The final chapter was heroic. Much like the first. And for all the difficulties in between Ange Postecoglou will forever be celebrated at Tottenham as the man who ended the longest wait.
He brought home the silver. He launched the parade. He taught Spurs how to be winners for the first time in 17 years. How to be winners in Europe for the first time this century.
He silenced the jokes. Some of them at least. He delivered some of his own and it was at times terrific fun with flair and adventure to restore the faith of those who believe it should always be at the heart of the club’s identity.
But there were injuries, there were defensive frailties and maddening passages of tactical inflexibility. And there were defeats. Lots of them, a record number for Spurs in a Premier League campaign as they thrashed about near the relegation zone.
Not a good look for a club purporting to be among the world’s elite and trying to attract levels of fresh investment to match, and so Postecoglou is gone, two eventful years into a four-year deal.
There will be no third season. Tottenham can go back to their identity crisis. Back to the mirror to figure out just what it is they want to be: fun-loving thrill-seekers with a decent shot at the knock-out cups or low-risk accumulators of points to keep Champions League cash reliably rolling in?
For all the difficulties in between Ange Postecoglou will forever be celebrated at Tottenham as the man who ended the longest wait
There were injuries, there were defensive frailties and maddening passages of tactical inflexibility. And there were defeats. Lots of them, a record number for Spurs
Daniel Levy can go off to find the 14th permanent manager or head coach of his 24 years as chairman
Daniel Levy can go off to find the 14th permanent manager or head coach of his 24 years as chairman. And it had all started like a match made in heaven.
10 games into season one, and Postecoglou’s Spurs were five points clear at the top of the Premier League, a Friday night high after a win at Crystal Palace thanks to a goal by captain Son Heung-min.
Outside the dressing rooms at Selhurst Park, the new boss’s agent had the look of a beaming club dignitary, exchanging celebratory high fives and hugging the players, including Son, another of his clients. He looked like a man who had hit the jackpot.
AngeBall had been unleashed upon English football and in defiance of quite a few predictions, appeared to be conquering all before it. Goals were flying in, and every win celebrated with a blast of the Robbie Williams anthem Angels.
This was the end of October, and chairman Levy had already told a fans’ forum: ‘We have our Tottenham back.’
Then came the injuries. And the injuries did not stop. Spurs went into last month’s Europa League final without their three most creative midfielders and dared not play their first-choice centre halves in the Premier League for fear of losing them.
A review last summer led to the departure of long-serving head of medicine Geoff Scott and a cluster of fresh appointments, only for things to get worse with a series of damaged hamstrings and players suffering setbacks on their return.
Cristian Romero’s comments on social media in March, thanking Argentina’s physios for getting him back on the pitch after four months of problems with no mention of Tottenham, were telling.
It had all started like a match made in heaven for Postecoglou and Spurs
Cristian Romero’s comments in March, thanking Argentina’s physios for getting him back on the pitch after four months of problems with no mention of Tottenham, were telling
Then came the injuries. And the injuries did not stop. Spurs went into last month’s Europa League final without their three most creative midfielders
Chief football officer Scott Munn, an Australian hired from the Chinese branch of the City Football Group in 2023, looks set to carry the can for medical issues in what is shaping up to be a big summer of change behind the scenes.
Postecoglou dismissed theories that his full-throttle football and the intensity of training required to sustain it puts excessive strain on bodies, when coupled with the relentless nature and schedule of English football.
He figured players would become more robust as they became accustomed to the demands, although there has been little evidence of that. Perhaps it would have been different had they created a stronger squad of experienced players to support the transition.
But, as ever, Tottenham preferred to hedge their bets. Fully-formed Premier League proven footballers like Dominic Solanke at £65million, have been the exception in a transfer strategy under technical director Johan Lange aimed at identifying younger talent.
When he joined, Postecoglou wanted two quick centre halves to enable his high defensive line and ensure cover. He got one, Micky van De Ven, signed days before the season opener at Brentford.
Almost six months later, with Van De Ven injured, came the second centre half, Radu Dragusin. A year later, with Van De Ven, Dragusin and Cristian Romero all injured, they signed Kevin Danso. Up front, they patched up with loan signings.
This strategy has not helped Postecoglou, but his determination to keep playing the same way no matter what has at times made things worse.
10 days after that win against Palace, came a 4-1 defeat at home by Chelsea, a night when Van De Ven and James Maddison suffered long-term injuries, and they finished with nine men because Destiny Udogie and Romero were sent off.
Postecoglou dismissed theories that his full-throttle football and the intensity of training required to sustain it puts excessive strain on bodies
A 4-1 defeat at home by Chelsea in November 2023 was the turning point, a night when Micky van De Ven and James Maddison suffered long-term injuries
They finished with nine men because Destiny Udogie and Romero were sent off. But still, they continued to play with the suicidally high defensive line
Still, they continued to play with the suicidally high defensive line. It was great entertainment, and the nine exhausted players were applauded from the pitch, as Postecoglou dismissed the idea of caution. ‘It’s just who we are, mate,’ he declared.
Eric Dier, after signing for Bayern Munich, revealed how Spurs did no tactical work to combat opponents. Only shape on how they wanted to play. It must have been a culture shock and at first welcome relief from the extreme tactical detail of his predecessor Antonio Conte.
Opponents started sitting deep, looking to strike quickly on the break in the space vacated by the full backs. They targeted goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario at set-pieces. And it was all more effective with Tottenham depleted, unable to replace like for like.
It was not until midway through season two, in the deepest of the injury crisis and after conceding six at home to Liverpool, that Postecoglou did finally relent, rein in the full backs and shield a back four desperately short of pace.
