Football365

Spurs seeking a manager, is it? Trying to avoid relegation, are they?

It’s a fascinating and grim situation Spurs have fashioned for themselves here, because this is not your usual late-season managerial appointment; it’s rare for teams to find themselves in Spurs’ current nexus where short-term realities collide so violently with long-term ambitions.

Spurs have neither the luxury to just write the season off under a throwaway caretaker; they’ve waded too far into the sh*t under Thomas Frank to go that route. But nor can they make a permanent appointment with only the next few nail-biting months in their thoughts or they’re just going to end up straight back in another mess.

They’ve already blown the chance to get a new manager when they could get him some new players, so whoever comes in needs to work with what he’s got and that does in the very short term mainly mean just making everyone feel a bit less sh*t about themselves and trying to produce some football that is a) effective and b) doesn’t make everyone involved decide they prefer rugby or, heaven help us all, g*lf.

So who should it be? We’ve eliminated options that are too far-fetched because they simply won’t come to Spurs or are too unavailable, with the exception of one who would definitely come to Spurs but is too unavailable. But that’s just because he’s still third favourite to actually get the job despite it appearing to be impossible and is also the clear frequently vocalised choice of match-going fans, as well as being just the obvious appointment if it was possible to make, which it isn’t.

We’re sure you’ve guessed who that is. But apart from him, all of these options feel like they could be readily achievable if mainly being deeply flawed. And yes, these things are very much linked.

Now listen, we’re not saying this is what Spurs should do okay? They definitely shouldn’t do actually specifically this actual thing. It would be a mental thing to do. His last proper management gig was with Birmingham, which ended with them second bottom of the Championship after five straight defeats and Redknapp announcing his retirement.

Sure, he rowed back on that to sniff around the Leeds job after Jesse Marsch was deemed just too American for anyone to take seriously, but nothing came of that either. His last Premier League experience was yo-yoing QPR out of and back into the Barclays in 2013 and 2014 before walking away in 2015.

So no, Spurs should not actually entrust their Premier League and financial security to a man who turns 79 last month and who has been retired for eight years.

But – and with all due understanding of the fact that anything before the but can and will be ignored – there is a case for a Redknapp type to come in for the last 12 games of the season and do, well, pretty much what he did when he turned up and turned around the infamous two points from eight games season largely by telling a group of players who no longer believed after months spent with a mood-hoover for a coach that they were all in fact triffic top, top footballers.

I mean, it’s the same isn’t it? He would come in and tell them they’re brilliant. He would tell everyone else that he is brilliant.

What nudges Sherwood above dear old ‘Arry is most obviously that he is significantly younger, but also that there is a win-win element to this: he would either keep Spurs up, which is good news for Spurs, or in relegating them destroy that second-to-none win percentage of which he is so enormously proud.

But we remain here very obviously in the realm of the terrible idea that obviously shouldn’t happen and more importantly definitely won’t. We don’t think.

Spurs are many things as a football club, but subtle is rarely one of them. One of the many ways they sought to support and help their man Thomas Frank while not giving him any more actual footballers was to appoint Heitinga as his assistant.

It’s a wonderfully Spursy move, because it was either entirely guileless and obvious succession planning, which is bad, or they genuinely are now a sufficiently clown-car operation that they really were just trying to help and didn’t realise how it would obviously look if they appointed an assistant who had only recently left title-winning Liverpool because he didn’t want to be an assistant any more, trying his luck with disastrous consequences as head coach of Ajax.

In spectacularly Spursy fashion they’ve ended up positioning an obvious interim who was both obviously overqualified for the assistant role yet alarmingly underqualified for even a temporary head coach gig.

Heitinga brings a tiny bit of lots of beneficial qualities, but surely not quite enough of any of them given the gravity of the situation.

He Knows The Club a little bit. He has been head coach of a bampot big club a little bit. If Spurs were in a ‘season’s a write-off, let’s bin the manager and muddle through to summer as best we can’ scenario, Heitinga would be fine.

But the relegation threat is too immediate, too real and too unthinkable a prospect. There is no really good option for Spurs here, but promoting anyone connected – however tenuously – to the despised Frank regime won’t have the galvanising effect an outside appointment could and there just isn’t enough convincingly plausible upside to an unknown quantity like Heitinga to make this worthwhile.

Gets points for being funny. And would be even funnier after he popped along for a nice chat with Gary Neville and the lads to sh*t all over Spurs in full Conte style. But, we suspect, probably does make this even more of a non-starter than it already was.

