The Sun

ON HIS previous visit to North London, Ange Postecoglou was the centre of attention as he was serenaded by thousands of football fans.

On his return to the area, albeit in red-and-white enemy territory, he was once again the subject of the numerous chants.

Yet these ones were X-rated and far from family friendly – and sung well before the watershed!

Saturday marked 115 days since the Australian guided Tottenham to glorious Europa League success and ended the club’s Spursy tag, even if it is just for a few more years.

That tremendous success in Bilbao – they beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final – was not enough to keep him his job for a third season.

This is despite the Lilywhites fanbase giving him such a wonderful reception during the open-top bus parade along Seven Sisters Road.

As fate would have it, his first match in charge of Nottingham Forest, an appointment that happened very quickly when Nuno Espírito Santo was unsurprisingly sacked, was at Arsenal.

And shortly after Martin Zubimendi’s stunning 32-minute opener, an unsavoury chant first echoed around the Emirates Stadium.

“Cheer up Postecoglu. Oh what can it mean. To a Fat Aussie B******.

And a s*** football team…."

It was incredibly harsh and incredibly undeserving – Peter Reid and Steve Bruce, from their time in the North East, could sympathise with that ditty, which reappeared in the second half.

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But Postecoglou, a real football man, who has managed in the cauldron of the Old Firm, knew he was not going to get the red carpet treatment as he returned to English football.

“You’re getting sacked in the morning,” was another wisecrack from the Gunners supporters, and they certainly loved that one.

The Australian never won a North London Derby with Tottenham and he will have to wait until January 2026 at the City Ground for another crack at Mikel Arteta’s men.

The suggestion pre-match had been that Ange-Ball would be in full display but even at two-time European Champions Forest, where they really do believe in miracles, that would have been highly unlikely.

As he said beforehand, the Antipodean has to be pragmatic and work with his squad – he cannot simply make wholesale changes straightaway to the plans.

He might instinctively have a different style to Nuno’s counter-attacking methodology but it will take time – and maybe a pre-season – to implement it all properly.

Not in the three or four days on the training pitch he would have had with a brand new squad.

Postecoglou, who turned 60 last month, spoke highly of the dressing room he has inherited from Nuno and feels the squad have a clear vision of themselves and their direction.

Yet there is clearly work to be done to find the right solutions as they lost 3-0 for the second successive Premier League match.

It is also hard to judge anything from this match given that it was straight after the international break.

Chris Wood, for example, only lasted one hour and had to be managed carefully as he was playing two matches for New Zealand on the other side of the planet.

What did not help and altered his shape was losing Brazilian defender Murillo to a knock on 37 minutes, something he could not have foreseen in his planning.

Any Spurs fans watching on TV would have recognised the same old traits from their best manager this century.

There he was, standing on the edge of the technical area in a black jumper, trousers and trainers, sometimes his arms folded, other times with his hands in his pockets.

They breed them hard Down Under – even when the rain came he would have been the last person to ask for a brolly for comfort.

Unlike the jack-in-a-box Arteta who is constantly flapping his arms and shouting, Postecoglou is a more calm, measured man.

The only times he really showed emotion was when there was a perceived injustice or if the referee had been lenient in his eyes with a challenge.

Postecoglou is not the type to shout incessantly and make demands, he feels as if he has done all his work in the days beforehand and he trusts his players.

It is not to say he lacks passion for the job – he just does things differently to other hyperactive members of the top-flight fraternity.

As he walked off, he appeared to wave sarcastically to the home crowd that were left, something the Tottenham faithful would have loved.

Perhaps the ultimate insult, from an Arsenal perspective, came late on when they watched his new troops falter again without scoring, and gleefully sang: “Are you Tottenham in disguise?”

That is doubtful. But he wouldn’t mind a repeat of the Europa League triumph next May…

LUCAS BERGVALL has a "crazy mentality" and stood out as a special player from the age of nine.

He made his professional debut for Brommapojkarna at 15-years-old and has enjoyed a meteoric rise in his short career.

Bergvall, 19, is now a regular for Tottenham after turning down the likes of Barcelona, and for those who worked with him in Sweden his journey to the top does not come as a shock.

