Daniel Levy reveals why he really sacked Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham

The majority of Tottenham Hotspur supporters are now looking forward to a fresh new start under Thomas Frank this season.

Frank arrived with an excellent reputation owing to his consistent overachieving at Brentford, who will be sorry to lose their Danish coach.

Of course, it was only a few months ago that Tottenham fans were hotly debating the merits of sacking Ange Postecoglou following the club’s historic Europa League win.

Postecoglou was the first manager since Juande Ramos to lift a trophy in N17, and yet Daniel Levy still chose to replace the former Celtic manager.

And now speaking in an interview on ‘The Overlap’ with pundit Gary Neville, Levy has explained that decision in detail.

Daniel Levy says it was ‘impossible’ to let Ange Postecoglou continue at Spurs

Postecoglou’s win rate at Tottenham wasn’t horrendous in context of the managers who came before him.

However, Spurs still finished 17th in the Premier League last season, something Levy ultimately deemed unacceptable, regardless of any cup success.

Approaching the topic, Neville asked: “Who makes the decision on Thomas in the end? And who makes the decision on Ange, how’s that come about?”

Levy replied: “Ultimately, the decision is always going to be, it has to rest with me, but it’s always a collective decision.

“I think we had to explain, you know, Ange just won us a trophy, a European trophy which is highly significant, always going to be in our history and yet we were asking him to leave.

Photo by Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

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“But we can’t lose sight of the fact we finished 17th in the league.

“We lost 22 Premier League games and it’s impossible for Tottenham to be in that position and so we had to take the emotion out of it and we had to give some data points as to why we decided to do what we did.

“But you’ve been there, whichever level you do it. No one likes telling somebody you’re losing their job, but it is the nature of football.

“You know, we’re in there to win. And yes, we won a European trophy and it was fantastic, but we also need to win on all fronts and the Premier League says it all.”

Thomas Frank won’t accept unfair criticism at Tottenham

Of course, Postecoglou faced widespread criticism in the media for months before he lost his job at Tottenham.

And in regards to that situation, it is now interesting to revisit what new Spurs boss Frank said about walking away from being a manager in 2021, if criticism ever became too much.

Frank was speaking after Steve Bruce’s departure from Newcastle at the time, who faced what many perceived to be unfair levels of criticism at St James’ Park.

In reply, Frank said: “It’s so easy these days to criticise the manager. In modern times it’s part of the job that you apparently need to be criticised if things aren’t going your way

“That’s why sometimes you think ‘is it really worth it?’ I love working with people, I love working in football.

“I’ve been privileged in my career to work with good people. There are highs and lows. It is a tough job. So maybe sometimes I think there’s other things you also need to do in your life.

“It’s about being aware of what are the most important things in life. Football is important, it means so many things to so many people. But there’s so much else in life that is much more important.

“It’s the same in any profession. If you want to create something special you have to put in a lot of hours. It’s that part, plus the pressure, which is second to none compared to any other profession in life, or sport, I would say.

“There is not one human being, or one coach, where criticism is not hitting you a little bit. I don’t think that’s possible. Then it’s just how much or how little it affects you.

“I’m pretty convinced I have my priorities right in terms of friends and family in life. And if I don’t do this I’ll just (do) an even more important job, a schoolteacher, or work with children.

“That is more important than the job I’m doing now. I think I’ll do something else, I’m convinced of that.”

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