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Nottingham Forest will be looking to take a big step towards Champions League football when they travel to the capital for an Easter Monday date with Tottenham.

With a lacklustre title race and a non-existent relegation battle, it’s fair to say that this Premier League season has been flatter than a bad X Factor audition.

But despite the glaring lack of action at both ends of the table, this has been a truly extraordinary campaign for a handful of clubs… for both positive and negative reasons.

Look at Tottenham, for instance. We all knew Spurs wouldn’t get close to challenging for the title, but did anyone really expect to see them crash and burn like they have? Same goes for Manchester United.

On the other hand, you have clubs like Aston Villa and Newcastle who have stepped up and are challenging for a top five finish. Incredibly, Nottingham Forest are also one of those clubs.

Nuno Espirito Santo has transformed Forest from relegation survivors into Champions League challengers, and the Portuguese manager now has six games to turn their dreams of the European elite into reality.

That, of course, is a lot easier said than done. Forest are currently on a two-match losing run for the first time since February and also have the small matter of an upcoming FA Cup semi-final on their minds.

Defeats to Villa and Everton have seen them drop to sixth spot in the Premier League table, though a win over Spurs on Monday would take them back up to third.

Forest have already toppled Ange Postecoglou’s men at the City Ground earlier this season and are now looking for their first season double over Spurs since the 1996/97 season.

Tottenham have won just one of their last six Premier League games and have seemingly given up on their domestic campaign.

Instead, Spurs are putting all their Easter eggs into the Europa League basket as they not only look to end their 16-year wait for a trophy but also seal Champions League qualification for next season.

Before Tottenham can turn their attention to Bodo/Glimt and their big European semi-final, they will be looking to avoid a second defeat at the hands of Forest. Here, we take a closer look at Monday’s encounter.

Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest prediction

Considering Tottenham’s priorities are not on the Premier League at the moment, we’re putting all our chips on a Forest win.

Spurs have been truly woeful on the domestic scene this season having lost 17 Premier League games. That is the joint-most defeats in the league outside of the bottom three.

Forest might not be riding the crest of a wave either, but considering they have Champions League football to fight for, you’d like to think their motivation levels will be off the charts.

As well as backing Forest, we also like the look of both teams to score. For all of Tottenham’s woes, not many clubs have come to their ground and come away with a clean sheet.

Tottenham team news

Tottenham fans held their breath as James Maddison was taken off in the Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt. Postecoglou later revealed that Maddison hadn’t suffered serious damage, though we don’t expect the player to feature on Monday.

Speaking of missing out, Son Heung-min will remain on the sidelines with a foot injury and will be joined by Radu Dragusin who is a long-term absentee.

Tottenham expected line-up

Nottingham Forest team news

Nottingham Forest have question marks over Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi who are struggling with injuries. Both men are expected to face late fitness tests.

Santo is unlikely to make many changes from their defeat at Everton, though expect Anthony Elanga to return in place of Jota Silva.

Nottingham Forest expected line-up

Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest How to watch and listen

Tottenham v Nottingham Forest will be shown live on Sky Sports UHD, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League at 20:00 on Monday, April 21. There will be full match commentary on talkSPORT.

Tottenham vs Nottingham Forest stats

– Tottenham have won each of their last three home league games against Nottingham Forest

– Forest’s 1-0 win over Spurs in December ended their six-game losing streak against them in the Premier League

– Forest last did the double of Tottenham in the 1996/97 season

– Tottenham have lost their last two Premier League games placed on Easter Monday

– Forest have lost just two of their last 35 league games played on Easter Monday, with last such defeat coming in 1966 against Chelsea

It says something about the sheer scale of the nonsense occurring elsewhere in Europe this week that Tottenham reaching the Europa League semi-finals via a controlled and relentlessly serious 90-minute performance, delivering a clean sheet at the home of the third best team in Germany, might barely scrape into the top five of unlikely occurrences.

But it’s important we don’t let the utter nonsense everywhere else distract us from the sheer unlikelihood of this.