Available. Would keep them up. Would wind them up. Would definitely not be seen wandering around holding a tiny little coffee cup with the Arsenal badge on it.

Here we arrive at a vaguely plausible version of the Redknapp-Sherwood-type short-term vibes appointment. One that feels a bit more Michael Carrick than those, in that no, Keane doesn’t have a CV that screams suitability for this job but nor is it entirely empty with all massive recent employment gaps.

He has trod an interesting path through the early days of his coaching career, winning league titles in both Israel and Hungary as well as working in India and England and with the Ireland national team.

Keane famously has many boyhood clubs, but it is Spurs with whom he is most indelibly linked after playing over 300 games for the club across two spells,

There would not quite be the uniting energy that we suspect only really Poch can bring, with the doubts about Keane’s untested credentials at this level entirely valid, but there would be a groundswell of support. Spurs fans would at the very least all want one of their favourite sons to succeed, and there would definitely be a significant lift in the mood.

Into the realm of feasible permanent appointments, with one Italian source putting the former Chelsea boss in ‘pole position’ while claiming this to be a ‘surprise’ which does rather suggest they are not particularly au fait with Tottenham’s managerial history over the last 15 years or so.

Even with the last couple of appointments having a shocking lack of Chelsea in their history, it is still more common to have it be there than not.

Maresca is available, which does immediately elevate him to the realms of the possible. But is he any good? We’re not actually sure he’s any good. It’s just very hard to tell with anyone at Chelsea. Or Spurs, for that matter.

Very possible he is quite good, though. And definitely better than some of the other names a desperate football club will be desperately scrambling around after.

But it does feel like, whether permanent or interim, this appointment needs vibes and a unifying feel-good energy that we don’t think Maresca quite delivers.

More to the point, the Man City job might be his in a few months and it would seem extremely foolish on his part to jump at the Spurs ‘opportunity’ and scupper that one. And we’re sure Spurs don’t want that on their conscience either.

Now there’s the former Chelsea manager you want to bring in. If he wasn’t in charge of Trump FC for the upcoming Trump World Cup it would probably have already happened. The Spurs fans have been singing his name for months, and there has always been a sense of unfinished business here for both club and manager.

We’re not sure either can really move on until they’ve scratched that itch.

The positives are obvious. Instantly has the fans onside, bringing everyone together and instantly lifting the poisonous fog that hovers over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on every matchday. Proven record of working with young talent and improving it out of sight. Knows the club to an almost pathological degree.

Problem is, the timing doesn’t work at all. Waiting until summer under an interim now represents a staggering gamble with Tottenham’s whole future while the threat of relegation is so real.

Unless Pochettino is going to tell Trump to shove his peace prize up his arse, this just doesn’t seem like a goer. And yes, that would be magnificent and ideal in just so, so many ways. But it’s also not going to happen.

Spurs (or the fans at least) want Poch, and Poch wants Spurs. But Spurs need him now and they can’t have him now. Poch wants it in the summer, and that’s too late.

It’s just too big a gamble.

It’s not ideal, but what working through this list should have told you by now, if events of the last eight months hadn’t already done so, is that Spurs are not operating in the realm of the ideal. They are so very far beyond the search for ideal solutions.

What Spurs can’t do is allow perfect to be the enemy of the good. And De Zerbi is, for many reasons, a good solution. Probably the best one that exists among halfway realistic options.

Once you establish that going to any kind of rookie or callow interim option is too risky at this point, you’re left with a permanent appointment. And that permanent appointment needs to offer two things. First, the prospect of pretty quickly improving the current sh*tshow and not getting actually relegated. Second, the further prospect of having a realistic chance of being not sh*t next season as well.

We’d argue that in De Zerbi you get that. He knows the league. He will at least attempt to play something approaching watchable and effective association football. He’s not perhaps the vibesy arm-round-the-shoulder sort, but he’s not Thomas Frank either. Not yet at least.

He is available, realistic, achievable, and can if he’s up for it be in position quickly. He is also the one name among the currently realistic and available candidates you can imagine making his way to a shortlist in the summer.

If he’s in position quickly, and accept as we must that the game against Arsenal in 10 days’ time is largely a write-off anyway, then he could have two clear weeks working with the small handful of players available to him before the real business of Operation Avoid Disaster begins in earnest at Fulham on the first day of next month.

