Football London

Ange Postecoglou admitted he didn't have a great deal of interaction with Daniel Levy at Tottenham as both men enter new chapters in their lives.

Levy appointed the Australian in the summer of 2023 and after finishing fifth in his first season following the sale of Harry Kane to Bayern Munich just days before the opening fixture, Postecoglou won the Europa League in his following campaign to end the club's 17-year-old wait for a trophy in the chairman's tenure.

However, the Spurs head coach's decision to prioritise that European run over the Premier League with a weakened squad was not a popular one among the powers-that-be at the club and Tottenham duly finished 17th in the table with second string starting XIs. Within a few weeks of the celebrations surrounding the Lilywhites' first European trophy in 41 years, Postecoglou was sacked and replaced by Thomas Frank.

Just three months on and now Levy finds himself out of the door after the Lewis family pushed through plans to modernise the hierarchy structure of the club and the 63-year-old stepped down after almost a quarter of a century at the helm.

Postecoglou is now the head coach of Nottingham Forest and was asked what he made of Levy's departure from the club.

"I don't think it's the kind of forum for me to speak about that at length," he said. "Again, I didn't have a great deal of interaction with Daniel. I tend to get on with my daily business and do what I need to do.

"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.

"Obviously, he appointed me so I've got to be thankful for that. Hopefully I repaid him with winning a trophy which they haven’t had in a long time."

Postecoglou also spoke about his own departure from Spurs and how he figured his time in north London was coming to a close.

"It wasn't great, I knew it was coming so it wasn't a surprise," he said. "I knew it was coming a fair way before the final, but we won it and had the parade and had a great three days and I didn't want to tarnish that, but I knew it was done.

"From my perspective, I had the chance to process it. Whether I feel it was unjust, other people make those decisions, they make those determinations. That's up to them, you have to ask them their own reasoning for it.

"What I do know is I had two years where it was very, very challenging but we were with some fantastic people in the football department."

The 60-year-old added: "The supporters, we've put through some tough times, but there isn't a Spurs supporter that I come across now that doesn't want to hug me and take me home for dinner.

"So I must have done something right. I think ultimately 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.

"How it ended, I don't really think about it a lot. To be fair, I've done it a couple of times myself. I left Celtic and I'm sure that they were disappointed when I left. You understand that's part of the business we're in. But that's okay. It's allowed me now to move into this (Forest) and maybe that's happened for a reason."

Thomas Frank could add three players to his squad this weekend. On Saturday afternoon, Tottenham Hotspur will lock horns with West Ham at the London Stadium as they look to return to winning ways.

Just before the international break, Bournemouth ended the Lilywhites' perfect start to the new Premier League season. Spurs had enjoyed wins over Burnley and Manchester City in the opening couple of weeks, but the Cherries stopped them in their tracks.

Meanwhile, the Hammers stormed past Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, bouncing back from successive defeats. West Ham may fancy their chances after claiming their first three points of the season.

However, they've only won one of their last eight meetings with Tottenham across all competitions. This weekend, Frank looks set to add some big names to his squad.

Randal Kolo Muani, who the Lilywhites signed from Paris Saint-Germain on loan on deadline day, will be hoping to make his debut against West Ham. Upon his arrival in north London, the Tottenham boss described him as a 'quality player' who will offer great versatility across the frontline.

Speaking to the club website, Frank said: "Randal is a quality player who has proven himself over a number of years, playing for big teams in the Champions League and also with good experience for the France national team.

"He's a good age, in the prime of his career, has good qualities that will suit both us and the Premier League, and gives us a different option in the final third being able to play out wide and through the middle. We are all excited for what Randal can add to the squad, and I'm looking forward to working with him."

Kolo Muani was the club's fourth senior signing of the summer, following Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha and Xavi Simons. The latter of whom will also hope to make his debut for Tottenham this weekend.

Simons, who was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, joined Spurs from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £51m. Shortly after penning a five-year deal with the north Londoners, the 22-year-old attacking midfielder reported for international duty.

He was dropped to the bench for the Netherlands' 3-2 win over Lithuania following his disappointing performance in a 1-1 draw with Poland a few days prior. Dominic Solanke could reappear in Frank's squad this weekend.

The 27-year-old striker has been nursing an injury over the international break. He finally made his return to action at the start of the season, coming off the bench against Burnley and Manchester City.

Solanke missed the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth due to an ankle issue. When quizzed on the England international's fitness last month, Frank said: "Yeah got a minor issue with his ankle. That’s been a little bit grumbling also in the pre-season.

"It’s just too much for this game and now we have international break so hopefully he can be ready after that."

