‘In Over His Head’: Predictions on Ange’s Dismissal and Spurs’ Costs

Ange days look numbered after loss | 02:52

Ange Postecoglou is on the brink of being sacked, UK pundits and press are saying – though it will cost Tottenham a fortune to part ways with the Australian manager.

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A grim 2-1 home loss to relegation-threatened Leicester City has piled more pressure on Postecoglou and his injury-riddled squad.

Former Spurs player Jamie O’Hara, a constant critic of the Australian, said an “inquest” should be held into the half-time address, after Tottenham conceded two goals in four minutes straight after the break.

“It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen. Another shocking result, another shocking performance,” O’Hara said on Sky Sports.

“I don’t know how Ange can stay in the job. I don’t know what needs to happen and I don’t know what happens at the top with (chairman) Daniel Levy.”

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O’Hara pointed out that Spurs had signed only a back-up goalkeeper thus far in the transfer window, despite the injury crisis; saying Levy’s leadership was an issue and the club was unwilling to pay star-level wages like other major Premier League clubs.

Yet for on-field performances, the buck stops with Postecoglou.

“Ange Postecoglou is out of his depth. Man management, in-game management, not good enough today. Running out of ideas, he tried to change the tactics against Everton last week and we were 3-0 down at half-time. We go 2-1 down against Leicester and I don’t see a change in a way that we play, I don’t see a change in the way we do things.

“They’re a relegation fight. Spurs are in a relegation fight, I’m telling you now. Teams are picking up underneath them.

“Every team around them, if you look at it — West Ham sacked their manager, Everton sacked their manager, Man United sacked their manager, Wolves sacked their manager.

“One win in 11, 13 defeats in the Premier League. Unacceptable. Spurs are in a relegation fight and they need to buck up their ideas, sign some good players – quickly – and make a decision on what you’re doing with Ange Postecoglou.

“Because at the moment, what he’s giving out ain’t good enough. And I know there’s injuries and I know there’s problems, but that is unacceptable. You can’t lose 13 games in the Premier League as a Spurs manager.

“I know you’ve got the Carabao Cup semi-finals second leg against Liverpool, who are by far the best team in Europe at the moment, and you’ve clinging on to hope that we might get to a final and Ange gives it, ‘Well, we’ll win a trophy in my second season’. Do me a favour. You’re the Spurs manager, you’re 15th in the table and you’ve lost 13 games. That’s not acceptable.

“I think he’ll get the sack after the Liverpool game (February 6). We’ll get beat.”

Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou amid a poor loss to Leicester City.Source: Getty Images

Knives are being sharpened in the UK press also.

“A game that was supposed to ease fears of relegation brought another dismal defeat for Tottenham Hotspur, new levels of fury for the chairman, Daniel Levy, and left Ange Postecoglou under the kind of pressure most managers would not survive,” wrote Tom Allnutt in The Times.

“Spurs have now mustered one win in 11 in the Premier League, against Southampton last month, while this made it four losses in a row, the bottom three creeping ever closer to a side in freefall and a club in open revolt with their supporters.

“Tottenham’s injury crisis is well-documented and they were without ten players here, leaving the ones on the field either exhausted or unable to complete 90 minutes. Others, such as Richarlison, who came off with a sore groin, are returning only to break down again. For weeks this team have been down to their bare bones and, with the transfer window closing next Monday, the club are still to sign a single outfield player. That was the backdrop to the anger pouring down from the South Stand. The help Postecoglou has been calling for has simply not arrived.

“Yet Postecoglou will know what awaits managers when results send a team tumbling down the Premier League and when the fans turn their rage towards the board. Levy was sitting blank-faced here as the calls for him to go rang around the stadium. Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven could be back next weekend for the trip to Brentford but will Postecoglou be there to see it?”

Wrote Matt Law for The Telegraph: “As the chants of “we want Levy out” echoed around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ange Postecoglou will surely have been aware that days such as this rarely end well for the chairman’s head coaches.

“History tells us that when the fans turn on Levy, he usually turns on the manager and, no matter how desperate the club may have been not to rush into a decision on Postecoglou’s future, the Australian must now be in some peril.

“The mood was mutinous at the final whistle of Tottenham’s 13th league defeat of the season. Rather than hurrying for the exits, fans hung around to vent at Levy over the loud music and moved a banner that said “24 years, 16 managers, one trophy. Time for change” down to the front row of the South Stand.”

Ange Postecoglou is on thin ice after a loss to lowly Leicester.Source: Getty Images

The Guardian’s Jacob Steinberg wrote: “It could be a defining result for both sides. While Leicester revelled in their show of defiance, with Boubakary Soumaré superb in midfield, an injury-hit Spurs floundered again. Postecoglou, who saw tired limbs and frazzled minds on the pitch, is in trouble. Spurs are eight points above the relegation zone after one win in 11 games and it would not be a surprise if this proves a defeat too far for the Australian.

“However this is a decline that goes right to the top, which is why the venom directed at Levy felt significant. “Nothing will change until he leaves,” was one Spurs fan’s verdict on a chairman whose tenure has brought only one trophy in 24 years.”

Parting ways with Postecoglou won’t come cheap, if that is to be Spurs’ decision in coming days/weeks.

“Should Levy decide to sack Postecoglou though, it is sure to cost him a pretty penny,” Anthony Chapman wrote for The Sun.

“Former Aston Villa CEO Keith Wyness told the Inside Track podcast that Big Ange is earning £5 million-a-year ($9.9 million) on a four-year deal.

“And with Postecoglou only being 18 months through it, Levy would have to shell out £12m ($23.8 million) to get rid of him right now.”