Sacking Postecoglou was ’emotionally difficult’ but needed, says Spurs chairman Levy

• Sacking coach Ange Postecoglou soon after he delivered Tottenham Hotspur’s first major trophy in 17 years was “emotionally difficult”, but the club needed a change after a poor Premier League season, chairman Daniel Levy said.

Postecoglou was dismissed earlier this month, just over two weeks after leading Tottenham to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final, securing the club’s first silverware since 2008 and earning them a place in next season’s Champions League.

Levy noted that while the decision divided supporters, the Australian manager ultimately paid the price for a dreadful league campaign that saw his side finish 17th in the table – their worst finish since they were relegated in the 1976-77 campaign.

“I don’t regret appointing Ange, I’m very grateful to Ange. In his first season we finished fifth and in his second we were over the moon to win a trophy,” Levy said in an interview released by the club on Tuesday.

“But we need to compete in all competitions, and we felt that we needed a change. Emotionally it was difficult but we feel that we’ve made the right decision for the club.

Tottenham last week named former Brentford boss Thomas Frank as their fifth full-time manager in six years and the 13th since Levy became chairman over 25 years ago.

“Failure is not an option, the desire (is) to succeed. And because it’s so difficult, I want to succeed even more,” Levy added.

“Whenever you have a new coach, it’s always a fresh start. (There are) always different ideas but we want to build on the success of winning a trophy last season.

“One of the things that stood out to me with Thomas was that he is clearly highly intelligent, a great communicator, super human being plus all the technical aspects which are obviously important.”