As international breaks go this has been one of the most eventful in the recent history of Tottenham Hotspur with huge changes at the top of the Premier League club.

Last week brought the end of Daniel Levy's 24-year tenure as chairman with the Lewis family behind club owners' ENIC exerting more influence over proceedings and stepping into a more public position of power. With Levy having been the main man at the top of Tottenham for almost a quarter of a century, it is set to be a very new era at the north London club with CEO Vinai Venkatesham in charge on a day-to-day basis.

There are plenty of questions on the Spurs supporters' lips over what comes next, whether more money will now be spent, if the club could still be sold and whether the Lilywhites' struggles to push on over the years truly lay at Levy's door or were part of something bigger.

There is also the signings of Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, who could both make their Tottenham debuts this weekend for Thomas Frank in the derby at West Ham United on Saturday evening.

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Ange Postecoglou has said his sacking from Tottenham was "unusual" mainly because it has never happened to him before and he did think it would finish after winning a trophy.

The 60-year-old ended Spurs' 17-year trophy drought as he led the club to their Europa League triumph in Bilbao against Manchester United in May. However, Postecoglou was sacked just weeks later because of the club's 17th-placed finish in the Premier League as Postecoglou prioritised the European competition, a decision that did not go down well with some within the Tottenham hierarchy.

He was replaced by Thomas Frank in N17 and now Postecoglou has a new job after taking over from Nuno Espirito Santo as the head coach of Nottingham Forest and in his first press conference on Thursday he was asked about his departure from Spurs.

"It was unusual because it's never happened to me before. It's the first time I've been sacked. It's the first time I've had an off-season off. You wonder about the next opportunity. What I did know was I really keen to go to a club that would give me the platform to continue what I've been doing in my career," he said.

"If you asked me at the start of the year if a job with Nottingham Forest was a possibility then I'd have said no because of the job Nuno had done. The opportunity presented itself and I was here to take it."

On that exit from Spurs, he added: "It wasn't great, I knew it was coming before the final. It wasn't a surprise. We had the parade but I knew it was done. From my perspective you have a chance to process that. We put the Spurs supporters through some tough times but there isn’t a Spurs fan that I have come across that doesn’t hug me and want to take me out for dinner, so I must have done something right!"

Postecoglou is taking over from Espirito Santo, a former Tottenham manager himself, he said: "It's the nature of football. You don't really know what circumstances you'll take over. Until Steve Cooper took over the club, they weren't looking as though they were going to be in the Premier League. They've had two excellent managers who have done fantastic work.

"You certainly don't know when these things come to an end. I certainly didn't think I would finish up after winning a trophy."

The former Spurs boss has been mocked for his attacking football over the years and he was quick to knock that criticism down.

"If you look at my first year at Spurs we finished fifth. Fifth would've got you a Champions League spot any other year. And we were really aggressive with our football," he said. "People say it doesn't work. But finishing fifth after taking over a team, and we'd just lost a generational talent in Harry Kane.

"My last year was a different year for sure and we had to adjust the way we did things, and it bought us success. But I'm never going to go away from my principles. I want my team to play football and it's exciting, it gets people talking. From my perspective I'll always try and do things a little bit differently."

He added: "They're missing everything because they're not watching what I do. I do love my teams to attack and score goals, but the one constant in my career is everywhere I've gone I've won things. Sometimes that's done in a slightly different way. If you go back to the start of my career I've played every system there is. Three at the back, four at the back, five at the back.

"I've done 4-4-2 for a whole season. It's a challenging world. There used to be a melting pot of different ideas and opinions. It seems to be a melting pot of the same opinion these days. It'd be nice if everyone took a step back."

On winning trophies in his second year, the Australian said: "I have won things in my first year. I won the double at Celtic. So yeah [I do win trophies in my first year]. I may have to to have a second year here!"

Xavi Simons got to work in his first training session under Thomas Frank and his Tottenham coaches and there was plenty to be spotted on the Hotspur Way pitches.

The 22-year-old Dutchman completed his £52million move from RB Leipzig towards the end of the transfer window only to then head off on international duty with new Spurs team-mate Micky van de Ven. It was a relatively quiet fortnight for him for the Netherlands as he played 79 minutes on the right in the disappointing 1-1 draw at home against Poland on Thursday night and then watched on unused from the bench as his country won 3-2 in Lithuania on Sunday.

On Xavi's return to England, it was time to quickly settle into life at his new club as he was soon out on the pitches at Hotspur Way with his Spurs team-mates and working with Frank and his coaching staff.

Here are five things we spotted in the foreground and background of the footage from Xavi's first training session in Enfield.

