‘They’re Not A Big Club’: Ange Postecoglou Rips Into Tottenham After Thomas Frank Sacking

Ange Postecoglou has claimed that Tottenham are “not a big club” when reflecting on his time in North London and reacting to the sacking of Thomas Frank. Spurs ended their long wait for major silverware when winning the Europa League in 2025, but subsequently fired Australian tactician Postecoglou. Frank has headed in the same direction after taking in just eight months at the helm. Postecoglou sacked after breaking trophy curse Danish coach Frank was relieved of his duties on February 11, having picked up only 13 wins from his 38 games in the dugout. Spurs have slumped to 16th in the Premier League table, having finished one place lower than that last term. Postecoglou oversaw a tumble towards the relegation zone, but did savour continental success and secure a first piece of silverware since 2008. That was not enough to keep him in a job, with the 60-year-old claiming that he was always fighting a losing cause — with his hands often being tied in the transfer market. Postecoglou explains why Spurs are not a ‘big club’ Postecoglou has told The Overlap of why Spurs are struggling for stability and continuity, with even the likes of Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho failing to deliver on expectations. He said: “If you look at the list of names, there isn’t really a common theme there in what they are trying to do. I do think part of Tottenham’s DNA — for the lack of a better word — is that they do like their teams to play a certain way. “It’s fair to say with Mauricio, they were going down that path, but at the same time, I think people have been too dismissive of Harry’s (Kane’s) influence through that period. If I had had Harry in that first year, I’m convinced we would have finished in that Champions League spot. Even him leaving, you cannot plug that hole. It’s impossible. “So when you look at those managers, like I said, they’ve gone from, you know, Mauricio played a certain way and sort of I think fit the DNA, then the big thing was, well, they haven’t won anything. We need winners. So let’s go for Jose. Jose gets them to a cup final and they sack him the week before the cup. “So you’re going, if you’re talking about winners, well, in a one-off game, I wouldn’t mind Jose being my manager at my club just for a one-off game. What happens beyond that is… And then, you know, then it was Antonio [Conte] because, again, he’s another winner, you know, and then Antonio goes and I sort of come in. “They say, well, we want the football, you know. With Antonio, we made Champions League, but we didn’t have the football. So we want the football and you’ve got the football, even though my DNA is I’ll win as well. “So then we go down that path. So that’s what I mean. It’s a real curious in terms of understanding what are they trying to build? You know, what are they? Obviously, they’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly, you know, their wages structure, they’re not a big club.” Postecoglou reveals targets Tottenham failed to sign He added: “I saw that because when we were trying to sign players, we weren’t in the market for those players. There’s certain players that we… I mean, at the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, for me, okay, how do you go from fifth to really challenging? Well, we had to sign Premier League-ready players. “But finishing fifth that year didn’t get us Champions League, we didn’t have the money. So we ended up signing Dom Solanke, who was absolutely… I was really keen on him, I really like him, and three teenagers. “You know, I was looking at Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo at the time, Marc Guehi, because I said we need, if we’re going to go from fifth to there, that’s what the other big clubs would do in that moment. And those three teenagers are outstanding young players and I think they’ll be great players for Tottenham, but they’re not going to get you from fifth to fourth and third. “But what was coming out from the club was that ‘no, we’re a club that can compete on all fronts’. So when you say, you’ve obviously got great experience as a manager, you’ve managed it all over the world at certain clubs. Is Tottenham different to those other clubs in terms of getting what you want onto the pitch or looking to take the club forward? Well, they’re all unique, they’re all different. But, you know, when you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘to dare is to do’. It’s everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. “Whether you like or dislike him, give credit to Daniel [Levy] because that path has got a new stadium, new facilities, but taking a safe path, I think what they didn’t realise that to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks at some point. And that’s the DNA of the club. “I still felt like, you know, Tottenham as a club was saying ‘we’re one of the big boys’ and the reality is I don’t think they are in terms of my experience over the last two years of how they act.” Transfer business leaves Spurs in Arsenal’s shadow He went on to say of recruitment business, which all too often sits in the shadow of arch-rivals from across north London: “When Arsenal need players, they’ll spend a hundred million on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that. Maybe now, I don’t know. But not, not in, not just my history, even predating me. “And a lot of that was, okay, they were building a stadium, so obviously finances were a challenge. I guess the bit I didn’t realise was just how much Champions League football makes a difference and I think that’s why there was always this desperation, because that provided the kitty, you know. “So that means my first year, they finished eighth the year before. We lost Harry two days before we played Brentford in the first game. I’ve got to try and that’s a tall order. It’s a tough one. We almost got there. I mean, if it was fifth any other year, that probably would have been [enough]. “And if we did, maybe last year, we wouldn’t have bought three teenagers. But I still don’t think, it’s not the transfer fee, the wages to really attract. I mean, when was the last time Tottenham really signed somebody and you go ‘wow’.” Frank sacked with north London derby next up for Spurs Frank was unable to deliver a reversal in fortune following Postecoglou’s departure, despite boasting useful Premier League experience from his time in charge of Brentford. He is considered to be another coach that lacked the required level of support from those above him. Postecoglou said of the latest change in Spurs’ dugout: “You’ve created a whole sort of environment of uncertainty because there’s no guarantees, no matter which managers you bring in because they’ve had world-class managers there and not had success and for what reason? “What was the reason for such a major pivot, you know Thomas was walking in, what’s his objective? What’s the club’s objective? At the start of the year, obviously to compete on all fronts but the club hasn’t competed on all fronts for a long time. “Also the most influential person at the club for the last 20 years is also going so if you’re going to do such a major pivot, you have to understand there is going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? I don’t know. “It’s a fair departure from me, anyone who studies the game, it wasn’t like it was a progression from me. I built that sort of squad for want of a better word to play a certain way for a number of years and he’s sort of coming in and like we said, it’s a curious club Tottenham.” A derby date with old adversaries Arsenal is next on the agenda for Spurs, with the Gunners due at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 22. It remains to be seen who will be in charge for that fixture, and upcoming Champions League matches – with progress being made to the last 16 of that competition.