The youngster comes from a football background and like him, his uncles Ludvig and William Soderlin played for the Brommapojkarna academy - even working with the same coach, Peter Kisfaludy.

The Stockholm-based club, now managed by Premier League cult hero Olof Mellberg, boast one of the biggest academies in Europe with 260 teams and 4,000 players.

They have produced several Swedish internationals and high-profile stars like Viktor Gyokeres and Dejan Kulusevski.

But Bergvall is the best yet, says Kisfaludy, who coached the midfielder since he was a child before signing him after joining Djurgården.

Kisfaludy told SunSport: "I worked with him when he was nine-years-old until 14. And directly after the first training session I was thinking 'oh s***, this is something special'.

"He has always been the wonderkid that everyone is speaking about.

"I have worked in the Brommapojkarna academy for so many years; we had Gyokeres, Kulusevski, John Guidetti and Ludwig Augustinsson but Lucas has the most talent of anybody.

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"He always had fantastic technique. And he is scanning the play, always, always the head is up high and he is scanning the play. He always knows what the next step is."

Bergvall bossed every age group as a teenager and would often make the difference for Brommapojkarna in international tournaments against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

Together Bergvall and Kisfaludy won the prestigious Madrid Cup in 2019 and the Gothia Cup on three occasions, leading to a trial with Manchester United.

Bergvall hates losing, says Kisfaludy, but it is his winning mentality that makes him special says the coach.

He continued: "He was always the boy who if he lost playing seven-aside in the last 20 minutes of training he was totally upset when he was 10-years-old, totally upset. He hated to lose.

"In training he always worked so hard, so he had this special extra thing. He loves to train, he can train 100 days in a row.

"He's a fantastic player with a fantastic charisma. When he walks into a room he is shining."

Kisfaludy rated Bergvall so highly he played an instrumental role in bringing him to Djurgården after being appointed sports coordinator at the Swedish top-flight club.

He was so convinced by Bergvall's ability he convinced his bosses to fork out £1million on the then 16-year-old by offering to produce the cash himself.

The transfer to Djurgården came shortly after Bergvall helped Brommapojkarna win the Swedish second division.

He adjusted to life in the first division as quickly as he did to men's football and after being named man of the match on his debut he was forecast to become "Djurgården's biggest transfer ever" by one Swedish publication.

Martin Falkeburn, a former coach and team-mate of Bergvall's at Brommapojkarna, is not surprised by the youngster's speedy rise or how quickly he has settled at Spurs.

He told SunSport: "He was playing for Brommapojkarna and got sold to Djurgården, everyone was thinking oh two or three years and then we can sell him.

"But after six months he gets sold to Tottenham and after two-three months he is playing.

"It's his mentality he does not give a s*** if he is playing with me or with Gareth Bale or Kulusevski or whoever else. He always does things his own way, he's unique."

Falkeburn also highlighted Bergvall's work ethic and he believes his former team-mate can become a top player, with Tottenham the right place for the Swede to flourish.

He continued: "You can see he has good technique but the stand out I saw is there was no difference between when he played against the same age or the Swedish top tier.

"He always had the same mentality every training session. After training he would be shooting 100 times. Everyone went in but he was standing outside, alone, just practice, practice, practice.

"So he has a crazy mentality. He always has the commitment to be 100 per cent professional, even if he was 10-years-old or 20-years-old, wherever he played.

"If he has no injuries he will be a top class player. He is a top class player now."

Bergvall picked Spurs despite interest from Barcelona and Benfica, who have nurtured plenty of young talent in recent years.

And although he had to remain patient for his chance, Bergvall has now featured in a number of midfield positions this season.

Kisfaludy is certain his best role is as a number eight but pointed out an area where he needs to improve.

He said: "He needs to make decisions quicker. But you can see that is coming more and more.

"You can see when he plays number six, he is afraid to miss a pass or something because he knows that if he loses the ball it is a problem.

"When I see him play he is a little bit like Frenkie de Jong with the ball.

"You can see it much more in the number eight when he is running with the ball, Hes really strong at running with the ball but you do not see that when he plays six, you can see it much more when he plays as an eight."

