Tottenham have been knocked out of the Carabao Cup, leaving Ange Postecoglou in a desperate position with Aston Villa in the FA Cup up next.
Postecoglou essentially promised Spurs fans a trophy with a bold ‘I always win something in my second season’ claim earlier in the campaign. The Carabao Cup was the most realistic target but meeting Liverpool in the semi-final of the competition was only going to end one way – even after they won the first leg 1-0 at home.
This leaves the former Celtic manager needing to win in the FA Cup fourth-round tie away to Aston Villa, which is easier said than done. Sure, Villa have a similarly poor record in domestic cup competitions and Postecoglou’s record against Unai Emery is decent, winning 4-1 in the Premier League this season after a 4-0 victory at Villa Park in March 2024; Spurs lost the other game 2-1 at home despite taking the lead.
It feels like everything hinges on the Villa match, though Spurs are still in the Europa League and somehow mustered up a top-eight finish to qualify for the last 16, where they will face one of Real Sociedad, FC Midtjylland, Galatasaray or AZ Alkmaar.
Daniel Levy has been turning a blind eye to the club’s Premier League form, which means the Europa League and FA Cup fixtures take precedent in our thinking, but there is only so long the Spurs owner can ignore the genuine threat of relegation. The fixture list looks bleak and it is difficult to see where the points come from, with only one ‘easy’ match between now and the end of the season, which is still a fixture that, as history tells us, could easily be Postecoglou’s last.
With that in mind, we have ranked Tottenham’s next ten fixtures by how likely they are to get Big Ange sacked.
READ MORE: Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?
10) Manchester United (h) – Premier League, February 16
This is one of the more El Sackico fixtures in recent Premier League history and it would rank much higher if it wasn’t the first match after Aston Villa in the FA Cup. If Postecoglou survives that, he will probably pull through a defeat here.
Any Spurs v Man United fixture hinges on which teamdisplays less stupidity, with both sides putting that to the test in their bonkers Carabao Cup quarter-final which gave us eight goals, some comical Fraser Forster playing out from the back and flimsy goalkeeping from Altay Bayindir.
Whatever the outcome, we know this will be an unmissable match contested by two very unserious football clubs.
9) Manchester City (h) – Premier League, February 26
Losing at home to Man City would not be the end of the world but there is a possibility of it being an embarrassing result, which is why this fixture is not tenth.
We are all well aware of City’s struggles this season but we also well aware that they can still turn it on and against a leaky Spurs defence, that is less of a possibility than a probability.
Spurs’ record against the champions at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is impressive. A 4-0 win at the Etihad earlier this season also defied logic and their overall record in this fixture is completely baffling. City did win twice at Spurs last season, though, in the only two victories at the north Londoners’ lovely new stadium for Pep Guardiola. That is a bad sign but Postecoglou did earn a 2-1 home victory in the Carabao Cup last October.
City at home comes on a Wednesday night in between a trip to Ipswich and hosting Bournemouth at home, which we feel are more important.
8) Chelsea (a) – Premier League, April 2
Stamford Bridge has not been a happy hunting ground for Spurs and in Postecoglou’s first season at the club, they lost 2-0 during a run of four consecutive defeats and 13 goals conceded. It is hard to look beyond another defeat at their London rivals when they lock horns. In truth, it is hard to look beyond defeat in every match.
There are similarities to the City fixture in that the manner of defeat could be what gets Postecoglou sacked, though London derbies do heed much more importance. A prospect of an embarrassing defeat at the Bridge will keep Postecoglou up at night.
7) Fulham (a) – Premier League, March 16
A trip to Craven Cottage is daunting these days, with potential future Spurs manager Marco Silva doing a fine job down there, by the way. Fulham have been mightily impressive at times but they remain an enigma. Draws against Arsenal and Liverpool were backed up with another at home to Southampton before a win at Chelsea earlier this term. They are so weird.
Their split personality makes for an intriguing match up on the day of the Carabao Cup final between Liverpool and Newcastle United.
We don’t know which Fulham will turn up and we are even more clueless about the potential state of play at Spurs. As the ranking suggests, Postecoglou could be long gone before this fixture.
Considering some of Spurs’ results this season, defeat away to Fulham would hardly be a shock or the straw that broke the camel’s back. This match finished 3-0 to the Cottagers in 2023/24, six days after a 4-0 Spurs triumph at Aston Villa, because Tottenham.
If Spurs lose here and Postecoglou is sacked as a result, it would not be a surprise if Silva becomes Levy’s top managerial target.
6) Bournemouth (h) – Premier League, March 9
Speaking of which, nothing would scream Spurs more than Daniel Levy watching Andoni Iraola pull Postecoglou’s pants down, finally lose patience (or have a lightbulb above the head moment), sack Ange mate and aggressively pursue Iraola, only to be laughed at and kindly told to p*ss off.
