Postecoglou: Kane's departure limited what I could achieve at Tottenham

Ange Postecoglou insisted that Harry Kane's departure from Tottenham limited what he could achieve with the club during his two-year stint in charge. 

Postecoglou arrived at Spurs in June 2023 to replace Antonio Conte, but the major bit of business the club did was allowing Kane to leave for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. 

The England captain left Spurs having scored 280 goals in 435 appearances in all competitions, more than any other player to have pulled on the famous Tottenham shirt.

But with the likes of Brennan Johnson, James Maddison, Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski joining in the summer, Postecoglou led Spurs to a fifth-placed finish in the league. 

However, it was not enough to qualify for the Champions League, with Postecoglou saying Spurs would have reached UEFA's flagship competition had Kane been in his team. 

"It's fair to say with Mauricio [Pochettino] they were going down that path," Postecoglou said on The Overlap.  

"But at the same time, people were being too dismissive of Harry's influence throughout that period. 

"He's an unbelievable player. If I had Harry, the first season we finished fifth, I'm convinced we would have finished in the Champions League spots.

"Even him leaving, you can't plug that hole. It's impossible."

Kane has since gone on to shine in the Bundesliga, netting 124 times in 130 appearances for Bayern, as well as lifting the first major trophy of his career last season. 

Indeed, since the 32-year-old left Tottenham, Son Heung-min, who is no longer at Spurs, has been the club's top scorer in that time with 28, 96 fewer than Kane has managed. 

Postecoglou's comments about Kane came after Tottenham announced that they had sacked Thomas Frank on Wednesday following a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United. 

Tottenham are winless in eight Premier League games (D4 L4), their longest run since going nine without victory from May to October 2008 under Juande Ramos.

They are 16th in the Premier League and are now just five points above the relegation zone, with a daunting clash against leaders Arsenal up next. 

Frank averaged 1.12 points-per-game as Tottenham boss in the Premier League (29 points in 26 games), the lowest rate of any Spurs manager to take charge of at least five games in the competition.

It is the fifth time a permanent boss has been sacked by Spurs in the last seven years, with Frank joining the likes of Postecoglou, Conte, Jose Mourinho and Nuno Espirito Santo. 

And Postecoglou questioned the strategy the club deployed when employing managers. 

"Mauricio played a certain way, fit the DNA, but the big thing was they'd not won anything, they needed winners, so let's go for Jose [Mourinho]," Postecoglou added. 

"He gets them to a cup final, then they sack him the week before it. If you're talking about winners, in a one-off game, I wouldn't mind Jose being my manager!

"Then it was Antonio [Conte], because he's another winner. He goes, I come in, and they wanted the football. Antonio made Champions League, but didn't have the football.

"My DNA is I'll win as well, so we go down that path. So what are they trying to build?"