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ANGE POSTECOGLOU knew he was going to be sacked by Spurs weeks before the axe fell.

But the Aussie said he did not want to spoil Tottenham’s Europa League celebrations by telling fans.

Postecoglou, unveiled as Nottingham Forest chief barely three months after his N17 exit, said: “I knew it was coming.

“I knew a long way, a long time before most people.

“It wasn’t the actual decision, it was just sort of things ending.

“It was not a surprise, even if I didn’t think it was right.”

Pressed on precisely when he saw the warning signs flashing, the Aussie, 60, grinned: “That’s for my book.”

But while he was reluctant to say anything about the man who axed him — then-chairman Daniel Levy, himself on the receiving end of a P45 last week — Postecoglou explained it would have been wrong to go public in the aftermath of Spurs’ triumph in Bilbao.

A crowd of 225,000-plus lined the Tottenham High Road to celebrate the 1-0 final victory over Manchester United.

Postecoglou said: “It was strange but I didn’t want to tarnish the night or the parade.

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“I wasn’t going to let that happen. It wouldn’t have been fair on everyone else, me or my family.

“I wanted them to enjoy it and I enjoyed it too.

“We know how hard it is to have success — and when you have it, you cherish it and celebrate it.

“There’s moments that will stay with me forever, with the players, staff and our families.

“But it was tough. It’s never happened to me before, as everywhere I’ve been, I’ve been a success.

“There hasn’t been a reason for anyone to sack me or move me on.

“And I had success again. That was what the club was craving.

“The football club hadn’t won something for a very long time.

“Every Spurs supporter I come across wants to hug me and take me home for dinner. I must have done something right!

“That’s what we do it for. I’m very proud of what we achieved there. It will always take a special place in my heart.

“Whether I feel it was unjust, other people make those decisions.”

Asked about Levy, he replied: “I don’t think it’s the forum for me to speak about that at length.

“I didn’t have a great deal of interaction with Daniel Levy.

“He was there for a very long time. He invested a hell of a lot in the football club in terms of building it up to where it was.

“He appointed me, so I’ve got to be thankful for that. Hopefully I repaid him by providing that trophy.”

IT was only when Chelsea discovered they were not the only big beasts in the Premier League jungle that Roman Abramovich decided he did not want to play by the rules any more.

The Russian oligarch’s arrival at Stamford Bridge in 2003 had been a game-changer in every sense.

Within two years, thanks to a massive spending spree in harness with the managerial force of nature embodied in Jose Mourinho, Chelsea had already smashed the established order.

Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ were vanquished. Manchester United usurped. Chelsea in the ascendant.

The key was that huge war chest the billionaire had arrived with — allowing the Blues to buy almost anyone they wanted.

And it was a situation perfectly summed up by then-Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein in Monaco ahead of a Champions League draw.

It followed a summer in which Dein had withstood attempts by the Blues to seduce Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry across the capital.

Dein, ruefully, remarked: “Roman Abramovich has parked his tanks on our lawn and is firing £50 notes at us.”

The mission was an outstanding success. Able to outspend their domestic rivals, the first seven years went off without a hitch.

Three Premier League crowns. Three FA Cup triumphs. And League Cup winners twice. A trophy-gathering machine.

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But then along came Manchester City’s new Abu Dhabi owners.

Even wealthier than Abramovich with their truly bottomless coffers.

And with the success of the Prem as a global commodity plus TV deals ensuring financial treasure troves for all the top teams — and some of those, like Spurs, who were new to the table — the equation soon changed.

Prem clubs and Uefa agreed to bring in new financial controls, although nobody at that stage truly anticipated the impact of Financial Fair Play or Profitability and Sustainability Rules.

What it did mean was Chelsea could not just spend, spend, spend.

And even if they wanted to, they now had domestic rivals who could do exactly the same.

Which is why, from 2010-11, Abramovich had a new approach.

And Chelsea’s guilty pleas to the 74 charges laid by the FA, following on from their 2023 settlement deal with Uefa, is proof of the allegations.

On his own, or with the knowledge of only his closest confidants, it seems the Blues owner decided the rules were not for him.

If he wanted to a player, especially one who was tempted elsewhere, the wheels would be greased accordingly.

