If Ange Postecoglou is sacked by Spurs, who will emerge in credit? Plus, thoughts on Gooner loons, Eddie Howe and Liverpool contracts.
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Sliding Doors for Spurs on Ange
There’s a well known term called a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment which stems from a film of the same name.
It refers to a crucial moment where either of two things might happen (like catching a specific train or just missing it) and the subsequent different dominos that might fall either side of that one simple moment.
I see a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment for Spurs right now: To stick with Ange or to move on. I’ve thought about this scenario lately, and I’ve decided to share the spoilers for this ‘Sliding Spurs’ moment with the good readers of F365.
Ange is fired
It’s late January 2025, and things haven’t gotten much better. Spurs are still floundering in the league, and are facing down the barrel of League Cup exit. Daniel Levy presses the red button and Ange is cast aside. Neville and Carragher discuss it on MNF, dripping with condescension, as they give Ange half-hearted compliments about his positive vision, but mock his lack of pragmatism, which meant he’d never be able to cut it in ‘our league’. David Tickner leads the outpouring of Spurs mockery on F365, and fans of other clubs creep out to admit they’re glad Ange is gone, as they really worried he might be the one to fix Spurs.
READ: Who will be the next manager of Spurs after Postecoglou sack?
Edin Terzic comes in, and some fans reluctantly get on board after reading some puff-pieces on The Athletic about his practical style and his leadership. League form takes a quick bounce to jump back into top half with some long awaited ‘gritty’ wins. Terzic doesn’t get the heart racing, but he gets some plaudits for getting his more ‘functional’ Spurs team to the semi-final stage in both FA Cup and Europa League. He’s given a pass for the 9th place finish in the EPL.
Then the summer comes. Man City, keen to reinvent after the 24/25 slump decide Kulusevski is the heir to De Bruyne and make Spurs an offer he can’t refuse. Kulusevski, who no longer sees the vision at Spurs, jumps ship. Jack Grealish reluctantly goes the other way in part-exchange. Micky Van de Ven heads for Real Madrid, Marc Guehi comes in to replace him.
In March 2026, with Spurs out of the cups, without European football and now firmly embedded in mid-table, Spurs part ways with Eden Terzic. His pragmatism gave wins against the weaker sides, but his repeated big defeats to the better teams, and the complaints about Spurs just not having the resources didn’t give much cheer to Daniel Levy. Spurs now begin their flirtation with Fabian Hurzeler and Kieran McKenna (since Andoni Iraola is now at Man City).
And what about Ange? Ange didn’t stay unemployed for long. After Barcelona parted ways with Hansi Flick in summer 2025, Ange was quickly brought in as the replacement. After a summer with the players, who are rejuvenated by his positive, total football style, Barcelona make a feverish start to the 2025/26 season, skewering the flotsam and jetsam in La Liga before emphatic wins over Real Madrid and Atletico. Pedri, Gavi, Yamal leap even further into the pantheon of football greats. As Spurs are sacking Terzic in March, Ange is completing a 5-2 aggregate victory over Arsenal in the Champions League Quarter Final.
What if Ange stays?
I’ll keep this brief – it works out. Spurs have to ride this current wave of injury-stricken terrible form. Get the players back, and leverage that great belief that the players clearly have in Ange, to convert it into a great back half of the season. Forget the league, finish 8th, 9th, 10th, whatever. Focus on the cups, finally get that great trophy monkey off Spurs backs. Maybe it’s a glorious League Cup win after triumphing over Man City, United, Liverpool and Arsenal or Newcastle. Maybe it’s a European trophy after a brilliant campaign.
The point is – Ange’s vision and strategy for turning Spurs from perennial nearly men and excuse makers, into actual winners is the absolute best shot that Spurs have in becoming and staying relevant.
Please Daniel Levy, stick to the plan, and don’t let this be a moment we regret!
Andy, THFC, Eire
Less worried about Eddie Howe
I wrote in at the start of December after two ropey games for Newcastle against the might of West Ham and Crystal Palace, and was very concerned about how the Christmas period might go.
Obviously a lot has changed since then, performing well above what I would have dared to hope for, and even that Palace game doesn’t seem as bad as it did at the time now that Palace has rediscovered a bit of form.
Newcastle have jumped from 11th to 5th with a morale boosting draw against Liverpool, and great wins against teams from all over the table. I feel like they did ride their luck a little at times, the Man Utd game could have been different if Fernandes was there to produce a random bit of magic instead of hosting a pensionerss day out in their midfield. Similarly Spurs met us with nothing like their preferred starting lineup but still played very well at times.
For what it’s worth, I’d be annoyed if the Joelinton handball produced a goal against my team, but the laws are the laws currently. I was also baffled by the Bruno handball goal a few games ago being ruled out as he had his arm as tight to his body as possible, but in his case he was the scorer, Joelinton being 2 passes back didn’t have the same impact according to the rules as I understand them.
