Big Ange shoots the moon but what next for Spurs?

Those of you old enough to remember a time when mobile gaming and streaming services weren't a thing will surely have spent a boring afternoon (probably at work) playing the MS Windows version of the card game Hearts.

AI generated image using ChatGPT

Tottenham's 24/25 season can be likened to a hand of that classic time filler but instead of trying to play it conservatively and grind up the league to finish somewhere in midtable, Ange has essentially shot for the moon (the tactic in Hearts where you attempt to win by doing the opposite of avoiding hearts and the dreaded Queen of Spades) and put everything, including his own reputation, on the line to win the Europa League.

It's a high risk, high reward tactic but Ange has managed to overcome any number of well documented factors that were working against him to pull it off!

https://x.com/footballconfid1/status/1925480208095748134

Whether that will be enough to convince Levy to stick with a manager that he gave a 4 year contract to less than 2 years ago remains to be seen.

He did at least meet Levy's minimum season requirement of qualifying for the Champions League, a feat that will continue to keep the club profitable and eating at the top table of European football. Something that you could argue means more to Levy than the trophy itself.

While Spurs supporters haven't been happy with Postecoglou's performance this season, it is noticeable that more of their ire has been directed towards the ownership.

It leaves Levy in an interesting position. On one hand, he can now breath a little easier in the sense that he has delivered a trophy, only the 2nd under ENIC's rule. On the other, can he get away with sacking the man who was in the dugout when they won it without inviting criticism, particularly if whoever comes in as the new manager doesn't hit the ground running?

Fan protests against Levy and Enic have escalated over recent seasons source

It's difficult to conceive that this was Levy's master plan all along. The appointment of Mourinho and Conte in recent years could be seen as a 'win at all costs' kind of gamble.

The club was essentially putting to one side the famous words of Danny Blanchflower 'the game is about glory' in a bid to win something, anything, regardless of the route to success.

However, Big Ange, while being a successful manager at club level (as he's so keen to remind everyone), hardly had the kind of CV that those 2 did when it came to delivering trophies in the top European leagues.

Ange also came in on a 4 year deal, significantly longer than the 2 and a bit years or 18 months that Mourinho and Conte signed for, indicating the fact that the Australian was here more to instigate a rebuild than bring immediate success.

As it stands, Postecoglou might well find himself ushered out the door less than 2 years after arriving at the club with a pat on the back, a thanks for the memories and a £2million bonus for his troubles - very much what Levy had hoped would be the case with his other post-Poch appointments.

The narrative from the manager will be interesting as the weeks roll past. What he's said in the media so far been fairly predictable.

The 'still work to be done' and 'not up to me to decide my future' narratives are the text book answers to the rather predictable lines of questioning that your average football journalist spews forth at press conferences.

I wonder what Ange really thinks? I mean if he was sacked following a trophy win, his reputation in tact and another chunk of compensation to follow the bonus he's just received then that might sound like an ok deal to him. He would have no problems finding another job if he wanted and of course, he's already begun to the lay the groundwork for a media role if he fancies trading the training ground for the TV studio.

The general consensus among Spurs fans seems to be to give the man more time. However, you can't simply ignore how poor this Spurs side has been over the last 15 months, Europa League performances aside.

They finished the 23/24 season by losing 6 of their last 11 matches. The only wins they recorded in that time came against Luton, Burnley, Sheffield United and Notts Forest i.e. the bottom 4. Ironically, it was that poor run of form that saw them miss out on a Champions League place and instead qualify for the Europa League.

In fact, in their last 45 Premier League matches Spurs have collected just 44 points. If the Championship can serve up at least 1 half decent team this season then that becomes relegation form.

Football fans and pundits have been quick to equate the Spurs managerial conundrum with that of Ten Hag at United but there are fundamental differences.

For one, Postecoglou like the Spurs managers that have come before him, has little to no say on transfer business. By contrast, Ten Hag and his allies demanded and were given almost total control of footballing affairs at Old Trafford.

By wedding themselves to ETH, United drove a massive football club down a rather small cul-de-sac and are now finding that it's difficult to manoeuvre out of such a space particularly with the added restrictions of FFP to contend with.

I don't expect that Ange's trophy win is about to change the say he gets this summer. Yes, Champions League football could theoretically help the club to spend a bit more and potentially attract a higher calibre of player. However, if history tells us anything it's that Levy is unlikely to change his tactic of trying to buy young, less established names that he hopes will accrue value.

If Ange stays and that remains a big if, then it'll be on the clubs terms and not his, trophy success or not.

What it might ultimately boil down to is whether Spurs can identify a viable alternative?

It seems highly likely that the club has been planning for a change of manager over the summer but how far along they are in actually securing their man or indeed who that is, remains to be seen.

current odds on the next Spurs manager

A few names currently managing in the Premier League have been thrown about.

Oliver Glasner looked like a leading contender but he's more likely to stay with Palace and sign a new contract following their own cup triumph and European qualification

I'm not convinced by the prospect of Xavi. He has little experience full stop and none in the Premier League. As much as I love Poch, some relationships are better left with the rose tinted perspective that history brings.

It leaves, Thomas Frank who has worked with Director of Football Johan Lange in the past and is very used to the kind of data driven approach that his fellow countryman wants to implement, as the favourite to succeed Ange if a change is to be made. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Lange will stay at Spurs and if so in what capacity or how much of an influence he would have on an change of manager?

After all, it was Levy that lead the recruitment of Postecoglou even if, as I've suggested before, the Aussie was probably 3rd choice (at best) for the role.

There is also the rumoured re-introduction of Fabio Paratici in some capacity following the end of his global ban. Would that shift Spurs footballing direction and what would it mean for the likes of Lange et al?

Of course, Levy's admiration for the work done at Brentford is well known. It's widely considered that his preference for the vacant Director of Football role after Paratici left were one or both of the Brentford duo Phil Giles and Lee Dykes.

Brentford ultimately resisted those advances and would have demanded a hefty sum of compensation for one or both of the pair. You'd imagine that it'll be a similar situation should Spurs wish to prize Frank out of his current contract which still has 2 years left to run.

Frank seems to be in contention for most jobs that come up in the Premier League and for good reason. What he's achieved at Brentford is nothing short of a miracle and he does deserve a shot at managing at a 'bigger' club which despite their recent struggles Spurs continue to be.

6 years ago, I wrote a blog suggesting that the best manager to succeed Spurs most successful coach in a generation, Pochettino, should be Eddie Howe.

Like Howe, Frank has made his name making a small club into a Premier League fixture. Similarly, one of the primary reasons that Howe didn't get that job or indeed a few others that were up for grabs around that time seems to be his perceived inexperience at the very highest level.

Plenty of clubs have considered Frank as a potential candidate, most recently Manchester United, but have ultimately decided to go with a recognised name with a higher pedigree. Will Spurs ultimately be dissuaded along the same lines?

In my mind, they missed appointing a man in Howe who has established himself as one of the top 3 or 4 coaches in the league by making a succession of poor appointments. Are they about to do the same by missing out on Frank? Is it actually the sacking of Postecoglou that will cost the club its 'messiah'?

Whatever the coming weeks and months bring, one thing is for sure. It won't be a boring summer for Spurs fans who will have no need to revert to playing Hearts or worse yet Solitaire and Minesweeper to keep themselves occupied during the off-season break.