TBR Football

Tottenham are now looking for a new manager after deciding to part ways with Ange Postecoglou.

TBR Football understand Tottenham are holding talks to hire Thomas Frank as a replacement, although the Dane would need to be bought out of his contract at Brentford.

However, a manager Tottenham came very close to hiring back in 2021 is now available for free in Gennaro Gattuso.

Gennaro Gattuso now a free agent, but revisiting interest would surely incite anger at Tottenham

As you may remember, Spurs fans launched a campaign with the hashtag #NoToGattuso back in June 2021 after hearing that Levy was close to hiring the Italian.

As The Athletic reported at the time, the man born in Corigliano was the leading candidate to replace Jose Mourinho, news which sparked fury in N17 and ultimately caused Tottenham to backtrack, amidst concerns over his character, and the fact he previously headbutted Joe Jordan during a UEFA Champions League clash between AC Milan and Spurs in February 2011.

Now, the 47-year-old has suddenly become available after leaving his role at Hajduk Split, following just a single campaign with the Croatian outfit.

Given his previous interest, Levy is presumably aware of this news, and also presumably enticed by the fact Gattuso would be free, compared to Frank, who would cost a compensation package – his release clause is rumoured to be £10m.

However, Tottenham fans are already upset about losing Postecoglou, so it would be a very bold move from Levy to reignite the Gattuso saga at this moment in time, although stranger things have happened.

What Gennaro Gattuso said about Tottenham saga

Gattuso actually spoke about the situation to La Repubblica, saying: “I struggle to believe that this was the reason for my failure to move to Tottenham. At most, their fans may have been left with the image of my fight with Jordan in 2011, who was their assistant coach at the time.

“Me, racist, sexist and homophobic? It’s not true, ask my former teammates. Some of my statements have just been distorted. My story teaches that keyboard hate is something dangerous and underestimated.”

Tottenham Hotspur supporters are less than impressed by the latest announcement the North London club have just made.

Spurs’ next statement is likely to be the appointment of Thomas Frank, with the Brentford manager now close to making the switch across North London.

Following talks between Tottenham and Frank, the 51-year-old is set to be the man to replace Ange Postecoglou after he was sacked on Friday.

But ahead of Frank’s arrival at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the North London club have just released a key bit of information which has not gone down well with the fans.

Tottenham fans bemoan Ben Davies’ contract decision

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been left bemoaning the contract extension of Ben Davies who is now set to remain until at least 2026.

The Welsh international has seen the option in his contract to extend by a further year taken up by Spurs, likely as a reward for his impressive service to the club.

Davies joined the Lilywhites back in the summer of 2014 from Swansea City for around £13.5 million, and last season he secured his first major trophy with the club.

Davies featured in eight of Tottenham’s 15 Europa League matches last term and made 28 appearances overall under Postecoglou. His efforts have now seen him given a year’s extension to his deal.

But after the club made the announcement, Tottenham fans have taken to X to share their thoughts on the 32-year-old having his deal extended.

One fan said: “Every decision our directors take shows a bit more why we ended up 17 years without lifting a single trophy. It just gets worse!”

Another claimed: “Here’s a question worth asking… when Ben Davies played centre back in the Premier League last season, how many games did we win? A player who defines the Levy era perfectly.”

There were further question marks over the decision: “Ben Davies has been a great servant, but his time as a Premier League player is over.”

Finally, another supporter claimed: “I love Ben, but I think it shows what sort of summer we are in for transfer-wise.”

Tottenham’s results when Ben Davies was playing last season

Overall, it was a rather tricky season for Davies and Tottenham, as despite their Europa League triumph, they still finished 17th in the Premier League.

Last season, Tottenham conceded 35 times when Davies was on the pitch and managed just six clean sheets.

The experienced Welsh defender will have played a lot more than he was expecting due to the injuries suffered by the club’s centre-backs.

Micky van de Ven, in particular, was sidelined for large parts of the season and the 32-year-old was often the player who was tasked to fill in for him.

Pep Guardiola is a big fan of Thomas Frank and his prediction about the soon-to-be Tottenham Hotspur manager is set to come to fruition.

Frank has held talks with Tottenham about replacing Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked earlier this week after the North London club opted to part ways with the Australian.

The Danish coach’s brilliant efforts at Brentford are finally set to be rewarded by earning him a move to a club that will be playing Champions League football next season.

The 51-year-old has done a remarkable job making the Bees an established Premier League club, and Guardiola has long predicted that he would be destined for big things.

What Pep Guardiola said about Thomas Frank

Pep Guardiola has previously admitted that he was a big fan of Thomas Frank and knew it wouldn’t be long before he was eventually snatched up by a bigger club.

Back in September 2024, the Manchester City manager admitted that Frank’s Brentford side caused him ‘a headache’ to play against, given their organisation.

