The Times

On the platform at Frankfurt station on Wednesday, a Tottenham Hotspur fan en route to Hoffenheim had just declared Jürgen Klinsmann to be her preferred successor to Ange Postecoglou when Klinsmann, to the group’s delight, suddenly appeared upstairs, walking across the concourse, presumably also on his way to the game.

If only Postecoglou could work his magic so swiftly, to propel Tottenham up the Premier League table, win a cup, or even just heal one or two of his 11 injured players in time to face Leicester City today at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. When Spurs drew away to Leicester on the opening day of the season, Postecoglou’s side entertained realistic ambitions of finishing in the top four. At 2pm on Sunday, the aim is

A coach under pressure, in charge of a team sitting 15th in the league, fretting about a relegation fight after winning only one of their past ten games. Not only Tottenham Hotspur but Hoffenheim too, their opponents in the Europa League on Thursday and perhaps the only side in the competition to have endured a worse start to the year than Spurs.

Hoffenheim were even three down at half-time last week, just as Tottenham were against Everton on Sunday, even if the level of opponent gave Christian Ilzer’s side something of an alibi. It was Bayern Munich who hammered them 5-0, with Harry Kane making it three in a game the local newspaper, RNZ, described as im Debakel. Hoffenheim have also been knocked out

Ange Postecoglou retains the support of the Tottenham Hotspur hierarchy, with the club not looking to change their head coach at this point.

Spurs fell to a 3-2 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday — having been 3-0 down after a dismal first half — to extend their poor run to only one win in ten Premier League games. They are 15th in the table, their lowest position after 22 games since 2009, only eight points above the relegation zone and 14 points off the top four.

Postecoglou faces a crucial ten days, with Spurs playing three sides they would usually be expected to beat. Hoffenheim, their Europa League opponents in Germany on Thursday, are fourth-bottom of the Bundesliga, while they round off

Ange Postecoglou admitted he must prove he is good enough to arrest Tottenham Hotspur’s alarming tailspin and rescue “something significant” from their season, as scrutiny on him increased after another demoralising defeat.

Tottenham slipped to their 12th league loss of the campaign and still languish in 15th place in the Premier League after the 3-2 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park.

The visiting side trailed 3-0 at the interval and Postecoglou accepted responsibility for a lamentable performance in the first half that left his side with a “mountain to climb”, as David Moyes savoured a first win since returning to Everton as manager for a second time.

Rodrigo Bentancur has said he is “all good” in an Instagram post after being taken to hospital having fallen awkwardly and stayed down for eight minutes during Tottenham Hotspur’s Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg victory over Liverpool on Wednesday night.

Tottenham confirmed at half-time that Bentancur was “conscious, talking and will go to hospital for further checks”. He had stooped to meet a Spurs corner with his head in the sixth minute but the Uruguay midfielder appeared to lose the flight of the ball as he fell to the ground.

Players close to Bentancur immediately signalled to medics that he needed urgent attention while Pedro Porro quickly knelt down next to his team-mate and appeared to put his finger in his mouth. Bentancur was given oxygen

Tottenham Hotspur’s injury crisis has been compounded by an illness running through the squad before their game against Newcastle United on Saturday.

Tottenham will already be without nine players for the match at home to Newcastle, including their first-choice goalkeeper and three of their four central defenders, who are all injured.

Postecoglou gave players Monday and Tuesday off this week after the draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday to help them recover, but those plans have been derailed after Postecoglou said “a few” had been struggling with illness over the past few days.

“We had a bit of an illness bug running through the squad,” Postecoglou said. “A few have missed training but that’s all right, we’ll be OK.”

Postecoglou’s squad has been stretched to

After just one point from three games over the festive period, and with his side 11th in the Premier League table, Ange Postecoglou is under pressure as Tottenham Hotspur manager. On Saturday, they face in-form Newcastle United at home and their following top-flight game is the North London derby on January 15. We asked four Tottenham-supporting Times staff members what they think of their head coach and what the rest of the season could look like…

Glenn Ebrey

Yes. It is unfair to judge him on the basis of the past couple of months — any team in the Premier League, Liverpool included, would struggle without their first-choice centre backs and goalkeeper for a prolonged period, plus several other injuries which have exposed the depth

James Maddison and Brennan Johnson headed to the darts to let off steam but Tottenham Hotspur will need more than a night at Alexandra Palace to give their nose-diving season a lift.

Ange Postecoglou gave his squad Monday and Tuesday off after Wolverhampton Wanderers’ late equaliser made it one win in seven league games for Spurs on Sunday, with the plan always to use this rare period without a midweek fixture to try to recuperate. “The whole group probably needs a couple of days just to get away from everything and recover, because it’s been fairly intense for a real small core group of players,” Postecoglou said.

Dominic Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski, Archie Gray and Radu Dragusin have all been used relentlessly over the Christmas period

Ange Postecoglou has suggested he could enjoy the last laugh as a “genius” if he sticks to his guns in the face of critics ridiculing his adventurous playing style at Tottenham Hotspur.

The head coach believes that the steps he is taking with his players will eventually pay off as they learn through their experiences, giving him a full-strength squad that can be easily rotated between matches.

However, in another blow for Postecoglou, Tottenham could be without a fit centre back for Sunday’s home match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and have been investigating why their players have suffered recurrences of muscular issues. The immediate concern is a run of four defeats and 19 goals conceded in nine matches across competitions since a 4-0 win over Manchester

Nottingham Forest and their fans are dreaming about a return to European football after their win against Tottenham Hotspur sent them up to third in the league.

A year ago, as Nuno Espírito Santo took over at a struggling Forest side, the Christmas wish for many of their supporters would have been purely to stay in the top flight. Now, 12 months on and they are chanting about the possibility of a Champions League adventure after Anthony Elanga’s first-half goal gave them all three points at the City Ground.

There is a long way to go yet, but with one game left until the official halfway point of this campaign and Forest only four points off second, why shouldn’t their supporters dream about a return