New Tottenham assistant manager, persuasive transfer calls - Ange Postecoglou's to-do list

Ange Postecoglou will walk back through the doors at Hotspur Way before the Tottenham players join him and his coaching staff, and there is plenty that needs to be sorted out before they return.

Those Spurs players not involved in international tournaments this summer are expected to start filtering back into the Enfield-training complex from the start of next month, and if last year is anything to go by then the coaching staff will return four to five days before them to start planning and mapping out how pre-season training sessions will work.

Postecoglou became the first Tottenham head coach in half a decade to complete a full season at the Premier League club and that gives him the foundation to start building for a second year at the helm. Here are five things we reckon can be found on the Australian's to-do list before he walks back through those Hotspur Way doors later this month.

Decide on a new assistant head coach

One of the most pressing matters on the 58-year-old's to-do list is to decide on who will replace Chris Davies as his new assistant head coach. Postecoglou lost his right-hand man to Birmingham City where the 39-year-old will take on his first job in management, trying to get the Midlands side back into the Championship at the first attempt.

Postecoglou has three different ways he can go with his decision over a replacement. One is to promote either Matt Wells or Ryan Mason to become his assistant and bring in a new coach to the staff, the second is to bring in a new experienced assistant to replace Davies and the third option is to bring in someone he has worked with before.

The latter option isn't something Postecoglou is known for, as he likes to work with new coaching staff, but he has considered it in the past.

While technically Wells and Mason could handle the workload with fewer players back at the start of pre-season, it would be beneficial for Postecoglou to get the extra staff member in through the door for those planning stages before the squad return to Enfield.

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Make some transfer calls

The English transfer window officially opens on Friday and Postecoglou told football.london last month that he wanted to get some signings through the door in time for pre-season.

"Yeah, look it is important. I think it works better Ali. Last year it certainly benefited us in having a couple of players in early to be with the whole squad," he said. "Again looking at the schedule this year with international commitments, we're not going to get them all back for the start of pre-season, but if we can get ones in early. It's easier said than done. Everyone wants to get business done early, everyone is keen to bring players in but the reality is that it takes a little bit of time.

"The good thing for us is that we know what we need to do, we've had the plan in place for a while and it's just about now going through that process."

Players being at the Euros and Copa America could play its part in delaying some deals, but Spurs' plans have been in place for months and some clubs could need the cash to come in from sales before the books close for this year as part of the profit and sustainability rules at the end of this month.

Postecoglou can't make the money side happen but his part now in it all will be to make those persuasive phone calls to players which his other signings at Tottenham have all spoken about. The most recent ones like Radu Dragusin and Lucas Bergvall turned down moves to Bayern Munich and Barcelona respectively after listening to the Australian's plans for them and the club. Spurs need more of that in the weeks ahead.

Get some rest

This is also important in the weeks before his return to Hotspur Way. Postecoglou will have been drained by the experience of managing a Premier League side. He's a man with almost three decades' worth of managerial experience to his name but the intensity and scrutiny of the English top flight is like no other.

Although there were some sticky moments, he managed to take a team that had lost its star player on the eve of the season to a higher league position with more points, more goals scored and fewer conceded than in the campaign before he arrived, so he's earned the chance to rest up before what he is expecting to be a big season with fixtures galore.

Do his punditry work

Postecoglou won't get the entire month to put his feet up though on holiday in Greece as he's been hired as a pundit for ITV to appear during their coverage of Euro 2024 after they saw off the BBC to sign up the Spurs boss.

It has not been revealed yet exactly which games or how many the Australian will appear at this month, but he should make for good television. He's got experience of punditry, having done it in his homeland for a few months early in his career when between jobs after leaving the Australian international youth set-up.

Postecoglou won't let his ITV work impact his Tottenham work, but it should give the general football fan even more of an insight into his thoughts on the game and provide a couple of fun moments with Roy Keane, Graeme Souness, Ian Wright and Gary Neville.

Make final decisions on exits

It's not just incoming players that Postecoglou will have the controlling say on, but also those who leave the club.

"We've got a plan in place that I'm really comfortable with in terms of incomings and outgoings," said the Spurs boss last month. "Whether that all comes together you just never know but having clarity about what we need to do I think helps the process."

Postecoglou will have to make the final call on a number of players in the coming weeks, with some clubs likely to hold off until after the financial fair play deadline of June 30 to make their moves but some are free to make their offers now.

The Australian will have already set out which players he wants to move on and then there are those he will have to decide whether the deal is worth taking, such as AC Milan's interest in Emerson Royal.

Postecoglou admits that his phone is rarely far from his hand even when he's on vacation because he's always thinking about football.

"It never really stops. That's the reality of it," he said. "I'll have some time off. I'll meet up with the family and then we'll go to Greece and switch off for a couple of weeks. It never stops with plenty to do. There's a lot of people working, doing the bulk of it. I've just got to be there to provide hopefully some direction."

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