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Danny Murphy has told Tottenham Hotspur that there would be no point in sacking Ange Postecoglou before their Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Tottenham did return to winning ways on Sunday by beating relegated Southampton 3-1 at home in the Premier League.
Now all eyes are on a season-defining meeting with Eintracht Frankfurt over two legs, with the first game this Thursday night in north London.
There have been calls in some quarters for Postecoglou to be sacked to allow a new manager to come in and get a reaction out of the players.
The new manager bounce effect could push Spurs beyond Eintracht Frankfurt and boost their chances of winning the Europa League, the theory goes.
Former Spurs star Murphy though does not subscribe to that view and thinks that a change now does not make sense.
He stressed that new managers need time on the training pitch to get their ideas across and that is one thing they would not have now.
Game Competition Werder Bremen 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Stuttgart Bundesliga Bochum 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga Eintracht Frankfurt’s last three results
“Some are calling for Ange to be sacked now so a new manager bounce helps them win the Europa but it’s not my gut feeling unless there is a Jurgen Klopp available with the CV to make a difference”, Murphy wrote in his Mail on Sunday column (6th April, page 89).
“To draft in someone less experienced doesn’t make sense. New managers need time to impose their ideas.
“There is still a chance Spurs could win the Europa, of course, primarily because the quality of the other quarter-finalists is not world-beating.”
Eintracht Frankfurt represent a tough test in the quarter-finals as they currently sit third in the Bundesliga standings.
The two clubs met each other in the Champions League in 2022, with the meeting in Germany ending in a 0-0 draw, while Spurs won the north London encounter 3-2.
Spurs’ goals on the night were scored by Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son (two).
INSIDE FUTBOL SAYS:
It is pointless for Spurs to sack Ange Postecoglou now, pulling the rug from under him like they did with Jose Mourinho before a cup final.
If Postecoglou went, Ryan Mason would surely come in as caretaker, and there is little chance he would be able to do better than the Australian.
For all the criticism against Postecoglou, he has started to get players back from injury and if Spurs can get past Eintracht Frankfurt then there is a chance they could build momentum. Postecoglou must be given until the summer and then Spurs can reassess whether they want to give the Australian a chance to go again in a season where hopefully injuries would not cripple their campaign.