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Ange Postecoglou believes the demise of Erik ten Hag shows why leading Tottenham to a trophy will not guarantee long-term success.

Ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United on Monday despite winning the Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.

Poor Premier League form and a lack of clear playing style ultimately contributed to Ten Hag being dismissed, but ahead of Spurs’ fourth-round Carabao Cup tie at home to Manchester City, Postecoglou conceded it was not a huge surprise.

“Nah, not really shocked. Disappointing as it was, it was almost inevitable with the scrutiny he had,” Postecoglou said.

“If you look at Erik, he was there for two and a bit years. He won a trophy in each year, they finished third in his first year. If he was here with that record would he have lost his job? I don’t know.

“Would he be under the same scrutiny? I don’t know, because everyone tells me all I have to do is win a trophy, but I have got a feeling it would be the same because, just the nature of the world today.

“As a manager you have to hit a sweet spot where you get success, you play football everyone likes, you get every signing right. In that moment you seem to get some sort of validation. Anything other than that, it seems to be for some clubs they want trophies not football, others want football. It is a difficult task.

“But what you have seen in the past, I’m sure Erik will bounce back from that because he is a good manager. You have seen it with other managers. I’m sure his career will continue to go on strongly.”

Ten Hag had the sympathy of managers around the Premier League a day after he was sacked, with most saying they could face the same fate any day in the results-driven business.

United have appointed their assistant manager and former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy to take over on an interim basis with the club languishing 14th in the Premier League after nine games and 21st in the Europa League table.

“I feel very sorry for him, it’s one of the best jobs in football,” Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said. “There’s only us, it’s not teachers or architects or something like that.

“I wish him all the best and he will come back stronger. If the results aren’t good enough, you get sacked. No one is different, myself included.”

Slot believes Ten Hag will manage another top club soon

Liverpool manager Arne Slot said that, as a fellow Dutchman, Ten Hag’s dismissal hit harder, but believes the coach will land on his feet.

“Always your first thoughts are with the person,” Slot said. “We are all in this job so we know that it can happen, but if it happens – especially because I know him a little bit and I know how much work he puts into it – to get this news for him is a pity.

“We also know, especially us from Holland how well he did at Ajax [Amsterdam] and he won two trophies over here, so we will see him in the near future again at a big club,” Slot added.

If Tottenham Hotspur dislike the term ‘Spursy’ so much, perhaps they should avoid performances such as this. Against a winless Crystal Palace who began the game as the lowest scorers in the top five professional divisions in the country, they were careless at the back and toothless at the front. And nothing much happened in between either.

Spurs were dismal for 45 minutes in the 3-2 defeat at Brighton but here they managed it for the entire 90. A win would have taken them into sixth place but they showed little will to achieve it. Palace were the side who played with ambition and if they had any sort of eye for goal their first Premier League victory of the season would have been far more emphatic.

As it was, Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal of the match, his third of the season, as the players behind last season’s strong finish to the season – Eberechi Eze and Adam Wharton as well as Mateta – finally stepped up. That said, it was hard to judge whether they were back to their best or just taking advantage of feeble opposition.

Tottenham badly missed Son Heung-min, rested with a hamstring injury, and sent Mikey Moore, 17, out for his first Premier League start instead but he had few chances to shine as both teams scuffled ineffectively in a crowded midfield at first. For the first 20 minutes, the highlight was a long half-volleyed kick-out from Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson arrowed 60 yards to the feet of Tyrick Mitchell out on the left wing.

However, when Palace finally knocked at the visitors’ door, they found it wide open. In the 27th minute, Tottenham fell asleep after a corner kick and allowed substitute Will Hughes to cross unchallenged from the left. The ball reached the head of Maxence Lacroix but he sent it over the crossbar.

And the visiting defence erred again as Palace took the lead on the half hour. As they attempted to play out from the back, Micky van de Ven lost the ball, Ismaila Sarr crossed it, Eze flicked it on and Mateta drove it low past Guglielmo Vicario with the aid of a deflection.

Where, though, were Spurs as an attacking force? Henderson had been having such a quiet afternoon that he could afford to risk a stroll in the autumn sun to the centre circle and back as Tottenham defended a corner.

Brennan Johnson almost changed that with a shot that hit the post after 34 minutes. But it was not until the fifth minute of time added to the first half that they managed an effort on target and even then Henderson produced a fine diving save to his left to keep out James Maddison’s first time shot after Destiny Udogie had pulled the ball back from the byline.

