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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.

Tottenham Boss Thomas Frank  Praises Fired Predecessor:  Ange Postecoglou is a "Legend"
Frank Explains Why the Fired Manager Deserves a Return

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.

MICHAEL OWEN DECLARES PREMIER LEAGUE "NEARLY WRAPPED UP" FOR LEADERS ARSENAL

Michael Owen tells talkSPORT that Arsenal have "wrapped up" the Premier League title, sitting six points clear with 14 games left.

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Arsenal are six points clear as Owen claims rivals aren't good enough

Michael Owen says Arsenal has basically wrapped up the league.

Right now, Mikel Arteta’s team sits six points clear at the top of the Premier League. Fourteen games left, but they’re determined not to trip up like they did in the past. Three years in a row, they finished second—always just missing out on Manchester City or Liverpool. Remember that eight-point lead they blew to City in 2022/23? That one really stung, especially since City went on to win everything: the league, the Champions League, and the Carabao Cup.

On Wednesday morning, Owen—yeah, the former United and Liverpool striker—went on talkSPORT and talked about how easy Arsenal has it this season. “I don’t think anyone’s good enough to compete with them this year,” he said. “Even though I don’t think the points total will be that high.” He figured only Liverpool or City had a shot at the start of the season, but both have fallen off. So, in Owen’s mind, Arsenal has pretty much been handed the title. “Nobody’s put much pressure on them,” he said. “The league is nearly wrapped up.”

And Arsenal just beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Emirates in the Carabao Cup (4-2 on aggregate), so now they’re one win away from silverware—it would be their first trophy under Arteta since that FA Cup back in 2020.

Owen already thinks Arsenal will be champions this year, and he’s backing them for the League Cup too. “I think they could win the Carabao Cup, absolutely,” he said. “But the other two trophies are going to be tough.”

The Gunners are still chasing the quadruple. They topped their Champions League group, knocked Portsmouth out of the FA Cup, and haven’t lost in Europe—getting some big wins over Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, and Bayern Munich along the way.

Owen, who’s got a Ballon d’Or to his name, thinks Arsenal will face stiffer competition outside England. “Everyone else will be focusing on the FA Cup now, since the league’s pretty much over,” he said. “It’s the only thing that can save their season, so clubs will put out strong teams.” Then there’s the Champions League, which feels wide open this year.

Alan Brazil from talkSPORT asked Owen if Arsenal could actually win all four trophies. Owen shot that down. “No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “But they’re special, a really strong, efficient side.”

ASTON VILLA VALUE MORGAN ROGERS AT £100M+ AS LIVERPOOL AND CHELSEA CIRCLE

Aston Villa face a fight to keep £100m-rated Morgan Rogers as Liverpool and Chelsea circle the England star for a summer move.

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From £8m to £100m! The insane rise of Villa star Morgan Rogers

Aston Villa really wants to hang on to Morgan Rogers, but that’s going to be tough this summer. There’s serious money on the table, and both Liverpool and Chelsea can’t seem to take their eyes off him. One journalist even called Rogers “a joy to watch.”

Rogers is only 23, but he’s come a long way fast. Villa picked him up from Middlesbrough just over two years ago for an initial £8 million, which doubled when you count the add-ons. At the time, not everyone was convinced—he came in without much fuss, just another Manchester City academy kid trying to make his mark. But look at him now: one of the best signings Villa’s made in years, his value through the roof, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a starting lineup without his name for either club or country.

Villa now rates him at more than £100 million, and the whole “big six” wants him. He even landed a new contract in November, tying him to Villa until June 2031. But even with that deal, Mark Carey from The Athletic thinks Villa will have their hands full trying to keep him. Rogers isn’t just playing well under Unai Emery—he’s on fire, and with the World Cup coming up, his profile’s only getting bigger.

Nine goals and seven assists from 34 games this season say it all. That’s why the top clubs keep circling. Liverpool and Chelsea are both sniffing around, and if Chelsea loses Cole Palmer, they’ll be even more desperate. Carey says teams in England and abroad won’t be scared off by Villa’s tough stance or Rogers’ long contract.

Carey’s pretty blunt: Villa’s resolve is about to face its biggest test yet. He says it’ll be interesting to see how the club reacts, especially if they miss out on the Champions League for 2026/27.

So why is Rogers worth more than £100 million now? Carey points to the long contract as a bit of a safety net for Villa, but Rogers’ progress is off the charts. He’s that good—“a joy to watch,” in Carey’s words—and honestly, there’s no ceiling to how far he can go.

You could see this coming even last September. Transfer insider Dean Jones already knew Villa rated Rogers highly and figured he could be the club’s next £100m man after Jack Grealish. Jones said people close to Villa believed Rogers would hit that price by the January window, but selling him mid-season wasn’t really on the table. If Rogers kept playing like this, Jones said, the £100m tag would stick by next summer—especially with that long contract.

Jones summed it up: Rogers has become one of the most exciting attackers in the Premier League, and Villa is determined to keep him. Last summer, insiders said Villa internally priced him at £80 million and made it clear he wasn’t for sale.

But if Mark Carey’s right and Villa’s resolve gets pushed this summer, they won't settle for less than what Man City paid for Grealish (£100 million). Honestly, with the way things are going, they might even demand the kind of money Liverpool shelled out for Florian Wirtz—around £116 million.

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