Exclusive: ‘Ange Postecoglou paid for own Tottenham sack’
Ange Postecoglou may have been the master of his own downfall by securing the funding for Tottenham to sack him.
That is the view of football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that hiring and firing managers was eating into Spurs’ prize money.
Tottenham parted ways with Postecoglou, in spite of the Australian boss leading the North London side to their first trophy since 2008.
The former Celtic boss led Spurs to a fifth-place finish in his first season, but the club were atrocious domestically in his sophomore campaign, finishing 17th.
Given the importance of strong Premier League performances, Tottenham have chosen to replace Postecoglou with Thomas Frank.
The Dane has proven himself a capable manager when working with limited resources, although he lacks experience in European competition.
But the moves will not come cheap, as it has cost Tottenham £4million to sack Postecoglou [The Mirror], and Frank’s release clause from London rivals Brentford is estimated to be £10m [MailOnline].
Tottenham bank £68m for Champions League
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley outlined how Postecoglou’s Europa League final victory and subsequent Champions League qualification would have lightened the financial burden of sacking the manager and paying for his replacement.
Frank’s £10m release clause is a significant sum, but qualifying for UEFA’s most prestigious tournament will likely generate “€80m (£68m) minimum” for Spurs.
He said: “If we look at this in the here and now and the £10m release clause [to sign Frank], that’s off the back of just qualifying for the Champions League, which will generate Spurs somewhere in the region of €80m (£68m) minimum.
“English clubs will take a lot of that prize pool from the Champions League, and they’ll be in the group stage, and that’s the kind of marker that we’re working on now.
“I think when you look at that, you then go, okay, that decision can be taken into the context of where the overall revenue of the club is at.
“It’s a tricky one, because you don’t want to be spending that money if you can avoid it, but it is that risk and reward of hiring and firing managers that does come with financial costs as well.”
Tottenham target Bryan Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa with extra cash to spend
Having banked Champions League revenue and made Frank their new manager, Spurs look reinvigorated after a slow start to the summer transfer window.
The North London club failed to make use of the Club World Cup-inspired window from 1-10 June, but Tottenham are now targeting deals for Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa.
The Cameroon international looked destined for a move to Man United, but may reconsider his options if given the opportunity to work under the manager whom he scored 20 Premier League goals for last season.
The same may also apply to Wissa, who has steadily improved during his time in England and was one of the best strikers in the top-flight last campaign, netting 19 times.