Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is on very thin ice after he saw his team chuck away a 1-0 lead to lose at home to fellow strugglers Leicester City.
After beating Hoffenheim in the Europa League, the hope was that Spurs had turned a corner under Postecoglou. Initially, signs looked good that would be the case as his side led through Richarlison at the break.
However, the hosts capitulated at the start of the second half as Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss scored two goals in five minutes to put themselves ahead. The defeat leaves Tottenham just eight points above the relegation zone with Postecoglou having not masterminded a victory in the Premier League since the middle of December.
Should Daniel Levy decide he has seen enough from Postecoglou, he is likely going to need to write a substantial cheque. Speaking on the Inside Track podcast recently, former Aston Villa CEO Keith Wyness believes the Australian is in line for a substantial payout should he be sacked.
"As I understand it, he’s 18 months into a four-year deal getting paid about £5m a year," he explained. "You’re looking at about £12m to get rid of him now.
"It’s a big number, and there could also be compensation payable to any new manager. I like Ange, and I hope he can fight this through.
"He’s been unlucky with injuries, particularly in defence. Taking everything into account, I think he’s going to be given the chance to finish the season.
"There’s no doubt the pressure is building. I think the fans have appreciated what he’s tried to do, but injuries do happen and it spoils the plans.
"The issue is that he hasn’t changed or been flexible around these injuries. He’s carried on being gung-ho going forward."
Speaking after the final whistle, Postecoglou told reporters: "Yeah, it hurts. It hurts a lot.
"The players gave everything again. We are going to look at a lot of things, but in terms of effort I can't ask anymore of this group, things just didn't go our way today.
"We created some good opportunities and unfortunately things just didn't drop for us because not because the players weren't trying and that's the main thing. The players are giving everything they can.
"That is all we can ask for as a football club and me as a manager. They are trying their hardest and that is all anyone can ask for.
"You can analyse the goals, they were disappointing goals for us to concede, but I thought we had enough chances in the game to come out on top. When you're in this situation, they are trying as hard as they can and sometimes that doesn't give you he clarity in decision making.
"All you can ask is for people to do as much as they can and from my perspective I see a group of players that are giving as much as they can. I know it will turn.
"We'll get some players back, we were short again today but in the next couple of weeks there's some really important players coming back that I know will help this group. We've not hit a ceiling.
"We've been going like this for two months. They put in an enormous performance on Thursday to make sure we're OK in Europe and they had to back it up today but there were probably at least two or three players that weren't at 100 per cent.
"I'm a football manager and I get judged on results, that is the way of the world."