He might not be the best candidate in several categories, but across all of Spurs’ requirements and needs in the short and medium-term he may be the optimal one.

There’s also a good chance that, whatever happens, he flounces off in some huff or other at the end of next season, freeing Spurs up to then appoint whoever they want anyway.

According to reports, a ‘surprise’ manager is in ‘pole position’ to be Tottenham Hotspur’s next permanent head coach after Thomas Frank.

Spurs are currently searching for a new manager as they opted to part ways with Frank on Wednesday morning.

The former Brentford boss was tasked with steadying the ship following his move last summer, but Tottenham’s performances under him were arguably worse than during Ange Postecoglou’s chaotic reign.

Spurs are proven to be a difficult club to manage and they have been dogged by injuries this season, but Frank failed to click with their supporters over his uninspiring tactical approach and small-time mentality.

The final straw came on Tuesday night, with the 2-1 loss to Newcastle extending Tottenham’s winless run in the Premier League to eight games. They are only five points clear of the relegation zone with 12 games remaining.

READ: Ange Postecoglou quotes twisted to create Thomas Frank beef

With Spurs out of the FA Cup, they do not have a game until their Premier League clash against Arsenal on February 22, but it has been reported that they want to make an appointment before next week.

There have been conflicting reports on whether Spurs will appoint a permanent or interim replacement, and they are already linked with several potential replacements.

It has been suggested that beloved former boss Mauricio Pochettino is a contender, but they would have to wait until the summer to secure his return as he is set to lead the United States at this summer’s World Cup.

Alternatives such as Roberto De Zerbi and Robbie Keane have been mentioned, but Sportitalia claims former Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca is the ‘surprise’ manager on ‘pole position’ to join Spurs.

The north London side are said to be favouring Maresca because they want him ‘to revitalise a struggling Tottenham, bring stability to the project, and maximise the squad’s potential’.

Still, Spurs could easily miss out on Maresca as he is also being linked with Manchester City as Pep Guardiola’s future appears uncertain.

Regarding Pochettino, Football Insider are reporting that his ‘private stance’ on returning to Spurs is that he is ‘keen’.

The report explains: ‘Mauricio Pochettino is keen on returning to Tottenham as their new manager, sources have told Football Insider.

‘The 53-year-old United States manager has privately made it clear he would jump at the chance to manage his old club for a second time.’

And Harry Redknapp thinks Pochettino would be a “good shout” for Spurs.

“I like Pochettino. I have a lot of time for him. He is popular at the club. He would be a good shout for me,” Redknapp said.

“A lot can happen from now until the end of the season. Tottenham have to make sure they stay in the Premier League and then they will attract the big names. The end of the season is a long way off.”

Ange Postecoglou on Spurs was already fascinating; there really was no need to claim he said the Dane DESERVED sack.

Somebody always has to go too far. Except Richard Keys, who entirely missed the boat.

Not fair game as Ange comments entirely twisted

Ange Postecoglou was very interesting on The Overlap as he appeared on the same day the sacking of Thomas Frank was announced by Tottenham. Glorious timing.

But very interesting is clearly not good enough for some; as Ma Mediawatch always said…somebody always has to take it too far.

TO BE FRANK…Postecoglou tells axed Tottenham boss he DESERVED Spurs sacking and dubs north London club ‘baffling’

Did he though? TO BE FRANK…did he f***.

This is what he did say (though you wouldn’t know it from that Mirror headline):

“Having been in that position now twice in the last six months, it’s tough. You know that he can’t be the only issue at the club and that’s probably every manager.

“But, ultimately that’s what we get judged on. But it goes back to me, it’s a curious club Tottenham. It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year, not just with me but with Daniel (Levy) leaving as well.”

DESERVED? Or just ‘well, ever manager gets ultimately judged on results’? Rather more the latter.

He doesn’t even say that Spurs are a ‘baffling’ club, despite the quote marks around the word ‘baffling’ that would absolutely suggest (nay, claim) he did.

The Sun – of course – shift further from the truth with this headline:

‘It’s a fair departure’ – Ange Postecoglou gives verdict on Tottenham sacking Thomas Frank and says ‘I built that squad’

There’s no other way to read that headline but to think that Postecoglou has said that sacking Frank was a ‘fair departure’. That’s clearly what you are supposed to infer.