Spurs rightly considered themselves unlucky to head to Frankfurt level in the tie after dominating the last hour of the first game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There was to be no such dominance here, but what there was in its place was something even more unexpected. The kind of professional, grown-up, uncomplicated and whole-hearted performance we genuinely didn’t think this team or indeed manager any longer had in them.

Only deep into injury-time, when Cristian Romero launched into an entirely unnecessary lunging tackle to hand Eintracht Frankfurt one last chance did they even hint at being even a little bit Spurs about it.

There were heroes all over the pitch for a team enduring a truly miserable season yet one that now, improbably and incongruously, sees them two games against a Norwegian team away from a place in the Europa League final.

If the final of this thing actually does end up being Spurs against Manchester United, then an entire continent should be looking at the floor in uncomfortable embarrassment.

How, on another night of absurd drama around Europe, do we end up with Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs looking like the grown-ups in the room? Like the sensible team getting the job done? What weird portal have we all gone through to find ourselves here?

When Spurs fell behind early in the first leg, apparently caught completely unawares by the Bundesliga’s best counter-attacking team scoring on the counter-attack, it was impossible to even conceive of the idea that it might be the Germans’ last goal of the tie. A Spurs comeback couldn’t be ruled out because Spursiness has always been a two-way street, but the idea that they would do it by grinding back to prevail 2-1 would have been considered the ramblings of a crazy person. And rightly so.

We will hold our hands up and admit we just didn’t see enough Spurs players in this team capable of delivering this kind of performance. Sure, there were moments of luck ridden along the way, but only really in the closing minutes when Frankfurt threw caution to the wind did Spurs’ defence look like it might behave the way it is generally expected to behave because it’s how it generally does behave.

It’s understandably clear that Spurs are no longer putting full effort into the Premier League games that clutter their Europa League schedule with their irrelevant frippery, but even so the contrast between this effort and the abject surrender at Wolves at the weekend was astonishing.

Even allowing for the vast gulf in importance, it was hard to square the sight of that team with the one that fought for and generally won everything here.

It was not perfect. How could it be? This is the 15th best team in England trying to reach a European semi-final. You wouldn’t expect perfection. But it was pretty bloody good.

It’s been uncomfortably obvious in recent weeks that Spurs’ problems – which all remain, by the way – were not going to be solved simply by the return of their many injured players. There has been no marked overall improvement in performance, effort or results.

But on a night when all those players stepped up it was a reminder, if it were needed, that this group of players – and indeed their manager – have let themselves down so badly to be where they are domestically.

The player whose return feels most significant is Micky van de Ven. Not because he’s the best player Spurs have missed, but because he’s the one most capable of covering for their collective flaws. Even in this fine overall effort they would still most likely have crashed out with anyone else in his position.

More than once he saved a situation that left you unsure which to marvel at first; the fact van de Ven is capable of salvaging those messes or the fact Spurs have got themselves in such a tangle in the first place.

What Spurs showed here, though, as they did in the first leg, was an ability to learn and grow. It has been painfully lacking in their football for the last year-and-a-half. When it looked in the early stages as if the defence might be overrun, Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie slightly cut down their attacking and underlapping tendencies from full-back. Not completely, but enough.

It was shrewd play against a team that poses serious danger in attack but will always give you chances at the back. Lord knows if there’s one thing Spurs should be able to recognise and understand, it’s that.

Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall were superb in midfield, an area where Spurs have so often been overwhelmed and overrun this season. James Maddison was having a fine game until it was rudely cut short by Kaua Santos minutes before the half-time break.

It was the decisive moment in the game, though. After a genuinely absurd amount of time had passed, it was at last agreed that one of the most obvious penalties in the history of penalties was indeed a penalty. Dominic Solanke, without a goal in three months, converted it with calm authority.

Solanke faces the same problem as all strikers will at Spurs for the foreseeable future with the impossibly unfair Harry Kane comparisons. But here he gave the sort of selfless all-round centre-forward’s performance that Kane himself produced so often in his Spurs years and which vast numbers of people are only acknowledging now he’s in Munich.