Payments likely to extend to many millions of pounds over the six seasons under investigation, allegedly made to the agents of those players.

An inducement and enticement to ignore other offers and make the move to SW6.

More critically as far as football chiefs were concerned, this happened without putting those payments through the club’s books. A huge breach of the regulations.

A Big Four accountancy giant was asked to investigate by Chelsea’s new owners when they discovered the discrepancy after taking over following Abramovich’s forced sale in 2022.

That it found Chelsea would NOT have breached the PSR limits if the payments had been declared is an ironic irrelevance.

What is unquestioned — and Chelsea’s admissions underline that fact — is that Abramovich’s personal involvement in getting the deals done was a huge factor.

After all, Spurs were convinced they had both Eden Hazard in 2012, and Willian 12 months later, in their pockets. Until they turned up at the Bridge.

At the time, it was suggested Abramovich had made a personal call to Anzhi Makhachkala owner and fellow oligarch Suleyman Kerimov to hijack Willian’s planned move to Tottenham.

Kerimov is now — like the former Chelsea owner — on the UK and US sanctions list for their support of Vladimir Putin and his invasion of Ukraine.

That appears to have been only half the story regarding transfer skulduggery, with Chelsea facing charges under six different areas of the FA regulatory book.

And another deal — also done with now-defunct Russian club Anzhi — saw Cameroon superstar and ex-Barcelona man Samuel Eto’o join for the first season of Mourinho’s second spell.

SunSport understands the charges only relate to players signed from overseas clubs during the period in question.

But those six seasons saw 51 such transfers completed. And while not all of them involved such payments, the dodgy deals were not only those to capture Eto’o, Willian and Hazard.

Of course, none of it might have been uncovered for some time yet had the new Chelsea ownership — led by Behdad Eghbali and Todd Boehly — not ‘fessed up’ soon after taking control of the club from Abramovich.

And those prompt admissions already persuaded Uefa chiefs to fine them a relatively lenient £8.6m in 2023.

That will be a huge part of the club’s mitigation — along with the fact that all the breaches took place in the Abramovich era.

If, as Chelsea anticipate, they do end up with a fine from the FA over this, you suspect that plenty of Blues supporters will have no doubts it was worth it.

WORDS from Mohammed Kudus’ mouth claimed it will be “nice” for him to return to former club West Ham.

But his body language and the pregnant ‘erm’ that came before that statement hinted the Ghanaian’s true feelings may be quite different.

You can hardly blame him if he is feeling anxious about going back to the London Stadium, where taunts of ‘Mohammed Judas’ are likely to be aimed in his direction.

The winger this summer became the first player since Scott Parker in 2011 to swap the Irons for Spurs, in a £55million switch.

Asked about his upcoming return to West Ham, a hesitant Kudus eventually said: “It will be nice to go back. But for me, it will be another game in the Premier League.

“It will be the same approach. But I’m looking forward to seeing my old team-mates.”

Just another Prem game is unlikely to be his experience at the stadium that he used to call home.

West Ham signed Kudus towards the end of the summer window of 2023 for around £38m from Ajax.

He was electric in his first campaign, regularly breaking out his goal celebration of sitting on the advertising hoardings to take a breather, having netted 14 times.

But things soured the following season, particularly under David Moyes’ successor Julen Lopetegui.

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Kudus and Lopetegui rowed at Brentford when the Hammers were trailing in September 2024 and four months later, the Spaniard was sacked.

And though Kudus played regularly under Graham Potter, his performances were not at the same level and so the club became open to offers.

Potter needed to raise cash for his own rebuild. And asked yesterday, the Hammers boss said: “Sometimes players indicate that it’s time for a new challenge.

“And we’re at the stage where you want players that are fully committed to West Ham that want to be here.

“Once that’s the position [the player wants a new challenge], you have to try and get the best deal you can and hopefully grow the team and improve the squad.”

And talented Kudus, 25, was deemed expendable because he favours the right wing, where captain Jarrod Bowen plays.

That opened the door to a transfer which had seemingly been off-limits for a good 14 years.

West Ham had declared publicly they would no longer sell to their rivals from North London two years BEFORE flogging Parker.

