Football365

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is ‘still deciding’ whether to sack Ange Postecoglou but a Premier League boss has ’emerged as a contender’ if the Australian is shown the door this summer.

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic in the summer of 2023 and having led them to fifth in his debut season has overseen a dismal 2024/2025 campaign in the Premier League which saw them finish just one spot above the relegation zone having lost 22 of their 38 games.

But Tottenham finished the campaign in the best possible way, beating Manchester United in Bilbao to win their first trophy for 17 years, securing a spot in the Champions League in the process.

Postecoglou was mocked for his claim back in Autumn the he “always wins in my second season” and referenced that now famous line as he addressed the fans during the trophy parade on Friday.

“I told them and they laughed. I told them and they didn’t believe, but here we are,” Postecoglou declared on the open-top bus.

“We’re here because of this unbelievable group of people players and staff, absolute heroes led by the legend Son Heung-min, Cuti [Cristian] Romero, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario. All of them, heroes.

“They did it all for you, because you deserve it. This club deserves it.

“And I’ll tell you something, I’ll leave you with this – all the best television series, season three is better than season two. Thank you.”

His joy may be short-lived however, as GIVEMESPORT claim Levy is yet to make his mind up over whether to show Postecoglou the door, while Brentford boss Thomas Frank is being looked at as a possible candidate to replace him.

The report states:

‘Brentford manager Thomas Frank is emerging as a contender to replace the Greek-Australian tactician if a change is made, while Marco Silva publicly stated he will stay in the Fulham hot-seat following their 2-0 loss to Manchester City on the final day of the Premier League campaign.

‘Frank has a release clause in his Brentford contract in the region of £9million. The Dane also has a long-standing relationship with the north Londoners’ technical director Johan Lange.’

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Postecoglou revealed he has no clarity on his future ahead of Spurs’ 4-1 defeat in their final game of the season on Sunday having been asked about his “season three is better than season two” line.

“I should have thought about it a bit more because sometimes they kill off the main character,” The 59-year-old joked.

“I said before the game, I really feel we’re building something. It’s exciting I have a group of players, a group of staff and a club that knows how to win.

“I haven’t had any discussions. Similar to before, I haven’t had any discussions with the club and maybe they were waiting for clear air.

“I haven’t given it a lot of thought, I just refuse to be distracted by anything.

“I haven’t thought of it. I assume at some point someone will tell me something, otherwise I’ll just turn up next season and get on with my job.”

Tottenham are willing to make a loan offer for Chelsea forward Christopher Nkunku ahead of the summer transfer window, according to reports.

Spurs have had a rotten season in the Premier League with their 4-1 defeat at home to Brighton on Sunday condemning them to a 17th-placed finish.

Ange Postecoglou will now come under huge pressure over the summer with some reports insisting that his future is still up in the air despite their Europa League final win over Manchester United.

Tottenham secured Champions League football by beating the Red Devils and now the Spurs hierarchy are planning for next season with a boosted budget.

A forward is towards the top of their list despite only seven sides in the Premier League scoring more goals than Tottenham this term.

And Spanish website Fichajes claims that Tottenham are interested in Chelsea forward Nkunku, who is ‘virtually assured’ to depart before the end of the summer.

READ: Ten Premier League stars set to be benched for new signings next season

Nkunku ‘has been on the radar of several clubs interested in adding him to their squads, and now the situation seems clearer for the player and his current team.’.

Tottenham are ‘willing to negotiate an initial loan, with a €45m (£38m) option to buy’ the France international and the ‘proposal could be attractive to Chelsea’.

For Spurs, the deal ‘represents an opportunity to strengthen their attack without a significant immediate financial commitment’.

Former Chelsea midfielder Gus Poyet reckons Nkunku, who has only started nine Premier League matches this season, has “got the talent” to be a hit at Stamford Bridge but needed Enzo Maresca to give him more game time.

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Poyet said: “I think Christopher Nkunku is a very good player. I just don’t think the style of how Chelsea want to play sees him add much value with one man up front. It makes it a lot more difficult for him to get more playing time.

“The decision to stay at Chelsea in January would have been personal for Nkunku. Some people make the decision to leave after one year if they’ve had enough, but some people will see out the contract. I really believe he’s got the talent.

“It’s a difficult one to call whether he could perform week-in week-out because he just hasn’t been given that amount of playing time by Enzo Maresca yet. If he were to get given a solid run of games up front, it’d be a lot easier to say what value he brings to the team, it’s impossible otherwise.”

Tottenham are reportedly the ‘favourites’ to land RB Leipzig attacking midfielder Xavi Simons this summer after getting a £100m boost.

Ange Postecoglou has been under huge amounts of pressure for most of the season with Tottenham currently 17th in the Premier League table, one place above the relegation zone.

Postecoglou had some sympathy from the Spurs board earlier in the campaign with their mounting injury list – but, since getting many of his players back to fitness, the results have still been terrible.