Spurs enjoyed moments of good fortune here, without doubt. Calmer Frankfurt heads may well have at least taken this to extra-time, and there’s no doubt it took the home side the longest time to recover any kind of equilibrium at all after losing chief string-puller Mario Gotze to a hamstring injury midway through the first half.

Ange Postecoglou may allow himself a wry chuckle at the sight of a match turning decisively his way on the back of a key player suffering hamstring twang.

Sad as it is to say, Son Heung-min being ruled out by injury for this game may sit within ‘blessing in disguise’ territory, with Mathys Tel’s greater drive and energy of more value here than Son’s grand yet rapidly waning talents.

But while the players delivered in spades, this was always a night that was going to be about Postecoglou.

Nothing he could do in one game could repair the damage of a season gone so unthinkably bad. But three more games? That yet might.

Tottenham face Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final this evening and we thought we would add to the woes of doom-stricken Spurs fans in the build-up by reassigning the players who will likely be following their miserable manager out of the door in the summer as they seek European football next season.

James Maddison – Manchester City

We admit to stifling a laugh upon hearing a report claiming Manchester City view Maddison as “the natural replacement” for Kevin De Bruyne, though our mirth was tempered somewhat by the startling realisation that the Spurs playmaker has actually managed nine goals and six assists in the Premier League this season. That’s a goal contribution every 118 minutes, which is bettered by just nine players to have played over 25 games.

That record combined with Maddison being picked out by Pep Guardiola for sweet nothings after games and the obvious Australian caveat for his drop in value this season suggests it’s not the most improbable marriage, but still, it’s Kevin De Bruyne.

Mathys Tel – Chelsea

Not actually a Tottenham player and although they do hold a £45m option to buy him, Daniel Levy is unsurprisingly looking to get a discount on Tel having spent years cultivating an environment at the club where it’s impossible for one of the most talented young forwards in Europe to arrive and show he is one of the most talented forwards in Europe. Credit where it’s due, Levy’s played the long game there.

Chelsea were keen in January, because of course they were, and may well reignite that interest because what’s one more mercurial, unproven winger?

Cristian Romero – Atletico Madrid

He’s been so poor since returning from injury that Spurs fans are starting to question whether he’s doing it on purpose to force a move from the club, and we wonder whether a footballer’s head can be turned by interest to such a degree as to disconnect the synapses between their brain and legs.

But as with most of the players on this list, current form will play very little part in their transfer prospects as they play for a club entirely written off as a basket case. Real Madrid are supposedly interested but we can’t see past a move to Atletico Madrid after a meeting with Diego Simeone involving more shouting than talking and one of those head-to-head nuzzles that isn’t quite a headbutt but combines aggression with that hint of romance that El Cholo covets in his warriors.

Micky van de Ven – Liverpool

Richard Hughes may have sorted out the futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk but the contract issues keep coming at Liverpool, with Ibrahima Konate next up as Paris Saint-Germain reportedly step up their interest while the Frenchman’s agent wants a £200,000-per-week salary for his client that we can’t see the Reds offering.

We suggested this week it may be a straight choice for Hughes between Konate and Dean Huijsen after a season in which the Bournemouth star has caught the attention of all the big boys. But a report in February claimed Arne Slot is also ‘very keen’ on Van de Ven, who he sees as an ‘elite Champions League level’ centre-back.

Dejan Kulusevski – Napoli

We would love him to stay in the Premier League because we love Dejan Kulusevski, but Antonio Conte supposedly wants to reunite with him at Napoli and the Sweden international is one of those players – and there weren’t many at Spurs – with whom Conte appeared to form an unbreakable bond.

Kulusevski said Conte “changed my world” when he brought him to Tottenham from Juventus and while his teammates lost faith as the Italian routinely dug them out and slammed the wider mentality of the football club, Kulusevski remained loyal, insisting “I will always respect him” and claiming “when he speaks, the words enter your heart by force.”

