Why Sacking Postecoglou Was Levy's Most Self-Destructive Decision Yet

Tottenham Hotspur have sacked Ange Postecoglou. And in doing so, Daniel Levy has torched the club’s most hopeful chapter in years.

A fractured fanbase. Protests inside and outside the ground. A disillusioned dressing room. Levy deserves everything coming his way. This is the most self-destructive move of his reign, and that’s saying something.

There’s an almost comical irony to it all. Postecoglou is sacked the same week Beyoncé is selling out Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. If anything epitomises the priorities of this chairman, it’s that.

Two weeks ago, Postecoglou brought Spurs their first trophy in 17 years, securing a return to the Champions League. He did it all in the face of relentless injuries, media pressure, and after losing arguably the greatest player in the club’s history a day before his first game.

On May 23rd, 220,000 fans filled the streets of north London for a historic trophy parade. The most united the club had felt since the Pochettino era.

Sixteen days later, he’s been discarded. Punished. Not for failure, but for success.

For once, Spurs had a manager who truly felt like a turning point. It’s been thrown away. Again. Levy’s finger hovered over the red button and, like always, he pressed it.

Pochettino, sacked months after a Champions League final with zero backing. Mourinho, axed six days before a cup final, a convenient distraction from the Super League chaos. Nuno binned after ten league games. Conte imploded. And now Postecoglou, gone after two seasons, 101 games, and a European trophy.

This time, Levy waited just long enough to let Postecoglou achieve success, then took it all away the moment Tottenham were celebrating a first continental trophy in four decades. That’s not long-term planning, it’s cowardice.

Faith remained among supporters. Postecoglou challenged the ‘Spursy’ label in the press, stood up for the club and his players, giving fans something to get behind and believe in again.

His football was brave, modern, and, crucially, had an identity, something this club has been starved of since 2019. It wasn’t perfect, but it resonated with fans who pour their hearts, and the highest ticket prices in Europe, into this team every single week.

In Frankfurt, Bodo, and Bilbao, the stands were full of scarves and flags, not protest banners. The noise was for the team, not against the ownership. Spurs fans were singing Postecoglou’s name again. They believed, and that belief was rewarded.

Until now.

The club’s statement pointed to injuries as a mitigating factor. In truth, it was beyond that, it was obscene. Guglielmo Vicario missed 21 games. Cristian Romero, 27. Micky Van de Ven, 30. Radu Dragusin, 25. Destiny Udogie, 13. James Maddison, 11. Wilson Odobert, 34. Dominic Solanke, 14. Richarlison, 28. And that’s before you even count the spells on the sidelines for Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Heung-min Son, and Lucas Bergvall. There were moments where there were more first-team players in the treatment room than on the pitch.

Archie Gray, an 18-year-old midfielder, was playing anywhere but his actual position. Djed Spence played centre-half. Pape Sarr filled in at left-back. Fraser Forster, Brandon Austin, Sergio Reguilon, players long deemed surplus, were starting Premier League games.

This was a patched-up war zone of a squad, and Postecoglou still delivered glory.

The Europa League final wasn’t just a win; it was a moment of defiance. A pragmatic, tactical, well-coached performance against Manchester United, with no Maddison, no Bergvall, no Kulusevski. Just three shots on goal and 35% possession. Add to that the gritty victories in Frankfurt and Bodo, and the myth of Ange’s 'naive tactics' was decisively shattered that night.

Yes, Tottenham finished 17^th. Yes, Tottenham lost 22 league games. Yes, the end to the Premier League season was horrendous. But it was calculated. Postecoglou rotated to protect his squad, sacrificing dead rubber league games to chase something more, and it paid off.

Spurs had already lost three key players for the final. Who knows what would’ve happened if Romero or Van de Ven pulled up in a meaningless game and missed the final?

Perhaps if Spurs had finished 5th and trophyless, this wouldn’t be a conversation. That’s the real issue here. Levy has punished winning. He’s set a precedent that should terrify any future manager: don’t dare succeed too much, or you’ll be next.

And make no mistake, this dressing room loved him.

Vice-captain Cuti Romero told Telemundo, “He’s a great coach. Me and my teammates are really happy with how the staff works.”

Vicario, speaking after lifting the trophy, called him “my gaffer” and thanked him for bringing him to the club. Even the younger players were fully bought into Ange’s vision, Bergvall told Sky Sports he wanted him to stay “one hundred per cent,” while Gray described the squad’s bond in Bilbao as being “like brothers” on the pitch.

These aren’t cliches, they’re players buying into the vision of a manager who they believed in. And now they’ve lost the one man who gave them clarity and belief.

What now? Marco Silva? Thomas Frank? Someone else? None have the fan connection. None will be trusted immediately. And all will need time. Spurs are back at square one. Again.

Postecoglou earned the right to go again. He had the CV. The culture. The credibility. He had the players. He had the fans. All he needed was backing.

Instead, Levy took a wrecking ball to it all, including the Super Cup final Postecoglou earned the right to contest.

This wasn’t just a sacking, this was the dismantling of an ideology, of a bond.

Postecoglou wasn’t flawless. But he was fearless. He brought Tottenham back to its values, daring, togetherness, belief. Values this chairman clearly doesn’t understand.

And if Levy still can’t see what he had, then maybe it’s not the manager who should be walking out the door, it’s the man who keeps slamming it shut on progress.

As Postecoglou said in his departing statement - Audere est Facere.

To Dare is To Do.

It’s heartbreaking that by daring, doing, by living the motto, he signed his own exit.

The message from the top is loud and clear - don’t dare, don’t believe, don’t dream. Just rake in the money.

But that’s not the Tottenham Hotspur people fell in love with.