Ange Postecoglou verdict reached as four Tottenham manager replacements put forward

Just when Ange Postecoglou must have thought things couldn’t get any worse, along came Sunday.

The 2-1 home defeat to a previously hopeless Leicester saw Spurs hit a new nadir under their Australian boss, and they now sit a lowly 15th in the Premier League after 13 defeats this season.

Pressure is continuing to mount on the former Celtic manager, and while he looks to be safe in his job for now – with many Spurs fans venting their anger at Daniel Levy and the club’s board – there does look to be fewer and fewer places left to turn for him.

So what should happen now? Will Spurs pull the plug on the problem-hit Postecoglou? And if they do, who should they target to replace him? We asked the Mirror Football team for their views:

Nathan Ridley

We’ve been here before, haven’t we? Tottenham in freefall, protests against Daniel Levy, a manager looking worn out. Sadly, I think the same outcome is inevitable.

I really want to like Ange Postecoglou but his rudeness with the media and stubbornness on the pitch isn’t doing him or his club any good. Okay, maybe Spurs have lacked that sort of character in recent years, but without the very best players – like at Celtic – his style of football isn’t going to work in the long term.

Teams have figured Tottenham out and unless Postecoglou is willing to compromise (unlikely) it’s only going one way. The question is, who would you bring in? Kieran McKenna would be my pick, someone who has an emotional connection to Spurs and has done himself no harm with Ipswich’s performances this season.

I’d understand a more pragmatic appointment but it can’t be forgotten how much of a breath of fresh air Postecoglou’s positive football was when he first took over, so keep with that tradition and go for a young, homegrown manager. It’s about time they had a chance at a ‘Big Six’ club.

Neil Moxley

Spurs’ horrible injury list is probably the main reason why Ange Postecoglou shouldn’t be sacked. That, and the fact there is only one week to go before the closure of the transfer window. Add in the possibility that they might emerge with some silverware, and all the signals point to it being not the right time.

Now, that might change four weeks from now. The treatment table may be cleared, Spurs may march on in the Carabao Cup, FA Cup and Europe while keeping their heads above water in the Premier League. Or, they may miss out on everything and just be scraping by.

That would be the time to make a change. Not now. It’s too late in the window, and the next manager will also be struggling with injuries. If I were Daniel Levy, however, I’d have a list of replacements to hand. You know, just in case.

John Cross

Here’s why I don’t think Tottenham will stick with Ange Postecoglou – even though I think they should. That banner: 24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy, Time For Change. It’s a damning indictment of Daniel Levy’s reign at the club. It’s downright embarrassing.

Levy is getting it in the neck from supporters at every game – and that’s why I think he will act and make a change. It’s just a question of when. Now, after they go out of the cups, the summer. He will be gone.

Who should they get? Well, everyone’s dream ticket is the Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola. But would he risk his growing reputation? Brentford’s Thomas Frank is another one. But here’s why they need to stick. Injuries, a lack of new signings and they are still in the FA Cup, have a 1-0 lead over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final and are still in the Europa League.

I also remember a director crowing two summers ago about how Postecoglou was not only the best candidate for the job, but he was their only candidate. So why change?

I can’t see Postecoglou being in charge next season. But more fans want rid of the chairman, not the manager. Comically, Tottenham were voted best run football club by Fair Game Index last August. Nice stadium, shame about the trophies. That’s not the best survey…

Tom Victor

It probably tells its own story that, during Spurs’ defeat at Everton, chairman Daniel Levy rather than manager Ange Postecoglou was the target of negative chants.

The buck often stops with the manager, but it’s clear there are plenty who feel Postecoglou doesn’t deserve the brunt of the criticism. Tottenham went into the season light at the back, and – while much is made of the wider injury crisis – losing Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero has derailed their season.

I’m torn when it comes to the manager. On one hand, his recent post-match interviews point to a man who might just want this all to end, but on the other it’s tough to think of a contender who could do much more with the paper-thin selection of players available to him.

Spurs have done the ‘born winner’ approach with managers and given up without them winning anything. Last season showed what the good times under Ange can look like, and – with relegation still looking unlikely if not impossible – the owners need to be absolutely certain they have the right replacement if they’re to move on.

Mark Jones

In amongst the immediate reaction to Tottenham’s defeat to Leicester was a stat I found remarkable. Spurs have lost 25 of their last 51 Premier League games. Even I know that’s basically half.

It’s an incredible downturn in form that starts in the 11th game of last season, which Spurs had entered top of the league with 26 points from Postecoglou’s first 10 league games. The 11th was the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea when Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie got sent off, Micky van de Ven and James Maddison got injured and there was *that* high line.

In a sense maybe that game was Postecoglou in his purest form, the idealist outsider who you want to like – and plenty did when he first arrived – but who you suspect might just be too wedded to his ideas to ever truly succeed, and he gets angry when you question them. He’s been unlucky with injuries, but then is the mad way Tottenham play proving to be encouraging them?

Fans are right to voice their frustrations at Daniel Levy’s lack of direction for where he wants to take the club beyond being a vehicle for NFL games or Beyonce gigs, but he won’t be going anywhere any time soon, so Ange probably has to. Either do it now, appoint an interim and hope for an uplift, or wait until the summer and go all out for Andoni Iraola, or failing that Marco Silva.

Mike Walters

To dare is to do – Spurs chairman Daniel Levy’s decision on Postecoglou’s future will define his 24 years running the show at Tottenham. If he sacks Big Ange, realistically who is out there on the market right now who will satisfy the fans’ demands for sexy football and success? Answers on a postcard, please, because from this lookout the horizon is bare.

