Tottenham Hotspur’s hellish week got even worse on Thursday.

Tuesday’s home defeat to Newcastle plunged them into a relegation battle, leading to Thomas Frank being sacked on Wednesday. And now, his predecessor Ange Postecoglou has cruelly described “curious” Spurs as “not a big club”.

talking Overlap’s insistence on football The Australian’s nearly 18 minutes on the podcast on the day Frank was sacked gave many people food for thought ahead of Thursday’s release.

Here’s what we learned from Tottenham’s former Europa League-winning manager…

Why Angle thinks Tottenham are ‘not a big club’

Tottenham’s wage structure has always been a major issue for fans – and that proved to be the case for Postkoglu’s two seasons in charge.

He said: “They have built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities but when you look at the spending and especially the wage structure you see they are not a big club.

“I see that because when we try to sign players, we don’t go into the market looking for those players.

“At the end of my first year, when we finished fifth, how do you go from fifth to something really challenging? Well, we had to sign players who were ready for the Premier League. But finishing fifth that year didn’t get us the Champions League. We had no money, so we ended up signing Dom Solanke – who I liked a lot – and three teenagers (Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert).

“I’ve been looking at Pedro Neto, (Bryan) Mbemo, (Antoine) Semenho and Marc Guehi because I said, if we are going to go up there from fifth (gestures higher), then the other big clubs are going to do it at that moment.

“Those three teenagers are excellent young players and I think they will be great players for Tottenham Hotspur, but they are not going to get you up from fifth to fourth and third.”

He added: “I still feel like Tottenham as a club say we’re one of the big boys but the reality is, based on my experience over the last two years, I don’t think they are.

“When Arsenal need players they spend £100m on Declan Rice. I don’t think Tottenham would do that. Maybe now, I don’t know. But not just in my history, even before me. A lot of it is they are building a stadium so finances are a challenge.

“I guess what I didn’t realize was how big an impact Champions League football has and I think that’s why there’s always this desperation, because that offers kittens. So it meant that in my first year… we almost hit the mark. We finished fifth – which would have been (Champions League qualification) any other year.

“If we had done that, maybe we wouldn’t have bought three teenagers last year. But I still don’t think we would have spent the money – the real attraction is not the transfer fee, the wages.

“When was the last time Tottenham Hotspur actually signed a player who wowed you?”

‘The club’s actions are contrary to its motto’

“Dare to be the first” is Tottenham Hotspur’s motto, but Postkoglu is adamant that is not the philosophy of those in charge, including former chairman Daniel Levy, who left the job in September after 24 years.

He said: “When you walk into Tottenham Hotspur, all you see is ‘dare to act’. It’s everywhere. But their behavior is almost the opposite of that.

“Whether you like him or not, you give Daniel the credit for bringing them a new stadium, new facilities by taking a safe route.

“I don’t think they realize that to really win you have to take some risks at some point – that’s the DNA of the club.”

The big risk for Postkoglu is sacrificing the Premier League title to end their 17-year Silver Cup drought by winning the Europa League.

Bilbao’s glory came with a 17th-place finish in the Premier League, but Postkoglu believes he has lived up to the club’s motto.

“We were never in a relegation battle last year,” he said. “We were never close. We were 13 points away from relegation.

“But towards the end of the year it was clear we were going to pursue other goals and we still scored 64 goals last year. I’m still trying to attract those players but we don’t have the ability to do that (in multiple areas).

“But I still feel this is the way forward. If we are to be the team I think Tottenham want to be, then this is the way.”

Spurs’ lowest finish since promotion to the top flight in 1978 cost Postkoglu his job – something he realized had happened months before it was confirmed in June.

He revealed: “I knew I was probably going to leave at the end of January, beginning of February. I said to the coaches, ‘Look, we’re not in a relegation (fight), we’re in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and I think we can win.’ It means more than just winning a trophy. Cup, but also the Champions League. I said, ‘But the reality is, put on the helmet because we face it every week. I will take the responsibility and I will take the responsibility.’ But if we get eliminated at any stage in the Europa League, I’m pretty sure it’s over.