Surely the visitors had to show more purpose in the second half? They did not. Spurs had to survive loud Palace claims for a penalty when Eze went down as Van de Ven challenged, although VAR did not invite referee Darren Bond to reconsider his award of a corner kick.

For a brief spell it seemed Palace must add to their goal, but both Sarr and Eze failed to make good chances count and you were reminded why they had scored only five goals before this. Wharton hit a cracking shot in the 82nd minute that deserved to double the lead, but Vicario got across to paw the ball away for a corner. Would Palace pay for missing chances? Not with Spurs in this mood.

A big chance for the visitors!

Penetra manages to get just in front of Davies in the penalty area and heads the ball goalwards. Tottenham goalkeeper Forster is at full-stretch and makes an important save to deny AZ the first goal.

The visitors quickly shoot again but the effort is miles off target.

Werner breaks down the left and times his run perfectly to get himself in behind. He has time to position himself and then goes for goal. However his effort is very timid - he shoots straight into the hands of the goalkeeper who easily collects the ball.

The attempt of a player perhaps very low on confidence.

Maddison weaves through the AZ backline and finds a good position just on the edge of the six-yard box. He is in the position to shoot but instead opts to cross to Moore who awaits near the goal line.

An AZ defender manages to get a head to it and sends the ball away from danger.

The home side could be at danger of letting AZ grow more and more into this game as the first half progresses.

Despite Spurs dominating in the opening stages, the visitors are starting to pose more of a threat - particularly down the left-hand side where Poku is currently winning the battle against Gray.

The first real chance of the game for the visitors.

Kasius drives down the right and plays a perfect cross into the box. His effort sweeps pass the Spurs backline but, unluckily for the visitors, none of their players can get a head or foot to the ball and it goes behind for a goal kick.

There’s an injury issue for AZ with Ruben van Bommel down on the floor.

He is the son of former PSV and Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel, who is in attendance at the game tonight.

After a quick assessment, van Bommel is led off the pitch and heads straight down the tunnel. AZ are briefly down to 10 men.

While Tottenham have fared well against Dutch opponents in the past, it’s a less positive picture for AZ Alkmaar who haven’t beaten a Premier League side since 2007.

Spurs have won 10 games and lost six against Dutch competitors in European competitions - with one of their most renowned feats being the comeback win against Ajax which propelled them to the Champions League final in 2018/19.

AZ will certainly hope for improvement when it comes to their record against English opponents with 11 losses, five draws, and just two wins. Their last success was a 2-0 home victory against Newcastle United in 2007. Since then, they have had nine games against English opponents without a triumph.

Tonight marks the first meeting between the two sides.

Ange Postecoglou has opted to start a few of his youngest players in tonight’s fixture with 17-year-old Mikey Moore and 18-year-olds Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray all getting the nod.

As reported by Sam Dean in the summer, Gray’s arrival [in August] was part of a wider strategy, now overseen by technical director Johan Lange, which has seen the club move out of one cycle and into the thrilling start of the next.

Since last summer’s transfer window, when Postecoglou was appointed as head coach, the average age of the new signings at Spurs has been younger than 22. This season, alongside Gray, they have added promising Swedish midfielder Lucas Bergvall, who is also 18, and winger Wilson Odobert, 19, who has joined from Burnley.

Spurs are betting on young talent. Micky van de Ven (£43 million), Brennan Johnson (£47.5 million) and Radu Dragusin (£25 million) all arrived in the last year, aged 22 or younger. There are others to come: Croatian defender Luka Vuskovic, 17, joins the club next year, as does South Korean forward Yang Min-Hyeok, 18.

Read Sam’s full story here.

Ange Postecoglou has named by far his weakest Tottenham team yet for tonight’s Europa League game against AZ Alkmaar. Only James Maddison and Destiny Udogie start from the team that started against West Ham United.

That may not reflect too well on Maddison, who was replaced at half-time against the Hammers. Teenager Mikey Moore is starting and he is 19 years younger than 36-year-old goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who has come in for Guglielmo Vicario.

It has been a tough start to the season for Richarlison who has been sidelined with various injuries and has so far only racked up the minutes in substitute appearances.