Greeting the youngsters

As is a custom at Tottenham, the academy players joining in first team sessions sit on the benches in a row in the corridor as everyone puts on their boots to head out to training.

The first team players often go along them, slapping hands and making them feel welcome ahead of the session. Even though it was his own first session, Xavi also made a point of going along the wide-eyed youngsters and saying hello before sitting amongst them.

Among the youngsters involved was 18-year-old attacking midfielder Dan Batty, who signed from Leeds in February this year, along with Yusuf Akhamrich as well as academy regulars in first team training such as Dante Cassanova.

Xavi walked out for the session with his fellow Dutchman Van de Ven with a big grin on his face and went through the early warm-up paired up with the rapid centre-back.

Confident voice

It might be his first session but Xavi is an old hand, having burst on to the scene as a 17-year-old at PSG after a high profile move from Barcelona as one of the game's wonderkids. That has caused him to grow up quickly and he was seen as one of the vocal players at Leipzig and that much was clear in his first Spurs session.

The 22-year-old was constantly calling for the ball, telling those on it to wait before picking the pass and dishing out instructions whenever he felt it was right to do so, including pointing where the player should send the ball after he had cushioned it back to them.

He set up Dane Scarlett for a couple of chances and could be heard telling the striker at one point to "finish, finish".

Free role

With coach Matt Wells leading this session, the experienced coach could be heard dishing out plenty of instructions and praise and in one moment he made it clear what will be expected of Xavi.

Young Spurs starlet Akhamrich got the ball down the left and was told by Wells to "find Xavi". When the ball arrived at the Dutchman's feet, the Tottenham coach shouted: "Go on Xavi, you create. Create, whatever you want." The newcomer spread the ball wide and the move ended with a goal for Dane Scarlett, which brought applause from Xavi and the others.

It was just a little snapshot of a moment but as the team's only fit and available number 10, it's clear that Frank and his coaches will want the new signing to bring the creativity and he will be given more licence to roam and carve out opportunities for others.

Xavi operated mainly through the centre in the footage shown, coming over to the left, but also did get down that flank a couple of times before putting the ball into the six-yard box.

Skills

For a player who came through Barcelona's La Masia academy and has that Dutch upbringing, Xavi's touch and technique is near flawless.

His ability to cushion fast passes with his instep or even his chest with one high cross, is clear and his quick flicks and spins to get away from his marker, which was often up to the busy Cassanova to have to deal with.

He span the Spurs academy product at one point before linking up with fellow new arrival Randal Kolo Muani, who has been in training for a few days as he was not called up to the France squad for their games this month.

Xavi also scored a beautifully executed volleyed lob over goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky which drew praise from Wells and applause from others.

Randal role

It may only have been during this particular session but Kolo Muani appeared to be playing off the left at points during it with Xavi feeding him the ball down that flank.

That's may be because of the absence of the various players who play down the left, with them not being back from international duty yet, but it is worth pointing out that Frank did mention about the Frenchman playing down the flanks before saying he also plays through the middle when first speaking about signing him.

"Randal is a quality player who has proven himself over a number of years, playing for big teams in the Champions League and also with good experience for the France national team," he said. "He's a good age, in the prime of his career, has good qualities that will suit both us and the Premier League, and gives us a different option in the final third being able to play out wide and through the middle."

It might just be that we get to see the pacey attacker, who seemed to be referred to as Kolo by Wells during the session, used on the flank as much as he is up front as a central striker, which he also appeared to be used as at points at Hotspur Way.

Both Kolo Muani and Xavi will be hoping to make their Tottenham debuts on Saturday evening in the derby at West Ham.

Tottenham boss Thomas Frank has revealed he would change the current handball rule and implement a timeout during each half if given the chance.

Managers across the Premier League have expressed their frustration at the current interpretation of the handball rule, with multiple penalties being awarded over the past 12 months. Current rules state a penalty should be awarded if a player "deliberately touches the ball with their hand/arm, for example moving the hand/arm towards the ball".

It's also a spot kick if a player "touches the ball with their hand/arm when it has made their body unnaturally bigger". Frank now believes something should change. Speaking to BetMGM, the Dane said: "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.

“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 was also asked if there were any other changes he’d like to see and the former Brentford boss gave an interesting suggestion. “I’d have a timeout in each half,” added the 51-year-old.

“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.”

Frank made the move from west London to north London over the summer, taking the reigns from Ange Postecoglou despite the club's Europa League success in May. The former Brondby man's first competitive game was the penalty loss to PSG in the UEFA Super Cup final, while in the Premier League Spurs have won two of their opening three games.

