Tottenham Hotspur are considering appointing Francesco Farioli as their head coach at the end of the season, TEAMtalk can reveal, as Ange Postecoglou’s comments on his future come to light.
What promised to be a successful season for Tottenham could end in disaster. Having finished fifth in the Premier League table in the 2023-24 campaign, Postecoglou’s side were expected to push for the Champions League places this time around and also do well in the domestic cup competitions.
However, Spurs are currently 17th in the Premier League table, having picked up just 38 points from 36 matches.
The only way to salvage the season would be to win the Europa League, with Tottenham facing Premier League rivals Manchester United in the final.
And while success in the competition would represent a first major honour for the club since the 2008 League Cup and deliver on Postecoglou’s bold promise that he “always wins a trophy in his second season”, it may not be enough to spare him from the sack.
To that end, sources have told TEAMtalk that Tottenham are considering sacking Postecoglou once the season finishes, although club chairman Daniel Levy has not made a final decision yet.
Spurs will, understandably, wait until after their Europa League final fate has been decided, though TEAMtalk understands that the north London club have already been working behind the scenes to find a suitable replacement.
We understand that Farioli has become a serious name at Tottenham in the event of a managerial change this summer.
Despite Ajax enduring a difficult end to the season, the 36-year-old Italian manager remains one of the most talked-about profiles in Premier League circles.
Ajax were nine points clear at the top of the Eredivisie table in mid-April, but they are now a point behind leaders PSV with one more round of matches left.
Tottenham, though, still highly appreciate Farioli, with the Premier League club seeing his €5million (£4.2m, $5.6m) release clause as affordable.
The former Nice manager’s modern ideas also fit the long-term vision of Tottenham.
TEAMtalk understands that the main supporter of Farioli at Tottenham is Fabio Paratici, who, as we revealed weeks ago, when there was speculation that he would go to AC Milan, is continuing to work behind the scenes for the north London club while waiting for his suspension to end.
It is Paratici who has recommended Farioli to Levy, and TEAMtalk understands that the young coach is now at the top of Tottenham’s managerial wishlist should they decide to part company with Postecoglou.
Young, ambitious, and tactically modern, Farioli is seen as the right candidate to lead a new cycle at Tottenham.
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What Ange Postecoglou has said about his Tottenham future
While Tottenham are working behind the scenes to find a suitable replacement for Postecoglou, the 59-year-old himelf is defiant about his future.
Fox Sports Australia quoted Postecoglou as saying this week when asked about the reasons behind Tottenham’s 17 years without a major trophy: “Some of it [is psychological], not all of it because you can’t dismiss the fact that I’ve also had to change pretty much everything at the club in terms of playing style, in terms of the squad.
“It’s not like I took over a team that finished third and is constantly in that echelon. The year before I took over, we were eighth. We weren’t even in Europe.
“So it’s not just been ‘Okay, this is the final bit’. We’ve had to do a whole lot of other things. We’ve done a lot of heavy lifting in the last two years. We’ve signed a lot of young players with the right kind of thinking for the future.
“That’s costing us now because we don’t have a squad that can cope with what’s going through now. It is not just psychological, it is about trying to change a whole range of things but also have that piece [of silverware].
“My view was that’s what I’ll get judged on. I could have been sitting here fifth last year, fifth this year — maybe people wouldn’t be waiting for the white smoke to see if it’s my last one — but they’d still be saying ‘You know Ange, that’s great but its all been done before. Until this club wins something, you haven’t made an impact’.
“I kind of knew throughout my tenure last year, that’s what I was going to be judged on so now we have an opportunity to do that.”
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