Postecoglou in the dark as Spurs implode again

There were a host of Tottenham icons on the pitch. Martin Chivers, Steve Perryman, Pat Jennings, Ricky Villa and Ossie Ardiles to name but a handful. They formed part of the post-match guard of honour for Ange Postecoglou and his players, the club's Europa League-winning heroes, the exterminators of the trophy drought. Postecoglou had embraced each of the legends and now they turned to applaud him.

- David Hytner

It was a touching moment, one he is unlikely to forget as he luxuriated in the continued afterglow of Wednesday's victory over Manchester United - and sought to move on quickly from this latest Premier League capitulation. The question that positively screamed in the background concerned whether Daniel Levy will give Postecoglou the thumbs up or down when he carries out his review into the manager's future.

The story here went beyond a Brighton victory that was enough to lock down eighth place but not to seal Conference League qualification. It leaned into another limp Spurs showing, how they fell apart in the second half. They had partied hard after Bilbao, the release of emotion quite something. It looked to have caught up with them. This was a 22nd league defeat of the season, equal to the all-time low from 1934-35 and that was across a 42-game campaign.

Really, it was about Postecoglou and whether Spurs fans would back him after everything they have lived through; the sublime highs in Europe, the dreadful lows in the league.