Guardiola said: “They are an extraordinary team. What they do always makes sense. Every corner is a headache. They are compact. This season, they have a high press. Thomas is one of the best.”

“It is just a question of time. I’m good at a few things, one of which is reading when the manager is good. It is going to happen.”

The Brentford manager is now the leading contender to become the next head coach at Tottenham Hotspur, with reports suggesting that he has already accepted the job.

Plans are underway for the arrival of their new manager, with Frank having requested the signing of Mbeumo, despite Manchester United being close to capturing him.

He arrives at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium off the back of a top-half Premier League finish with the Bees last term.

Frank’s impressive work with players like Mbeumo, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins and Yoanne Wissa is another factor which has appealed to Spurs.

Thomas Frank’s record vs Premier League’s top six

Frank has a respectable record against the Premier League’s top six, having beaten each of them at least once.

Chelsea are the Dane’s favoured top-six opponent having beaten them three times, whilst also drawing on three occasions. Meanwhile, his record against Liverpool is far from ideal, as he has lost six of his eight meetings with the Reds.

Brentford finished the season strong against the top six, though, beating Man United, holding Man City, Arsenal and Chelsea to draws, but losing to Spurs and Liverpool.

Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties at Tottenham Hotspur.

The 59-year-old’s future had been up in the air for several months. Spurs’ disastrous season in the Premier League, which saw them lose 22 games and finish 17th, was just unacceptable.

But, after Tottenham won the Europa League, there was some hope that Daniel Levy would change his mind and give Postecoglou another opportunity.

That, however, didn’t happen, and the official announcement of Postecoglou’s sacking was made on Friday.

Ange Postecoglou was offered to AS Roma before Tottenham sacked him

There were rumours about Ange Postecoglou losing his job at Tottenham since before the turn of the year.

More recently, in May, it was widely reported that Levy had decided to sack Postecoglou irrespective of the Europa League final result, so the Australian must have had an inkling that he was going to be pushed out.

That’s probably why his services were offered to another club before his sacking was made official by Spurs on Friday.

Alfredo Pedulla revealed on Football Italia that Postecoglou was offered to Italian giants AS Roma prior to his dismissal.

The Serie A side bid farewell to Claudio Ranieri at the end of the season and were on the lookout for a replacement.

Roma have since announced Gian Piero Gasperini as their new manager, which means that Postecoglou will not be heading to the Stadio Olimpico.

It remains to be seen now if the Australian will take up a new job right away.

What Ange Postecoglou has guaranteed will happen at his next club

Postecoglou always made one thing clear throughout his time at Tottenham – that he’s a winner.

The Australian promised a trophy in his second season, and despite the terrible league campaign, he delivered on his promise.

Before the Europa League final, the 59-year-old was quizzed about his future, and he told the media very clearly what he will do wherever he ends up – win trophies!

Postecoglou said, as per The Guardian: “My future is assured. I wouldn’t be the first person who changes jobs. We all change jobs. I am sure you’ve had more than one job.

“I have got a beautiful family, I’ve got a great life. I’ll keep on winning trophies until I finish – wherever that is. Don’t worry about my future. My future is not intertwined with anything.”

TBR Football can exclusively confirm that Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur were among the clubs who recently tried to sign “one of the best talents in the world”.

Franco Mastantuono is one of Argentina’s best young players and has been sought after by the world’s biggest football clubs.

Arsenal and Liverpool finished second and first respectively in the Premier League last season and are always in the conversation for the cream of the crop.

Tottenham, who are looking for a new manager after sacking Ange Postecoglou, have made a name for themselves with regard to signing the world’s best young players.

However, the Premier League clubs have suffered disappointment in pursuit of Mastantuono due to one of the continent’s giants.

Arsenal among Premier League giants who pushed for Franco Mastantuono

TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has confirmed that Mastantuono has agreed his deal with Real Madrid and is likely to join them in August when he turns 18.

We can confirm that Manchester United made a strong play to land him, but we can also confirm that they were not alone in terms of Premier League clubs trying to get him,

In the last six weeks – Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle all made a play to land the River Plate sensation.

However, he opted for Real Madrid, who were long-term favourites for the attacking midfielder.

Why Arsenal could actually benefit from missing out on Franco Mastantuono

Mastantuono, who’s been compared to Phil Foden, has long been one of the most coveted young players in South America.

Fabrizio Romano recently deemed Mastantuono “one of the best talents in the world in this moment”.

But while Arsenal have missed out on him, this could actually have a silver lining for them, because what it could mean for another Real Madrid player who they’ve been eyeing.

Arsenal want to sign Rodrygo, a player who could seriously elevate their attack heading into next season.

Ange Postecoglou has been sacked, and Tottenham Hotspur are looking for a replacement.

The North Londoners decided to part ways with the Australian even though he helped them end their trophy drought just 16 days before he was let go.

