"Don't worry, just finish it off, and we're done." That's how Ange Postecoglou ended his time at Tottenham — not with a handshake or a boardroom debrief, but by telling his agent to wave it through from a sun lounger in Greece.
Speaking on The Howie Games podcast, the Australian described the moment his agent relayed that Daniel Levy wanted him back from holiday for a meeting. His response was blunt: "What's he going to say to me? I know what he's delivering. If it was good news, I would've just got on with my holiday."
There's a certain dignity in that. He didn't grovel, didn't lobby for his job, didn't sit in a room pretending the conversation could go any other way. He already knew.
He knew long before Bilbao
What makes Postecoglou's account genuinely interesting isn't the sacking itself — it's how early he'd mapped it out. He says he told his wife the night Spurs won the Europa League final in Bilbao: "This will be the last game." Standing in the winners' room, watching the same club figures celebrate around him, he felt no warmth from it. "You're enjoying this, but I know what you're going to do next."
His Europa League gamble was deliberate and unapologetic. He deprioritised league form in the back half of the season, leaned everything into the European run, and got the trophy. The logic was sound — a Europa League win meant Champions League qualification, which meant Champions League revenue. As he put it: "It wasn't just about winning a trophy. It gets you into the Champions League, which means Champions League money."
The board, by his account, never bought in. They made their discomfort clear. He made his position clear back: unless they removed him, that was the strategy. They removed him.
Spurs haven't exactly proven him wrong
Since his exit, Tottenham have spent a summer rebuilding under Thomas Frank, then handed the job to Roberto De Zerbi in March after a relegation scare that went down to the final day of last season. Now, under De Zerbi with fresh investment behind him, they've lost both Premier League openers. They travel to Nottingham Forest on Saturday as a side that, by any measure, has regressed since Postecoglou lifted silverware for them.
Spurs' form at this early stage already puts a dent in the optimism around De Zerbi's appointment. Two losses from two, heading to the City Ground — their odds of a top-half finish are looking shakier by the week.
As for Postecoglou, he lasted 39 days at Nottingham Forest before moving on to manage Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia. Whatever he thought of Levy, his parting shot says everything: he didn't need the meeting.
