Those who back this decision will point to the shocking Premier League finish (17th) and startling number of defeats (22) Tottenham suffered last season.
They will point to two years of kamikaze defending and the injuries that may or may not have occurred as a result of Ange Postecoglou’s tactics.
And they will point to home defeats by Leicester and Ipswich and needing extra-time to see off non-League Tamworth in the FA Cup.
All fair, all valid.
But none of that matters to me because I was in Bilbao. I was at the San Mames with lifelong friends to see Tottenham do something we thought they might never do again.
They won a trophy after 17 long years without one — by far the club’s longest post-War drought.
The scenes at full-time and the memories of that magical night will stay with me forever as they will every other fan.cAnd it was all thanks to Postecoglou. Sacking him 16 days after the club’s greatest night in decades feels wrong.
He did what Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte failed to do and gave a long-suffering fanbase a moment they will always cherish.
Isn’t that what football’s all about? Well, it doesn’t seem to matter at Tottenham. Trophies? Who needs them when you can make plenty of money simply by finishing in a respectable position in the Premier League.
When asked last season for his top three moments in his 24 years in charge, Daniel Levy, tellingly, did not evenmention the 2008 League Cup, the one trophy the club had won up to that point.
And now Spurs roll the dice again on yet another new manager — the 12th of the Levy era. A dark cloud now hangs over the joy, emotion and pride of winning a major trophy.
Thomas Frank, or whoever is mad enough to want a job where Champions League football is seemingly demanded on a Europa League budget, faces an uphill task to unite a divided fanbase.
But I will always believe Postecoglou deserved another crack at it. He deserved the chance to see if season three really was better than season two. And he deserved better from a club that tries to act with class but so rarely does.