There were rumours before the Europa League final against Manchester United that Postecoglou would be sacked at the end of the season, even if they beat the Red Devils in Bilbao.

Tottenham did exactly that, with a first-half Brennan Johnson goal the difference as Spurs beat the Red Devils 1-0 to lift their first trophy since the 2008 League Cup under Juande Ramos.

And now the Australians future is still unknown ahead of next season – but Tottenham seem to be ploughing on with new signings regardless of the uncertainty over who will be managing them in a couple of months’ time.

A report from Spanish website Fichajes claims that Tottenham are now ‘favorites’ to sign RB Leipzig star Simons, who has been linked with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City.

Spurs ‘have set their sights on Simons as one of their priorities for the upcoming summer transfer window’ but the Bundesliga side has ‘no intention of letting their star player leave easily, demanding a transfer fee of around €80m’.

The report adds that Tottenham ‘isn’t alone in the race, but its recent momentum and the appeal of playing in the Champions League could make all the difference.’

On that note, finance expert Stefan Borson has revealed that Spurs are in for a £100m boost after qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

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Borson told Football Insider: “They should get the five games at home in the Champions League.

“They should sell them out. They have got London prices. They have got slightly lower accrued Uefa coefficient on the value pillar, so they’ll be slightly lower than United would have got from that.

“They actually won the Europa League as well, so there’s probably very little in it. You are probably looking at £70-80million from the Champions League in prize money straight away in the worst case. Obviously, the further you get, the more you generate.

“They probably do also have step-ups in their player contracts, so they’ll probably end up with a higher wage bill from that, and that will offset some of their upside.

“They will generate good money from matchday on top of the £70-80million. Will there be any uplifts in their sponsorship contracts? Possibly. So, that could be good for them as well.

“It will probably be worth top line at least £100million and an additional profit of £60-70million.

“It’s very significant, so it’s very useful for them.”

And Tottenham have also been looking to improve other areas of their midfield with reports in Spain claiming that Barcelona ‘rejected’ a €60m (£50m) ‘offer’ from Spurs for Fermin Lopez.

Instead, Barcelona see him as ‘a strategic asset’ and are attempting to tie him down to a new deal with interest also coming in from Newcastle United, Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou says he has held no talks with Daniel Levy over his future after leading the club to Europa League glory.

There have been calls all season for Levy to sack Postecoglou, but the Spurs owner kept the faith and was fully vindicated when Big Ange’s side beat Manchester United in the Europa League final this week.

It is Spurs’ first trophy in 17 years and comes after Postecoglou said he “always wins things” in his second year at clubs in autumn.

He was ridiculed for the claim as the north Londoners struggled in the Premier League, currently sitting just one spot above the relegation zone after 21 defeats in 37 matches.

The Spurs players and fans celebrated their trophy win – which secures them a place in next season’s Champions League – with a parade on Friday.

The Aussie addressed the supporters and made a cheeky comment that in “all the best television series, season three is better than season two”.

“I told them and they laughed. I told them and they didn’t believe, but here we are,” Postecoglou declared on the open-top bus.

“We’re here because of this unbelievable group of people players and staff, absolute heroes led by the legend Son Heung-min, Cuti [Cristian] Romero, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario. All of them, heroes.

“They did it all for you, because you deserve it. This club deserves it.

“And I’ll tell you something, I’ll leave you with this – all the best television series, season three is better than season two. Thank you.”

A hungover (surely) Postecoglou addressed the media on Saturday ahead of the final game of the season at home to Brighton.

He said he has no clarity on his future and referenced his ‘season three’ comment by joking that “sometimes they kill off the main character.”

After being serenaded by thousands of Spurs supporters at Friday’s open-top bus parade, where Postecoglou declared, “season three is always better than season two,” the 59-year-old faced the media before Sunday’s visit from Brighton but still has no clarity on his future.

“I should have thought about it a bit more because sometimes they kill off the main character,” Postecoglou laughed.

“I said before the game, I really feel we’re building something. It’s exciting I have a group of players, a group of staff and a club that knows how to win.

“I haven’t had any discussions. Similar to before, I haven’t had any discussions with the club and maybe they were waiting for clear air.

“I haven’t given it a lot of thought, I just refuse to be distracted by anything.

“I haven’t thought of it. I assume at some point someone will tell me something, otherwise I’ll just turn up next season and get on with my job.”

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has given the Spurs board “food for thought” as the probability of him being sacked now at “50/50”, according to reports.

The Australian has been under huge amounts of pressure for most of the season with Tottenham currently 17th in the Premier League table, one place above the relegation zone.

Postecoglou had some sympathy from the Spurs board earlier in the season with their mounting injury list – but, since getting many of his players back to fitness, the results have still been terrible.

There were rumours before the Europa League final against Manchester United that Postecoglou would be sacked at the end of the season, even if they beat the Red Devils in Bilbao.

