Ange Postecoglou Likely to Leave Tottenham Hotspur Despite Europa League Win

Ange: “A game we should never lose” | 01:19

Ange Postecoglou looks set to leave Tottenham at the end of the season even if they win the Europa League, according to reports.

Spurs are in the midst of a disastrous Premier League season and they currently sit a dismal 16th on the table, The Sun reports.

Monday night’s 2-1 “car crash” defeat to Nottingham Forest was their 18th loss — and they are now just one away from matching their record of 19 defeats suffered in the 2003-04 campaign.

But the season can still be saved by ending the club’s 17-year wait for silverware via the Europa League.

Watch The UEFA Women’s Champions League Semi-Finals LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer >

Postecoglou’s men saw off Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals to set up a last-four tie with Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.

But lifting the Europa League on May 21 will reportedly not be enough to keep the Aussie in the job.

The Telegraph claim all roads appear to be leading to Postecoglou’s exit at season’s end.

“There is a growing sense that Postecoglou is likely to leave Tottenham at the end of the season, regardless of the outcome of the Europa League campaign, either through being dismissed or a mutual parting,” the report stated.

Speaking on SEN radio, former Australian goalkeeper Mark Bosnich called the decision “extremely harsh”.

“There’s a lot of strong rumours going around that maybe Ange doesn’t survive even if they go on to win the Europa League which I would find extremely harsh,” Bosnich said.

“Sometimes the rumours are actually put out by the clubs themselves to give the manager and team are kick up the pants, which you can’t rule out.

“It has been a poor season no doubt about that… 18 defeats for a team of Tottenham’s stature is not good enough.

“But I will say to all Spurs fans… forget about the (Premier) League right now. You’re not going to get relegated.”

He continued: “If he’s going to go down, he’s going to go down fighting.

“Which means go and win the trophy, put the ball in the club’s court… because regardless of what everyone is saying it will still be a huge call.

“I can understand the hurt and disappointment but they’ve just got to stick with it until the end of the season.”

Meanwhile, Liverpool legend Michael Owen declared that the Europa League has become the “be-all and end-all for Postecoglou.“He is really backing himself into a corner now because the more games you lose (in the Premier League), the more Europa matters,” Owen told Optus Sport’s The Final Word.

“If they can win a couple of games in the Premier League it lightens the mood in the camp and there is not so many angry questions directed at him.

It’s all pointing towards the Europa League and that is the be-all and end-all, so now if they go out in the semi-finals it is a disaster all-round.

“He’s got to at least get to the final to salvage what’s been a poor season.”

Hello darkness my old friend. Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images.Source: Getty Images

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola is highly-rated by Tottenham chiefs, but the Cherries are determined and “optimistic” of keeping him.

Fulham manager Marco Silva is also among the leading candidates to replace Postecoglou.

Mauricio Pochettino has expressed his interest in returning to Tottenham – although he is set to manage the US team at their home World Cup next summer.

Spurs technical director Johan Lange is understood to be a fan of Brentford’s Thomas Frank.

It comes amid reports that their chief football officer Scott Munn is set to be sacked.

Munn is said to be Postecoglou’s “key ally and biggest supporter”.

Before beating Eintracht Frankfurt, the under-fire boss opened up about his future and admitted he has “got no idea” whether he will be at Spurs next season.

He said: “You either think I’m capable of doing the job now or you don’t. That’s where I sit with these things.

“If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden, not mine.

“I don’t think that way and I don’t think most people think that way. Or I’d like to think they don’t, in terms of their own sort of self esteem and who they are as people.

“I couldn’t care less. Really. I couldn’t care less.

“There’s no burden on me, there’s no anxiety on me. What I’m sitting here doing is thinking we’ve got a great opportunity to get to the final four of a major tournament.

“Mate, I’m not going to let that slip by without fighting tooth and nail for it irrespective of what may come the day after.”

— This story originally appeared on The Sun and has been republished with permission