Ange Postecoglou names four Tottenham transfers he wanted but couldn't get - 'Not a big club'

The former Tottenham Hotspur boss has been talking about his time at the club and what he wanted to happen in the transfer window

Ange Postecoglou does not believe that Tottenham are a big club because of their wage structure and has named four transfers he wanted that could not happen.

The 60-year-old took Spurs to a fifth-place finish in his first season at the club before concentrating his injury-hit squad on the Europa League and winning that in his second year. However, the team's 17th-place finish in the Premier League resulted in the Greek-born Australian being sacked at the end of the campaign.

Now his successor Thomas Frank has also been shown the door just seven months into his tenure with Tottenham languishing 16th and five points above the drop zone.

Postecoglou believes his second season could have been very different had the north London club pushed on with the signings he wanted which would have meant adjusting their strict wage structure. Instead they signed teenagers like Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray, alongside striker Dominic Solanke, rather than the more ready-made names the head coach had pushed for.

"You look at that list of names [of managers at the club] and there isn't really a common thread through there as to what they're trying to do. And I do think part of Tottenham's DNA, for want of a better word, is they do like their team to play a certain way," Postecoglou said in an interview with The Overlap podcast.

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"And I think it's fair to say with Mauricio [Pochettino] they were going down that path. Although at the same time, I think people have been too dismissive of Harry [Kane's] influence through that period. He's an unbelievable player. If I had Harry the last two years, that first year we finished fifth, I'm convinced we would have finished in Champions League spots. So even him leaving, you can't plug that hole. It's just impossible.

"So when you look at those managers, like I said, they've gone from, you know, Mauricio played a certain way and sort of I think fit the DNA, then the big thing was, well, they haven't won anything. We need winners. So let's go for Jose [Mourinho]. Jose gets them to a cup final and they sack him the week before the cup.

"So you're going, if you're talking about winners, well, in a one-off game, I wouldn't mind Jose being my manager at my club just for a one-off game. What happens beyond that is... And then, you know, then it was Antonio [Conte] because, again, he's another winner, you know, and then Antonio goes and I sort of come in.

"They say, well, we want the football, you know. With Antonio, we made Champions League, but we didn't have the football. So we want the football and you've got the football, even though my DNA is I'll win as well.

"So then we go down that path. So that's what I mean. It's a real curious in terms of understanding what are they trying to build? You know, what are they? Obviously, they've built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly, you know, their wages structure, they're not a big club."

He added: "I saw that because when we were trying to sign players, we weren't in the market for those players. There's certain players that we... I mean, at the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, for me, okay, how do you go from fifth to really challenging? Well, we had to sign Premier League-ready players.

"But finishing fifth that year didn't get us Champions League, we didn't have the money. So we ended up signing Dom Solanke, who was absolutely... I was really keen on him, I really like him, and three teenagers.

"You know, I was looking at Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo at the time, Marc Guehi, because I said we need, if we're going to go from fifth to there, that's what the other big clubs would do in that moment. And those three teenagers are outstanding young players and I think they'll be great players for Tottenham, but they're not going to get you from fifth to fourth and third.

"But what was coming out from the club was that 'no, we're a club that can compete on all fronts'. So when you say, you've obviously got great experience as a manager, you've managed it all over the world at certain clubs. Is Tottenham different to those other clubs in terms of getting what you want onto the pitch or looking to take the club forward? Well, they're all unique, they're all different.

"But, you know, when you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is 'to dare is to do'. It's everywhere. And yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that.

"Whether you like or dislike him, give credit to Daniel [Levy] because that path has got a new stadium, new facilities, but taking a safe path, I think what they didn't realise that to actually win, you've got to take some risks at some point. And that's the DNA of the club."

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