Destiny Udogie – Manchester City

A revelation when he arrived last season and Manchester City’s interest is clearly based on those displays in his first few months in the Premier League rather than his later performances which have seen him suffer the ignominy of being dropped from this Spurs team.

Djed Spence – Nottingham Forest

There’s less shame on Udogie’s part for being ousted from the starting line-up seeing as Spence has done the ousting. In a season of few success stories at Tottenham, Spence’s emergence as a key player is the feelgood story of the campaign.

He waited two years for his first start after his £20m move from Middlesbrough and having been called “a signing the club wanted” in a parting gift from Conte as he left the club, Postecoglou spouted some absolute hokum in February about “purposefully making it difficult” for Spence by not playing him rather than admitting he had him all wrong.

Ola Aina could be on the move from Forest at the end of his contract in the summer despite his excellent campaign and a return to the City Ground for Spence, who made his name during their promotion campaign in 2021/2022, feels like a good fit.

Tottenham and Manchester United are reportedly both ‘keen’ on international goalkeeper Yahia Fofana, with both watching him in action over the weekend amid their own problems in net.

Spurs have not had an awful lot of trouble with Guglielmo Vicario between the sticks. The Italian kept eight clean sheets in all competitions last season, but there’s been more pressure on a lot of the Tottenham squad this term.

That told on Vicario at the weekend, when he was at fault for two goals against Wolves, who are below his side’s own poor position of 15th.

He failed to distribute for one, the ball finding its way immediately to a Wolves player, not long before it found its way into the net, before Vicario made a full-stretch dive only to parry the ball off Djed Spence and into the back of the net.

Following the 4-2 loss, TBRFootball has reported Tottenham are ‘keen’ on Ivorian international Fofana. They and Manchester United are both said to be interested.

In fact, both were reportedly among the sides who watched Fofana in a 2-0 victory over Montpellier at the weekend. It means Angers are three points above the Ligue 1 drop zone.

In terms of personal stats, Fofana has a 72.5 per cent save percentage this season, better than Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

At either Spurs or United, Fofana could be replacing a struggling goalkeeper. United have had their issues with Andre Onana, who has made more errors leading to a goal in all competitions of any Premier League goalkeeper since he joined the club in 2023.

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He made two in his late game, against Lyon, before being dropped for the next game. But Ruben Amorim has confirmed that Onana will be back between the sticks in the second leg of the Europa League quarter-final.

“As a coach and former player first of all I try to do things that can help a player in this situation.

“We speak about managing players physically but we also have to manage them also mentally. We had one weekend where I felt it was better for Andre Onana not to play and a good thing for Altay [Bayindir] to play.

“Onana, he will play tomorrow.”

But whether the faith is kept in him for long remains to be seen, with Fofana joining a number of top goalkeepers on United’s shortlist, with big names including Aaron Ramsdale said to be on there.

The Tottenham managerial shortlist seemingly contains four consistent names. Which might be the only consistent thing about the shortlist. By coincidence those four managers – Thomas Frank, Andoni Iraola, Oliver Glasner and Marco Silva – are the only four potential candidates who a) sit above them in the Premier League table, b) would even briefly consider joining Spurs, c) have never been employed by Spurs before and d) are neither child nor old man.

We know – because this is Tottenham and they have in their possession a massive blunderbuss that they point in the general direction of Premier League managers – that Nuno Espirito Santo would absolutely be on that list if they had not already appointed and summarily sacked him already.

And we fully expect Vitor Pereira to be added as soon as Daniel Levy (or whoever he employs to look at the Premier League table) realises that he has made Wolves far, far better than Tottenham.

Like most football clubs (and human beings), Tottenham are forever trying to recreate the alchemy of their greatest relationships; they reached into the pool of over-achieving mid-table Premier League managers to appoint Mauricio Pochettino in 2014 so they will do so again, ignoring that their last attempt created more sh*t than gold with Santo in 2021.