Suffice to say I am feeling pretty happy with the last few weeks, the best festive period I can remember for Newcastle (and so much of it on TV as well, a real treat). I certainly won’t be counting any chickens yet for Champions League qualification. Top 5 might be enough, but I think it’ll be very competitive around those top 5 places. I feel like Forest will trail off a bit, but Liverpool and Arsenal are the only nailed on certainties at this stage. I’m guessing the last few places will be filled out by City, Chelsea and either us, Villa or Forest.
The rejig in midfield seems to have solved a lot of problems for us, so I hope that the main players can stay reasonably fit (no more shoulders to Gordon’s face please, I know he’s a bit annoying but VDV and Kulusevski can consider themselves lucky to have got away with one over the last few weeks). We really do need a new right sided attacker though, Murphy has done well recently but Dalot had him in his pocket for most of the game at Old Trafford, as could, I think, most decent full backs who spend any time in their own half. I love him as a very game squad player but he can’t be a starter for a team with Champions League aspirations.
Hall on the other hand has really lived up to expectations and I am delighted with his progress. He and Livramento at full back really show the benefits of buying young hungry players with a potentially high ceiling.
Onwards and upwards now I hope, with a two-legged tie against Arsenal something to look forward to rather than fear (although I think Arsenal must be favourites), and a nice tie in the FA Cup to keep interest and optimism high in the Newcastle camp.
Derek from Dundalk
Assigning managers to jobs
Based entirely on their looks, here’s what the Premier League managers would be doing if not managing (four of these are a carryover from the last time I tried this):
Ruben Amorim: elite fashion designer
Mikel Arteta: human resources director at HMRC
Sean Dyche: kindergarten teacher or prison guard (really the same)
Unai Emery: vampire, of course
Nuno Espirito Santo: psychiatrist
Thomas Frank: fisherman
Oliver Glasner: SS lieutenant in the movies
Pep Guardiola: pitchman for a fashionable soft drink
Eddie Howe: motorcycle gang leader
Fabian Hürzeler: avant-garde stage director
Andoni Iraola: waiter moonlighting as Luis Suarez impersonator
Ivan Jurić: spymaster
Julen Lopetegui (for now): history teacher at a girls’ school
Enzo Maresca: private equity CEO
Kieran McKenna: police detective
Ruud van Nistelrooy: manager of a luxury department store
Vitor Pereira: life coach
Ange Postecoglou: mob boss
Marco Silva: Verdi tenor
Arne Slot: greengrocer
Peter Goldstein
Shoots of recovery from Man Utd
Just a few thoughts on the Liverpool vs United game, from the perspective of a United fan (specifically this one).
One of the most obvious differences in the performance of United’s players (and I mean the players individually, rather than the team as a unit) compared with recent weeks was the willingness to hold on to the ball for a few touches after a turnover, instead of panicking and passing/hoofing as quickly as possible to a team-mate who is also under pressure.
United’s players (mostly the midfield, all of whom were excellent) managed to ‘beat the press’ numerous times with a feint or a spin, opening up the pitch and allowing them to pick a pass to a team-mate in space, rather than being kettled into losing the ball almost immediately.
The tackling and pressing were both very good. Lots of Hungry Hippos-esque snapping. If the team keeps it up to that level, they’ll start getting results.
Having said that, United could really do with one more top-class (or top-to-middling-class) midfielder, of the modern type – lots of energy, happy to press, wriggle free, pass, without necessarily creating a highlights reel. Eriksen is brilliant but can’t keep up (I’ve recently wondered if he could do a job as a false nine, to maximise the use of his finishing and link-up play, but that’s probably my inner Football Manager talking), and Casemiro is in a similar situation.
Similarly, a striker would be very helpful too, preferably one with experience rather than potential. Hojlund has the potential to be class but he’s not there yet, and could do with the pressure lifted. So, just the £150m of transfers requested there.
Maguire is still a very good defender. Not world class, and not worth £80m, but neither are a lot of defenders who have very successful careers. In a squad heavy on babies (some in terms of age, some in terms of attitude), his strength of character (basically becoming a walking meme for at least two or three seasons, but ignoring the criticism and just getting on with it) should be valuable to the club.
As for the miss at the end, anyone who’s played football will tell you how hard it is to side-foot a bobbling pass and keep it down – so many ‘misses of the century’ compilations feature shots of a similar nature. Not sure if that’s on Zirkzee’s pass or the pitch (which looked immaculate to be fair to the ground staff, but understandably may well have been less than perfect by the end). Ironically if Maguire had put his laces through it like a clearance it probably would’ve gone in.
After Amad gave United fans two all-time great moments in recent months (against Liverpool in the cup last season, and against City the other week) nobody can really complain about Maguire not scoring a last-minute winner, although it would’ve topped the lot in terms of joy, simply because it was Harry Maguire lurking in the opposition box in open play. Like a dog turning up in the school playground, in terms of excitement and confusion. Shades of John O’Shea vs Arsenal, isn’t it? He’s chasing Timmy because his coat always smells of sausages. We did warn him this might happen one day. Glorious.
Overall, a totally unexpected huge improvement, and my investment in a Sky Sports subscription shortly after Amorim was appointed now seems marginally less foolish. Fingers crossed it continues.