“So I knew I was leaving because you could feel it from talking to people. No one was talking to me about next year’s transfer window or pre-season, so you know, that’s fine. I don’t understand.”

What exactly do Spurs want to achieve?

Tottenham Hotspur are looking for their sixth permanent manager in seven years following Frank’s sacking, just eight months after Postkoglu was sacked.

The Dane has been heavily criticized for his passive style of play, which contrasts with Postkoglu’s frenetic style.

Style was also a factor in the downfall of reigning champions Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, while Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months.

Mauricio Pochettino is arguably Tottenham’s best manager of the 21st century, but his failure to win any trophies – something Postkoglu has achieved – has led him to question Spurs’ direction.

“Tottenham are a strange club,” he said. “There was a big shift at the end of last year, not just me but Daniel (Levy) leaving. You created a whole environment of uncertainty because no matter which coach you brought in, there were no guarantees – you had world-class coaching and it wasn’t successful. But for what reason? What was the reason for such a big shift?

“So Thomas comes in, what are his goals? What are the goals of the club? At the beginning of the year, they said, compete on all fronts. Well, the club hasn’t competed on all fronts for a long time.”

“The most influential people at the club over the past 20 years are also leaving. So if you’re going to make such a big change, you have to understand there’s going to be some instability there.

“Now, does Thomas know he’s getting to that point? I don’t know. It’s a fair departure for me. Anyone who has studied the game will know that it’s not an improvement for me. I’ve built this team over the last few years to play a certain way.

“So, it’s a strange club, Tottenham, man.”

He added: “You look at the list and there’s not really a common thread in what they want to do. I do think part of Tottenham’s DNA is that they do like their team to play in a certain way.

“I think it’s fair to say, Mauricio, they’re going down that path… so when you look at those coaches, they’ve given up on a certain way of playing Mauricio and fitting the DNA. And then on top of that, well, they’re not winning anything. We need to Winners, so let’s go with Jose. Jose got them to the cup final but they sacked him a week before the cup. If you’re talking about winners, in a one-off game, I wouldn’t mind Jose being my manager at my club just for a one-off game.

“Then Antonio because he was another winner and then Antonio left and I came in and they said, ‘Well, we want football. With Antonio we were in the Champions League but we didn’t have football. So we wanted football and you’ve got football’, even though it’s in my genes that I would win too.”

“And then we just went down that path, and that’s what I mean, really curious in terms of understanding what they were trying to build.”

Ange’s Levy story explains why the “Spursy” label “100%” exists

Europa League success appears to be an important step in helping the club shed the infamous ‘Tottenham’ tag, which Postkoglu believes “100%” exists at the club.

Just three months later, the term was back on the agenda, with Tottenham blowing a late two-goal lead to lose on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in Frank’s first official game in charge.

Postkoglu claimed he would have “backed himself” to win that match in Italy if he had continued coaching.

He said: “We’ve got two trophies in the space of two months and then all of a sudden they can’t win a big game. You break that. So that’s what I mean, that’s the curiosity I want to understand why? What do you want to achieve? The biggest thing hanging over you is the Spurs tag and I’m sure you all think that by the time the final comes, Manchester United are going to win because they know how to win.”

Ahead of the 1-0 win in the Europa League final, Postkoglu boldly declared at the start of the season that he would “always win something in my second year”, a statement he revealed was part of his plan to give the club confidence they could end their trophy drought.

He said: “My whole statement about winning the second year was that I did it for the club because no one inside could say that because they were just scared. They came close a few times.”

The 60-year-old even recalled how “spurring” Levy’s behavior was on final day.

“I remember the day of the Europa final, everyone in the hotel was so calm,” he said. “It was actually one of the few times that Daniel (Levi) came in and I had a cup of coffee in the morning and he said, ‘Everyone is really relaxed’. Even him. The only thing he said to me, as a motivational point, which was weird, was he said, ‘Oh, you know what, I’ve been to seven finals and semi-finals and we’ve got it. But I know why he said that, because of this.

“So you’ve done it, and it’s there, absolutely there. And then you break it by winning something, and what do you do? You tear it all up and go do it again.”