What did not unite Pochettino and does not unite Frank, Iraola, Glasner and Silva is style. Either in terms of tactics or personality. It’s just a list of managers. Crystal Palace are second for set-piece goals in the Premier League this season; Fulham are dead last. Bournemouth play the most long balls in the Premier League; Tottenham play the very least.

It’s a scattergun approach from a scattergun club who have delusions of DNA, with Levy saying in 2021, between sacking Jose Mourinho (currently being linked again) and appointing Santo:

“We are acutely aware of the need to select someone whose values reflect those of our great club and return to playing football with the style for which we are known – free-flowing, attacking and entertaining – whilst continuing to embrace our desire to see young players flourish from our Academy alongside experienced talent.”

There is an argument that Pochettino fitted that (pipe)dream (and he remains the bookies’ favourite for the job) and so does the doomed Ange Postecoglou, but it reflected the styles of nobody employed between. And those who champion Frank and Iraola might want to take a closer look at the pragmatic styles they embrace rather than a long-distance glare at a painful Premier League table.

Tottenham are in the curious position of being a Big Six club (when measured in terms of income, reach, media presence) but not a top-six side. That puts them in an odd position when it comes to the recruitment of both players and managers. You can absolutely see why they are seeking to recreate the Pochettino effect but there was logic to that appointment; in many 2013/14 metrics, Saints were almost a mirror image to Tottenham.

Fast-forward 11 years and Spurs are looking again towards the middle reaches of the Premier League, but that seems – from the outside at least – to be their only real criteria. Have all four of those managers done well with the resources they have been given? Yes. Could one of then be a successful Tottenham manager? Probably. But the fact that all four are being targeted suggests that there is no real clarity of thinking. Again.

Of course, Spurs could render these discussions moot by winning the Europa League despite being one of the worst teams in the Premier League. And then Postecoglou would magically be the right man again. At least that might be slightly more logical than loading the Premier League table and writing down the name of pretty much every manager between eighth and 12th.

Former Premier League striker Clinton Morrison doubts Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou “will be in a job on Saturday” if they lose to Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.

Spurs lost their 17th match of the Premier League season with Postecoglou’s side currently 15th in the table as they enter the final six matches.

There is a feeling that Tottenham may act and sack the Australian if they were to be knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Tottenham drew 1-1 against German side Eintracht Frankfurt last week and head to the Bundesliga outfit hoping to keep their season alive.

The Athletic‘s David Ornstein revealed earlier this week that Postecoglou leaving at the end of the campaign is looking “increasingly likely”.

And now ex-Crystal Palace and Republic of Ireland striker Morrison reckons Postecoglou won’t be in a job at the weekend if they lose to Frankfurt in midweek.

Morrison said on Football Daily: “Nowhere near Tottenham are good enough and Frankfurt are the favorites. It’s 1-1, you go into Frankfurt, I’ll make a statement here.

“If they don’t win on Thursday, I don’t think Ange will be in a job on Saturday. That’s how much the place is toxic at the moment. You can’t buy a win at the moment.

“What excuses is he going to make? ‘Oh, I’ve still got 10 or 11 of my best players injured’? No, all your players are back, and you’re still not getting results. It’s nowhere near good enough.”

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Morrison’s comments come after the Daily Telegraph ruled out Andoni Iraola leaving Bournemouth to take over as the new Tottenham manager if Postecoglou gets fired.

Iraola has been linked with the role for months but the Daily Telegraph insist that the Spaniard is ‘ready to disappoint’ Tottenham ‘and stay at Bournemouth’.

The report adds:

‘Andoni Iraola is moving towards committing his immediate future at Bournemouth despite being a candidate for clubs such as Tottenham in the event of a change of manager.

‘Iraola, 42, has one full season left on his contract at the Vitality Stadium and his work on the south coast over the last two campaigns has drawn admirers and has raised the possibility of a move this summer.

‘But sources are now suggesting the Basque coach is inclined to stay at Bournemouth beyond the current season, with his club firmly in contention for European qualification in 2025-26.