He has his chance to prove his worth to Ange Postecoglou tonight in his first start of the season, with Dominic Solanke dropped to the bench and Son Heung-Min out of action.

Postecoglou has once again opted for a youthful approach to the European fixture with the inclusions of 17-year-old Mikey Moore and Lucas Bergvall, 18, in his starting XI. The pair have impressed on the European stage thus far, as has Will Lankshear who is on the bench tonight.

James Maddison captains the home side and second-choice goalkeeper Fraser Forster is the preferred option over Guglielmo Vicario. Postecoglou has opted to give a few of his trusty starting players a rest this evening, with the likes of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dejan Kulusevski, and Brennan Johnson on the bench.

Welcome to our coverage of the Europa League as Spurs host AZ Alkmaar at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs’ slightly underwhelming start to the Premier League season reached a crescendo just before the international break, when the side capitulated against Brighton in a loss which manager Ange Postecoglou described as “unacceptable”.

However, a much-needed 4-1 win against West Ham at the weekend had fans feeling much more positive about their team’s prospects heading into this Europa League matchday three clash.

The hosts are one of the competition’s favourites and have made a perfect start to the league stage, registering two wins in their opening two matches.

They are one of five clubs to still have a 100 per cent record in the Europa League this season and will look to continue that streak on home turf tonight. Recent history is certainly in their favour, with the team having won the six Europa League games they have played at their new stadium without conceding a goal.

Captain Heung-Min Son will be rested for tonight’s game, whilst full-backs Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon are ineligible. Wilson Odobert and Radu Drahgusin will both be available, with the former returning from a hamstring problem and the latter having served a one-match ban in the previous fixture.

Richarlison could be handed his first start of the season in tonight’s clash. The Brazilian has been out of action on multiple occasions this year with various injuries and has often found himself sidelined with Dominic Solanke the preferred starting striker for Postecoglou’s side. If he starts, the forward will be eager to continue building his fitness and proving his value to his coach.

And a familiar face returns to north London as Troy Parrott, who joined the Dutch club in the summer, will be in AZ’s matchday squad.

The visitors are in the midst of a four-game losing run, with their most recent victory being their first Europa League fixture against IF Elfsborg in September. It is certainly not the ideal time for Maarten Martens’ side to face one of their trickiest European opponents.

The game kicks off at 8pm BST and we will have team news for you shortly.

It can be dangerous to make educated guesses this early on in the title race, but it would be unwise to bet against Chelsea, who rose above a spot of dubious officiating to dispatch Tottenham with relative ease and continue their winning start to the season.

When the hosts took an early lead through Maika Hamano, their lively Japan international, Spurs looked poised for a long evening. It turned out to be one, after three second half goals - including a wonder volley from Johanna Rytting Kaneryd - melted away the injustice the home side had felt after conceding a controversial score before the break.

When Tottenham defender Amanda Nilden meandered forward with no real purpose and launched a deceivingly long range cross-cum-shot from 35 yards out, the ball found its way looping towards the Chelsea goal. Hannah Hampton was standing off centre but shuffled across to parry the ball down before safely gathering it in both gloves. Or so she thought.

The Chelsea shot stopper was left in utter disbelief when referee Emily Heaslip glanced across at her linesman – who was positioned a lengthy distance away – and signalled for the goal to be given. Hampton raced out of the area, protesting wildly and trying her best to articulate that the ball had not crossed the white paint. She received a yellow card for her efforts.

With England facing Germany at Wembley on Friday - and with Mary Earps enduring a tough start to life at PSG - Hampton would have hoped for an unblemished copybook as she looks to target the Lionesses’ No 1 shirt. Replays suggested she was hard done by. On the balance of probability, the ball did not cross the line, even if it bounced up rather awkwardly due to some fortuitous topspin.

Bomposter ‘frustrated’ by lack of action on technology in WSL

Given the increasingly fine margins in this increasingly competitive league, the incident will no doubt reignite the longstanding debate over whether it is time to introduce VAR – or goal line technology as a bare minimum – in the women’s top flight. Sonia Bompastor, the Chelsea manager, gave a no-nonsense response when asked about it afterwards.

“The technology is available for the men’s game,” she said. “Why shouldn’t it be the case for women? If we want to look more professional we need to move forward with the technology. Even if it’s a hard decision for the referee, I think you have to be 100 per cent sure the ball is in. From Hannah’s reaction, it looked doubtful. But I really liked the reaction of my players.”

