Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has stepped in to make a decision about manager Ange Postecoglou and his immediate future at N17, with pressure mounting on the Australian amid a dismal run of results.
Tottenham slump to 4-3 Chelsea defeat after two-goal advantage
For the second time this season, Spurs squandered a two-goal advantage in the Premier League to lose, with Chelsea becoming the next team after Brighton to do so when the Lilywhites and west Londoners met on Sunday.
Postecoglou's men were in dreamland after taking a quick 2-0 lead early in the first-half, taking advantage of two slips from Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella, with both Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski getting on the scoresheet with just 11 minutes on the clock.
However, the fightback also started early doors, as Chelsea summer signing Jadon Sancho grabbed one back just six minutes later before Cole Palmer's first penalty and Enzo Fernandez's excellent half-volley completed their comeback and handed them a deserved second-half lead.
Palmer, who has become even more of a superstar at Stamford Bridge this season, then rounded off their win with a cheeky panenka six minutes from full-time. Son Heung-min bagged a very late consolation for Spurs, who have now won just once in their last seven games across all competitions, with the under-fire Postecoglou facing a barrage of criticism lately.
"Obviously it's a painful one because we started the game really well," said Postecoglou on Tottenham's 4-3 defeat to Chelsea.
"Not just the goals we scored but the way we were playing. We were really in control of the game and had some really good opportunities apart from the two goals. Then you lose Cristian after the second goal which is just the way our season has gone.
"Nothing has run smoothly and they capitalised before we had settled back down to score. I still felt that in the first half we had the better moments to get a third goal, a couple of key ones.
"In the second half they came out and put us under pressure. I felt we were handling it not too badly and then when they scored we had a big moment at 2-2 to go 3-2 up and in these kind of games, those moments are important. We don't take it and then both penalties were poor on our behalf. They're self-inflicted and unnecessary challenges."
There have been reports that Tottenham are shortlisting potential replacements for Postecoglou if they decide to part company with the ex-Celtic boss, and Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna is believed to feature highly among them after he snubbed a move to Chelsea in the summer (Football Transfers).
Levy makes decision about sacking Ange at Tottenham
Fulham boss Marco Silva is also rumoured to have admirers at Spurs, but broadcast giant talkSPORT has shared an encouraging update for Postecoglou in regard to keeping his job.
The outlet writes that Postecoglou is in no immediate danger of the Tottenham sack, with Levy willing to give him more time to turn the club's fortunes around.
The Spurs chairman apparently acknowledges that they've been hit by a number of injuries to key players, so he's aware of damning factors like this and wants to hand Postecoglou more breathing room to get his house in order. Meanwhile, Tottenham's head coach desires more funds so he can strengthen the squad in January.