Tottenham did exactly that, with a first-half Brennan Johnson goal the difference as Spurs beat the Red Devils 1-0 to lift their first trophy since the 2008 League Cup under Juande Ramos.

Postecoglou insisted after their win on Wednesday that he would be “disappointed” not to be able to continue the job at Tottenham next season.

READ: Mea culpa, mate: We were wrong about Ange Postecoglou sack

He told a press conference: “Look, I think I said yesterday, I am pretty kind of — not relaxed. Relaxed is not the word because I would be disappointed if we couldn’t continue on this path, but it’s not a criticism.

“I understand why it would be difficult for a club like this to buy into one person’s vision. I remember even when I signed, the club and even Daniel said, ‘We went after winners, it didn’t work and now we’ve got Ange,’ but mate, I’m a winner. I have been a serial winner my whole career.”

And now Football Insider’s senior correspondent Pete O’Rourke has revealed that the Tottenham board are now “50/50” on whether to sack Postecoglou.

O’Rourke told Football Insider: “It’s papering over the cracks. That Europa League success is a brilliant moment for Tottenham.

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“Champions League football will boost the finances of the club and everything else, and that’s a big thing for Tottenham going forward.

“Their league form has not been good enough, there’s no getting away from that. It’s probably about 50/50 right now, it’s given the Spurs hierarchy food for thought and obviously the fans are very happy right now.

“I don’t think winning the Europa League will ensure Postecoglou keeps his job. To be fair to Postecoglou, he’s been open after the match what whatever happens will happen.

“It’s obviously given Spurs a bit more to think about, having ended that trophy drought. But the club’s hierarchy might be thinking they might have to make a change.”

Manchester United will always be the team which lost a European final to Spurs and that ‘stain’ is eternal. There is no ‘escape out of this doom spiral’.

Send your thoughts to theeditor@football365.com.

The INEOS brains trust can only be trusted with one more decision

As a United fan who didn’t even bother watching the Europa League final, I’m not the least bit surprised by the outcome. Manchester United are in complete shambles right now. The arrival of Ratcliffe has been so disastrous that even Ed Woodward starts to look like a footballing genius in comparison.

United’s problems are numerous, but the most glaring issue is this: we can’t even decide what’s worse — the players or the managers. When it comes to both Erik ten Hag and Amorim, it’s safe to say that, as poor as the current squad is, the managers have been even worse. And therein lies the root of our troubles.

We have no Director of Football. Our scouting network is non-existent or laughable at best. This leaves the manager (the one who can’t do their own jobs) to also do the scouting, resulting in hundreds of millions wasted on signings who have consistently failed to meet expectations. Under Ten Hag, huge sums were spent chasing his priority targets, yet almost every one of them has proven to be a disappointment. In contrast, Amorin is still demadning players for a system that has shown no evidence of working in the Premier League.

The reality? United are expected to finish this season with 39 points — just above the relegation zone. In many other seasons, that would have meant relegation. Remember the outrage when United finished 7th under David Moyes, and that was without the financial backing ETH was given for instance.

So what’s the solution?

Unfortunately, the current management structure is unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. There will be no Director of Football appointment, no meaningful improvement to the scouting network, and no overhaul of the training facilities. The people in charge simply don’t seem capable of making the right decisions.

This leaves us with only one viable option — one that comes with the caveat that it has not worked out too well in the past but is the only realistic path forward now. We need to hire an experienced, truly elite manager. Someone with a proven track record of winning titles and the full backing of the club. This manager should be entrusted with all football decisions — from which players to buy and sell, to upgrading facilities, restructuring the medical team, and establishing a reliable scouting and data analysis network.

Most importantly, this manager must be given complete autonomy, no matter how much resistance or dissent there may be from players, he must be backed to the hilt season after season. Because the only thing the current board and management can be trusted with is one decision only, hiring the manager. And that too out of sheer necessity. Beyond that, let the only adult at the club (read: new manager hopefully) make all the decisions from thereon. Because, this United board and management have proven repeatedly that to allow them to make even a single more decision would be folly of the highest order.

Adeel

So, for the third season in a row, United found themselves in a cup final looking to salvage their season, only this time, they went to the well and they found there was nothing left for them.

You can’t keep putting off the inevitable. This is a large scale rebuild. It will involve gradually shipping out 10 players and trying to bring in 10 who are an improvement on those going out. That’s a 3, 4, 5 year project. There is no quick fix. There are no shortcuts. The last two years have been sticking plasters, but you can’t keep putting plasters on open fractures. Sooner or later you have to accept that you require more advanced help.

As I have said previously, the problem with United is that are yet to confront their reality. They may have the most Instagram followers in Kenya or whatever, but that is worth absolutely nothing on a football pitch. They need to accept where they are and what they are. Until they do, they will continue to go backwards.

Andy H, Swansea.

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RIP Manchester United

The coroner pronounced Manchester United Football Club officially dead at 21:57 BST on the night of Wednesday 21st May 2025. It was 147 years old.