Ultimately, this reluctance to change proved decisive because even when he did change it was too late, those not watching Tottenham closely barely noticed and continued to think he hadn’t.
Besides, the team was so depleted by this stage they were a shadow of their best, effectively sat waiting for key players to regain fitness and Postecoglou’s mood darkened accordingly.
The relentless schedule is not about to change. Levy is not going to change tack. Keeping Postecoglou would be to invite the same outcome for a third season. The same demands on an immature squad, same injury problems, leaving them unable to stay competitive on all fronts.
The clubs thriving in modern English football synchronise their workings parts under clear direction. They have a head coach to lead the football project, front the club and project an identity, but it must be in tune with the recruitment, which should be on a wavelength with the academy.
Eric Dier, after signing for Bayern Munich, revealed how Spurs did no tactical work to combat opponents. Only shape on how they wanted to play
It was not until midway through season two, in the deepest of the injury crisis and after conceding six at home to Liverpool, that Postecoglou did finally relent on his tactics
Chief football officer Scott Munn, an Australian hired from the Chinese branch of the City Football Group in 2023, looks set to take the fall for medical issues that have plagued Spurs
A successful club achieves a cohesion, but it is easier said than done. Many find it difficult, including Spurs where nobody rules over Levy. It is his train set. He hires and fires the departmental heads while courting outside influences such as his favourite agents and consultants.
Executive director Donna-Marie Cullen is leaving after many years loyal to Levy. Munn’s days appear numbered with former Arsenal chief executive Vinai Venkatesham joining the Spurs board in a similar role.
Lange has been given licence to tear up the scouting system and pursue young and developing talent via a data-led model, and yet former managing director Fabio Paratici, a constant presence despite his FIFA ban, is expected to formalise his role within the recruitment setup when his punishment expires this year.
So Postecoglou is not the only casualty, but he is the big one and his fate was probably sealed in midseason when his connection with supporters fell into disrepair.
It never truly recovered from the friction around the Manchester City game in May last year, when some Spurs fans celebrated a home defeat because they couldn’t bear to see Arsenal win the title.
There were hints of the language of Conte as Postecoglou fumed about ‘fragile foundations’ inside the club.
Back then, he was on solid ground as far as results were concerned. Fifth with 66 points, only two behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, seemed a fair return for the first season of the revolution, the first without record goalscorer Harry Kane.
Spurs, though, played only 41 games in 2023-24. This season, with European football thrown in, they have been overwhelmed. 38 Premier League points is their worst return since relegation in 1977, 22 league defeats their joint-worst ever. They have claimed just 13 points from 19 games in 2025.
38 Premier League points is Spurs’ worst return since relegation in 1977, 22 league defeats their joint-worst ever
They have claimed just 13 points from 19 league games in 2025 in a time of serious struggle
Ultimately, this reluctance to change proved decisive because even when he did change it was too late, those not watching Tottenham closely barely noticed and continued to think he hadn’t
There were few highlights in the domestic campaign beyond early flourishes of classic AngeBall, the 4-0 win at Manchester City in November and a Carabao Cup run.
More plentiful lowlights included defeats at home to Ipswich and Leicester, a second-half demise from two-up at Brighton, 15 conceded in three games against Liverpool, and the failure to beat fifth-tier part-timers Tamworth inside 90 minutes in the FA Cup.
Fans lost patience, then lost faith. Many had already given up on him by the time Postecoglou took on the away end at Stamford Bridge in April.
That was the night they sang, ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ when he replaced Lucas Bergvall with Pape Matar Sarr at 1-0 down, and the Spurs boss cupped an ear in their direction when Sarr scored what he thought was a brilliant equaliser, only to find the goal ruled out by VAR.
If there was a moment to seal his fate this was probably it, the moment when Levy knew the ‘Big Ange’ bonds forged in the autumn of 2023 had perished, and that he would not face a major backlash if he set change in motion. Maybe he recognised the tired and ground-down expression of another Spurs manager.
Postecoglou railed against VAR, against the pundits, moaned about a mole in the camp leaking injury stories and lashed out on the eve of the Europa League final at someone who wrote the outcome of one game might be the difference between branding him a legend or a clown.
Invariably, he was more relaxed before matches than afterwards, and always worth listening to whether he was quoting Billy Joel lyrics, reminiscing about his days with Ferenc Puskas and the winding road from Melbourne to London, or sharing the creed of the stonecutter who struck a hundred blows knowing the 101st will be the one to break the stone.
The Europa League became his solace. Without it, Postecoglou might already be long gone. And, if he can curse his luck over some things in the last two years, he was fortunate to enter this new format without Champions League teams dropping in.
Fans lost patience, then lost faith. Many had already given up on him by the time Postecoglou took on the away end at Stamford Bridge in April
Postecoglou railed against VAR, against the pundits, moaned about a mole in the camp leaking injury stories
There were hints of the language of Antonio Conte as Postecoglou fumed about ‘fragile foundations’ inside the club
Tottenham lost only two of 15 games and made it through the knockout stages by beating the champions of Norway, the third-best team in Germany and the fifth-best team in the Netherlands, before an attritional win against the worst Manchester United team for five decades in the final.
Postecoglou nevertheless had his hands on the trophy he told us he never failed to deliver in his second season. One step ahead of the stonecutter, it came in his 100th game as Spurs boss and although game 101 was another defeat, 4-1 on the final day at home to Brighton, they were singing his name once again back in N17.
He won them back. Or many of them. He joined Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw in a select group of Tottenham managers to win a European competition, and that will be enough to secure his status as a legend if not his job as head coach.
There will be no season three. Perhaps that’s for the best. Big Ange will ride again.
