Ange Postecoglou says Thomas Frank deserved sack as he slams ‘curious’ Tottenham technique

Ange Postecoglou has given his verdict on Thomas Frank after the Dane was sacked by Tottenham following their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United, with the club languishing in 16th place

View 3 Images

Ange Postecoglou insists Thomas Frank has no grounds to grumble about getting the boot from Tottenham Hotspur.

Frank was sacked by the north London outfit following their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United. The setback against the Magpies saw the Europa League winners languishing in 16th spot, a mere five points clear of the drop zone. He becomes the second permanent boss in eight months to get axed by Spurs, with Postecoglou himself getting shown the door at the end of last season.

The Australian was dismissed after the club ended up in 17th place, with his Europa League success failing to save him from the axe. Roughly eight months since his dismissal – and five months after he was also given the boot by Nottingham Forest – Postecoglou shared his blunt assessment of Frank’s exit.

View 3 Images

JOIN US ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page

The former Celtic boss told the Overlap: “It’s always, having been in that position twice in the last six months, it’s tough, it’s tough. 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. 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.

“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?

“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.

View 3 Images

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings

“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.

“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.”

Tottenham secured fifth place during Postecoglou’s debut season, narrowly falling short of Champions League qualification. The Australian’s second campaign was hampered by injury setbacks and disappointing home form – issues that ultimately led to Frank losing his position.

While the Europa League victory ended Spurs’ lengthy trophy drought and secured them a spot in this season’s Champions League – a competition where Frank excelled, Postecoglou also thinks Spurs need to address their internal issues rather than just continually replacing managers.

He further commented: “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.

“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.

“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.”