TOTTENHAM BOSS THOMAS FRANK PRAISES FIRED PREDECESSOR: ANGE POSTECOGLOU IS A "LEGEND"
Tottenham boss Thomas Frank says Ange Postecoglou, despite his quick firing at Forest, will definitely return to the Premier League due to his talent.
Thomas Frank believes Ange Postecoglou, his Tottenham predecessor, will be back in the Premier League at some point, despite his tough time at Nottingham Forest.
Today, Spurs are playing at the City Ground. It almost seemed like Frank would be facing Postecoglou, but Forest's owner, Evangelos Marinakis, fired the Australian after just 39 days. He didn't win any of his eight games there.
Instead of Postecoglou, Frank's friend Sean Dyche will be managing the home team, which means a different kind of challenge for Frank.
I don’t know him that well, but I hope Ange comes back. "He loves coaching and being in the game, so I always want good coaches to return," said the Tottenham boss.
People will remember Postecoglou at Spurs as the one who ended the club's long trophy drought. They won the Europa League title in Bilbao in May, beating Ruben Amorim's Manchester United.
But he got fired a few weeks after that because Tottenham finished 17th in the Premier League. He focused on the European games, picking his best players for those and using weaker teams for the domestic matches. Before getting sacked, Postecoglou guided Spurs to fifth place in his first season, even after Harry Kane was sold to Bayern Munich right before the season started.
Ange did a great job as Spurs manager in many ways, said Frank. They had a really good first season in the Premier League and won their first trophy in ages, which is a big success.
He also did that at Celtic and other places. There are many reasons why things go well or badly. It’s not really my place to talk about those details.
The Tottenham boss said that not playing against his predecessor means he and his players won’t have to answer as many questions about what happened before and after Postecoglou left.
Yes, it's probably easier that way, the 52-year-old admitted with a smile. All I can say is Ange is a legend and always will be. He won a huge trophy and played a big role in that. We all learn from others. I’m building on what Ange has done.
Frank is good friends with Dyche, who he's facing this afternoon. They often talk about their thoughts on the game and how it should be played.
We talk about a lot of stuff—styles, players, culture, teams, everything. That's part of it, Frank said. Every style has its good and bad points. There's no question about that.
Sean has been very successful in the Premier League for many years. He got great results at Burnley and did a great job at Everton. I’m sure he’ll make Nottingham Forest successful, for sure.
SUNDERLAND CONDEMNS "VILE" RACIST ABUSE AIMED AT BRIAN BROBBEY AFTER SPURS WIN
Brian Brobbey targeted online! Sunderland and the Premier League unite against "vile" discrimination after Spurs win.
Sunderland called out the racist abuse aimed at Brian Brobbey on social media and made it clear they stand fully behind him.
Brobbey was targeted online right after Sunderland’s 1-0 win over Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday. On Monday, the club released a statement: “Sunderland condemns in the strongest possible terms the racist abuse directed at Brian Brobbey on social media following Sunday’s fixture against Tottenham. We stand firmly with Brian and offer him our full and unwavering support.”
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Sunderland players have had to deal with this kind of abuse this season. After February’s match against Fulham, Romaine Mundle received hateful messages online, and last month the Tyne-Wear derby had to be paused when someone in the crowd reportedly aimed abuse at Lutsharel Geertruida.
The club’s statement continued: “This isn’t an isolated event. The recent abuse aimed at Romaine Mundle and Lutsharel Geertruida shows just how often and how unacceptably this keeps happening, both at matches and on the internet. We’ve reported this latest incident to the Premier League, the social media platforms, and the police, and we expect them to act quickly against the people responsible. Racism is vile, and it doesn’t belong in football or anywhere else. We’ll keep calling it out, clearly and without hesitation, every time it happens. Football should be safe and welcoming for everyone, no exceptions.”
The Premier League is backing Brobbey as well. In a post on their X account, they said they’re “disgusted by the ongoing discrimination” players keep facing online. “We stand alongside Sunderland in strongly condemning the online racist abuse Brian Brobbey has received and have offered our full support to him and the club. We are disgusted by the ongoing discrimination players are facing on social media and are committed to working with clubs, authorities, law enforcement, and social media companies to address this issue, as well as supporting investigations to bring those responsible to justice.
Anyone found guilty of discrimination will face the toughest possible punishments: jail time, football bans, and even a criminal record.”
DAVID MOYES REVEALS "NERVES" AS EVERTON HUNT HISTORIC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFICATION SPOT
David Moyes admits Everton's Champions League hunt is nerve-wracking. See the latest on the Toffees' battle for Europe.
David Moyes admits the idea of Everton making the Champions League this soon in their rebuild actually makes him “shake a wee bit.”
You look at the club now, and it's hard to believe where they were just 14 months ago. When Moyes returned, Everton looked beaten down from years of fighting to stay up. Suddenly, with only seven games left, they’re sitting eighth. That spot could mean Europa Conference League football, but after their win against Chelsea before the break, they’re now just three points off fourth. It’s wild to even talk about the Champions League, but it’s right there in reach.
Reporters put the question to him how does it feel to be this close? With Europe’s spots possibly extending down to fifth (or maybe even further, depending on how other English clubs do), Moyes wasn’t hiding his nerves: “It’s probably the best shot we’ve had in a long time. But when I hear ‘Champions League’? Makes me shake a wee bit, honestly. I’ve been lucky to manage in Europe’s other competitions lately, and if we do make it, I’m sure we’d be able to hold our own at certain stages. Still, the Champions League is just on another level.”
Everton’s next match at Brentford looks huge for their European dreams. Brentford beat them earlier in the season, and right now, both teams are level, separated only by goal difference.
Moyes is clearly enjoying this chapter. “Listen, Europe’s Europe. If someone had said at the start, ‘You’re going to get European football,’ we’d have snapped their hand off. It could be the tiddlywinks European cup, and we’d be up for it. Evertonians want the club back in those conversations. We’re getting attention for the new stadium, we’ve got a couple of England internationals getting noticed more, it’s a good time. If we do sneak into the Champions League, it’d be an unbelievable achievement. But honestly, no matter which competition we make, it’s still a big step forward for us.”
