Football Daily - Postecoglou sacked by Spurs

Episode Date: June 6, 2025

A 1-0 win over Manchester United in Bilbao brought Spurs a first major trophy for 17 years, but that wasn’t enough for ‘Big Ange’ to keep his place in the dugout. James Gregg is joined by BBC Sport’s Senior Football Correspondent Sami Mokbel, 5 Live’s Senior Football Reporter Ian Dennis, former Spurs midfielder Michael Brown & Flav from the ‘Fighting Cock Podcast’ as they react to Postecoglou’s roller coaster of a tenure, and who’s in the running as a possible replacement?

Hello and welcome to a bonus episode of the Football Daily Podcast with myself, James Gregg as we reflect on the news that Ange-Poster Cogelou has been sacked by Tottenham Hotspur. He led the club to the Europa League title, their first trophy in 17 years, but finished the season just one place above the Premier League relegation zone. Here's a few key lines from the club's statement. Following a review of performances and after significant reflection, the club can announce that Ange Postocoglou has been relieved of his duties. We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the club and will always be remembered as only the third manager

in our history to deliver a European trophy. However, the board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place. Following a positive start in the 2023-24 Premier League season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 Premier League games. This culminated in our worst ever Premier League finish last season. At times there were extenuating circumstances, injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign. Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club's greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph. It's 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. This has been one of the toughest decisions we have ever had to make, and it is not a decision that we have taken lightly nor one we have rushed to conclude. We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision. We wish Ange well for the future. He will always be welcome back at our home. News on the appointment of a new head coach will be announced in due course. That was the Tottenham Hotspur statement when that news was announced. We can bring in our senior football correspondent, Sammy Mockball.

Clear from that statement, Sammy, that this was not a straightforward decision? It wasn't a straightforward decision. No, I would agree with that, but I do think it's a decision that's been coming and I think it was the most likely decision. Even after all the euphoria of Bill Bale three weeks ago, it's a story that we've covered extensively at BBC Sport that for months now, Anspas de Cogliu has been under enormous pressure and the direction of travel has always been for him to leave the club at the end of the season.

Now, obviously, the triumph in the Europa League provided a little, I say a little bit, provided a major bump in the road, I guess, towards those plans. But what I think Daniel Levy and Tottenham have done is that they've given themselves time between the end of the season and making the decision now. It's given time for that emotion to almost die down a little bit, to take the emotion out of it and to continue on the course that they were always planning to go on, which was to relieve Anspostar Kogler of his duties. So you think, Sammy, that that decision was made, whatever that result would have been

in Bilbao against Manchester United? Yes, because if it wasn't made, then I think we may have seen him keep his job. I always think that my understanding is that the decision was made for him to go at the end of the season before that final. And yes, the final ran some interference and provided some complications towards that. None more so than the fan adulation towards Postokoglu in that time. My understanding of that situation has always been that they would look to relieve Ange Postocogla with his duties.

So what has Ange had to say? We've heard that really lengthy statement from Tottenham. So what's Ange had to say himself? It's a poignant statement and he reflects on really the people that are close to him. He says, sharing this experience with all those who truly love this club and seeing the impact it had on them is something I will never forget. That night in Bilbao was the culmination of two years of hard work, dedication and unwavering belief in a dream. He goes on to thank his players, he acknowledges his players, he acknowledges his staff and

he acknowledges his supporters. I think one person he doesn't acknowledge and refer to in this by name is Daniel Levy, which I'd imagine is maybe a deliberate decision in that statement. But these are the decisions that Premier League chairman have to make. And at the end of the day, 22 defeats and finishing 17th in the Premier League for a club the size of Tottenham who, yes, they did brilliantly well in winning that tournament, they're winning Europa League. But a club the size of Tottenham is expected to fight on all fronts and they've got a squad to fight on all fronts. That's an expensively assembled squad. 17th does not align with the

targets of that football club. Will that let's bring in senior football reporter, Ian Dennis and former Spurs midfielder Michael Brown. They're with us from Barcelona where England play Andorra. Ian, I tell you what, that good feeling from Bill Bauer hasn't lasted long. No, but anybody who listened to our coverage that night 16 days ago and listened to the start of the programme, we were saying regardless of the result, there was a feeling of inevitability that Ange-Poster Cocoglu would leave. There's also parallels with Tottenham's last success in Europe because Keefe Berkinshaw back in