Daniel Levy has made a big call, and he needs to bring in a top-class replacement to ensure that his decision to sack Postecoglou was the right one.

Thomas Frank has been heavily linked, but a report has now claimed that another manager is on the verge of taking charge of Tottenham.

Marco Silva is very close to becoming the new Tottenham manager

Marco Silva has always been on Tottenham’s radar.

TBR Football reported Spurs’ interest in Silva all the way back in January, when there were rumours that Ange Postecoglou could get sacked.

The Portuguese tactician has done an incredible job at Fulham over the years, and everyone knew that he would get an offer from a bigger club at some stage.

Now, Record in Portugal have revealed that Silva is ‘very close’ to taking charge of Tottenham.

The report says that the deal is ‘almost closed’ and ‘everything suggests that the Portuguese will succeed Postecoglou at Spurs.’

Silva, hailed as ‘amazing’ by Fulham owner Tony Khan, has one year left on his contract at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva’s stats at Fulham compared to Thomas Frank’s at Brentford in the Premier League

Frank and Silva were viewed as the frontrunners for the Tottenham job.

Both managers have done incredibly well at their respective clubs over the years, but if the report from Record is to be believed, Spurs have pushed ahead with Silva.

Only time will tell if that is the right decision, but here’s how Silva’s numbers in the Premier League compare to Frank’s at Brentford.

As the table shows above, both Frank and Silva’s numbers are very similar.

Their points-per-game tallies are almost identical, they score and concede at a near-equal rate, and their sides have finished in the same part of the league table in recent years as well.

It is very hard to choose between the two for Levy, but it looks like he has gone with Silva. It remains to be seen how he will fare at Spurs.

Mauricio Pochettino is still a fan favourite at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Argentine did a remarkable job when he was the Spurs boss. Yes, he didn’t win a trophy, but he helped the club compete with the best consistently.

Tottenham now need a new manager again, and TBR Football revealed in April that Pochettino is in contention to return to Spurs.

Daniel Levy needs to replace Ange Postecoglou after sacking him, and Pochettino will be welcomed back with open arms by many fans.

But, it will not be easy.

Daniel Levy will have to pay a fortune to bring Mauricio Pochettino back to Tottenham

Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by Tottenham in 2019.

The Argentine, hailed as ‘unbelievable‘ by Postecoglou, has since managed Paris Saint-Germain in France and Chelsea here in the Premier League at club level. He then agreed to take charge of the United States Men’s National Team.

Pochettino is under contract in the USA until the summer of 2026. He was appointed to lead the Americans into the next FIFA World Cup.

However, with Tottenham now in need of a new manager to replace Postecoglou, who was sacked on Friday, Spurs could consider trying to bring their old boss back.

BBC Sport have shared what they have heard on that front, and it has been revealed that Spurs will have to break the bank if they want Pochettino to become their next manager.

‘The report claims that it would take a huge compensation package – one of the ‘biggest in football history’ – to convince the USMNT to release their manager.

Whether that’s something Levy would be prepared to do remains to be seen.

Does Mauricio Pochettino have a release clause that Tottenham can trigger?

Pochettino signed the contract to become the USMNT boss in September – it hasn’t even been a year.

The former Tottenham boss has been trusted to get the best out of the USA in the World Cup next year, and any change of plan will cost a lot of money.

American journalist Jeff Carlisle revealed last September that Pochettino has a massive release clause in his contract with the USMNT.

He told ESPN: “Yeah, I was able to confirm that, it (a release clause) does exist.

“A federation source told me that it’s in the ‘tens of millions’, so I interpret that to mean that it’s $20 million at least.

“Now, I can think of some entities out there in the soccer world for whom $20 million would not be an impediment at all to try to wrestle away Mauricio Pochettino, but it could be more than that, so there is a grey area.”

Tottenham Hotspur have been looking for a new manager to replace Ange Postecoglou.

Spurs announced on Friday that they had parted ways with the Australian, just 16 days after he ended their 17-year trophy drought.

Alan Shearer was not happy with Postecoglou’s sacking, and neither were many other people. But, the decision has been made, and there’s no turning back now.

Tottenham are looking for a new boss, and Fabrizio Romano has shared some bad news.

Roberto De Zerbi has rejected Tottenham

Roberto De Zerbi is a top-class manager.

The Italian did a brilliant job at Brighton and Hove Albion, and he then helped Marseille finish second in the Ligue 1 last season.

TBR Football exclusively revealed in May that Fabio Paratici had recommended De Zerbi to Tottenham to replace Postecoglou.

Tottenham appear to have listened to their old director – Romano has revealed that Spurs approached the Italian recently to see if he would be open to taking over from Postecoglou at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Unfortunately for Daniel Levy, the former Seagulls boss turned down the opportunity because he wishes to stay at Marseille.

