Inside story of Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham sacking with Daniel Levy rift that intensified during Europa League run

The Sun

a day ago

SO, Daniel Levy did kill off his main character in the second season finale of the Ange Postecoglou show.
Postecoglou himself warned that could be the case just a day after teasing fans at Spurs' Europa League-winning parade that he could stay on for a third campaign with a prestige-telly analogy.
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The 59-year-old had told hundreds of thousands of delirious supporters lining the streets outside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that in 'all the best television series, season three is better than season two '.
It went down a storm, with many of those who had wanted the Aussie out for the woeful league form now fully behind him after he had ended the club's 17-year trophy drought.
Their hope had been that Levy would perform a similarly emotional U-turn, and NOT go through with his pre-final plan of wielding the axe whatever the outcome in Bilbao.
How can he possibly ditch the guy who has delivered our first piece of silverware since the League Cup in 2008, and the first European trophy in 41 years, they asked themselves.
In fairness, Levy did pause for thought, albeit briefly.
But Postecoglou always knew the chances of the long-serving Spurs supremo doing an about-face were slim, given how their relationship had frayed in the previous months.
So it will have come as no surprise to the former Celtic treble-winner - even if it did to millions of Tottenham fans across the globe.
Levy turned to Postecoglou in the summer of 2023, after being snubbed by Arne Slot who had decided to stay at Feyenoord for one more season ahead of his switch to Liverpool.
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Postecoglou even described himself as 'the last man standing' in the race to succeed Antonio Conte.
But the Athens-born Aussie, who had never previously managed in Europe's top five major leagues before, got off to a stunning start by taking 26 points from his first 30 available.
That was despite the club selling their record goal-scorer Harry Kane to Bayern Munich on the eve of the season.
After an unbeaten first ten Prem games, Spurs were five points clear at the top of the table and anything seemed possible under Postecoglou.
Fans took to singing a version of Robbie Williams' Angels regularly after matches, with the key lyrics altered to 'I'm loving Big Ange instead'.
Levy seemed giddy with excitement too, proudly declaring at a fans' forum in September 2023 that 'we've got our Tottenham back' in reference to Postecoglou's thrilling style of play.
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But then came THAT 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea in November 2023 - the bonkers game Postecoglou may be best remembered for, even more so than the Europa final win over Manchester United.
Having had two men sent off and having lost James Maddison and Micky van de Ven to serious injuries, Spurs, amazingly, continued to attack and almost nicked a 2-2 draw.
But then Nicolas Jackson completed what was dubbed the worst hat-trick ever in injury-time - before Spurs were treated to a standing ovation by their fans as they left the pitch.
It was unprecedented - yet after that game, things were never the same.
Teams started to wise up to Spurs' style of inverted full-backs and clever cut-backs - as well as exposing the gaps they left at the back.
Eric Dier, who left to join Kane at Bayern Munich in January, later claimed that Postecoglou 'really doesn't do barely any tactical work, what he does is every single training drill from Monday to Friday is drawn up to represent the way he wants to play.'
Van de Ven and Maddison being sidelined disrupted the team's rhythm and they ended up being pipped by Aston Villa to fourth spot and Champions League qualification.
Injuries decimated Postecoglou's squad in his second season - with the Aussie's intense pressing style accused of being a contributing factor - and the league campaign began to unravel.
Raw teenage talent had mainly been added in the summer - although £65million was spent on striker Dominic Solanke - and it told.
Postecoglou hoped for more experience to be added in January but out of the three arrivals, only Kevin Danso fitted that description.
Spurs went on to finish 17th after losing 22 league games - the most a Prem team has ever managed and NOT been relegated - including embarrassing defeats to Ipswich and Leicester who both went down.
The AngeOut army grew among the fanbase, who had been irked by his misreading the previous season of their desire to lose against Manchester City to deny rivals Arsenal the title.
In another clash, Postecoglou mockingly cupped his ear in the direction of Spurs away fans at Chelsea in April.
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But all was forgiven when he ended the trophy curse in Bilbao.
Ironically, it was done in a defensive style akin to predecessor Jose Mourinho, with the team having just 27 per cent possession and completing just 184 passes.
It was more Ange Wall than Ange Ball, which suggested Postecoglou was capable of adapting when many pundits suggested he could not.
That feat was not enough though to convince the higher-ups, who had not agreed with Postecoglou's decision to prioritise the Europa League from February onwards.
It is understood the club began talking to representatives of other managers from the start of the year, underlining the shaky ground Postecoglou has been on for some time.
Now it has collapsed from underneath him, to his disappointment as he felt the job in N17 was not done.
But at least he walks away a hero, having finally changed the narrative to one of rare trophy success during the silverware-starved Levy story of the last 25 years.