‘With one year left on his deal, which runs until 2026, Bournemouth are also trying to convince Iraola to sign a new deal.’

Tottenham don’t yet know whether they’ll be able to sign Mathys Tel, as they won’t pay the £45million option to buy him, and Bayern Munich will recall him initially.

Tel landed at Spurs in January on a six-month loan, with an option to make the move permanent for around £45million. He had initially said no to Tottenham, before deciding to join them late on.

For the north London club, the Bayern-owned forward has three goals in 11 appearances. But Spurs reportedly accept that he’s joined in a tough period – they’re 15th in the Premier League – and will look to sign him after his loan is up.

However, they are not prepared to do so for the £45million they would currently have to part with.

And Bayern will throw things further up into the air by deciding to recall and use Tel almost immediately. According to Football Insider, they ‘plan’ to utilise the forward in the Club World Cup campaign.

That tournament begins on June 14, which is before Tel’s Spurs spell is officially set to end, but FIFA has created a small transfer window in the first 10 days of June so sides can prepare for the Club World Cup.

As such, Bayern would be able to recall Tel with no problems, and use him in the tournament.

The report states talks will ‘continue’ between Tottenham and Bayern in the off-season, when the Bundesliga side will ‘make a decision’ on Tel’s long-term future.

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That they want him for the Club World Cup, it seems he could impress enough for them not to sell him. It is made clear that Spurs will ‘look to negotiate a lower price’ for Tel if he is ‘receptive to the move’.

Given he initially didn’t want to leave Bayern, a return to the club could see him hope to remain. If not, and if Tottenham don’t want to pay full price, there might be other sides who do.

It remains to be seen what happens in the Frenchman’s future, but given he is under contract until 2029, Bayern have a good selling position, and don’t have to drop their demands if they don’t want to.

The paths of Jose Mourinho and Tottenham could ‘sensationally cross again’ per a report, which notes how Spurs are ‘not sailing in such safe waters’ under Ange Postecoglou.

Tottenham are not in a good position under Postecoglou. After a positive fifth-placed Premier League finish in his first season, Spurs would have been hopeful he’d have been able to build on that.

But things have regressed massively, with the north Londoners down in 15th in the league, the only potential of positivity this season coming from the Europa League, where they are in the quarter-finals, the tie poised at 2-2 ahead of the second leg.

A few reports have suggested if Postecoglou does not engineer success in Europe, he’ll no longer have a job. And his replacement could be a blast from the past.

Tutto Calcio Estero reports ‘the doors could reopen for a return’ to Tottenham for former boss Mourinho, suggesting the paths could ‘sensationally cross again’.

The report notes that with Spurs ‘not sailing in such safe waters’ and the ‘turbulent adventure’ of Mourinho in Turkey with Fenerbahce so far, the move could be possible.

Mourinho managed Tottenham for a year and a half, finishing sixth in the Premier League in 2019/20, and reaching the League Cup final in 2020/21, though he was dismissed before having a chance to coach the final, which Spurs lost.

It might be that current boss Postecoglou is not shown the door until the end of the season, even if his side bow out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage.

Indeed, David Ornstein recently suggested it’s looking “increasingly likely” that Spurs will look to make a change in the summer.

It was since suggested that Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner will walk to take up the Tottenham job. Former Premier League defender Carragher feels Europa League failure should be the catalyst, though.

“I think if they go out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the cup, it probably would be a shake hands and move on to something different for both parties in terms of the manager and the club,” he said.

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Whether that is the case remains to be seen, but there are now a few options to take over from Postecoglou, with Mourinho and Glasner alongside Andoni Iraola, Marco Silva and Edin Terzic, per reports.

Jamie Carragher delivered a damning verdict of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur prospects on Sky Sports this week, saying the club will “shake hands and move on” if they suffer a Europa League defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tottenham head to Germany on Thursday on the back of a tense 1-1 draw in London, just days before suffering another heavy defeat at the hands of Wolves in the Premier League.

