Ange Postecoglou says Tottenham could be set for another blow with his senior assistant coach Chris Davies yet to make a decision over the vacant Swansea job.
Spurs rejected an approach from the Sky Bet Championship club to speak with Davies earlier this week, but the Welsh outfit have not given up hoping of hiring Postecoglou’s number two as Michael Duff’s replacement.
Ex-Celtic and Leicester coach Davies was on the touchline for Tottenham’s 2-1 home loss to West Ham on Thursday, which made it four defeats in five for the injury-hit hosts.
Top-four rivals Newcastle are up next for Spurs on Sunday and Postecoglou admitted Davies could still leave for Swansea after that fixture.
“I’ve had a brief discussion with Chris and he knows we’ve got a busy week, so we’ll focus on that,” Postecoglou said.
“He’s an outstanding individual; he’s done some great work with us and great work in the past. It’s not surprising to me that Swansea or other clubs would look at him.
“It’s what you want to be honest. You want good people and when you’ve got good people, they’re going to attract attention.
Ange Postecoglou could lose a key member of his staff— (Getty Images)
“From my perspective, whatever that transpires to, it’s very much in Chris’ hands.
“It’s his decision in terms of what he wants to do moving forward and obviously the club will deal with it from there.”
Davies leaving would be another unwanted disruption for Spurs, who remain without several key personnel due to injury and have not tasted victory since 27 October.
But Postecoglou added: “I’ve always been relaxed.
“I have said in the past, it is part of my role to develop staff and I am really proud of the fact a lot of the guys I’ve worked with, the reason they are not with me as assistants is because they are senior managers in their own right.
“If you are looking for things that will be disruptive, you can use that as a clutch or an excuse for anything.
“We lost Harry Kane the day before the season started so there is a disruption, we lost half the squad after one game so there is a disruption. There will always be this.
“You can’t work in a vacuum where everything is perfect and, for me, I have been relaxed in these kind of situations because I have always believed the environment will cover whatever challenges we have if we get it right.”
Spurs will need to check on captain Son Heung-min ahead of Sunday’s match after he took a blow to the back late on in the West Ham defeat.
Son Heung-min is a doubt for Tottenham’s encounter with Newcastle— (Getty Images)
“He was a bit sore after the game obviously, but the extent of it we’ll need to see how he recovers today,” Postecoglou said of Son.
“There were a couple of others with knocks but I don’t think anything else is significant.
“Obviously we got Pape (Sarr) a few minutes last night and I understand him and Richarlison came through OK but there won’t be anyone else coming back between now and the new year.”
PA
