Ange Postecoglou reacts to Tottenham sacking his replacement Thomas Frank
Ange Postecoglou has confessed Thomas Frank's poor run of Premier League results made his Tottenham sacking inevitable. Frank was relieved of his duties as manager of the north London club on Wednesday following their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United. The loss to the Magpies left the Europa League winners languishing in 16th position, merely five points clear of the drop zone. He becomes the second permanent manager within seven months to be axed by Tottenham, with Postecoglou having been dismissed at the end of last season.
The Australian was given his marching orders after the club ended the campaign in 17th place, with his Europa League success insufficient to save him from the chop. Approximately eight months following his dismissal - and four months after he was also let go by Nottingham Forest - Postecoglou shared his candid thoughts on Frank's exit. The former Celtic manager said on The Overlap: "It's always, having been in that position twice in the last six months, it's tough, it's tough. You know that he can't be the only issue at the club and that's probably every manager.
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"But, ultimately that's what we get judged on. But it goes back to me, it's a curious club Tottenham. It's made a major pivot at the end of last year, not just with me but with Daniel (Levy) leaving as well.
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"You've created a whole sort of environment of uncertainty because there's no guarantees, no matter which managers you bring in because they've had world-class managers there and not had success and for what reason?
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"What was the reason for such a major pivot, you know Thomas was walking in, what's his objective? What's the club's objective? At the start of the year, obviously to compete on all fronts but the club hasn't competed on all fronts for a long time.
"Also the most influential person at the club for the last 20 years is also going so if you're going to do such a major pivot, you have to understand there is going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? I don't know.
"It's a fair departure from me, anyone who studies the game, it wasn't like it was a progression from me. I built that sort of squad for want of a better word to play a certain way for a number of years and he's sort of coming in and like we said, it's a curious club Tottenham."
The Greek added: "If you look at the list of names (managers), there isn't really a common theme there in what they are trying to do. I do think part of Tottenham's DNA - for the lack of a better word - is that they do like their teams to play a certain way.
"It's fair to say with Mauricio (Pochettino) they were going down that path, but at the same time, I think people have been too dismissive of Harry's (Kane's) influence through that period.
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"If I had had Harry in that first year, I'm convinced we would have finished in that Champions League spot. Even him leaving, you cannot plug that hole. It's impossible."
