Tottenham stand by under-fire Ange Postecoglou but here’s what could happen if he’s sacked
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Tottenham’s stance on Ange Postecoglou hasn’t changed, talkSPORT understands.
It is understood the club’s board remain behind the embattled Australian despite a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Sunday.
However, should Tottenham change their minds, assistant coach Ryan Mason stepping up as the interim boss remains a strong possibility.
Should that situation transpire, it would mark Mason’s third stint as Tottenham’s caretaker manager.
The 33-year-old first stepped in following Jose Mourinho’s sacking in April 2021.
Mason was thrown into the deep end as he led Tottenham in the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in just his second game in charge.
Unfortunately the Tottenham academy product could not end the club’s trophy drought as City prevailed 1-0.
Mason ultimately finished his first caretaker stint with a record of four wins and three losses.
He stepped in once again after Cristian Stellini had departed following Antonio Conte’s axing in March 2023.
Mason’s record during that spell was less successful as he won twice, drew once and lost three games.
The 33-year-old was also heavily linked with his first full-time managerial role earlier this season at Anderlecht.
However, the Belgian giants and Mason mutually decided not to go ahead with the appointment.
The calls for Mason come amid Tottenham suffering their 13th loss in the league this term as the result left the north London outfit languishing in 15th, one point and one place ahead of Everton.
What made the loss all the more humiliating was the fact Leicester were winless in their last eight league matches and had lost seven on the bounce.
But goals from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss after Richarlison opened the scoring for the hosts gave the Foxes a much-needed boost to snap their horror streak.
As for Tottenham, the stats behind their recent run are damning.
Since the beginning of December, only Southampton have lost more games (nine) than Postecoglou’s side (eight).
However, a mitigating circumstance amid Tottenham’s dire run is the fact they have been ravaged by injuries.
Key trio Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven remain sidelined with injuries while midfielder James Maddison was absent from Sunday’s defeat.
Despite the ever-growing casualty ward, Tottenham picked up a midweek victory in the Europa League away to Hoffenheim to keep the boo boys at bay, at least momentarily.
But Tottenham fans made their displeasure known following the Leicester defeat, with one supporter particularly angry as they shouted at the Australian: “You’re taking us down, we’re going down with you.”
Former Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara also voiced his frustrations regarding the state of the team and believes the club is opting to stick with Postecoglou rather than twist because they’re ‘scared of making a change.’
“You can’t keep sticking with a manager when you’ve got relegation form, just because of who’s going to come in,” O’Hara said on talkSPORT Breakfast.
“That’s your job as the chairman to find a manager to come in.
“There’s plenty of great young managers out there, plenty of coaches all across Europe that would love to have the opportunity to manage Spurs.
“I feel like we’re just sticking with Ange Postecoglou because we’re scared of making a change.”
Postecoglou is under no illusions he is under the pump either.
“I’m a football manager and I get judged on results, that is the way of the world,” Postecoglou said following the defeat.
Tottenham will be back in front of their own fans on Thursday as they welcome Swedish side IF Elfsborg for a Europa League clash.
Another loss could prove to be one too many for Postecoglou.