1984 also departed after that victory against Anderlecht when they won the UEFA Cup. And it's not a question of room 101, but it's game 101. And Ange was always, I think, going to be consigned to the bin regardless of what happened in northern Spain. Because if you look at his form, 47 points from his last 46 league games, he's never been involved in a goal or straw in his 101 games in charge. And I just think that they couldn't fall into the trap that what Manchester United did with Eric Ten Hag and make a decision based on the emotion of winning silverware, keeping him in a job and therefore come October a change of manager and I think that the writing was on the wall regardless what happened going into that game. Michael do you think that Manchester United winning the FA

a couple of years ago and then having to go through that whole rigmarole so early on in the next season has probably helped Spurs make this decision, they've almost learned their lessons from another club in that regard. Well, I understand your point when you say about watching others, how they act and what they do. And I was on that show with Ian and Paul Robinson. We're talking about before the game, what would happen with Ange Postocoglu and whether the club decided it,

whether Ange felt it was the right decision. I think a lot of people in football watching the situation from afar felt like it was the correct decision and we wanted it to end in a successful manner. It did do that. I think what's maybe come as a surprise is how long it's taken for that decision to be made, whether Daniel decided, you know, we want to enjoy it. We want to see out the win, finally delivering a trophy. The timing is a little bit bizarre from where we go from now, but he must feel like he's got a replacement in his sights to make this decision now. So you look at all the clubs and you say, yes, we can be guided. But I think already Daniel Levy has got a straight line. He knows exactly where he wants to be and he's never been afraid

of making those decisions. I mean, we paraphrased that club statement that Spurs released and it still took me a good couple of minutes to read it out. And it was kind of meandering in many ways trying to really just sort of assert how difficult a decision it was to make but also pointing towards the facts, you know, mentioning the points tally from 66 matches, 22 defeats in the Premier League this season. Was that record, Michael, always going to be hanging over him, regardless of what happened? I know that we kind of all got that feeling that he was going to be leaving anyway, but that's a difficult one, isn't it?

No matter even how the last three or four matches of the season had gone, that was always going to be something to overcome, wasn't it? Yeah, let's be honest. It was a terrible run and we knew that was happening. And obviously we had a European competition, it was a terrible run and we knew that was happening and obviously we had a European competition which was a nice sort of distraction away from it but the performances weren't good. We've seen obviously his reaction to a lot of the media questions, it was spicy in those situations. A lot of the league form, certain supporters

had got the backup, really made their feelings known with certain home performances. So I felt like there was too much there for him to go and continue on this job. So yeah, we look at form over a longer period of time. He asked for patience. He said, when I get all these players back, we will see an improved performance. What was iconic really in this whole tenure

is the way he won the game to change everything that he'd ever said regards to how he sets up and how he believes and how he can't sleep if he doesn't play like that. He went and surprised everybody, sat behind the ball and did it. He delivered the trophy, he said he would. Strange words afterwards when he said, well you'll see seasons three could even be better.

I think what's been interesting, which Ian will go into probably a little bit, is the guards to the shuffle around the board first. So is Daniel Levy setting a new, something new? probably a little bit is the guards to the shuffle around the board first says Daniel Levy setting a new a new something new you know he's been under a lot of pressure another manager change will say well have you made the wrong employment he's gone after a few of his allies on the board and what we're gonna see next I think there's a big shuffle the other thing as well that after in

the in the post-match press conference because certainly pre-match press conference it was very spiky. That's when he said, whatever happens, I'm not a clown, because that was one of the articles that had been written. I think it was in the standard. But post-match, he was talking that he'd made a conscious decision in January to forsake the Premier League campaign

to focus purely on winning that trophy, which he did. He delivered on his promise to win silverware in his second season. Now that was a gamble and I just got the impression that maybe not everybody was aligned at Tottenham about his decision, but that's what he wanted to do, focus on the Europa League. And yes, there was extenuating circumstances

about the injuries that they had, but he did do what he set out to do by doing that. I mean, I mean, it's probably cost them £20 million in terms of the league placing when you think of the merit places, but what it did do, it brought them Champions League football. Look at the joy on all those faces down there. And at least, well, yeah, and also from a financial point of view, at least £100 million now in the Champions League. But as Michael says, the game's about glory and there'll be people there, that first trophy since 2008, first European silverware since 1984 the Tottenham supporters will remember that forever. Well let's hear from

Angepuster Coghlu, head of the Europa League final, he gave this assessment Ian you'll be familiar with this because this was him talking about his time in charge to that point. It's hard to sort of kind of contextualise the challenges of the last couple of years. I guess from my perspective, you know, I came into the club with some pretty clear objectives about what the priorities were for the club in terms of taking over. Try it as hard as I can to kind of stick to that process of getting the club to a position where they can challenge for trophies and at the same time rejuvenate a squad and change the playing style. It's been a fair assignment and without it's plenty of challenges along the way. But there is

an opportunity to fulfil at least the main task I was given, that is to bring trophies to the club. I'll say you were familiar with that Ian, because you were actually the one who asked him that question. He did ultimately, like you were saying, roll the dice and ultimately he delivered on that promise that he made to you. Well, I asked the question because a few weeks ago, he'd talked about the Stonecutters Creed

and the 101 blows and nobody sees the work that has gone on when the stone eventually cracks for the first 100 strikes and I was tempted to ask him where you'll be for blow 102 but it was basically for this eventuality because it was such an inevitability that it was going to happen it was the way of them for him to assess in his own words what he's done in the two years that he was in charge. And if you remember, James, they got off to an absolutely flying start when he first arrived.

