It might seem obvious to us about the need for a managerial change at Tottenham Hotspur, but the same apparently can’t be said for the Board of Directors. That said, the tide has seemingly turned. The Telegraph is now reporting that the Board is “debating” whether to sack Frank immediately, or give him the opportunity to manage Spurs at home against Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Miguel Delaney writes that the board are “divided” about what to do about Frank, who has a dismal record at Spurs this season and has now fully lost the fanbase after a horrific 2-1 home loss to relegation-threatened West Ham on Saturday. The Board is expected to have further meetings today that could impact what happens next.
Delaney also speaks, on background naturally, of board members who are cognizant that Frank has had a somewhat dysfunctional system in front of him since coming on, and that some members of the board want to give him every chance to turn things around. Those members are also cognizant that Spurs can still qualify for the top eight of the Champions League and fear a sudden change could endanger that.
I’ve said what I wanted to say about Thomas Frank and saying more would just be retreading over old ground, but I do find it interesting that, for all of Vinai Venkatesham’s exhortations about building a “nimble” club executive structure, yesterday’s loss and the backlash has seemingly caught them flat-footed. The fact that they don’t even have a plan to replace Frank when things continued to go sideways is, frankly, astounding. (Pun very much intended)
This might not be an accurate representation of what’s going on — I have no idea, I’m not a fly on the wall in the executive boardroom. Maybe they’ve put some feelers out, but everything I’m reading seems to suggest that they had no idea they might have to pull the plug on the Thomas Frank project earlier than expected. The idea of that is shocking to me and doesn’t endear me to… whatever it is that the Lewis Family and Venkatesham are trying to build.
Delaney notes that Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner is one name under consideration, as is former Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso, but both are said to be waiting for better options in the summer.