Tottenham part company with Ange Postecoglou, Thomas Frank leading contender to take over

Tottenham Hotspur have parted company with head coach Ange Postecoglou despite him winning the club’s first trophy for 17 years.

The 59-year-old leaves the north London club despite having won the Europa League with victory over Manchester United during last month’s final in Bilbao.

However, Spurs ended the season 17th in the Premier League with the club’s worst points tally and finish in the Premier League era. The season concluded with Tottenham just 13 points above the relegation zone and 28 points off the top five.

A decision on a replacement is anticipated next week with Thomas Frank, the Brentford head coach, the leading contender. Contact has yet to be made with the west London club.

We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the Club. Ange will always be remembered as only the third manager in our history to deliver a European trophy. Thank you Ange 🤍 pic.twitter.com/gT6deIaa5e — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 6, 2025

Though victorious in Europe, Postecoglou saw his side exit both domestic cup competitions in the same week after a 4-0 defeat against Liverpool in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final on February 6 and a 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round three days later. Spurs required extra time to progress past National League side Tamworth in the FA Cup third round in January.

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Tottenham won only 11 league games all season and endured a pair of six-game winless runs over April and May, and December and January. Their total of 22 losses is the most of any team not to be relegated in the Premier League era.

Postecoglou had to contend with an extensive injury list, with Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, Yves Bissouma, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Lucas Bergvall, Dejan Kulusevski, Guglielmo Vicario, Richarlison, James Maddison, Radu Dragusin and Wilson Odobert all missing periods.

A club statement on Friday evening read: “Following a review of performances and after significant reflection, the club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties.

“We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the club. Ange will always be remembered as only the third manager in our history to deliver a European trophy, alongside legendary figures Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw.

Postecoglou guided the team to the Europa League last month (Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)

“However, the board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place. Following a positive start in the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season. At times, there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign. Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.

“It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond. This has been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make and is not a decision that we have taken lightly, nor one we have rushed to conclude. We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision.

“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future — he will always be welcome back at our home.”

“When I reflect on my time as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, my overriding emotion is one of pride,” Postecoglou said in a statement published by his representatives.

“The opportunity to lead one of England’s historic football clubs and bring back the glory it deserves will live with me for a lifetime. Sharing that experience with all those who truly love this club and seeing the impact it had on them is something I will never forget.

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“That night in Bilbao was the culmination of two years of hard work, dedication and unwavering belief in a dream. There were many challenges to overcome and plenty of noise that comes with trying to accomplish what many said was not possible.

“I sincerely want to thank those who are the lifeblood of the club, the supporters. I know there were some difficult times but I always felt that they wanted me to succeed and that gave me all the motivation I needed to push on. It’s important to acknowledge the hard-working people at Spurs who gave me encouragement on a daily basis.”

Statement from Ange Postecoglou pic.twitter.com/V8U4pwaaQn — CAA Base (@CAABase) June 6, 2025

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Celtic in July 2023, signing a four-year contract.

The Australian enjoyed a fast start with eight wins from his opening 10 league games in charge, including victories over Manchester United and Liverpool. He was named Premier League manager of the month for each of the first three months of the season, a first for a new manager in the competition. Tottenham ultimately finished fifth, outside of the Champions League qualification places but enough for a Europa League spot, while there were cup exits at the hands of Fulham, on penalties in the Carabao Cup, and Manchester City, in the FA Cup fourth round.

Postecoglou won five major trophies during his two-year stay in Glasgow, including back-to-back Scottish Premiership titles. He was born in Greece but grew up in Australia and went on to manage the Socceroos for four years following stints in charge at Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar.

The decision on Postecoglou’s future comes amid a series of changes at executive level for Spurs; long-serving executive director Donna-Maria Cullen announced on Monday that she was stepping down, while Vinai Venkatesham was announced as the club’s new CEO in April.

How will Postecoglou be remembered at Spurs?

Analysis by Jay Harris

Postecoglou joined Spurs in June 2023 and the squad was completely transformed during his first year in charge. The club’s all-time top goalscorer Harry Kane left to join Bayern Munich while they spent over £125million ($169m) on Johnson, Van de Ven, Maddison and Vicario.

Tottenham were at the top of the table after winning eight of his first 10 games in charge but they never recovered from an infamous 4-1 defeat by Chelsea in November 2023. Since that result, Spurs lost 34 out of 66 league games and only earned 78 points. It is the third-worst record in the division if you exclude the six relegated sides.

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Spurs finished fifth in Postecoglou’s first season and broke their club record in the summer of 2024 to sign Solanke from Bournemouth for £65m. However, a crippling injury crisis disrupted their domestic form and they lost 22 times and finished 17th in his second year.

Postecoglou focused all of his efforts on winning a cup competition and they reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup before they were eliminated by Liverpool.

He will always be remembered by Tottenham supporters, though, for winning their first piece of silverware in 17 years with the Europa League. Postecoglou coached a disciplined performance to beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao but it was not enough to save his job.

What would Frank bring to Spurs?

Tottenham’s transfer policy has changed since Johan Lange became their sporting director in November 2023 and now they mainly focus on signing players under the age of 23, including Archie Gray, Bergvall and Odobert.

Frank has an excellent track record of developing talent, including Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo, which can be traced back to his time in charge of Denmark’s youth sides, so he could be a great fit for this young Spurs squad.

Lange and Frank have previously worked together at Danish side Lygnby which would help. When Lange was Aston Villa’s sporting director, he considered hiring Frank to replace Steven Gerrard before Unai Emery was appointed.

Frank prefers to use a 4-3-3 formation but is more flexible than Postecoglou. During Brentford’s first two seasons in the Premier League, he regularly used a 3-5-2 formation against better-quality opposition and used long balls and set-pieces to good effect.

Brentford have evolved and now mainly play out from the back and press opponents high up the pitch. A switch to a 4-2-3-1 system in 2024-25 to extract the best out of attacking midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard highlights how he is more than willing to make subtle tweaks to his principles for the benefit of the team.

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One of the biggest challenges for Frank would be adjusting to European competition. He reached the preliminary rounds of the Europa League with Brondby but not the main stage of the competition, so it would be a steep learning curve jumping straight into the Champions League.

(Top photo: Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)

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