Thomas Frank admits he wants Ange Postecoglou back in the Premier League – and reveals why he has forged an unlikely friendship with Nottingham Forest boss Sean Dyche

The high voltage football which electrified Tottenham for two years and terrified Nottingham Forest for 39 days has vanished from the Premier League with Ange Postecoglou .

Some of those at the City Ground might say good riddance, but its aftermath has delivered a surge in more pragmatic, low-risk football reliant upon counterattack and set pieces.

Spurs fans will always love Postecoglou though, and their head coach Thomas Frank hopes to see the Australian he replaced back on the touchline again soon.

'I don’t know him personally, but I hope he comes back,' said Frank, whose team are away at Forest on Sunday. 'He clearly loves being a coach and being in the game, so I always hope good coaches come back in.

'Ange has been in many ways a very successful Spurs manager. They had a very good first season here in the Premier League and they won their first trophy in don’t know how many years, and that’s definitely part of success.

'Also, he had that in the past at Celtic and so on. There’s a lot of circumstances about why things are good and why things are bad. I don’t think it’s my job to go into details about that.

'I don’t know him personally, but I hope he comes back,' said Thomas Frank of former Tottenham and Forest , whose team travel to the City away at Forest on Sunday

Dyche, who replaced Postecoglou, has tightened up Forest and won six of his first 10 games

'The only thing I can say is Ange is a legend and always will be. He won a massive trophy, he was a big part of that, and we all stand on the shoulders of us. I stand on the shoulders of Ange and now I’m trying to build on that.'

Postecoglou led Spurs fifth in his first season and, in his second, slumped to finish 17th but won the Europa League, the club’s first major trophy for 17 years and their first in Europe for 41 years, before he was sacked in June.

Ninety-five days later, he was appointed by Forest to replace Nuno Espirito Santo but failed to win any of his eight games in charge and was sacked after a home defeat by Chelsea, in October.

The 60-year-old was linked with a return to Celtic when Brendan Rodgers resigned and Martin O’Neill took interim charge but remains out of the game and just two months on his time in English football is beginning to feel like the last wild hurrah of an era of front-footed football.

Sean Dyche, who has replaced Postecoglou at Forest, has tightened them up and won six of his first 10 games.

'I expect a very difficult game against a team managed by a good colleague and a friend of mine,' said Frank and, on the concept of friendships between rivals, added: 'We come together, and the coaches talk about life and football. And I think it’s fair to say that we’re the only ones that really understand each other.

'We’re in the same s**t together and dealing with the same problems and the same all sorts of things so it’s nice to share experiences and thoughts with good colleagues and friends there. So, of course, when we play against each other, it's very competitive.'

Spurs, after one win in eight, have won their last two games to ease the scrutiny on Frank and his style of play, which was criticised most heavily after a 4-1 defeat Arsenal, last month.

Brennan Johnson is available to face his former club after missing Slavia Prague midweek

'We speak a lot of things,' said Frank. 'We speak about styles, players, culture, teams, players, everything. That’s part of it. All styles have their advantages and disadvantages. No doubt about that.

'No doubt Sean has proven to be extremely successful in the Premier League in many years. He showed great results at Burnley and did a top job at Everton. I’m convinced he will make Nottingham Forest successful, no doubt about that.

'I expect a tough, tough game. We are in a fine place, not an exceptional place, but in a fine place. We’ve been good away from home. Very competitive. I expect us to go there with confidence and belief. I expect us to go there with a good chance of getting three points. But I also expect it to be unbelievably difficult.'

Brennan Johnson is fit and available against his former club after missing the Champions League tie against Slavia Prague in midweek.