Dramatic? Perhaps. But if the Europa League final really was “do or die”, well, United didn’t “do”. It feels like a death knell and I expect a lot of black worn at Old Trafford on Sunday for the blessed relief of the season finale. We didn’t deserve to win the Europa and certainly do not deserve Champions League football in 2025-26.

You know things are bad when rival fans have (mostly) stopped laughing and are expressing sincere concern. I guarantee Spurs will be nowhere near the bottom 3 next season. I wish I could express the same confident claim about my own club, but I for one just cannot see an escape out of this doom spiral.

Our best players are likely to be moved on (for tuppence ha’penny, natch); our once-coveted manager looks like he’s hating every single minute of his life and our tight-as-a-gnat’s arse part-owner is similarly regretting his life choices, whilst looking for all the world like a child’s doodle of a medieval king magically made flesh.

The Championship is beckoning. Money can only insulate you from failure for so long in football. The last time we were relegated in 1974, it was only six years after becoming England’s first champions of Europe. With greater finances involved in modern football, it has insulated us for longer, but not for much longer, at this rate in any case. I will never stop loving my club and all its glorious (and inglorious) history, but I am really not looking forward to more of the same next season.

A good start would be to stop losing to Spurs! Nothing against them, but four defeats to Tottenham in the same season? Four?! That’s insane. I’m pleased for big Ange, a man often luckless, scorned and derided. But to actually deliver on his pre-season pledge to “always” win a trophy in his second season? Gotta admire the man’s Tottenham Chutzpah. Just wish he didn’t have to do it at our expense!

To Jim French, thayden, Jon, Lincoln et al: savour that warm afterglow of a cup final victory. Our Gooner friends haven’t felt it in years 😉 Barry Fox has clearly had a few too many celebratory “bottoms-up” poured beers. A decade of dominance? Best not get carried away now, Baz-lar. Best to walk before you can run, no? After all, it was “only” Man United.

Yours pessimistically,

Lee, wondering if there’d be a lot more Champo content on F365 should we ever go down?

Manchester United (1878-2025) is over. I was thinking earlier this season, as a Liverpool fan, that if somehow they got relegated I would quit watching football or caring about the Premier League altogether (not the Champions League of course….) because it would be meaningless to entertain a rivalry when your biggest rival has been destroyed beyond repair. Of course, they didn’t get relegated -but gave it shot- yet United being United, they managed to produce an outcome just as humiliating and unbelievable; lose a European final to Tottenham. (To add insult to injury, without Maddison, Kulusevski, Bergvall…. basically, their best attacking options) 🤯

Lost a European final to Tottenham… (try not to laugh reading that over and over again). They will have to live with that stain forever now. The last European trophy Spurs won was against Anderlecht, a club which fittingly has disappeared from the world stage. How do you live past that as a “proud football club” when Tottenham was the perennial butt of jokes for a reason?? Even hours before the match Paul Scholes was asked to revisit on TV the “lads, it’s Tottenham” pep talk Fergie gave them in the dressing room which became a meme, running joke, soundbite whatever to exemplify the complete helplessness and failure inherent to Tottenham. And yet, you’ve become their b****, Spurs beat them 4 times this season!!! 🤣

In the end of the day, level at league titles and with twice as many European cups, the history books will tell the story that Liverpool beat Tottenham in a Champions League final but Manchester United lost to Spurs in a Europa League final. There are levels to this game. Liverpool has to find a new “biggest fixture” to look forward to because the English Derby no longer is. We may have to manufacture a rivalry with City going forward because United died this season. They’re just the gift that keeps on giving, having perfected the art of failure. You could not script a better season ending from a Liverpool fan’s standpoint.

Raúl H. García (Number 7 next season and I’m done) LFC-YNWA 1892

I was reading bits of the mailbox and Man Utd fans thinking out loud about how to forge a path ahead. Youth was mentioned an awful lot but here is the thing: if you were a talented player under 16 you would not sign for Man Utd right now.

To protect kids and not disrupt families most clubs have to recruit within a geography but that means that Man Utd are competing with Man City and Liverpool for top youth players. Which team would you rather sign for if you were 12 years old right now?

There’s no class of 92 that’s going to be emerging any time soon in my opinion. And the class of 92 had top professionals like Cantona to learn from; who would a kid in the youth team look up to right now other than Bruno?

The club has cancer and it’s been allowed to persist so long that it’s infected almost everything. That combined with a disgruntled feeling from all the staff who Genius Jim has screwed to save £58 a week means that the morale couldn’t be lower.

I don’t see Amorim as the answer and this £100m summer war Chest won’t go far when so much is about to be spent on Cunha making a step down.

I’m obviously enjoying this malaise rather a lot. The summer of optimism will also be great before it comes crashing down on opening day when you lose at home to Fulham.

Minty, LFC

We do talk about Bruno

I was really glad one of your 16 Conclusions on the final picked up on the double Bruno Fernandes turnover in the Spurs half prior to the goal. This gets glossed over so many times, especially when United play well or get a result. The amount of times he gives the ball away unnecessarily is astonishing.

