Tottenham have sacked Ange Postecoglou just weeks after he led the club to the Europa League trophy, claiming their first piece of major silverware in 17 years. The Aussie had garnered considerable support from the fanbase after the famous victory in Bilbao, but a 17th-placed Premier League finish has ultimately proven impossible to ignore for chairman Daniel Levy.

Postecoglou guided Spurs not only to a historic night in Spain by winning the Europa League, but he also secured the club Champions League football next year in the process. He received backing from the dressing room and supporters, but Levy is still ready to wield the axe despite the possibility of major backlash from the Spurs fanbase.

In a club statement, Spurs said: "The board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the club for a change to take place. Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games. This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season.

"At times there were extenuating circumstances - injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign. Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.

"It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond.

"This has been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make and is not a decision that we have taken lightly, nor one we have rushed to conclude. We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision."

Spurs lost 22 of 38 league games, picking up 38 points in total after a 4-1 thrashing at home by Brighton on the final day of the season. But James Maddison led the calls for Postecoglou to remain in charge next season.

"We are behind the manager 100 per cent," said midfielder Maddison. "I think he's a great man. We have had a poor season, especially in the league. We've been very good in Europe, but the league season has been unacceptable.

"He's my manager, he's my gaffer and I respect him an awful amount. The narrative [of Postecoglou's job being under threat] is something we players are trying to keep away from because it's not healthy.”

Postecoglou, who declared during the club’s trophy parade that similarly to TV shows “season three is better than season two”, was also bemused at the constant questions put to him during press conferences about his future.

“How do I assess the season? Outstanding,” he said after defeat to Brighton in the final game of the season. “We won a trophy which we haven't done for 17 years and we're in the Champions League.

“I'll be honest, I'm finding it weird to be talking about my future when we've done something unprecedented. I made decisions I felt gave us the best chance of achieving the goal we needed to achieve and that has affected our league form. If people don't want to take that into account, then there is nothing I can say.”

Brentford boss Thomas Frank is expected to be one of the frontrunners to take over from Postecoglou in north London, as he holds a strong relationship with Spurs’ technical director Johan Lange. The pair coached together in Denmark.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola is also thought to be on Spurs’ shortlist as they go in search of Premier League experience. Iraola has a release clause on the south coast between £9m and £10m.