Romano said on X: “Spurs also approached Roberto De Zerbi in recent days… but the Italian head coach rejected as he wants to stay at Olympique Marseille.”

Tottenham plan Thomas Frank talks

De Zerbi is a ‘genius’ and he would’ve been a great option for Tottenham.

However, following his rejection, Spurs will have to look elsewhere, and Brentford boss Thomas Frank seems to be on top of Levy’s list.

Romano revealed in the same post that Tottenham are ready to advance in their pursuit of the Dane in the coming days.

Tottenham Hotspur are on the lookout for a new manager after sacking Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian’s future had been up in the air for several months, and the expectation was that he would be shown the door.

But, winning the Europa League made many fans change their minds about Postecoglou – they were open to seeing him continue as their boss.

Daniel Levy, however, had other ideas, and made the decision to let him go.

Tottenham have considered Eddie Howe to replace Ange Postecoglou

Eddie Howe has done a tremendous job at Newcastle United.

The Magpies looked destined to get relegated when he first took charge, but they have now qualified for the Champions League for the second time and have even won a trophy.

Howe deserves a lot of praise for the way he has transformed the Toon, and Newcastle fans absolutely adore him.

BBC Sport claim that at Tottenham, ‘consideration was given to the prospect of making’ a move for Howe to replace Postecoglou.

The Toon boss has shown that he can beat the best sides in the country, and he would be a great option for the North Londoners.

But, the report suggests that Newcastle qualifying for the Champions League makes this move extremely unlikely.

Howe’s contract at St James’ Park does not expire until the summer of 2027.

Eddie Howe’s record at Newcastle compared to Ange Postecoglou’s at Tottenham

Howe was appointed as the Newcastle United manager in November 2021.

That was about 18 months before Ange Postecoglou was brought in by Tottenham, and the Englishman is still in his role because he has done a terrific job.

Howe, hailed as ‘brilliant’ by Joe Willock, has clearly done a better job at Newcastle than Postecoglou did at Spurs, and that explains why Levy has considered the former.

Tottenham Hotspur have decided to sack Ange Postecoglou as their first-team manager.

Ange Postecoglou led Tottenham to Europa League glory just a few weeks earlier and, in doing so, also secured Champions League football for Spurs.

However, Tottenham were always expected to sack Postecoglou due to his poor domestic campaign, which saw them finish 17th in the Premier League table.

TBR Football chief correspondent Graeme Bailey has now revealed that 10 managers are in the frame to replace Postecoglou at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Although there is one clear frontrunner, there are others firmly in the picture, while others aren’t deemed especially likely to take the Spurs job.

Bailey has reiterated that Brentford manager Thomas Frank is the clear leader to take the reins at Spurs.

However, Fulham’s Marco Silva is also very much in the picture as the second-favourite for the role.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Marseille’s Roberto De Zerbi are also firmly in the frame.

Thomas Frank

Bailey said: “Brentford’s Danish manager is an impressive figure and that is not just our opinion but also of Daniel Levy who has spoken to him on more than one occasion. Firm favourite.”

Chance – 9/10

Marco Silva

“A leading contender and the Fulham boss was keen on the job – the “amazing” Silva could yet be the man, but he is not the favourite.”

Chance – 7/10

Andoni Iraola

“The Bournemouth boss was seen as favourite at one point, but I am told he was not pushing himself forward for the role.”

Chance – 6/10

Roberto De Zerbi

“The former Brighton man has enjoyed a brilliant campaign with Marseille, and it is believed he was one who was much liked by Fabio Paratici.”

Chance – 6/10

The outsiders for the Tottenham job

There are other candidates for the Spurs job after Frank, Silva, Iraola and De Zerbi, but Bailey doesn’t feel they’re as likely to get the gig.

Kieran McKenna

Bailey said: “The former Spurs coach and current Ipswich Town boss has a lot of fans at Tottenham and he was under consideration.”

Chance – 5/10

Mauricio Pochettino

“Now with the USMNT – Levy loves Pochettino, if it had not been for Thomas Frank impressing so much, I think a return for Poch could have been the real thing.”

Chance – 5/10

Oliver Glasner

“The Crystal Palace boss has enjoyed a very good season and indeed is a target for a number of German clubs – he does have fans at Spurs but he isn’t at the top of the list.”

Chance – 5/10

Francesco Farioli

“The name of the former Ajax coach has come up, but not winning the Dutch title with Ajax – I don’t see how that can qualify you for Spurs, but he is highly rated.”

Chance – 4/10

Xavi

“A popular choice amongst some Spurs fans – but the former Barcelona chief isn’t going to be coming in.”

Chance – 3/10

Michael Carrick

“The former Spurs midfielder has just been axed by Middlesbrough – popular at Spurs, but he has really not done enough to warrant the Spurs job.”

Chance – 1/10