And yet that Postecoglou quote – “it’s a fair departure” – has been entirely taken out of context. What he meant that Frank’s style is a ‘fair departure’ from his own and did not suit the squad. Read here:

“It’s a fair departure from me, anyone who studies the game, it wasn’t like it was a progression from me. I built that sort of squad for want of a better word to play a certain way for a number of years and he’s sort of coming in and like we said, it’s a curious club Tottenham.”

These are belting quotes, mate; there really was no need to pretend he said something he absolutely did not.

Over at football.london, they land here:

Tottenham’s five-word message that Ange Postecoglou has brutally slammed

A message? Or a motto? When did ‘message’ become such a powerful headline tool? Around the time that words lost all meaning?

And he didn’t even ‘brutally slam’ that message/motto. Again, let’s go through the tiresome nonsense of what he actually said:

“When you walk into Tottenham, what you see everywhere is ‘To Dare Is To Do’ (the club motto), and yet their actions are almost the antithesis of that. I think they didn’t realise that, to actually win, you’ve got to take some risks.”

A brutal slam of a ‘five-word message’ or self-serving criticism of the apparent lack of faith in a club motto? You decide. No actually, we’ll decide: it’s poppycock.

READ: How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

Very, very late to the party

Yes, you have probably already seen it but…

Mediawatch for one was not remotely surprised…roughly five hours after he was sacked.

Murphy’s Law

The twin trends for a) using X as a source of ‘news’ and b) searching desperately for ‘gotcha’ moments, leads us here on The Sun:

‘Aged well Danny’ – Match of the Day pundit’s advice on Sean Dyche comes straight back to haunt him as Forest boss axed

Now Mediawatch is not one of Danny Murphy’s biggest fans but actually, Murphy’s advice on Sean Dyche did the opposite of ‘coming straight back to haunt him’ on Wednesday night.

Did he say that Dyche would not be sacked? Did he balls. This is what he said:

“I think for this battle at the bottom you couldn’t have a better manager than him.

“He’s been there and done it, he stays calm.

“I think they would be crazy to get rid of him but it doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.

“I don’t think there’s a manager you could bring in that is as capable as he is.”

He’s right. On every single count. It did absolutely age well and it will age even better if Forest are relegated at the end of the season.

Picking up the baton were GB News, who wrote that Murphy ‘was left red-faced’ and was ‘brutally mocked’ by fans.

Former boss Ange Postecoglou has hit out at Tottenham Hotspur following their decision to sack Thomas Frank, with Spurs “not a big club”.

Postecoglou has made a well-timed appearance on The Overlap, which followed the announcement of Frank‘s exit from the north London club.

The former Celtic and Nottingham Forest boss exited Spurs at the end of last season, with their dire Premier League form deemed unacceptable despite their Europa League triumph.

Frank was appointed to steady the ship, but they were arguably even worse during his tenure. He departed with them only five points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.

Now, Postecoglou has spoken on why he thinks Spurs are “not a big club”, revealing four signings he wants to make.

“It is curious in terms of understanding what are they trying to build. They have an unbelievable stadium and training facilities, but when you look at their expenditure and wages structure, they are not a big club,” Postecoglou said on The Overlap.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager now Thomas Frank is sacked? ‘Arry and Ange back in top 10

“I saw that because when we tried to sign players, we were not in the market for those players. There are certain players… at the end of my first year when we finished fifth, we had to sign Premier League ready players to go from fifth to challenging.

“But we didn’t qualify for the Champions League so we ended up signing Dominic Solanke, who I really liked, and three teenagers.

“I was looking at Pedro Neto, Bryan Mbeumo, Antoine Semenyo, Marc Guehi… because that is what other clubs would do in that moment. Three teenagers aren’t going to get you there.

“When you walk into Tottenham, you see ‘To Dare Is To Do’ everywhere. But their actions are almost the antithesis of that. To actually win, you have got to take some risks at some point.

“I felt that Tottenham, as a club, say they’re one of the big boys. And the reality is I don’t think they are in terms of my experience. When Arsenal need players, they will spend £100million on Declan Rice. I don’t see Tottenham doing that. When was the last time Tottenham signed someone and you went, ‘Wow’?”

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

* Spurs ‘pushed’ to appoint ex-PL manager ‘in November’ as ‘most obvious’ Frank replacement named

* A ‘transitional season’ isn’t just euphemistic cover for ‘sh*t season’, Thomas

* How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

Postecoglou has also offered his thoughts on Frank’s exit, with the former Brentford boss not the “only issue at the club”.