The Liverpool legend thinks that defeat will spell the end of Postecoglou‘s reign amid growing calls for his departure.

“I think if they go out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the cup, it probably would be a shake hands and move on to something different for both parties in terms of the manager and the club,” Carragher said.

Spurs controlled possession and were rarely threatened during the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, though Hugo Ekitike’s goal in the sixth minute was enough to claim a first-leg draw for the Germans.

He continued, “And, you know, Ange Postecoglou, since he’s come in, I love watching Spurs. I love it when I’ve got a Spurs game.

“I love analysing as things go on. But if you’re a Spurs fan, you know, you’re so open. You’re always conceding goals.

“They’re an exciting team to watch. I’ve said it for so long: They should be everybody’s second team in some ways because you’re always going to get a great game.”

The Premier League’s grand entertainers have scored 60 goals while conceding 49 times en route to 17 losses in 32 Premier League fixtures.

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The Liverpool legend was keen to acknowledge an ongoing injury crisis that has hampered their season, though he also referenced their poor form from previous seasons.

“But some of the results that we’ve seen this season, there’s been mitigating circumstances in some cases in terms of the injuries that they’ve had.

“Even when they’ve had the full team, they haven’t been winning enough games.

“This has not just been going on this season. If you go back to the first 10 games of last season, when they were fantastic, top of the league, from then, this has been going on for a long time.

“This has been going on for nearly 18 months, with them conceding goals and losing games.

“So it’s not, you know, just turning on the manager really quickly over a run of form. This has been going on a long time.”

Tottenham will look to extend their stay in the Europa League when they visit Frankfurt on Thursday night.

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys thinks Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is a “dead man walking” even if he wins the Europa League.

Spurs lost their 17th match of the Premier League season with Postecoglou’s side currently 15th in the table as they enter the final six matches.

There is a feeling that Tottenham may act and sack the Australian if they were to be knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Tottenham drew 1-1 against German side Eintracht Frankfurt last week and head to the Bundesliga outfit hoping to keep their season alive.

The Athletic‘s David Ornstein revealed earlier this week that Postecoglou leaving at the end of the campaign is looking “increasingly likely”.

And beIN Sports presenter Keys doubts Postecoglou will last even if he guides Tottenham to Europa League silverware.

Keys wrote in his blog: ‘Of course there are a few different reasons a coach can lose his job. An obvious one is to not be very good – or perhaps he/she can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both apply to Ruben Amorim.

‘A coach can be stubbornly wrong. Russell Martin comes to mind in this category. If he hadn’t been so naive – no daft – early in the season, Southampton wouldn’t be going down labelled as the worst PL team of all time. Russell arrogantly over-played and refused to change. Saints weren’t good enough to stroke the ball and play ‘the right way’.

‘A coach can sometimes overstay his/her welcome. Players can get tired of hearing the same voice. It’s usually the coach that goes in these circumstances nowadays – Fergie had the luxury of being able to change the players of course.

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‘A coach will go if the chairman/owner starts getting stick from supporters. He/she doesn’t have to get on with decision makers but it helps to manage upwards as well as down.

‘There are many internal reasons that can lead to a change and we don’t always get to know about those, but the last two categories I’m going to mention are a no no.

‘Losing the dressing room will end badly. Ask the last half dozen coaches at Leicester and Chelsea. Players have so much power these days if they don’t fancy a coach they’ll be gone.

‘Steve Cooper found that out. He clearly wanted to take Jamie Vardy on, but didn’t get the time. Vardy took him out early.

‘And the last category is crossing a line from which few – if any – ever come back. That is – pissing supporters off.

‘Ange is a dead man walking. He picked a fight with Tottenham fans during the recent Chelsea game. Bad call Ange. You just can’t do that.

‘He’s gone – even if he wins the Europa League. I backed him half way through the season but I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired of listening to him mumble at the floor explaining ‘it’s what we are mate’. He knows he’s toast. Perhaps it’s why he doubled down at Wolves?’