It turned out to be an eventful night for Nilden, who was at fault for Chelsea’s opener 10 minutes and directed Guro Reiten’s corner into her own net on the cusp of half time.

In what was an early contender for goal of the season, she raced onto Millie Bright’s floating cross and watched her venomous volley ripple the back of the net.

After the break, Chelsea turned the screw, with Rytting Kaneryd proving to be their star. She raced onto Millie Bright’s floating cross and watched her venomous volley ripple the back of the net before teasing a penalty out of the hosts after her cross struck Clare Hunt on the arm.

Reiten stepped up from the spot but her effort clipped the woodwork, but Sandy Baltimore reacted quickest to drill the ball low into the net.

Evaliina Summanen pulled one back for the visitors after executing a free-kick, but Rytting Kaneryd struck again at the death to ensure Chelsea had the last word.

An entertaining first half finishes with the scores level. Tottenham have had the vast majority of the ball and chances, but, unsurprisingly, they are vulnerable at the back. Mohammed Kudus, who opened the scoring for West Ham, was a threat for the entire first 45 minutes, drifting in from the left and beating players. Similarly, Dejan Kulusevski is giving the visiting team a hard time and it was the Swede who equalised. There was one amusing moment when Michail Antonio looked like he was going to try to out-run Micky van de Ven, but put the brakes on when he saw who he was up against. Van de Ven then casually barged him off the ball before taking it away. Watch for Antonio to try to get some sort of revenge in the second half.

This is a familiar sight for Spurs fans: their team seeing all of the ball and enjoying all of the territory at home, but making hard work of breaking down a deep defence.

It might take a shot from distance, and Areola produces a superb save after Porro’s effort from range was deflected. The West Ham goalkeeper had started to dive right and had to change direction.

Spurs have yet another corner, their 11th of the game. They are not really threatening though, and then Kudus holds off Maddison to win a foul and relieve the pressure.

Spurs with another corner, delivered to the back post by Maddison from the left but West Ham defend. A little loopy and lacking in pace from Maddison. Paqueta then leads West Ham forward on the break, but Spurs sprint back in numbers.

But the first big chance of the game goes to West Ham! Bowen pulled a low cross behind the retreating Spurs back four, and Kudus had plenty of time to line the shot up. Connected well, but a little too close to Vicario who made an impressive stop. A warning for Spurs.

Ange Postecoglou and Totttenham had a fortnight to stew on their second-half capitulation at Brighton but are firm favourites to get back to winning ways against West Ham United this lunchtime.

After taking just four points from their first four Premier League games of the season, including a north London derby defeat against Arsenal, Spurs were enjoying a mini-revival until their optimism was punctured at Brighton.

In their last game against Champions League contenders, West Ham were cut to ribbons by Chelsea but a 4-1 victory over Ipswich before the international break lifted some of the pressure on Julen Lopetegui. West Ham won at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last season and often save their best for this fixture.

West Ham are without summer signing Niclas Fullkrug because of injury, but Spurs are hopeful that Son Heung-min and Richarlison will be available. Spurs’ underlying attacking metrics and general level of dominance in matches has been impressive, but there remains a sense they suffer from a glass chin.

Speaking about the collapse at Brighton, Postecoglou said: “I mean you can’t just dismiss what happened in the first half and just focus on the second half. It would be different if it was a really poor performance all round.

“Then, it’s not easier, but the analysis can be straightforward. The question is, ‘why were we so good in the first half and so poor in the second?’.

“The second half was more around we just didn’t look anything like ourselves. We were really passive with and without the ball. We lacked real conviction and courage in everything we did. It was almost like we felt like we had done enough.

“I hadn’t seen that before in us and it is a good lesson for the whole group that you need to make sure, irrespective of how a game is going, you stick to the core principles of your football.”

Team news on the way shortly.

Ange Postecoglou has vowed to rid Tottenham of the ‘Spursy’ tag that previous manager Antonio Conte insisted can never be removed.

The Australian admits however that he has a job on his hands after stewing for almost a fortnight on statistics that showed the amount of running his players put in at Brighton in the Premier League match directly before the international break tailed off by up to 30 per cent.