“I think 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,” Frank said. “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.

“I’m never super, super satisfied unless we have won every game and performed to a really high level – but it’s been a good and positive start, which, for me, is the main thing. Confidence breeds more confidence and you get a lot of positive things out of that which is why it’s always really important to start the season well.

“You get that feeling that you’re on the right track and doing the right things and I think for the most part we’ve done that so far. The players have been fantastic from my first day here and I’m learning more and more about them every day. It’s about how they react to certain situations, what works and what doesn’t and also what they are like as people and also as players.

“I think all head coaches and managers have their own way of doing things and I’m no different. The one thing I always think about coaching philosophy is do what you believe in – I’m me, I can’t be anyone else and I need to do what I believe in both on and off the pitch.

“I need to come across the way I am and I think that’s the best way for players to buy into what you’re trying to get across in the way you do things. That’s not to say you shouldn’t seek inspiration from other people. When I was younger I was definitely looking to other coaches to see how they were doing it to get a bit of help and I still do that now, albeit a bit differently.

“Where I am in my career it’s more looking at others from a tactical standpoint. You might spot a little tweak another coach or manager makes and see if there’s a way you can use that on your team. I think most around the world do that and I guess it’s just how much influence you want from others in terms of what you do.”

So what does success look like this season? Is it qualifying for the Champions League? Is it wining more silverware?

“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," the Spurs boss admitted.

“If we can do that we will win enough games to get us into a place where we want to be, so that’s the aim. I’ve been in the Premier League for four years now, it’s so competitive and relentless. Every team, player and manager is so good you have to be on it every time you step on the pitch.

“I know everyone wants to talk about the future but, for me, the most important thing is the here and now. It’s easy to talk about the months and years to come – we need to think about what we are building in this moment as that is what we can control.”

Dominic Solanke will be hoping to make his first Tottenham start of the new Premier League campaign against West Ham United this weekend having been plagued by an ankle injury since pre-season.

After missing five friendlies, Solanke returned off the bench in Spurs' UEFA Super Cup final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, with two substitute cameos against Burnley and Manchester City following that.

The form of Richarlison has kept him out of the starting XI but it also looks as though injury is preventing him from playing more minutes with the Englishmen absent from the matchday squad to face his former club Bournemouth prior to the international break.

"He has got a minor issue with his ankle," Thomas Frank revealed. "That's been a little bit grumbling also in the pre-season. It's just too much for this game and now we have international break so hopefully he can be ready after that."

Solanke posted a photo of himself in the Hotspur Way gym just a few days later with it clear he is eager to get back involved. If he deemed fit to return, that could even come from the start with Richarlison potentially a late returner from international duty after playing for Brazil in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were beaten in a World Cup qualifier away at Bolivia with conditions far from ideal for those visiting their 23,000 capacity stadium as it is at an altitude of 4,088 metres above sea level. Oxygen masks are often needed for those that play at such altitudes, with Neymar previously describing the conditions as 'inhuman'.

With Richarlison playing just over an hour from the off, he may not have physically recovered to start Spurs' trip to West Ham on Saturday evening. That could see Solanke included in the starting XI - even if he only plays 45-60 minutes.

The 27-year-old appears to be keen on featuring after posting a photo of him in action for Spurs to his Instagram story. Alternatively, Frank could hand deadline day signing Randal Kolo Muani his debut.

After joining on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain, Kolo Muani has spent the last 10 days training under Frank and with some of his new teammates.

Frank also looks set for dilemmas elsewhere with Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence competing for the left-back spot. The latter has just made his England debut and been very impressive in Tottenham's four competitive games.

Tottenham Hotspur could be missing three crucial players for the upcoming showdown with West Ham United. Thomas Frank's side travel to the London Stadium on Saturday afternoon and will be aiming to return to winning ways following the defeat to Bournemouth before the international break.

And they might have to do it without a host of key members of their squad. Playmaker James Maddison remains restricted to the side-lines following his long-term knee injury.

Meanwhile, Sweden international Dejan Kulusevski is not expected to return to action any time soon. The pair join young defender Kota Takai in being ruled out.

And while Radu Dragusin remains out of contention for the clash with West Ham at least, Spurs have - however - received positive news regarding his fitness. The defender has returned to training following his cruciate ligament injury.

It might be some time before he returns to the pitch, but to see him back in training is an encouraging sign. Fellow defender Cristian Romero has also given Frank a boost having returned from international duty unscathed.

He was ruled out of Argentina's second game of the window due to suspension, meaning he was eligible to return earlier than expected. Elsewhere, Yves Bissouma and Dominic Solanke could also be back in the fold for Tottenham following their injury issues.

