Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy has spoken publicly for the first time since deciding to let Ange Postecoglou go after delivering club's first trophy in 17 years before appointing Thomas Frank as his replacement
Daniel Levy has said it was the correct call but “emotionally difficult” to sack Ange Postecoglou two weeks after he led Tottenham to a first trophy in 17 years. Spurs chairman Levy has moved quickly to appoint Thomas Frank, last week paying Brentford £10m to release the Dane from his contract.
And he says the club's "collective decision" to bid farewell to Postecoglou was made because the club needs to compete on all fronts. Last month’s Europa League triumph over Manchester United came at the tail end of a campaign in which Spurs finished 17th in the league.
And Levy, speaking publicly for the first time since hiring Frank, said: “I’m very grateful to Ange, I don’t regret appointing Ange. In his first season we finished fifth and in our second season we were over the moon to win a trophy. But we need to compete in all competitions and we felt that we needed a change.
“I’ve got an excellent relationship with him, I’ve told him that he’s always going to be part of our history. Himself and his family are always welcome back.
“It was a collective decision, it wasn’t my decision. We do everything together. Emotionally it was difficult, but we believe we’ve made the right decision for the club.”
Levy added that he sees a number of standout qualities in Frank – the 13th permanent hire of his 24 years in charge of the club.
“Whenever you have a new coach, it’s always a fresh start,” Levy said. “You always have different ideas. But we want to build on the success of winning a trophy last season.
“Of the things that stood out to me with Thomas – clearly highly intelligent, great communicator, super human being, plus all the other technical aspects that are obviously important. But they really stood out to me, those three parts.”
Tottenham's new CEO Vinai Venkatesham also opened up on the process behind hiring Frank, explaining he saw off 30 candidates to be named the club's new manager. He added: “We defined 10 characteristics that we think are important to be a successful manager at Tottenham Hotspur
"We analysed in real detail through our technical staff led by [technical director] Johan (Lange), more than 30 candidates. We had a shortlist, we spent a lot of time with the shortlist, and Thomas was absolutely the number one candidate. I could not be more excited to have him join the club.
“I agree with everything that Daniel said around his characteristics. Personally, one of the things I’m really excited about is he’s an outstanding developer of young players. I really look forward to seeing what he can do with the squad that we have here.”
Spurs are currently being linked with a transfer for Frank's former player at Brentford Bryan Mbeumo - though Manchester United are also keen on a player whom the Bees value at £65m.