Under fire Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou [Will Palmer/SPP]

Premier League

EVERTON 3 (Calvert-Lewin 13, Ndiaye 30, Gray og 45+7)
TOTTENHAM 2 (Kulusevski 77, Richarlison 90+2)

HIS job is safe – for now.

That’s the news coming from N17 today (Monday) after Ange Postecoglou oversaw a disastrous away pummelling at struggling Everton.

Sunday’s 3-2 defeat – which saw Tottenham ship three first-half goals in calamitous fashion – leaves the north Londoners languishing 15th in the Premier League table and facing a genuine relegation battle.

The form guide reads five points from a possible 30, and while there have been some battling performances at times, the rot means opponents start full of confidence and relish putting Spurs under the cosh.

The game against Everton is a case in point. The Merseysiders, who sacked Sean Dyche just two weeks ago, have had a season even worse than Spurs, yet Postecoglou’s team made them look more than capable.

Goals from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Iliman Ndiaye and then an Archie Gray own-goal saw the fixture done in the first 45. A beauty from Dejan Kulusevski and a late finish by Richarlison gave the result some respectability.

But Postecoglou’s extraordinary situation with injuries means trigger happy chairman Daniel Levy has unloaded the shotgun for now – and instead is looking for January signings to help.

Spurs were unable to pick a rash of first-teamers against Everton, including Guglielmo Vicario, Destiny Udogie, Timo Werner, Rodrigo Bentancur, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Brennan Johnson, Yves Bissouma and Dominic Solanke.

Solanke injured himself in training on Saturday, and it prompted the fist tactical change Postecoglou has embarked on in his 18 months in charge.

He went for a back three and it was a disaster. A second half, which saw a forced change after Radu Dragusin went off with a head injury, was much better and Spurs nearly nicked an unlikely point after scoring twice.

But it was not enough to satisfy the travelling support, who booed loudly at full-time and taunted the players.

Speaking afterwards, Postecoglou took full responsibility. “It wasn’t great,” he said. “The majority of that is down to me. I changed the team and changed the structure.

“We had a couple of setbacks in terms of player availability and we struggled to get control of the game and allowed Everton to capitalise on that. Obviously, at half-time, we had a mountain to climb. Fair play to the players, they kept going until the end, but ultimately fell short.”

The Tottenham boss added that the real Spurs would gradually emerge as players regain fitness. He said: “If you look at the situation we’re in, it will eventually dissipate. I certainly hope and believe it will.

“We’ll give ourselves the opportunity to get consistency in performances and results. I certainly haven’t lost belief or determination to turn it around, and the players showed in the second half that they haven’t either.”

Postecoglou has certainly faced the perfect storm when it comes to sick notes. Breaking down the situation he now finds himself in further, the Australian added: “I had 11 fit players, so it was a way of trying to find a way to fit the ones we had fit into a structure. The players tried hard enough, but it didn’t work.

“It’s a pretty extreme situation. We’ve lost three players, significant players, since the last game and we’ve already got seven or eight out. We lost Dom really late yesterday in training; something innocuous, it’s just the run we’re on at the moment.

“At some point that will change, we’ll get some players back – but right now it’s just the situation we’re dealt and the responsibility lies squarely with me to try to get us out of it.”

Everton, languishing in 16th, smelt blood from the off at Goodison Park. Calvert-Lewin put his side ahead after comedy defending on 13 minutes, and then things got even worse as Dragusin allowed Ndiaye to walk the length of the Spurs half before finishing well. The Toffees’ midfielder didn’t face one challenge as he strode into the danger area.

Heung-Min Son had a penalty shout turned down, and a tame shot saved when he should have scored. But it was too little, and a miserable first half ended with an own-goal from Gray as he tried to clear a goal mouth scramble.

Postecoglou gave Richarlison 45 minutes as he returns from injury, and giving the frontline a focal point made a big difference. Kulusevski chipped Jordan Pickford to give some hope, and Richarlison scored after seeing a host of chances saved and blocked.

Tottenham even threatened an unlikely comeback as the lively Mikey Moore came on and led Everton a merry dance on the right. But it was far too little, too late.

Next up are Leicester City, in 19th, sandwiched between a Europa League tie away at Hoffenheim and the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Liverpool.

Postecoglou looks likely to be at the helm for those matches, possibly with a couple of new recruits drafted in. Lose badly in this trio of games, and the rumours over former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri or the ex-Borussia Dortmund manager, Edin Terzic, coming in will only get louder.

Everton: Pickford, O’Brien (Keane, 88), Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Gueye, Mangala, Ndiaye (Patterson, 82), Doucoure, Lindstrom (Young, 70), Calvert-Lewin
Substitutes not used: Virginia, Begovic, Harrison, Beto, Armstrong, Sherif

Tottenham: Kinsky; Porro, Dragusin (Richarlison, 46), Davies, Gray, Spence, Sarr (Moore, 73), Bergvall, Maddison, Kulusevski, Son
Substitutes not used: Austin, Reguilon, Hardy, Ajayi, Olusesi, Min-Hyeok, Lankshear