Alasdair Gold has shed light on Ange Postecoglou’s recent comments about knowing that his dismissal from Tottenham was coming, and why the club took so long after the Europa League win to announce their decision.
Tottenham explained when they sacked Postecoglou that the club recorded just 78 points from the last 66 PL games under the Australian.
They insisted that while they are grateful for Postecoglou for delivering the Europa League title, they wanted to compete on multiple fronts and that they could not make their decision out of emotion after the historic triumph in Bilbao.
Not everyone agreed, with many Tottenham fans feeling that Postecoglou had earned the right to build on his Europa League success.
Alasdair Gold explains Tottenham’s delay in Ange Postecoglou sack decision
After being appointed as Nottingham Forest’s head coach, Ange Postecoglou admitted that he expected to be sacked by Tottenham, but insisted that Spurs fans have been nothing but grateful to him since his departure.
Alasair Gold has now explained that in the lead-up to the final, there was a feeling at Tottenham that the 60-year-old’s time was up, but the club had to pause their decision after winning the trophy to let the emotions of fans die down a little.
When asked if Postecoglou knew he would be sacked before the final, Gold said on a Q&A on Football.London: “I think there was a general assumption that he would be gone, and probably knew he was likely to.
“But the euphoria around winning the final, a first trophy in 17 years, changed a lot of the fanbase’s view on whether he had earned the chance to continue. Spurs had to pause because of the aesthetics of it all and let the emotions die down a bit.”
We will soon find out if Tottenham made the right call
Now that Postecoglou is back in the Premier League, he will see it as an opportunity to prove Tottenham wrong and make them regret their decision.
If Frank fails to have the desired impact at Spurs while the Australian guides Forest to a trophy, the Tottenham hierarchy will be left with egg on their faces.
However, if things go horribly wrong for Postecoglou at the City Ground and Forest, who were well-drilled under Nuno Espirito Santo, start struggling to keep clean sheets, Tottenham’s decision will be vindicated.