It got me to thinking after the game. If Fernandes were the talisman he is reputed to be. If he’s such a great goal scorer, creator, leader, why have none of the big clubs not come in for him? At the very least, why has there not been the odd rumour at the end of a non-disastrous season, linking him with Spain, Italy or Bayern?

I think the answer to this is that they don’t want him. Is he a good player? Absolutely! But he’s not good enough to be constantly forgiven his wasteful passes, Hollywood balls, whining and moaning at the ref and team mates? I can’t understand how the 6 managers (interim included) he’s worked under since joining United have all deemed him undroppable. Not just that, he’s rarely subbed off

United are in a very precarious position right now. There was talk earlier this season of a relegation battle. I shrugged that off, thinking there’s no way the quality of the teams at the bottom of the table would threaten a side of full internationals. But watching the game last night I could honestly say that I wouldn’t put a tenner on United to beat any of the 3 relegated sides if they were to meet in a week’s time with full strength sides. I don’t think the teams coming up this season from the Championship will be as bad as the 3 going down and I think Leeds and Burnley will have learned their lessons form previous bounces and prepare better for the upcoming top flight season.

So if United want to keep doing the same thing, with the same players, then I genuinely feel next season could be worse than this. And if Bruno Fernandes is still the captain, playing 90 mins every week, no matter how bad his performances are, then they can have no complaints if next May they find themselves in must win matches to avoid dropping to the championship.

I would like to clarify that I’m not laying all the blame for the current sh*t show at his feet. There are a number of players not fit to wear the shirt and the managers have to take a lot of blame too. But this is one area that seems to be constantly ignored and needs to be debated. Are United better off with Fernandes or without. Some fans might see Fernandes leaving as the last finger pulled from the dyke but I think his removal from the team would allow others to step up with an increased focus on in-game tactics. Just look what happened PSG when Mbappe left and the team became less of a one man show.

Mick, Newcastle

Tinpot

I’d like to address the concept that because of the finalists poor league performance and the poor quality game that the Europa League is now a tinpot trophy and shouldn’t get CL qualification.

What about Denmark or Greece winning the Euros? Not the biggest teams nor the best football which would make that competition tinpot now as well.

Do we really want to post decide the value of a sporting success based on the winner’s performance in a separate sporting competition? Is it worth nothing unless one of the big successful teams win it?

But far worse than the subjective, post-rationalised logic is the inhumanity. The denial of one of the most nourishing, heart warming stories that sport brings so wonderfully to life. The plucky underdog who – against all odds – finally gets to the top of the mountain and lifts that trophy aloft. That perfect moment that can never be taken away from them. Shining glory!

Oh no. Wait while VAR team Moses and Wenger check for ‘entertainment and league performance’ offences.

Moving on. You’re my most annoying team – because you always beat us in the most annoying ways – but I’m really pleased for Spurs.

And totally stoked for palace. That’s the stuff football’s about.

The competitive league; Newcastle: it’s been a season where the joy has been spread around and I think that’s much better. The product feels fresher, more filled with possibilities. I think this should mean more engagement, more eyeballs and therefore more value.

Honestly it’s become ‘yeah chuck it on the pile’ when City win a domestic cup for me. Which sounds, and is, wildly entitled and that’s the problem. Even Tiramisu becomes boring after the fifteen bowl. Probably. The rewards being divided between the wealthy few is bad for everyone so I make this a good season.

This City fan needs to get his hunger back to really enjoy winning again. If it ever happens.

That said – Come on Club World Cup!

Big love,

Mansour out!

Hartley MCFC Somerset (being a Utd fan must be like living in a wooden house and discovering your new landlord is a termite.)

Stunningly awful

That’s 90 minutes of my life I’ll never get back. No skin in the game, but the only thing on, so why not. Err, that’s why not.

When the commentator said the game was getting scrappy, two thoughts crossed my mind. One, a disservice was being done to the word scrappy. Second, how could he tell.

Is it now “c’mon lads, it’s only Utd”?

Absolutely dreadful from both sides, poor, misplaced passes, players not making runs, awful positioning, running into dead ends. Both teams devoid of ideas or any kind of cohesiveness; showing why they thoroughly deserve to be 16th and 17th in the EPL.

Credit to Matt Stead who must have had to work overtime come up with 2 conclusions let alone 16 -other than complete and utter dross.

Paul McDevitt

Unbridled joy

Watching Spurs win on Wednesday, Palace at the weekend, Newcastle earlier in the year, and (to a lesser extent) Liverpool (first win the league in front of fans since 1990), reminded me why we were all love football. It has the power to bring so friends and strangers together to share the experience of overwhelming joy.

Over the last week I’ve seen more grown men cry with joy than over the course of the last 10 years. And that’s a good thing.

Well done Spurs. Who cares about the quality of the football. You have played better and lost in the past. Today is about basking in utter joy of winning.