Bournemouth are a fantastic side with a promising young coach and although this fixture is not for a while, it is hard to look beyond an away victory on another memorable afternoon for Iraola and his players.
You could argue that Spurs and Bournemouth’s campaigns are the wrong way around, with the latter pushing for a Champions League place and the former lingering hopelessly in the bottom half. This is little ol’ Bournemouth after all!
That last point is obviously complete rubbish but the Cherries are punching above their weight while Spurs flirt with a year (or longer) in the Championship, which Postecoglou will probably be there for.
5) Ipswich (a) – Premier League, February 22
If there is a game that will make Levy sit up and realise what is happening, it is another defeat to Ipswich Town in the Premier League. Just how that wasn’t the case the first time around is anyone’s guess.
Spurs handed Ipswich their first victory of the season back in November and there was no doubt that Kieran McKenna’s side deserved to win that day. Ipswich have shown more away from home this term, with their only home win and second of two clean sheets coming against Chelsea, which does give Spurs some hope at least.
When Spurs roll into town we do fancy them with a couple of key players hopefully back from injury.
Injuries are something we have not touched on but are surely crucial in Levy’s thought process, just as the hope of a trophy is/was. The crisis has been extraordinary – and partly Postecoglou’s fault through his philosophy and bringing players back too soon – and if results do not improve when Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario return, there is officially no excuse.
4) Southampton (h) – Premier League, April 5
Southampton in the Premier League can be fatal for Spurs managers – just ask Antonio Conte.
Surely, I mean surely, Spurs can beat Southampton at home? We could be looking at the worst team in Premier League history – somehow worse than Derby bloody County. Not Spurs, by the way. Easy mistake to make.
At the time of writing, Saints need three points to beat Derby’s record low 11 points. Not to worry, Dr Tottenham will see you soon.
3 and 2) Unknown – Europa League, March 6 (a) and 13 (h)
All of Spurs’ eggs will be in the Europa basket if they are knocked out of the FA Cup, and it is a winnable competition. There are no Champions League dropouts anymore and the current bookies favourites are Manchester United. Yes, Actual Manchester United – ahead of Actual Tottenham Hotspur in second. It truly is a joke competition now.
Outside of the two Premier League comedy acts, there are some dangerous teams. Athletic Club are obviously a threat with the Williams brothers and their Basque underdog persona; there are 2021 winners Eintracht Frankfurt, albeit without Omar Marmoush now; Lazio, Real Sociedad, AS Roma, Lyon, FC Porto, Rangers and Galatasaray – who were the only team to beat Spurs in the league phase with a 3-2 scoreline that very much flattered the Londoners – are all in with a shout.
Spurs will face one of Sociedad, Midtjylland, Gala or AZ away on March 6 after those four play their play-off ties. Midtjylland would obviously be ideal but lads, it’s Tottenham – they are obviously getting trounced by Galatasaray again.
1) Aston Villa (a) – FA Cup
This really feels like do or die for Postecoglou, even with a Europa League last-16 match around the corner. The big man has played a blinder with his September trophy claim; it feels like the main reason Levy is yet to pull the trigger. Either the Spurs owner has an unholy amount of faith in his manager, it’s a remarkably risky experiment or he doesn’t fancy the aggro.
You have to feel that relying on a Europa League triumph after being knocked out of both domestic cup competitions in the same week is a risk too far. Spurs have found respite in Europe but that is not enough for Big Ange to convince Levy he can deliver a trophy while simultaneously lifting the club up the Premier League table during the dreaded Thursday-Sunday schedule.
Perhaps Postecoglou could learn from his Europa success by playing the young and hungry academy graduates against Villa and then in the league if he survives that test. Mikey Moore has been a rare bright spot this season but has not been given enough of a chance domestically, while Dane Scarlett and Damola Ajayi scored in the recent win over Elfsborg.
Giving them big minutes at Villa Park is a Hail Mary but that might be what saves the Australian boss.
Villa last won the FA Cup in 1957 and have an abysmal recent record in the competition. Since being battered by Arsenal in the final under Tim Sherwood a decade ago, the Villans have not made it beyond the fourth round, losing in the third round seven times, including defeats to Stevenage in 2022/23 and Peterborough in 2017/18.
That should give Spurs some vain hope but we are talking about a club without a major trophy since 2008. At least it’s not 1996 like Villa.
Their recent record and trophy drought makes Unai Emery’s side just as eager and desperate for victory, which is what will likely cost Postecoglou his job. Marcus Rashford hat-trick incoming.
