they didn’t realise that, to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks.”
Postecoglou’s candid assessment continued, “I felt like Tottenham as a club were saying, ‘we’re one of the big boys’, and the reality is I don’t think they are.”
The Australian, who himself experienced a brief and ultimately unsuccessful tenure as Nottingham Forest manager earlier this season, also shared his perspective on Frank’s dismissal. He acknowledged that while Frank could have no complaints given the club’s dire results, he described Tottenham as a “curious club.”
Reflecting on the managerial merry-go-round, Postecoglou empathised with Frank’s situation. “It’s always, having been in that position twice in the last six months, it’s tough, it’s tough [being sacked]. You know that he can’t be the only issue at the club and that’s probably every manager. But, ultimately that’s what we get judged on.”
He reiterated his view of Tottenham as an enigmatic entity: “But, it goes back to me, it’s a curious club Tottenham. It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year, not just with me but with Daniel (Levy) leaving as well.”
Postecoglou highlighted the inherent instability created by such significant shifts within the club. “You’ve created a whole sort of environment of uncertainty because there’s no guarantees, no matter which managers you bring in because they’ve had world-class managers there and not had success and for what reason?”
He questioned the clarity of objectives for incoming managers. “What was the reason for such a major pivot? Thomas was walking in, what’s his objective? What’s the club’s objective? At the start of the year, obviously to compete on all fronts but the club hasn’t competed on all fronts for a long time.”
The departure of a long-serving, influential figure like Daniel Levy, according to Postecoglou, further compounded the situation. “Also the most influential person at the club for the last 20 years is also going so if you’re going to do such a major pivot, you have to understand there is going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? I don’t know.”
He concluded his assessment of Frank’s tenure by suggesting it was a departure from the path he had tried to lay. “It’s a fair departure from me, anyone who studies the game, it wasn’t like it was a progression from me. I built that sort of squad for want of a better word to play a certain way for a number of years and he’s sort of coming in and like we said, it’s a curious club Tottenham.”
With Tottenham once again embarking on a search for a new manager, Postecoglou believes there’s a lack of discernible consistency in the profile of candidates they pursue. He also suggested that the departure of star striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich has been significantly underestimated as a factor in the club’s struggles.
Postecoglou observed, “If you look at the list of names (managers), there isn’t really a common theme there in what they are trying to do. I do think part of Tottenham’s DNA – for the lack of a better word – is that they do like their teams to play a certain way.”
He drew a parallel with the managerial style of Mauricio Pochettino, stating, “It’s fair to say with Mauricio (Pochettino) they were going down that path, but at the same time, I think people have been too dismissive of Harry’s (Kane’s) influence through that period.”
The former manager expressed conviction that Kane’s presence would have significantly altered their fortunes. “If I had had Harry in that first year, I’m convinced we would have finished in that Champions League spot. Even him leaving, you cannot plug that hole. It’s impossible.”