Rob

As an Arsenal fan with many Spurs supporting friends (consequence of growing up in North London), can I just say congratulations and don’t let anyone p*ss on your chips. You won a trophy after 17 years, a European one at that, and you’re now in the CL next year. That’s like an extra £100 million that Levy won’t spend. My group WhatsApp was popping off, and if anyone deserves some joy after a season of misery, it’s them, they took a lot of heat after league games.

Yeah we’re rivals, yeah we love it when the other loses, but ultimately, they won a trophy. They should be able to celebrate without joyless chuds coming out the woodwork to say it means nothing. Phrases like ‘tallest dwarf’ are not helpful, at this rate only the CL will matter, and then you might as well form a Super League if you believe that. There’s something poetic about Palace, Newcastle and Spurs winning this season, perennial under dogs coming good.

Roll on next season. Should be larks!

John Matrix AFC

Lifelong Gooner here, born in 1983. I’ve tried my best to rustle up any interest or anger at Spurs winning a trophy, and I honestly can’t find any. So genuinely, well done Tottenham. What do I care? Not having been born in North London, I don’t have any local animosity. It has always felt like a joke on Arsenal fans to include Tottenham in the same sentence as us. Geography has created this rivalry, not talent or history.

I was talking to a fellow Arsenal fan the same age as me about who we’d rather win the Europa League and he summed it up perfectly: “Tottenham have never hurt me. Never. Man Utd have many, many times. I want Utd to lose.”

Tom

Relegation rules

So with the bar getting lower and lower for staying in the EPL, is it about time we revisited the rulebook?

Imagine this: Bottom three auto relegated. Anyone else with less than 40 points at end of season – into a playoff for your place with the next best championship team.

Absolute Cinema.

Thats all.

Barry

Chelsea birds

Good idea, John L, West Ham (nothing in brackets).

Man Utd have responded to an offer from Ruben Amorim to leave Old Trafford without compensation after losing the Europa League final on Wednesday.

The Red Devils ended a terrible season with a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham earlier this week after Brennan Johnson’s goal before half-time handed Spurs their first silverware since 2008.

Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag as Man Utd head coach in November but their Premier League performances and results have been no better under the Portuguese boss.

Man Utd are 16th in the Premier League heading into the final weekend of fixtures with the Red Devils winning just ten matches all season.

It has been a campaign full of misery for Amorim – who was already reportedly talked out of resigning earlier this season – and the Man Utd boss offered to leave without compensation on Wednesday after their defeat to Tottenham.

Amorim said: “In this moment, I am not going to be here defending myself. I cannot do it, it is really hard for me.

READ: Rock-bottom for Amorim and Man Utd? No, it really could get worse…

“I have nothing to show to the fans to say I am going to improve.

“So in this moment it is a little bit of faith. Let’s see. I am always open, if the board and the fans feel I am not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation.

“But I will not quit. I am really confident on my job. As you can see I will not change nothing in the way I do things.”

But the Daily Telegraph have claimed that Man Utd ‘refuse to take up’ Amorim’s offer to resign and leave without compensation.

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It is understood that the Man Utd boss ‘retains the full backing’ of the club’s board and that ‘Amorim’s position is unaffected by Wednesday’s defeat by Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final as they prepare to intensify efforts to reshape a chronically underperforming squad to the manager’s needs this summer’.

Man Utd ‘accepted this season was always going to be a challenge as they transitioned to a new system and style of play’ and that Amorim ‘was always aware his future was not contingent on the outcome of one game, or his calamitous first season and that the United hierarchy accept they are facing a long-term rebuild that requires time and patience’.

The Red Devils will look to provide Amorim with the tools he needs to make Man Utd successful again next season with Wolves’ Matheus Cunha and Brentford’s Bryan Mbeumo two of the names linked.

After hearing speculation about Cunha and Mbeumo, Man Utd legend Dwight Yorke told gamblingindustrynews.com: “Cunha is a good player. I like him. I like the look of him from his time at Wolves. He will bring some grit and some decisiveness, and a little bit more conviction in the attacking areas, and a greater presence. He’s got a little bit of fire in his belly which is what we need. I like that about him.

“I rate Mbeumo too. He has had an exceptional season this year. I like Liam Delap too, the lad at Ipswich. I know people talk about him a lot as well.

“These are three good players, and that’s what United need. They need exceptional players to take the club forward. I’m less sure about Mbeumo and Delap, but Cunha has a little bit more about him. He’s the kind of player I want to watch at United, he’s more exciting.

“Having said that, all three of them are better than the current options up front.”

A new report has revealed how Tottenham Hotspur players are feeling regarding head coach Ange Postecoglou’s future at the Premier League club.

There was an upturn in optimism surrounding Spurs heading into the 2024/25 campaign after Postecoglou implemented an exciting style of play in his debut season and the club narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification.

It was hoped that the Bix Six club would kick on this season, but their Premier League form has dropped off a cliff as they have plummeted to 17th in the table with a single match remaining.

