Thomas Frank has backed his Tottenham predecessor Ange Postecoglou to return to the Premier League in the future despite his disastrous spell at Nottingham Forest.
Spurstravel to the City Ground today for a clash that at one point looked set to pit Frank against Postecoglou, only for the Greek-born Australian to be sacked by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis just 39 days after joining the club, without a win in his eight matches at the helm.
Instead of Postecoglou, it will be Frank'sgood friend Sean Dyche in the home dugout and a very different tactical challenge will await the Dane.
"I don’t know him personally but I hope Ange comes back. He clearly loves being a coach and being in the game so I always hope good coaches come back in," said the Tottenham boss.
Postecoglou will remembered at Spurs as the man who finally ended the north London club's 17-year trophy drought and 41-year wait for a piece of European silverware as they lifted the Europa League title in Bilbao in May by overcoming Ruben Amorim's Manchester United side.
The Australian was sacked just weeks later due to Tottenham's 17th-place finish in the Premier League as he prioritised the European run with his strongest team selections and put out weaker sides in the domestic fixtures. Postecoglou had led Spurs to a fifth-placed finish in his first season despite seeing Harry Kane sold to Bayern Munich days before the campaign began.
"Ange has been in many ways a very successful Spurs manager," said Frank. "They had a very good first season here in the Premier League and they won their first trophy in don’t know how many years, and that’s definitely part of success.
"Also he had that in the past at Celtic and so on. There’s a lot of circumstances about why things are good and why things are bad. I don’t think it’s my job to go into details about that."
The Tottenham boss admitted that not coming up against his predecessor at least saves him and his players plenty of questions about what has happened before and since his exit.
"Erm, probably yes [it's easier in that respect]," admitted the 52-year-old with a grin. "The only thing I can say is Ange is a legend and always will be. He won a massive trophy, he was a big part of that and we all stand on the shoulders of others. I stand on the shoulders of Ange and now I’m trying to build on that."
Frank has a close relationship with the man he will now face this afternoon and he and Dyche often chat about their views on the game and how it should be played.
"We speak about a lot of things, we speak about styles, players, culture, teams, players, everything. That’s part of it," said the Dane. "All styles have their advantages and disadvantages. No doubt about that.
"Sean has proven to be extremely successful in the Premier League in many years. He showed great results at Burnley and did a top job at Everton. I’m convinced he will make Nottingham Forest successful, no doubt about that."