A 2-0 half-time lead turned into a 3-2 defeat and a club that has long endured a reputation for putting in soft-touch performances was ridiculed once more by rival supporters.

Postecoglou let his players know exactly what he thought of a second-half showing in which Spurs conceded three times between the 48th and 66th minutes. It was a team meeting in which he “didn’t ask for feedback, mate”.

“It’s fair to say our sheer volume of running probably dropped 20-30 per cent in that 20-minute period,” he said. “Our high-speed running, our sprinting, certainly dropped. I saw that anecdotally and the data backs that up.”

It also appeared to corroborate claims made by previous manager Conte in March last year that Tottenham were institutionally set up to repel success. The Italian, in a post-match rant that precipitated his sacking weeks later, claimed that the “situation cannot change” regardless of who was manager because whoever wore the shirt ended up becoming “used” to not playing for “something important” by the end of a season.

Postecoglou, now in his second campaign as Conte’s successor, said he did not subscribe to that theory however – and never would.

‘If I fail to do it, the failure is on me’

“Mate, if I accepted that, what am I doing here?” he said. “Seriously, if I accept that this is somehow impossible to change I am really stealing a living. I don’t believe that and I never have.

“And if I fail to do it, the failure is on me, it’s nothing to do with the club. It’s on me because I know that coming into it that the club hasn’t won anything for x amount of time.

“I know the tag on the club, I know all these things when I accepted the position so it’s no good me saying now, ‘you know what? I can’t do this, it’s impossible no matter who you have’.

“From where I sit here right now I don’t see it as impossible. I think it is achievable and that’s why I’m going to do everything in my power to change it.”

Slimmed-down Richarlison finally back

The Brighton reverse was the 10th time Tottenham had lost a Premier League match after going two goals up but Postecoglou had no time for that statistic.

“Mate, it’s irrelevant. Who cares?” he said. “It hasn’t been 10 times with me so give me a break. Let me get to 10 and then start putting tags on.

“People will always find easy ways, if you’ve got a wound, to stick their finger in that wound and if you’re not prepared to accept that when things haven’t gone well, well, make sure things go well!

“There is one way to change that. If we want to change the perception of ourselves, it will not come because of, ‘please don’t call us those names,’ it will come because we’re proving we’re a team that can be relentless in our approach and be successful.”

Spurs host West Ham on Saturday lunchtime with Richarlison available for the first time since August 24.

“He has trimmed down, he looks really lean now,” Postecoglou said of the Brazil striker, whose running stats should at least improve as a result.

Tottenham Hotspur have written to their supporters to warn them that any homophobic chanting, including a song that references Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, will be met with the “strongest possible action”.

Spurs launched an investigation into homophobic chanting earlier this season after “abhorrent” songs were heard in the away section during their victory at Old Trafford in September.

Among the abusive chants heard from Spurs supporters during this campaign is a song about new signing Dominic Solanke, which includes an offensive reference to north London rival Arteta.

In a message sent to supporters on Friday afternoon, Spurs thanked their fans for “their cooperation” on the issue of homophobic chanting after there were no reports of offensive songs during their recent match at Brighton.

The club also wrote: “Ahead of tomorrow’s home fixture with West Ham United, we will not be complacent and are therefore reminding supporters that the Club takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination.

“Our stewards will once again be wearing body cams to identify any individuals involved in unacceptable chanting so that the Club can take the strongest possible action, in line with our Sanctions and Banning Policy.

“For the avoidance of doubt, this includes the Dominic Solanke chant with reference to Mikel Arteta and any use of the term ‘Rent Boy’ – which the Crown Prosecution Service considers a homophobic slur and hate crime.

“Stewards will identify those instigating and participating in any such chants – including those covering their mouths. Abuse and intimidation towards our stewards will not be tolerated either, with bans issued where necessary.

“We are justly proud of our superb and loyal support, home and away. However, we all have a responsibility to act as ambassadors of Tottenham Hotspur and discrimination of any kind has no place at our Club.

“We look forward to seeing our fans back at our home stadium, supporting the team in a manner that all our fans can enjoy and be a part of.”

In a statement in September, following the victory over Manchester United, Spurs described the homophobic chants as “simply unacceptable, hugely offensive and no way to show support for the team”.

Spurs also said they have been working with Proud Lilywhites, their LGBTQ+ supporters’ association, to ensure a “welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans on matchdays”.