Injuries have been a contributing factor, but the majority of Tottenham’s performances have been far from good enough as they have lost 21 matches.

Still, their run in the Europa League has been a saving grace for Spurs and Postecoglou, who declared in September 2024 that he would win a trophy this season.

READ: Mea culpa, mate: We were wrong about Ange Postecoglou sack

Postecoglou ran the risk of looking incredibly daft after making this statement as Spurs came up short in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, but Spurs ended their 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League on Wednesday night.

The former Celtic boss and his side did a job on Man Utd as they deservedly won 1-0, though the match was pretty dire.

This result is a huge boost for Spurs, who will be playing in the Champions League next season and will enter the summer window with an enhanced budget.

Ahead of the Europa League final, it was widely reported that Postecoglou would leave Spurs even if they won the competition, but it remains to be seen whether this will be the case.

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Several Spurs stars backed Postecoglou after the Europa League final, but a report from The Daily Mail claims they ‘do not expect him to be in charge next season’.

It is noted that Daniel Levy is ‘believed to have already eyed replacements’, with one potential target named.

The report claims:

‘The Spurs boss has one year remaining on his contract, but it will require a change of heart from chairman Daniel Levy, who is thought to have already started exploring alternatives, including Marco Silva of Fulham.’

Respected reporter David Ornstein has also revealed his information on Postecoglou’s future, with Levy “given food for thought”.

He explained: “The clear direction of travel, as far as Tottenham’s hierarchy goes has been to make a change this summer and it’ll be fascinating to see if they follow through with that, I think it’s most likely they will from an outside perspective but I think they’ve got a bit more food for thought now.

“I think if they look at the evidence and that isn’t just results, performances and injuries, then there’s enormous room for improvement and they feel there’s a very good squad there, they’ve invested pretty heavily, it still needs some work on it and they need some good fortune with injuries. But it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s still a change there and it wouldn’t surprise Ange Postecoglou either.”

There’s a 50.3 per cent chance Spurs win the Europa League final. Or a 50.7 per cent chance Man United win it. Not even supercomputers can cope with these teams and their absolute nonsense.

Euro vision

It’s the banter final tonight, isn’t it? El Crapico. Hell Clasico. The Donkey Derby. Bilbao Bobbins. A match that Mike Walters in the Mirror – never knowingly afraid of taking a reasonable if obvious point and stretching it way beyond its elastic limit – declares is between ‘the two worst teams in the Premier League’.

Not quite, Mike, but we will concede they are indeed both very bad.

So who will win this contest between resistible force and movable object? Profoundly difficult to say with any certainty, so it is to the supercomputers we must yield.

From The Sun we get this:

Ahead of the game, boffins and brainiacs over at AceOdds have built a supercomputer to crunch the numbers and determine the most likely outcome. The egghead formula has simulated the outcome 1,000 times. And it has worked out that Spurs are most likely to run out 2-1 winners.

You know this is serious, because it involves boffins, brainiacs and egghead formulas crunching the numbers. That settles it, frankly. But wait, the Mail says this.

For the Europa League final showpiece at San Mames, AceOdds backed Tottenham to win 3-2 and lift a trophy for the first time since 2008.

Come on, AceOdds. Come on, boffins. Brainiacs, eggheads; what’s going on here? What’s the crunch of these numbers? Is it 2-1 or 3-2?

We don’t want to have to watch the actual match to find out the answer. What a rigmarole. Mind you the Mail also say this about the magic predicting machine:

The results were then converted into percentages, showing the probability of each team finishing in each position in the league.

Which does rather suggest someone has got slightly muddled up along the way, or failed to update some old copy accurately. Sports Illustrated, meanwhile, bring us this supercomputer news:

Opta currently rates Tottenham as minor favourites, with Spurs prevailing in 50.3% of the 10,000 simulations run by the supercomputer forming the basis of their prediction. United, thus, have a 49.7% chance of lifting the trophy.

We would contend that a supercomputer saying there’s a 50.3 per cent chance of one of two things happening doesn’t really count as ‘Supercomputer Predicts Europa League Final Winner’ any more than it would ‘Supercomputer Predicts Outcome Of Coin Toss’ but that might just be us.

But then there’s the Daily Express, with this water-muddier.

After 10,000 current simulations, United lifted the trophy 50.7 per cent of the time, while Spurs ruled supreme in 49.3 per cent.

There really is no shame in just shrugging your shoulders and going ‘They’re both stupid, it’s too tough to call’. Even if you are a supercomputer. Or a boffin.

Express delivery

Meanwhile, the Daily Express are busy pretending Manchester United have already named their team for the final, including a ‘new striker’.

Man Utd starting XI to face Tottenham decided as new striker named

Gutting that there simply wasn’t room to add the fairly significant caveat ‘by Express Sport writers’ after the word ‘decided’ there. And it was Mason Mount, if you’re interested, which you shouldn’t be.

