‘They’re Not A Massive Membership’: Ange Postecoglou Rips Into Tottenham After Thomas Frank Sacking
Ange Postecoglou has claimed that Tottenham are “not a big club” when reflecting on his time in North London and reacting to the sacking of Thomas Frank.
Spurs ended their long wait for major silverware when winning the Europa League in 2025, but subsequently fired Australian tactician Postecoglou. Frank has headed in the same direction after taking in just eight months at the helm.
Postecoglou sacked after breaking trophy curse
Danish coach Frank was relieved of his duties on February 11, having picked up only 13 wins from his 38 games in the dugout. Spurs have slumped to 16th in the Premier League table, having finished one place lower than that last term.
Postecoglou oversaw a tumble towards the relegation zone, but did savour continental success and secure a first piece of silverware since 2008. That was not enough to keep him in a job, with the 60-year-old claiming that he was always fighting a losing cause — with his hands often being tied in the transfer market.
Postecoglou explains why Spurs are not a ‘big club’
Postecoglou has told The Overlap of why Spurs are struggling for stability and continuity, with even the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho failing to deliver on expectations. He said: “If you look at the list of names, 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.
“It’s fair to say with Mauricio, 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. 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.
“So when you look at those managers, like I said, they’ve gone from, you know, Mauricio played a certain way and sort of I think fit the DNA, then the big thing was, well, they haven’t won anything. We need winners. So let’s go for Jose. Jose gets them to a cup final and they sack him the week before the cup.
“So you’re going, if you’re talking about winners, well, in a one-off game, I wouldn’t mind Jose being my manager at my club just for a one-off game. What happens beyond that is… And then, you know, then it was Antonio [Conte] as a result of, once more, he is one other winner, you realize, after which Antonio goes and I kind of are available.
“They are saying, effectively, we wish the soccer, you realize. With Antonio, we made Champions League, however we did not have the soccer. So we wish the soccer and you have the soccer, despite the fact that my DNA is I will win as effectively.
“So then we go down that path. So that is what I imply. It is an actual curious when it comes to understanding what are they attempting to construct? , what are they? Clearly, they’ve constructed an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable coaching amenities. However whenever you have a look at the expenditure, notably, you realize, their wages construction, they are not a giant membership.”
Postecoglou reveals targets Tottenham did not signal
He added: “I noticed that as a result of once we had been attempting to signal gamers, we weren’t out there for these gamers. There’s sure gamers that we… I imply, on the finish of my first yr, once we completed fifth, for me, okay, how do you go from fifth to essentially difficult? Effectively, we needed to signal Premier League-ready gamers.
“However ending fifth that yr did not get us Champions League, we did not have the cash. So we ended up signing Dom Solanke, who was completely… I used to be actually eager on him, I actually like him, and three youngsters.
“, I used to be Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo on the time, Marc Guehi, as a result of I stated we’d like, if we will go from fifth to there, that is what the opposite huge golf equipment would do in that second. And people three youngsters are excellent younger gamers and I believe they’re going to be nice gamers for Tottenham, however they are not going to get you from fifth to fourth and third.
“However what was popping out from the membership was that ‘no, we’re a membership that may compete on all fronts’. So whenever you say, you have clearly bought nice expertise as a supervisor, you have managed it all around the world at sure golf equipment. Is Tottenham completely different to these different golf equipment when it comes to getting what you need onto the pitch or trying to take the membership ahead? Effectively, they’re all distinctive, they’re all completely different. However, you realize, whenever you stroll into Tottenham, what you see all over the place is ‘to dare is to do’. It is all over the place. And but their actions are virtually the antithesis of that.
“Whether or not you want or dislike him, give credit score to Daniel [Levy] as a result of that path has bought a brand new stadium, new amenities, however taking a secure path, I believe what they did not realise that to really win, you have to take some dangers in some unspecified time in the future. And that is the DNA of the membership.
“I nonetheless felt like, you realize, Tottenham as a membership was saying ‘we’re one of many huge boys’ and the fact is I do not assume they’re when it comes to my expertise over the past two years of how they act.”
Switch enterprise leaves Spurs in Arsenal’s shadow
He went on to say of recruitment enterprise, which all too typically sits within the shadow of arch-rivals from throughout north London: “When Arsenal want gamers, they’re going to spend 100 million on Declan Rice. I do not see Tottenham doing that. Possibly now, I do not know. However not, not in, not simply my historical past, even predating me.
“And loads of that was, okay, they had been constructing a stadium, so clearly funds had been a problem. I suppose the bit I did not realise was simply how a lot Champions League soccer makes a distinction and I believe that is why there was all the time this desperation, as a result of that supplied the kitty, you realize.
“So which means my first yr, they completed eighth the yr earlier than. We misplaced Harry two days earlier than we performed Brentford within the first recreation. I’ve bought to attempt to that is a tall order. It is a powerful one. We virtually bought there. I imply, if it was fifth some other yr, that in all probability would have been [enough].
“And if we did, possibly final yr, we would not have purchased three youngsters. However I nonetheless do not assume, it isn’t the switch payment, the wages to essentially appeal to. I imply, when was the final time Tottenham actually signed any person and also you go ‘wow’.”
Frank sacked with north London derby subsequent up for Spurs
Frank was unable to ship a reversal in fortune following Postecoglou’s departure, regardless of boasting helpful Premier League expertise from his time answerable for Brentford. He’s thought-about to be one other coach that lacked the required stage of help from these above him.
Postecoglou stated of the most recent change in Spurs’ dugout: “You have created a complete kind of atmosphere of uncertainty as a result of there is not any ensures, regardless of which managers you usher in as a result of they’ve had world-class managers there and never had success and for what purpose?
“What was responsible for such a serious pivot, you realize Thomas was strolling in, what’s his goal? What is the membership’s goal? Initially of the yr, clearly to compete on all fronts however the membership hasn’t competed on all fronts for a very long time.
“Additionally essentially the most influential particular person on the membership for the final 20 years can be going so if you are going to do such a serious pivot, you must perceive there may be going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was strolling into that? I do not know.
“It is a honest departure from me, anybody who research the sport, it wasn’t prefer it was a development from me. I constructed that kind of squad for need of a greater phrase to play a sure method for various years and he is kind of coming in and like we stated, it is a curious membership Tottenham.”
A derby date with previous adversaries Arsenal is subsequent on the agenda for Spurs, with the Gunners due at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 22. It stays to be seen who might be in cost for that fixture, and upcoming Champions League matches – with progress being made to the final 16 of that competitors.
