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Club’s former manager says Spurs reluctant to take risks Spending and wage structure holding them back, he feels Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham are “not a big club” because of their refusal to pay the major wages for top-level signings. The manager who led them to Europa League glory last season before being sacked also feels the dreaded “Spursy” tag is “100%” real and is another factor holding them back. Postecoglou finished fifth in his first campaign in charge in 2024 but missed out on Champions League qualification, the revenues from which he suggested are fundamental to Spurs in the transfer market. When he wanted to strengthen in the summer of 2024, the Australian was unable to land many of the players he targeted. Spurs added Dominic Solanke and three teenage talents – Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert. “They’ve built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities but when you look at the expenditure, particularly their wages structure, they’re not a big club, ” Postecoglou told the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast. “I saw that because when we were trying to sign players we weren’t in the market for those players. “I thought: ‘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 and we didn’t have the money, so we ended up signing Dom Solanke, who I was absolutely really keen on, I really like him, and three teenagers. “I was looking at Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo, Marc Guéhi. Because I said if we’re going to go from fifth to up there … that’s what the other big clubs would do. Those three teenagers are outstanding young players and they’ll be great players for Tottenham, but they’re not going to get you from fifth to third and fourth. “When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is: ‘To Dare Is To Do’ [the club motto] and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. I think they didn’t realise that, to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks at some point. I felt like Tottenham as a club were saying: ‘We’re one of the big boys. ’ And the reality is I don’t think they are. “When Arsenal need players they will spend £100m on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that. But it’s not the transfer fee. It’s the wages to really attract … I mean, when was the last time that Tottenham really signed somebody who you go: Wow! ” Postecoglou tried to confront the issue of the collective mentality in the early weeks of last season with his famous “I always win in my second season at a club” quote. He delivered in the Europa League final against Manchester United, despite the misery of a 17th-placed Premier League finish and the knowledge, as he put it, that he knew “end of January, early February” he was going to be dismissed. It was put to Postecoglou that the problem was nobody actually believes Spurs will win trophies. “It is. Look, Spursy, ” he replied. “One hundred per cent there is. And that was the thing I was trying to break. My whole statement about winning things in the second year … I was doing that for the club because no one internally would dare say that because they were just scared. “I even remember on the morning of the Europa League final, Daniel [Levy, the then chairman] came in and we had a coffee. The only thing he said to me, which was bizarre as a motivational point, was something like: ‘I’ve been in seven semi-finals and finals and we haven’t won one. ’ But I know why he said that. Because of that [mentality]. “So you’ve got that and that does exist, absolutely. And then you break that by winning something and what do you do? You tear it all up and you go again. What are you trying to achieve? The biggest thing you had hanging over you is this Spursy tag. ” Spurs sacked Postecoglou’s successor, Thomas Frank, on Wednesday after a run of two league wins in 17 games, with the club lagging 16th in the table. “You know that he can’t be the only issue at the club, ” Postecoglou said. “It’s a curious club, Tottenham. “It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year, not just with me but with Daniel leaving as well, and you’ve created this whole sort of environment of uncertainty. There’s no guarantee whichever manager you bring in. They’ve had world-class managers and they haven’t had success. And for what reason? “Thomas is walking in and what’s his objective, what’s the club’s objective? If you’re going to do such a major pivot, you’ve got to understand there’s going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? I don’t know. ”