BURNLEY 2-2 TOTTENHAM: Thomas Frank watched his Spurs side grab a dramatic late equaliser at Turf Moor, but that wasn't enough to satisfy the vocal away support
When Cristian Romero’s sensational header ripped past Martin Dubravka, Thomas Frank’s face barely flickered. He knows a late, late equaliser at Turf Moor is not the sort of moment a Spurs manager should be celebrating.
But, hopefully, he later showed Romero his gratitude for making the inquiry into this result slightly less painful than it could have been. Even so, Frank left the field to the sound of his own fans telling him he faces the prospect of being sacked very, very soon.
In fact, the anti-Frank sentiment from Spurs supporters had been audible from the first whistle as they frequently serenaded him with a ditty that begins...‘sideways and backwards, everywhere we go.’
And to be fair to the complainants, they seemed to have a very valid point as their side spent half an hour or so playing a version of rondo that seemed to have little attacking purpose.
But to be fair, they did step up their intent and Dubravka, the excitable Burnley keeper, was still celebrating two decent saves when a botched clearance teed up a nice finish from Micky van de Ven.
Considering Burnley had, by that point, not got within shouting distance of Vicario, the breakthrough should have been decisive but this is not a decisive Tottenham team.
And while Kyle Walker’s assist was struck with uncharacteristic finesse, there was little defensive excuse for Axel Tuanzebe to be left unchallenged for an equalising volley.
Spurs had switched off following their deserved opener, to such an extent that even a side as limited as Scott Parker’s were able to take advantage.
And Spurs’ reaction was not exactly impressive. As honest as they are, this really is a limited Burnley outfit but they sensed a laziness about the visitors’ approach.
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It is either laziness or perhaps a touch of nervousness that makes individuals reluctant to take risks, to attempt the killer pass, to take on an opponent.
Burnley were no better but it was largely unimaginative and unadventurous stuff from Spurs. And if a team is unimaginative and unadventurous, the manager simply must take the bulk of the responsibility.
The bottom line is that this is a Spurs team that is not particularly attractive to watch and has large spells of possession without ever threatening to do something creative with it.
That gives every opponent huge encouragement and it really was no surprise when Lyle Foster put the home side ahead after Vicario had only kicked the Burnley substitute’s first effort straight back to him.
There were exceptions, Djed Spence being one. And he presented Mathys Tel with a decent chance but Dubravka pulled off another good stop.
And the other shining exception was Romero. Say what you like about indiscipline but he is a captain who is committed to the cause and his leveller - from a Wilson Odobert cross - was as good a header as you will see.
It still didn’t stop the Spurs fans telling Frank that his football “is s***” and it might not keep him in a job. But Frank still owed his skipper a lot of gratitude. A defeat here really would have been embarrassing.
But judging by the reaction of the travelling supporters, it is going to take a lot more than a captain’s intervention to keep Frank at Tottenham Hotspur.