Inside Frank’s struggle to get players and fans onboard at Spurs
Sacked: Thomas Frank
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Sam Tabuteau
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Tottenham’s decision to sack Thomas Frank felt a long time coming.
Results and performances have been poor for a while and, with Spurs languishing in 16th in the Premier League, the club decided it was time to act.
Following a highly successful seven years at Brentford, Frank’s appointment last June was met with plenty of optimism, and he made a promising start, winning four of his opening five games in all competitions, including a superb 2-0 victory away at Manchester City.
Spurs were defensively solid, keeping four clean sheets in Frank’s first five games, and a threat on the counter, just as Brentford had been under him.
It seemed that Frank, renowned for his calm and calculated approach, was comfortable with the step up in expectation and scrutiny, but cracks began to appear as results turned towards the end of October and the start of November.
Frank leaves with Spurs 16th in the Premier League
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A seven-game run over the course of a month saw Spurs win just once as they crashed out of the Carabao Cup before being resoundingly beaten 4-1 in Frank’s first north London derby.
That period ended with Spurs fans booing goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after his mistake in a 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham. The first smatterings of boos were to be the start rather than the end of Frank’s troubles.
Frank had initially been keen to continue a long-held tradition from his time at Brentford by walking the length of the pitch to applaud each set of fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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However, as results dwindled, Frank became more withdrawn, often keeping to the halfway line and applauding before heading straight down the tunnel.
This energy transmitted to his press conferences, where despite putting on an outwardly positive public front it was clear the job was weighing on him.
Celebrated for his openness and honesty at Brentford, these traits had become weaponised under the glare of the spotlight, with misguided, but not wholly untrue, comments about the reality of Spurs' situation and their ambitions in comparison to rivals Arsenal used against him.
There was a certain self-deprecation to Frank that stood in stark contrast to the personalities of revered former managers Ange Postecoglu and Mauricio Pochettino that supporters did not take to.
Frank lasted just eight months at Spurs
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Frank’s relationship with supporters turned and the early optimism from his first few games in charge quickly disappeared.
A brutal festive period saw the pressure on Frank’s job intensify, but the new year did not bring with it fresh optimism, and, as injuries began to pile up, Spurs’ Premier League slid down the table.
An emotional return to Brentford on New Year’s Day saw a mutinous away end boo Frank relentlessly as he went to approach the travelling Spurs support.
The ignominy of being booed so vociferously when trying to take in what should have been a special reunion for Frank meant it felt like the writing was on the wall.
Once Frank had lost large swathes of the away support, his days felt numbered.
He outlived ‘cup-gate’ after he was pictured holding an Arsenal-branded coffee cup at Bournemouth. That was a game in which players and supporters clashed, with captain Cristian Romero later criticising the club’s board on social media.
Frank’s decision not to discipline his captain raised eyebrows, and when he again took to social media last week to criticise Spurs’ hierarchy after the January transfer window, it was clear Frank’s authority was waning.
The problems at Spurs are deeper than Frank, with the club now looking for their sixth permanent manager in seven years.
But, after losing support from within the squad and in the stands, the board eventually felt they had to take action as Spurs slipped to within five points of the relegation zone.
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