Aaron Connolly, the Republic of Ireland and Sunderland forward, has revealed his struggles with alcohol addiction after spending a month in a treatment centre this summer.

Connolly, who memorably broke into the Brighton first-team with two goals against Tottenham Hotspur on his first Premier League start in 2019, has opened up on how his career and life spiralled downward.

In an emotional and candid interview, the 24-year-old told Sunderland’s media channels that he hoped his story would help others struggling with alcohol addiction.

Connolly described his Premier League breakthrough against Spurs as “one of the best days of my life but also one of the worst” as it led to his difficulties with alcohol and a loss of focus on football.

‘I was living footballer lifestyle without football’

After falling out of contention at Brighton, Connolly had loan spells at Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Venezia before joining Hull City. He then signed for Sunderland as a free agent last month.

“I started to believe the hype and I didn’t turn into a good person after that [Spurs game],” he said. “I was tough to be around. I didn’t know how to deal with it. I started to live the lifestyle of a footballer, without the football side of it. It hurts to look back and speak about it.

“I had problems off the pitch. I just lost track of myself, of why I was playing football. I was always chasing things that, before that Tottenham game, I was never chasing. I was never chasing money. I was never chasing people on social media talking about me. I didn’t start football for that reason.

“It was obvious I had a problem with alcohol for a good few years. I had my parents, who never drank before, they would always advise me to stay away from alcohol, because of addiction to alcohol in my family. I didn’t listen, clearly. It got me in a lot of trouble. It just became something that I relied on.

“It felt like my buzz used to come from football, winning games and scoring goals. It got to a point where the buzz was more from drinking alcohol than going out on a football pitch. I used to look forward to the games finishing so I could have time to go and have a drink.”

Connolly admitted that he “stopped doing the things that got me into that position” following the Spurs game, saying he “stopped working hard” on his football.

‘My life was a mess’

He decided this summer to address the problem by checking himself into a treatment centre for alcohol addiction.

“I decided at the end of July that it was too much,” he said. “I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live the way I was living because it was killing people around me, to be honest. My family, my friends. Mainly, it was killing me, really. I had one of my best seasons at Hull last year but, off the pitch, my life was a mess.

“I just feel like [speaking about] this will help people, if I am being completely honest. I had everything that any young boy would dream of and I just couldn’t get hold of my addiction. It is an addiction. It was the toughest thing I ever had to do, to go in there.”

Connolly is now hoping to impress at Sunderland and rediscover his best form.

“After the last few months, it’s great to just be back playing football,” he said. “I’ve had a tough few months, so to be around a good group of people, good gaffer and good coaching staff, just in general good people, I feel refreshed.

“I feel like that young kid that came to England again. I’ve got a purpose, I don’t have the weight of everything on my shoulders again. I feel like that 15-year-old that came to Brighton and was chasing a goal. My goal again now is to get this club back to the Premier League.”

Ange Postecoglou could lose a second key member of his backroom staff at Tottenham Hotspur in fewer than six months after it emerged Ryan Mason is a leading contender to become the new manager of Anderlecht.

Mason has been an assistant to Postecoglou since the Australian’s appointment, having twice been interim manager of Spurs following the departures of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

But Mason is now in contention to land his first permanent job as a head coach at Anderlecht, the Belgian club with which Vincent Kompany started his senior coaching career.

That would result in Tottenham head coach Postecoglou losing a second important member of his staff in fewer than six months after Chris Davies left Spurs in the summer to become head coach of Birmingham City.

The departure of Davies coincided with Postecoglou appointing two new coaches, Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo, and it is unclear whether or not Mason would need to be replaced if he leaves.

Mason has made no secret of his desire to become a head coach and had previously stated his case for the permanent Tottenham job before the appointment of Postecoglou.

The 33-year-old, who made 70 appearances for Spurs before his playing career was cut short by a fractured skull sustained while he was at Hull City, would become one of the youngest head coaches in Europe if he takes over at Anderlecht.

Anderlecht sacked head coach Brian Riemer last month, following a poor start to the season and the club are currently lying fourth in the league table, five points behind Genk.

Tottenham have made an underwhelming start to the Premier League season, picking up 10 points from their first seven matches and surrendering a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton at the weekend. They have, however, started their Europa League campaign with two victories and progressed in the Carabao Cup.