Then Irons chief executive Scott Duxbury said as much amid Spurs’ interest in Craig Bellamy, who ended up going to Manchester City.

Duxbury claimed at the time: “I made it clear to Craig there wasn’t any possibility of him joining Tottenham. There is a change of philosophy at this club.

“There is a massive rivalry between us and Spurs. Why should we sell any player who would strengthen their team? It makes no sense.”

However, Duxbury left a year later and that new policy was broken a year after that with Parker’s exit.

Recently departed Spurs chairman Daniel Levy blocked Emmanuel Adebayor from going to West Ham four years later and, ever since, there has been an unofficial embargo between the clubs — until now.

Kudus seems to be loving life under new Tottenham boss Thomas Frank.

The enjoyment factor is likely to be in short supply tomorrow after taking the road less travelled from East to North London.

AN OLD photo that hinted Ange Postecoglou could become the next Nottingham Forest manager has been unearthed.

The photo shows the ex-Tottenham boss having a meal with Olympiakos bigwigs Panagiotis Kone and Giannis Papadopoulos - who were formerly working at AEK Athens.

Postecoglou arrived in Greece at the start of June for a summer break that would eventually spark a move to the City Ground.

Most of his holiday was spent in the Athens area, while he visited the beautiful island of Paros as well as Crete - where Evangelos Marinakis' family has ties to.

Postecoglou was still in charge of Spurs at the time of the holiday in the country he was born and lived in until age five.

He was aware at the time that he was on thin ice at Tottenham after a roller-coaster season saw them win the Europa League but finish all the way down in 17th in the top-flight.

Two days before the official news that the club were parting ways with him, Postecoglou dusted off his networking skills.

He met with Panagiotis Kone, the former sporting director of AEK Athens (the man in the white t-shirt) and Giannis Papadopoulos (man in the black t-shirt).

Papadopoulos was once a bitter enemy of the Marinakis empire having had his own links to AEK before the dynamic changed and they became close allies.

Five weeks after that dinner date, Postecoglou returned to Vouliagmeni for an evening to mark the launch of the new Greek Super League season.

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He was the guest of honour and Marinakis marked the occasion with a speech congratulating him for becoming the first Greek-born manager to win a European trophy in men’s football.

Marinakis said: "Ange has spoken many times about Greece,

“It is very important for a person to be proud and shout about their origins.

"He achieved it (the Europa League) with a team that was not winning titles and was struggling.

"With this success, he made Greece proud. He is a very good coach and wherever he goes, he will continue to have success and make Greece proud.”

YVES BISSOUMA is hopeful he can still contribute to Tottenham this season, despite currently being sidelined due to a physical problem, SunSport has been told.

The Malian international is yet to feature this season under new manager Thomas Frank.

And he left out of Spurs' Champions League squad, a surprising move given his key role in last season's Europa League-winning campaign.

Warning signs had already emerged when Bissouma was omitted from the Super Cup clash against PSG due to disciplinary issues, a decision Frank later confirmed.

Now in the final year of his Tottenham contract, Bissouma was strongly linked with a move to Galatasaray.

However, SunSport exclusively reported that he had opted to stay in North London and see out his deal at the club.

Sources have confirmed that a physical issue has kept him out of training, but the midfielder is hopeful of returning soon and forcing his way back into Frank’s plans.

The summer arrival of Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich has pushed Bissouma further down the pecking order, with additional competition from Rodrigo Bentancur, Archie Gray, and Lucas Bergvall.

However, this isn’t the first time Bissouma has had to fight his way back.

Last season, he was dropped for an extended period by former boss Ange Postecoglou due to disciplinary concerns.

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Yet he managed to turn things around, regained the manager’s trust, and ended the season on a high, starting in the final and producing a Man of the Match display as Spurs secured their first major trophy in years.

Sources close to the player insist he does not feel his time at the club is over and remains determined to reclaim his place once he's fully fit.

Tottenham have enjoyed a promising start under Frank, narrowly missing out on the Super Cup against PSG before defeating Manchester in their second league fixture.

However, they stumbled with a disappointing loss to Bournemouth just before the international break.

