A Europa League trophy was not enough to save Ange Postecoglou‘s job at Tottenham Hotspur, and club chairman Daniel Levy has again defended the club’s controversial decision in a fresh interview.
Postecoglou was sacked from his coaching duties at Tottenham just two weeks after winning the club’s first major trophy in 17 years.
The decision to axe the polarising Aussie manager put Levy immediately under the spotlight, having also been subject to protests from the fans throughout the latter end of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
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Tottenham’s results in the Premier League had failed to meet the expectations held by supporters and team staff, but many placed blame on the internal decisions made by Levy throughout the season.
In his 25 years in charge, Levy has overseen the tenures of 17 managers and only had one trophy to show for it until Postecoglou’s finest moment.
Ange Postecoglou with the UEFA Europa League trophy. Getty
The Spurs chairman had previously declared the club had a desire to win both the Premier League and the Champions League – a task which they have never achieved.
The closest manager to achieve such a feat was Mauricio Pochettino, who took the team to second in the Premier League in 2017 before reaching the Champions League final in 2019.
Postecoglou found success in Europe with the club in May, however, it was not enough to overlook troubling 17th place finish in the Premier League.
“We had to take the emotion out of it,” Levy told Manchester United great Gary Neville on The Overlap when asked about his choice to axe the Australian manager.
“We had to explain that Ange just won us a trophy, which is always going to be in history, but we were asking him to leave.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that we finished 17th in the league. We lost 22 Premier League games, and it’s impossible for Tottenham to be in that position.
Ange Postecoglou, former manager of Spurs with Chairman Daniel Levy after the UEFA Europa League Final 2025. Getty
“No one likes telling somebody ‘You’re losing your job’, but it is the nature of football.
“We’re 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.
“Nothing has changed in terms of our ambition [over the past 20 years],” he continued.
“Winning the Europa League, thanks to Ange, you get a taste of [success]. But it is not enough.
“We’ve been in 17 semi finals, seven finals… but we haven’t won enough. We need to use that [win in Europe] as a springboard to keep winning.”
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Fan protests raised concerns about the turnover of club managers, lack of trophies and influence in the transfer market under Levy’s leadership.
However, the narrative about the chairman’s involvement in the football side of the club he says is “completely unfair.”
“It’s one of those situations where when I’m not here, I’m sure I’ll get the credit (for what I’ve done for the club),” said Levy.
“I do not interfere at all in the decision-making of this player versus that player. It is always the coach and technical staff.
“The only thing I get involved in is when they decide what player they want to buy or sell. I will go out and do my very best for this football club, but I am not interfering with those decisions.
“Their (the supporters’) pain is also my pain. I want to win, and when we are not playing well and not winning, believe me, I suffer as well.
“When you don’t win, it is no fun. It ruins the whole weekend.”
Levy reiterated that in terms of who holds the coaching position at Spurs, the “collective decision” of the board ultimately must sit well with his own beliefs.
“There is a board of directors and then under them is the technical staff who advise [us on their thoughts],” he said.
“When we went through the decision to appoint Thomas Frank, there were a number of people who were in that; I was just one of them.”
Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank watches training at Kai Tak Stadium. Getty
Postecoglou’s successor, Frank will not be expected to win the Premier League this season, but Levy did say he will need to deliver “as soon as possible”.
“Whenever you appoint a coach, you always believe it is the right choice,” the 63-year-old said.
“Thomas is a highly intelligent individual. He’s got a fantastic way about him in terms of communication. He will be great at developing young players and older players and making them better.
“He gets the style of football we want to play. We haven’t said to him, ‘You’ve got to win the league this year’ … we just want to compete at the highest level.
“We will support him to the best of our ability. I very much hope that Thomas will bring all the right ingredients and bring the team to where it belongs, which is right up the top.”