Utter Woke Nonsense

Textbook Daily Mailing from the Daily Mail here.

Here’s my plea to the BBC – don’t change Match of the Day with box-ticking or wokery, writes JONATHAN McEVOY

Were Mediawatch in a snarkier mood it might note that the only ‘box-ticking’ going on here is the Mail crowbarring ‘wokery’ into a headline for the eight millionth time, while for the eight millionth time failing to define what ‘wokery’ actually is.

The true nonsense here is that McEvoy’s article is broadly fine, hoping that Gary Lineker’s departure doesn’t signal an unnecessary and damaging broader shift in Match of the Day’s overall style and focus.

And unlike other Daily Mail fears, this one is not entirely unfounded. There has been talk from BBC suits of the need for the show to feature ‘more chat’ and Mediawatch finds itself in broad agreement with McEvoy’s central thrust that this would be a bad idea, that people want to watch the highlights and a bit of analysis and not just the analysis. But also not just the action. There are plenty of other options for those who want those things. As McEvoy puts it, Match of the Day should be…

… the amalgam of both, the action dominating with the reassuring-as-old-slippers insight of the pundits as an accompaniment. This diet is distinct from both the protracted analysis of Sky’s ‘main event’ and the unvarnished 10-second video clip trotting across personal smartphones.

But after several hundred words of reasonableness, McEvoy makes his fatal error – or Machiavellian click-generating move, choose your fighter – that presumably made a sub-editor punch the air in delight.

Nobody, even among the small ‘c’ conservative Saturday night audience, is opposed to innovation and judicious tinkering. But the great hope is that change for its own sake, such as box ticking and wokery, or indeed a bellyful of laddishness, is left at the studio door.

Please, can someone explain to us what on earth ‘wokery’ even means in this context?

And also how, precisely, the end of Gary Lineker – a bog-standard centrist dad routinely portrayed by the right-wing press as profoundly dangerous Britain-hating commie firebrand – means the Mail fear there will be suddenly be more of it?

Man Utd legend Paul Scholes reckons Ruben Amorim has to start Amad Diallo and Alejandro Garnacho in the Europa League final against Tottenham.

The Red Devils face Spurs in Bilbao on Wednesday in the Europa League final with the winners getting a place in the Champions League and their hands on silverware.

Man Utd are currently 16th in the Premier League after an awful season, while Tottenham have been equally bad with Ange Postecoglou’s side 17th.

Only four Premier League teams have scored fewer goals than Man Utd in the Premier League this term with Amorim’s side leaning on Bruno Fernandes for inspiration.

And Scholes has claimed that Amorim must start Diallo and Garnacho against Tottenham on Wednesday as he sees them as the Red Devils’ biggest “goal threats” after Fernandes.

Man Utd legend Scholes wrote in his column for TNT Sports: “I would try and start Amad and Garnacho in the final because they’re United’s two biggest goal threats, along with Bruno Fernandes.

READ: Man Utd and Ruben Amorim face a massive sliding doors moment in Bilbao

“The best way might be to drop Fernandes back in the central midfield role alongside Casemiro, which has worked well in the past, especially in European games.

“I think Amorim will start Hojlund in the final because he hasn’t been too bad in the Europa League. He’s looked like a real threat and scored some important goals, but in the Premier League, he’s been really poor.”

Former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag chose to not start Rasmus Hojlund in the FA Cup final last season as the Red Devils achieved a shock win.

And if Amorim decides to do similar in their Europa final against Tottenham on Wednesday then Scholes reckons Fernandes as a false nine could be the way to go.

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Scholes added: “If Amorim wanted to change things up, he could play Bruno Fernandes as a false nine just like Ten Hag did in last season’s FA Cup final win over City.

“I know he’s tried Kobbie Mainoo in that position too, but I don’t think he’s suited to it and Fernandes is a bit more mobile.’

“With Fernandes playing as a false centre-forward, you could also start with Casemiro and Ugarte in central midfield. There are plenty of selection dilemmas for Amorim, but I just hope he gets it right. The problem is the manager doesn’t know what he’s going to get from most of his players on the day.”

Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville debated who will win the Europa League final on Wednesday in their latest episode of The Overlap.

Keane said: “If you look at the league table, Spurs [Tottenham Hotspur] have scored over 20 more league goals [than Manchester United]. They do have a goal in them.”

Before Carragher chimed in: “If the Tottenham [Hotspur] players weren’t injured, then it could have been a 50/50 chance of them winning. I still think that Manchester United will win. Not being able to bring someone off the bench for Tottenham doesn’t really help.”

And Neville gave his view, he said: “If Manchester United win, they’ll celebrate a trophy but there will be a cautious celebration tomorrow – not by the fans though because they’ll obviously go crazy.

“Their interviews will be along the lines of them saying that they’re so happy and delighted for the fans, but it’s been a difficult season. That will be the tone of it. I don’t think there should be a parade through the city for them winning the Europa League.”