And it's funny, isn't it, how sometimes perceptions can change things with results, because had they started slowly and finished well, then you certainly wouldn't be referring to the 78 points from the last 66 games. But it just seems that there hasn't been an improvement in their league form. And that, I guess, has got to be the true barometer

of any chief executive stroke chairman when you're looking to try and make a decision. Michael, there was a lot of talk, wasn't there, in the last few weeks about his relationship with the players, Romero, Madison, Son, and the others. Obviously Madison was liking those social media posts, wasn't he, from fans and news outlets about keeping Anjon. And it just feels like one of the issues, players will also, maybe them being a bit disillusioned with the decision is something

that Spurs are going to have to contend with. I think as players, you just get used to it. You understand that the manager can change very, very quickly regards to the liking and support. I think it's always going to be there. I think there was a communication issue at times with regards to him not speaking to the players on several occasions, given the right information or given different types of certain conversations along the way. But for him to get liked, I think it tells you everything. They, they as players were celebrating that night that they've never seen. They wanted to win a trophy.

They wanted to be part of it. Look at Son. He didn't always play, but from there on, he got that delivered. So he trusted the manager. But you almost felt it was, I don't know, it was a situation coming to an end. I just, I think the players must have already looked

and thought, well, this can't change. And the win just sort of masked it over. The timing of it is strange, but the players will move on. And the next chat will be, who's it going to be? It's a sad day for Antipas de Coglu. I've certainly enjoyed overall, I think, of what he's brought to the club.

I feel like it's been different. I think, like, it's had energy. There's been some interesting media quotes, but overall, you know, I can't be too critical of him. I do understand certain things. Could he have improved on things? Of course he could. It's been, yeah, it has been very interesting from our perspective, hasn't it, getting some of his some of his pre-match comments

and post-match comments, of course. Before we let you go, Sammy, who are the frontrunners to replace him? Lots of talk about Thomas Frank, although we know that Brentford have said there's been no contact yet from Spurs. We must reiterate that at the moment Brentford are saying that they've had no approach on top of them but I think it's clear and some of the information or really lots of the information I've had over the past 10 days is indicating that Thomas Frank is at the very least a leading contender to replace Ange Poste Coglu. The interesting aspect of Frank possibly going to Tottenham is there is a synergy there with

their current technical director, Johan Lange. Both are from Denmark and I understand both are quite close and they've got a close relationship. In fact, I think Lange actually tried to get Frank to Aston Villa when he was at Villa Park in a close relationship. In fact, I think Lang actually tried to get Frank to Aston Villa when he was at Villa Park in a similar role. And I think the machinations towards that, although obviously not official according to Brent for the machinations towards Frank having formal talks with Tottenham are underway.

And I think we may see that situation progress in the coming days. I think one maybe outside bet that we could probably also speak about is the possibility, and I think it's an outside shot, but the possibility of Mauricio Pochettino returning to the club. He's currently in a job obviously with the United States with a view to taking over there at being in charge for the World Cup, which is obviously a big pull and a big job for Mauricio Pochettino. And he's also got a very big compensation package to get him out of that job.

But if there's one manager that the fans would love just as much as they currently love Ange Postocoglu, it would be Mauricio Pochettino. And while there are obstacles in trying to get that, major obstacles I must add, to get that deal over the line, I would be surprised if Daniel Levy hasn't at least had a look and tried to have a conversation to see if it is at all possible to get him out of his contract. And then you also have Marco Silva at Fulham who is liked very much really at Tottenham. He could emerge as an

option and then and and Bournemouth head coach Ander Iariola who's also done a brilliant job in stabilising Bournemouth as a Premier League outfit. So there's options there but the indications at the moment are that that Frank is the leading contender. Sammy, thank you very much indeed. That's the BBC Sports senior football correspondent, Sammy Mockbull. From my very first game, I knew that I wanted to be a goalkeeper. The buzz and the adrenaline that I got from it. The dream was to always represent my country. The buzz and the adrenaline that I got from it.

The dream was to always represent my country. Mary-Earth, desperate to impress. I remember saying, I know I've got what it takes. A crucial save from us. You have to be obsessed. You just look at some of the saves that she makes. Not everyone can do that. I really had no idea really how far I would go. England around dawn at the dead.

