It took Daniel Levy long enough, but after waiting unnecessarily for weeks and watching as other Premier League sides jumped ahead of them for top transfer targets, Tottenham Hotspur have finally decided to sack Ange Postecoglou despite the Austrlian coach leading Spurs to their first Europa League title triumph in 41 years (and first major trophy in 17 since the League Cup).
Although Postecoglou could only muster a 17th-placed finish in the Premier League and had serious tactical flaws that were exposed in the 2024/25 season, he also had the backing of the dressing room and had to deal with a midfield that was behind the top teams in the league in terms of quality.
Postecoglou will be missed, but now that there is finally real clarity on the manager situation at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs now have to pivot to finding a replacement. Many of the biggest names on the managerial market, such as Gian Piero Gasperini and Simone Inzaghi, have already found new homes in the game of musical chairs, leaving few options available.
But as was initially expected, Tottenham's ripest options are those in the mid-table of the Premier League at clubs that outperformed Tottenham, and Sky Sports News's Florian Plettenberg reports that of the list of candidates to replace Big Ange, Brentford manager Thomas Frank is in the lead.
There's only one realistic potential upgrade on Ange Postecoglou
At this point, with how often Frank has been linked to the Spurs job, it would be a surprise if the Brentford "Moneyball" manager didn't replace Big Ange. And out of all the manager options available, Frank is definitely the least of the evils and perhaps one of the few who look like convincing upgrades on Postecoglou.
Frank is much stronger than Postecoglou tactically, and he also has that charm and ability to get players to buy-in. Brentford have produced some of the biggest attacking breakout stars in the Premier League over the last couple of years, including striker Ivan Toney and, most impressively, 20-goal and 7-assist winger Bryan Mbeumo last season.
Given Frank's ties to Mbeumo, hiring the manager from Brentford could help Tottenham make a last-second swoop to sign the transformative, 25-year-old goal-scoring inverted winger over current clear favorites Manchester United.
Expect transfer rumors linking Tottenham to Frank to accelerate. Even though the information from Sky Sports is fresh, Frank has pretty much always been the favorite to replace Postecoglou, even during the weeks when it wasn't for certain if the coach would be fired. If anything, Frank's stock only increased during that time period as dream options like Gasperini and Inzaghi fell off the table.