TOTTENHAM have reportedly taken out a £90MILLION loan in a bid to improve their cashflow.

Spurs have borrowed the hefty sum from Australian bank Macquarie, according to Bloomberg.

The loan, which is not uncommon amongst clubs in the Premier League, comes after a summer of heavy spending by the North Londoners.

Tottenham splashed over £173MILLION during the transfer window, seeing the likes of Xavi Simons and Mohammed Kudus come through the door.

They are still managing a number of long-term debts that are understood to be in excess of £750MILLION following the financing of their stadium.

Spurs are said to have borrowed their new £90m loan against future media rights revenues that they are due to receive from the Premier League during the current season.

It comes just one week after the shock decision to oust chairman Daniel Levy from the club after almost 25 years at the helm.

Levy, 63, stepped down following a review initiated by the Lewis family, who are the behind the club's majority owners, ENIC.

That announcement led to rumours that the Premier League outfit could be up for sale, however those claims have now been quashed.

In fact, Spurs announced that they have "received, and unequivocally rejected" two approaches since Levy's exit, one of which was from former Newcastle chief Amanda Staveley.

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The club added in a statement: "The Board of the Club and Enic confirm that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale and Enic has no intention to accept any such offer to acquire its interest in the Club".

Tottenham CEO Vinai Venkatesham doubled down on that stance in an interview on Monday, explaining that it has been made "unambiguously clear that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale”.

However, the former Arsenal chief admitted that the club is looking for investment.

He continued: "I think it is very fair to say that we have firm backing from the Lewis family against our ambitions to be successful on the pitch, both on the men’s side and women’s side.

“They know that’s going to require investment, and we have their firm backing.”

THOMAS FRANK would like to see football introduce a timeout in each half to give coaches a chance to have a conflab with their players.

The Spurs boss also claims the handball rule must be changed to make the game fairer.

Currently managers are only able to speak to their players during a game by barking orders from the touchline as the action is ongoing - as well as during the half-time break.

But Frank, 51, suggested: “I’d have a timeout in each half.

“From a coaching perspective, I think it would be lovely to have an opportunity during the game to speak to the players and be able to adjust something.”

It would be quite a radical suggestion which would no doubt go down well with fellow managers, as it would give them more influence on their team.

Whether spectators would appreciate matches being further interrupted - in an age where VAR delays are already a bugbear - is a matter of debate.

Spurs chief Frank certainly feels something must be done about the handball law in its current guise to improve the game.

He told BetMGM, Tottenham’s official Front of Training Wear partner: “I would take out the handball rule as for me it’s not right.

“If there’s a handball and it touches your arm in the penalty area, you are giving the biggest chance to the opponent just because it ‘touches’ your arm.

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“Of course, if you’re standing on the goalline and you try to save it like a goalkeeper in the old days, that’s different.

“But I simply don’t understand how if it just touches a player’s arm, and it touches their arm in certain areas, it gives the opportunity for the biggest chance in the game.

“It’s a rule that has to be changed to improve the game and make it fairer.”

Frank replaced Ange Postecoglou as Spurs chief this summer after six-and-a-half years at Brentford.

He has had an encouraging start to life in N17, pushing Paris Saint-Germain all the way in the Super Cup before impressive Premier League wins over Burnley and Manchester City.

But his progress was checked just before the international break with a disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.

Yet Frank said: “It’s been a good start to the season so far. I’ve been really pleased with how the players have approached things since I’ve come into the football club.

“We’ve played three games in the Premier League and one in the Uefa Super Cup and I’ve been happy with three of the performances.

“We weren’t good enough against Bournemouth but overall from where we started to where we are now, I’m satisfied.”

Postecoglou, who took over at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday, delivered Tottenham their first trophy in 17 years by winning May’s Europa League.

But he paid the price for a record 22 defeats in the league which saw Spurs end up in 17th.

His successor Frank, who has been backed with four experienced signing in Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons and Kolo Muani, is hoping to show more consistency across all competitions this season.

Frank, whose side are back in action at West Ham on Saturday, added: “Success this season is building something that is sustainable and strong.

“I want us to consistently perform at our highest level each and every game.”