Former Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou is fierce in his criticism of his old employer.
Spurs and “Big Ange” parted ways last summer after a rollercoaster season in 2024/25. The north London side did win the UEFA Europa League, but at the same time finished in a disappointing 17th place in the Premier League. – The last place that is not relegated.
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“I rated Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi”
Postecoglou himself will claim that the European Cup was prioritized as the season progressed, and that was the explanation for the unusually low league ranking. However, the Tottenham management saw it differently and chose to start over with Brentford’s Thomas Frank this summer.
Tottenham paid £6.7 million to bring the Dane to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but sacked him earlier this week after just two wins in 17 games.
Ange Postecoglou: “Sacking Frank is fair”
There are several similarities between Frank’s tenure and Postecoglou’s time at the club: strong performances in Europe, failing league results and lengthy injury lists.
The Australian, who last had a brief and unsuccessful stint as boss of Nottingham Forest, showed little sympathy for either his successor or the board that fired him eight months ago.
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In an interview with the podcast Stick to Football , Postecoglou delivered a merciless verdict:
“For me, it’s a fair dismissal. Anyone who knows the game understands that it wasn’t a development from my time. I built that team to play in a certain way in the last few years.
“You come to Tottenham, and everywhere it says ‘To dare is to do’. It hangs on the walls. Yet their actions are almost the exact opposite. That says a lot about what they are really trying to build.
“Admittedly, they have erected a fantastic stadium and a state-of-the-art training facility. But when you look at the money spent, especially the salary structure, they are not a big club.
“We had to sign Premier League-ready players”
Postecoglou had success in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos and in Scotland with Celtic, but has so far failed to make his mark in the Premier League with either Spurs or Forest.
He believes his second season at Tottenham was weakened by the club’s reluctance to pay for established Premier League players.
“After my first year, when we finished fifth, I thought: how do we take the step from fifth place to really challenging? We had to bring in Premier League-ready players. But fifth place didn’t give us the Champions League. We didn’t have money. So we ended up signing Dominic Solanke – who I would have liked, he’s good – and three teenagers.
“I considered Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi. Because if we were to take the step up, that’s how the other big clubs act.