From the West Ham side of things, Graham Potter has far less headaches when it comes to getting an XI together. The Hammers only have three injury doubts ahead of the game at the time of writing.

German forward Niclas Fullkrug is out due to a calf strain. He is expected to be recovering for a fortnight.

Meanwhile, George Earthy could potentially return to contention after recovering from an ankle problem. Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme is also a doubt having picked up a collarbone issue during pre-season.

West Ham will certainly be keen to have as many players available as possible as Graham Potter's side aim to make it back-to-back Premier League wins. They downed Nottingham Forest 3-0 before the international break to secure their first victory of the campaign.

Spurs, in the meantime, are aiming to return to winning ways following their defeat at the hands of Bournemouth earlier this month.

Following the clash with West Ham, Spurs get their Champions League campaign underway having been drawn to take on Villarreal in their opening game.

Tottenham Hotspur could be about to make another huge decision behind the scenes less than one week on from the shock exit of Daniel Levy as chairman.

In the following six days after that club statement, the reasons for his departure, the possibility of a full takeover, and plans from the Lewis family, who own Tottenham through ENIC, all became trending topics.

Spurs CEO Vinai Venkatesham swiftly addressed the latter two subjects in a lengthy interview posted to club channels where the stance on selling - following a club statement which confirmed two investment approaches were rejected - was again made perfectly clear.

"Yeah, I've seen that very quickly there's been a lot of newspaper articles and a lot of media speculation around takeover, so I can be really clear on this," he said. "So the Lewis family are really clear. They see their involvement in Tottenham Hotspur being long-term and they see their involvement continuing through the generations.

"We made a statement very late last night and a statement I hope was unambiguously clear that Tottenham Hotspur is not for sale."

The possibility of outside investment has been explored in recent years though with Levy stating "the board and its advisors, Rothschild and Co, are in discussions with prospective investors". Following his exit, the advisors employed to assist investment decisions could also be let go.

According to City AM, Tottenham are weighing up whether or not to replace Rothschild as the club’s retained bankers.

The financial institution were brought on board in April 2024 to advise the club on potential external investment. However, that process was halted in its tracks earlier this summer as a cash injection from ENIC was pushed into the club.

It has also been claimed that as an investment process is no longer being conducted, contracts with third-party advisors are being reviewed and Rothschild may well end up being let go.

Levy himself also appears to be in a difficult position over whether or not to sell his 30 per cent shareholding stake in ENIC having already lost £3million through an annual salary and bonuses.

Harry Kane gave an emotional speech in the England dressing room after Tottenham defender Djed Spence made his Three Lions debut against Serbia.

The 25-year-old came on as a late substitute in Tuesday night’s 5-0 World Cup qualifying win over Serbia in Belgrade. Kane opened the scoring for Thomas Tuchel's side before Noni Madueke doubled the lead two minutes later. Ezri Konsa, Marc Guehi and Marcus Rashford scored in the second period to cap off an impressive camp for England.

After the game at Rajko Mitic Stadium, Spence was passed his first ever Three Lions cap by former Tottenham teammate Kane. Visibly emotional, Kane said: "We have a new debut today. I asked to do this, because I saw this player three, four years ago at Tottenham and he had to go through a lot.

"He had to keep his head up. He had to work hard. Now he's an England player so he fully deserves this. I'm a little bit emotional because I know how much it takes to get here and I saw what it was like, and it was tough for you. Credit to you, your family, everyone involved - you deserve this one."

Spence joined Spurs from Middlesbrough in July 2022 but has had to be extremely patient, with Antonio Conte at the time describing the signing as "an investment by the club". Loan spells to Rennes, Leeds United and Genoa followed before Spence eventually broke into the starting XI under Ange Postecoglou last season.

The defender, who can play right-back and left-back, has played every minute of Tottenham's four games so far this campaign and has impressed under Thomas Frank. That form earned him a place in Tuchel's latest England squad and the Englishman described playing for his country as an "honour".

“It was amazing, it has been a long time coming,” he said. “I have dreamed about it all my life since I was a kid so it is amazing. It is an honour. H gave it to me when I was in the dressing room.

“I’m a little bit emotional, the journey I have been on. I’m officially an England player now so I am over the moon. He said I was at Tottenham with him a few years ago and he has seen my growth and he knows how hard it is to get to this level. He is just happy for me.”

With Destiny Udogie returning to fitness, Spence's form means the Italian may have to bide his time to get back into the Tottenham starting line-up. Spurs travel to West Ham on Saturday and you would expect Frank to select Spence at left-back once again.