Dan, Worthing
MORE LIVERPOOL V MAN UTD REACTION FROM F365
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Why Slot kept Trent on the pitch
This whole Trent thing is by turns infuriating and hilarious.
Why did he stay on well beyond when Slot should have taken him off? Because if he was removed, he’d have probably had a little fit and definitely wouldn’t sign the contract. Isn’t that obvious? In normal times, Slot would have acted for sure.
On the other side, it’s funny (and also painfully familiar) to see fanbases split between plastics and actual fans when it comes to homegrown players.
Fans eh. They’re a terrible breed.
Not as terrible as that triple dive by Arsenal players though. That was beyond embarrassing.
Badwolf
Throwing money at Salah would be a Man Utd move
There’s quite a lot of people, both fans and pundits, urging Liverpool to break the bank in order to keep Van Dijk and Salah, the latter especially. However, I think they’re missing the point.
Is Salah currently the most in form player in Europe? Yes, few would argue with that this season, he’s the current favourite for the Balon d’Or. Therefore, goes the theory, he can name his price and Liverpool should just pay it. But that contract won’t be paying for this season, or what he’s already done for the club, it’ll be paying for the next two, three or four seasons. Will he, aged 33 at the start of his new terms, still be favourite for the Balon d’Or in 2027 or 2028? Who knows, but chances are, probably not.
Whilst I don’t expect him to absolutely drop off a cliff anytime soon, I do fully expect this to be his last season at the absolute peak of his powers. His numbers next season will no doubt still be top tier, but I’d wager they’re down on this year’s. Will he be worth this big new contract by the end of it?
With younger players, handing out these big contracts comes with less risk as they retain a market value. When it comes to older players, if their form drops, you’re stuck with them. Casemiro is a case in point. Rooney was another, though his rapid decline set in earlier than most. Then you’re just crossing your fingers for Saudi to bail you out.
So I also hope they do break the bank and give him a 4 year contract worth £500k per week, because that’s exactly what Ed Woodward would’ve done.
Lewis, Busby Way
Gooners = loons
“Serious allegations relating to the assault and attempted assault of match officials in grassroots football last season increased by 32% from 2022-23, according to new data published by the Football Association”
Still, best keep with the pile-ons for all these decisions that are technically correct but against the opinions of the fans eh. These two things aren’t connected. Refs are all useless. And corrupt. And they don’t understand the laws as well as fans, apart from the laws fans don’t understand but then we should utterly re-write those laws so VAR can work and it’s not a problem for us to score refs on the performance against these future interpretations rather than say the interpretations they have been instructed to follow by their bosses.
We do need action though, because if you ignore the fact the refereeing standards are just not in any way the worst they’ve ever been and every commentary to that end is borderline laughably childish, these things are impacting games so much now that when teams play poorly they sometimes don’t win.
The situation over the weekend left Arsenal with the task of scoring one goal in 35 minutes against a team they finished 9 places and 40+ points better off than last season; That they couldn’t do that is the refs actions making them struggle in the title race, and not just what everyone can see with their own eyes that there are systematic disfunctions and an inability to score with that team, with and without first team players being present.
I’ve looked at the stats and it’s telling that there’s more silver Volvos that drive past my window in the second half of Arsenal games than in the first, and this clearly proves an agenda and it’s a red flag that F365 aren’t commenting on this. It’s concerning to fans that our own social media bubble isn’t being blindly repeated in the media, when we can clearly show that instances like Trossard absolutely flattening a player off the ball and then hoofing it to the moon was treated differently to the Szoboszlai game when he kicked the ball away and was not carded, but not the other game where Szoboszlai kicked the ball away and was carded. We’ve a dispassionate and solid ability to tell situations are exactly the same and when they are different. it remains the Spanish version of a disgrace that there was contact on our centre half when challenging a cross but it’s fine to play ‘bundle’ with opposition keepers whenever we’ve a corner.
If this carries on we’ll be left having to consider whether all those reports of Arsenal running 5k and 6k more than the opposition earlier in the season is in any way connected to the muscle injuries now incurred; on whether the huge investments in certain players has been well spent; whether the growing number of David Brent style video clips from our lego headed hate preacher of a manager should infer he’s reached his ceiling. These serious questions just cannot be asked because that could infer our team control our own destiny, so it’s just far easier to say that yes we’ve been playing like an absolute drain but clearly referees are why things are awry.
Look at Liverpool, yes they had an absolute stonewall last-man red card challenge go unpunished against them as the ref vehemently announced it wasn’t even a foul. What they did in this instance was just have a different player score anyway, rather than the correct course of action which was to have a series of expensive forwards fluff their lines and draw the game but claim the moral victory in the forums afterwards. Yes the ref that made that decision was then busted for admitted he consciously hated Liverpool, but what you all haven’t factored in is that his postcode already confirmed he had a stronger unconscious hatred of Arsenal. Your silence on this is telling.
(apologies again to Graham Simmons who just comes across like a decent bloke enjoying his team; He must be frustrated that his fellow Gooners are now a hateful mess of conspiracy theorising loons for a team that is not, and has not yet proved, they can be consistent enough for long enough to win anything)
Tom G
