Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has admitted that the decision to sack manager Ange Postecoglou just over two weeks after delivering the club’s first major trophy in 17 years was emotionally difficult.
Postecoglou was dismissed only 16 days after leading Spurs to a 1-0 Europa League final win over Manchester United in Bilbao, ending the club’s long wait for silverware.
However, the Australian’s European success was not enough to offset a disastrous domestic season, which saw Tottenham slump to 17th in the Premier League standings.
Despite the emotional weight of the decision, Levy insisted it was necessary for the club’s broader ambitions.
“I don’t regret appointing Ange, I’m very grateful to Ange. In his first season we finished fifth and in his second we were over the moon to win a trophy,” Levy told the club’s media team.
“But we need to compete in all competitions, and we felt that we needed a change. Emotionally it was difficult but we feel that we’ve made the right decision for the club.”
Postecoglou’s departure paved the way for the arrival of Thomas Frank, the former Brentford manager, who becomes the 13th permanent appointment of Levy’s 25-year tenure as chairman.
“I’ve got very broad shoulders,” Levy added. “Failure is not an option, the desire [is] to succeed. And because it’s so difficult, I want to succeed even more.”
🗣️ "We want to win the league and the Champions League"
In an interview with the club, Spurs charman Daniel Levy says "it was emotionally difficult" to sack Ange Postecoglou but they need to be aiming to win the Premier League and Champions League ⚪
[🎥] Tottenham Hotspur pic.twitter.com/sR5c5UyLHC
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Frank, arrives with a reputation for building competitive teams and developing young talent. He has signed a contract to remain at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until 2028.
New chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, who was heavily involved in the recruitment process alongside Levy, described the hiring of Frank as the result of a carefully conducted and data-driven search.
“We ran a really, really thorough process, at speed,” Venkatesham said. “We defined 10 characteristics that we think are important to be a successful manager at Tottenham Hotspur, we analysed in real detail, through our technical staff, more than 30 candidates.”
“We had a lot of time with the shortlist and Thomas was absolutely the number one candidate. We could not be more excited to have him join the club.”
“Personally, one of the things I’m excited about is that he is an outstanding developer of young players so I really look forward to seeing what he can do with the squad we have here.”
Levy echoed those sentiments, adding that Frank’s character and communication skills were just as important as his footballing credentials.
“Whenever you have a new coach, it’s always a fresh start. [There are] always different ideas but we want to build on the success of winning a trophy last season,” Levy said.
“One of the things that stood out to me with Thomas was that he is clearly highly intelligent, a great communicator, super human being plus all the technical aspects which are obviously important.”
