Whatever lies at the heart of Tottenham’s problems the answer is not sacking Thomas Frank.
Certainly not in the next few weeks, whatever the run of results that follows Tuesday night’s niggly draw at St James’ Park.
A mid-season sacking might satisfy some of the bloodlust in the Spurs fanbase but it will not address the fundamental issues that are eroding the club’s ability to compete at the top of the Premier League – and it will not improve the club in the short term either.
Take one look at the managerial market right now and suggest an alternative that wipes the floor with Frank or an appointment you’d trust Tottenham’s hierarchy to pull off. Is it Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth, the high priest of high press whose reputation in the game is sky high?
Well, perhaps. But the Cherries’ recent form is hit and miss and The i Paper has been told categorically that Iraola would not walk out on Bournemouth in the middle of the season. Any move for him would need to wait until the end of the campaign, leaving Tottenham with an interim boss like Michael Carrick while they tread water.
Oliver Glasner is in a similar position. Crystal Palace probably can’t contain his ambition but does he jump ship before May? Perhaps Spurs are kidding themselves if they think their poisoned chalice is enough to entice a manager who will have options at the end of the season.
Marco Silva is keen and a new contract remains unsigned but Fulham sit in the same bracket that Brentford did. He has more of a track record of turning out attacking teams than Frank did but he would face the same credibility battle that the Dane does.
Do you go elite or overseas? Tottenham tried the former and got burned with Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, who both appeared to believe they were doing the club a favour by accepting gargantuan wages without ever threatening to repeat the success they had enjoyed elsewhere. If there is a standout manager waiting in the wings overseas, the current bookmakers’ odds do not reflect it.
So where does that leave you? Time to dig in and ride out the recent storm. Which is a fairly accurate reflection of Tottenham’s performance at Newcastle, which was a tough watch for long spells but illustrated a few things we hadn’t seen in the four game losing run.
Granted they created very little in a first half where they were clinging on. But Cristian Romero’s heroic late contribution hinted that there may be life left in a season that felt like it was unravelling fast.
We’re told the dressing room is unconvinced by aspects of Frank’s gameplan and they certainly lacked fluency for spells at Newcastle. But this was not the performance of a group of players that have lost faith in the manager. Instead it felt like a team low on confidence finding a way out of a desperate situation – and hinting that a corner may yet be turned.
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Frank can help himself, of course. He needs to cut out the constant rotation and at some point Spurs are going to have to attempt to play on the front foot consistently again. It is a month since they have had a shot on target in the first half – a damning stat that continued against Newcastle.
But there wasn’t a whole lot wrong with the defensive fundamentals and you haven’t always been able to say that about Tottenham sides at St James’ Park. They rode out the pressure where in previous seasons they have folded.
Frank needs time and Spurs need to give him it. The brutal truth is that they don’t have much choice.