It felt like my world was ending. That was the moment I was in pieces on the kitchen floor. You have to hit rock bottom to understand what you really want. Mary would put herself in front of anything and feel like she could stop it. I've done something that I've always dreamed of doing. I never knew if I would get the opportunity to do. Mary Earps, Queen of Stops.

Watch on BBC iPlayer. Let's bring in Spurs fan and podcaster Flav Bateman. What's your reaction to today? And actually just having listened to what Sammy's had to say there, Flav, who are the names that kind of appeal to you? I think the work's been done about Thomas Frank already. I heard the end of last week that Frank had already agreed to join Tottenham Otspur. So I think it probably will be Thomas Frank. But the bigger discussion, or the most important talking point for me is about

how do we process what's gone on today? Because Ange Postocroglu has delivered a European trophy to Tottenham Otspur. If he had finished fourth in the league, would he still be in the job? Or fifth in the league, would he still be in the job? And the answer is, yeah, he would have been. Pochettino delivered second, third, and didn't deliver the glory that we experienced as fans this season.

So I'm really kind of disgruntled and frustrated by what football's become really, because it's all about league position rather than winning trophies. And it's very, very frustrating. I saw your tweet from earlier actually, Flav, about saying Anj made you feel something that you legitimately never thought that you would feel with Tottenham. I mean, look, there's been a lot of noise about his position. And obviously you said that about Ange. Did you think that they might just just succumb to that kind of good feeling there, Flav? No, no, I mean, no, no, I understand where Daniel Levy is coming from.

The owners of the football club need to prioritise and maximise revenue. I get it. I understand where Daniel Levy is coming from. The owners of the football club need to prioritize and maximize revenue. I get it. I understand it. As a fan of a football club and a fan of any football club, it's difficult to reconcile because it should be about glory, right? It should be about those moments we experienced in Bilbao,

you know, two weeks ago. And now we're discussing a manager who delivered that, you know, and the reason why he isn't here anymore is because he hasn't been able to deliver the revenue that would be guaranteed if we'd have finished higher up in the league. The reality though is that he has delivered Champions League football. So it's just a weird, weird day. Really, really odd to process this moment really. And I mean, my overriding message really would be of gratitude to Anshu Postogoglu. It doesn't matter who comes in now, it should be about what we did this season.

And it was an awful domestic campaign, we get it. But we also know that Postogoglu prioritised European football in order to guarantee glory. That's what it should be about. That's what we should be talking about. The fact that we've won a European trophy the first time since 1984. Do you think that the fan base is split? Is it hard to gauge? It's not difficult to gauge because we put out a post on Twitter. We've got about 80,000 followers, which is a pretty decent covering of Tottenham fan base. And we asked before he was sacked whether or not you're Ange in or Ange out. And it was something like 70% were Ange in.

So that's how people feel. And, you know, we're as fans, we're emotional, right? And we should be. This is how football is run. This is the lifeblood of the sport, is the emotional connection to it. It's not about the bottom line and numbers. And that's what Daniel Levy has made his decision on. It's bottom line, it's numbers, it's what can we do next season, how high up the Premier

League can we finish. But if it's about delivering glory, then you've got to back the manager who's delivered it, surely. But yeah, generally, based on... There was a lot of supporters having it. There was a lot of supporters, though, upset with a lot of the performances in the stadium at home, especially, wasn't there? Do you know, I think that was travelling,

and that was why I was a little bit concerned about going into another season with Ange, whether he could get over that. Yeah, it was troubling. I mean, in parts this season, I've been more this season never been more depressed as a Spurs fan. I'll get it I understand completely but I think generally he would have been able to fix those problems in his first season he finished fifth this is after losing

Harry Kane like it's he's not a bad manager and that's that that seems to be the the sort of narrative around him is that oh we, we delivered a European cup that, you know, the Champions League teams don't get dropped off down, so it's not really a proper cup. That's the narrative around him. Reality is, he's a good manager. He's had to deliver results under circumstances that are really, really difficult. If Arsenal had lost to Liga and Gabriel this season, they wouldn't have been anywhere near as tough a challenge. So the fact that he's got them two players back, Romero and Vanneven, I mean, to deliver a trophy for the first time in 17 years.

And when we're being really honest, a first proper trophy since 1991, the league cups probably don't count in the same way. That is, I mean, to me, it's crazy. I'm really, really disappointed in Daniel Levy, but I have been for a while, so it's no surprise. Flav, thanks so much for being with us. That's Spurs fan and podcaster Flav Bateman. And that's all for this bonus episode of the Football Daily. Also thanks to Ian Dennis and Michael Brown, and thank you for listening. Your next episode will have reaction to England's

World Cup qualifier against Andorra.