And if decides to stick rather than twist, will he finally take a leap of faith through the transfer window and make a statement signing?

Levy’s problem is his innate caution when it comes to spending money on new players. If you gave him a fiver for a flutter on the Grand National, he’d probably stick £1 on a sweepstake and save the rest in case it rains and he has to take the bus home to avoid getting wet.

So far this season, his only gamble has been £65m record signing Dominic Solanke – and he’s turned out to be decent. So if Big Ange stays, Levy had better dip into the petty cash tin again this week.

Since Juande Ramos and his muchos cobblers walked the plank in 2008, the slate reads: 17 years, 10 managers, no trophies. Maybe Tottenham’s problem isn’t just the managers who have come and gone.

Personally, I would stick with Postecoglou – whether they are brilliant or leaking goals like a sieve, watching Spurs is always fun, and while he is in with a chance of winning a cup, he should be allowed to stand or fall by that boast that he always wins a trophy in his second season. But if all avenues to silverware are exhausted, all bets are off. Including that £1 sweepstake.

Jeremy Cross

Big Ange vowed to win a trophy in his second season as Tottenham boss. Who is he kidding, apart from himself? All he should be getting his hands on is his P45 from Daniel Levy.

He has had more than enough time to mould his own side, but Spurs have gone backwards at an alarming rate this season. Losing at home to Leicester should be the final straw.

Postecoglou cannot handle the pressure or demands of the Premier League. His recent behaviour has shown this. Celtic might be a big club, but managing them is not sufficient preparation for what is expected in English football at the sharp end.

Daniel Orme

As Ange Postecoglou says, he ‘always’ wins something in his second season. And to be fair to the Australian, Spurs still have a chance to do that. They have one foot in the Carabao Cup final – albeit still have a tough task on their hands to get past Liverpool. Meanwhile, they have an excellent chance to go far in the Europa League.

There’s no getting around it though, Spurs’ Premier League form has been rotten. Any ambitious club aiming to secure a regular Champions League berth would have made a change by now.

But you’d have to question if a change is worth it at this stage. It’s already a bad season and that looks unlikely to change. The league campaign would only be salvaged by Tottenham effectively winning every remaining game, which isn’t going to happen.

Any replacement – whoever that may be – would still be lumbered with the same injury and behind-the-scenes issues that Postecoglou is currently battling with. And that’s why he might get a stay of execution for now. But there is no doubt that instant improvement is needed, otherwise this debate may rear its head again very soon indeed.

Conor Mummery

Ange Postecoglou is far from blameless for where Tottenham find themselves in the Premier League table. 15th, without a win since the 5-0 drubbing of Southampton on December 15 and on a run of four straight defeats in January.

But there’s a reason fans directed their ire elsewhere during Sunday’s woeful home defeat by Leicester. Spurs’ unprecedented injury crisis started well before January, and with a week of the window to go, the only reinforcements have been in the shape of 21-year-old goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky.

Spurs have one of the lowest wages to turnover ratio in the league at 42 per cent. They have the biggest PSR headroom in the league. And Daniel Levy and Co have sat on their hands all month and watched their club slide down the league table, picking up more injuries along the way with Dominic Solanke, Destiny Udogie and Yves Bissouma joining the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario on the sidelines.

Spurs find themselves in a strong position in Europe with one match of the league phase to play, and 90 minutes from Wembley, heading to Anfield with a 1-0 lead in the Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool. There’s no doubt Spurs’ progress in the cups has, rightly, kept Postecoglou in a job. But if he is to have a real shot of turning things around and salvaging a semi-respectable league position, Levy needs to reach into his pockets in the final week of the window and get Postecoglou and his players the help they desperately need.

David Anderson

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Ange Postecoglou because Tottenham’s injury list is horrendous and they are still in three cups, no matter how bad their Premier League form is.

While the doom-mongers talk about relegation, that is not going to happen. Spurs are eight points clear of the drop zone, nine given their vastly-superior goal difference, and the three relegated clubs will come from the bottom four. That said, Postecoglou only has one way of playing and while his attacking style is easy on the eye, it leaves them wide open.

This is a bad Premier League and aside from Liverpool, all the big clubs are poorer or struggling and yet Spurs are nowhere near the European places. Give Big Ange the rest of the season to see if he can do something in a cup – and he has promised Spurs fans silverware in his second campaign.

If he fails to deliver, sack him and bring in Thomas Frank, one of the most under-rated managers in the Premier League. Frank continues to work miracles at Brentford and he could also work his magic at Tottenham.

Scott Trotter

From the outside, a decision to sack Ange Postecoglou would appear more justified than the decisions to part ways with the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo. Spurs’ form has been nothing short of disastrous. Since the beginning of December in the Premier League, they have lost fewer games than only Southampton, the only team they have managed to defeat.

Postecoglou has set his stall out in a principled fashion but there’s only so long you can go without claiming three points. Injury issues at Tottenham should provide him with some leeway. The club are still competing in the Carabao Cup and are set to progress in the Europa League. There could yet be some tangible success to be found this term.

It won’t come easily however. Spurs cannot currently fill their bench and have required players who are not fully fit, to start for them. It’s not working out and there’s little sign of their fortunes being transformed in the transfer window either.

There’s not an outstanding claim for Postecoglou to remain in charge, but there’s little reason to think someone would come in and immediately do better with current resources. That Andoni Iraola is doing so well with an injury-hit Bournemouth side won’t have helped frustrations however.

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