“It’s tough. You know he can’t be the only issue at the club. It’s a curious club, Tottenham. It’s made a major pivot at the end of last year. Not just with me, but with Daniel leaving as well. And you have created this environment of uncertainty. For what reason?” Postecoglou added.

“Thomas is walking in… what’s his objective? What’s the club’s objective? At the start of the year they said they wanted to compete on all front, well the club hasn’t competed on all fronts for a very long time.

“Also the most influential person at the club for the last 20 years is also going, so if you’re going to do such a major pivot, you’ve got to understand that there is going to be some instability there. Did Thomas know he was walking into that? It’s a curious club.

“You look at the list [of managers] and there isn’t really a common thread of what they’re trying to do. Tottenham’s DNA is they do like their team to play a certain way.

“With Mauricio [Pochettino] they were going down that path. At the same time, people have been too dismissive of Harry Kane’s influence in that period. Even him leaving, you can’t plug that hole.

“They have gone from Mauricio… then they wanted winners, went for Jose, got to a cup final and sacked him. Then it was Antonio. Then I come in and they want the football. Even though my DNA is that I win as well. Then we go down that path.”

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur have a ‘chosen replacement’ for Thomas Frank after they were ‘pushed’ to land Roberto De Zerbi ‘in November’.

Earlier this week, Spurs finally decided to part ways with Frank, who departed the club following their 2-1 loss against Newcastle United on Tuesday night.

Frank was appointed to steady the ship following Ange Postecoglou’s chaotic reign, but he quickly proved to be a poor appointment.

The former Brentford boss did not click with Tottenham’s supporters due to his small-time mentality and uninspiring playing style.

He has been sacked following an eight-game winless run in the Premier League, with the north London outfit placed 16th in the table and only five points above the relegation zone.

Frank could easily have been sacked on several occasions over the past few months, and he was fortunate to last as long as he did.

READ: How Arsenal fan Frank ‘baffled’ Spurs players, gave one star ‘preferential treatment’ and almost left in November

Now, a report from journalist Sami Mokbel from BBC Sport claims Spurs ‘considered replacing Frank in November’ as ‘concerns have been lingering for months’.

The report claims: ‘One leading executive recommended the Dane should be sacked after the 2-1 home defeat by Fulham on 29 November – Tottenham’s third-straight loss after reversals to Arsenal and PSG.

‘Former Brighton head coach Roberto de Zerbi – who was managing Marseille at the time – was also pushed as a potential replacement. But that recommendation was rejected with the club continuing to put their faith in Frank.’

Looking ahead, Spurs are said to be ‘weighing up a short-term appointment’, with current coach John Heitinga being ‘one option’ until the summer.

Beyond this season, it is noted that the ‘most obvious development will be the potential availability of Mauricio Pochettino after the World Cup’, while De Zerbi’s sudden availability following his exit from Marseille ‘may interest Spurs’.

De Zerbi is ‘viewed as someone who can hit the ground running’, but he ‘can be combustible’.

Regardless, ‘sources are indicating Tottenham want an appointment in place by the time the players arrive back on Monday after a pre-planned five-day break’.

A report from Spanish outlet Fichajes claims Pochettino is their long-term ‘chosen replacement’ for Frank.

The report claims: ‘Tottenham will opt for an interim manager until the end of the season to wait for the World Cup to finish.

‘The board is working against the clock to finalise the agreement with Mauricio Pochettino and provide the team with a winning structure.’

So farewell, then, Thomas Frank. It never was a transitional season. If Tottenham Hotspur is a tanker to be slowly turned around, you were sinking it.

Regular readers of Mediawatch on these pages will know that one of the things that bugs Football365ers is that words used to mean something and increasingly often that is no longer the case. ‘Transitional season’ is one that grinds our gears more than most.

Sure, you could argue that Frank was sacked because of the terrible results and performances (and a whole heap of other things) that were, somehow, even worse. But his real crime in our eyes was more of a moral failure. An unwillingness or inability to accept the reality, and an insistence on seeing progress where none existed. There was never one single shred of evidence to support his delusions.

Now a transitional season is absolutely a real thing that exists. They can be hard, they can be difficult, they can be painful. They can, ultimately, be entirely unsuccessful. It’s perfectly possible to have a transitional season that never leads to the promised future. It might even be more common than the successful transitional season.

What a transitional season isn’t, though, is just a convenient euphemism and mask for ‘sh*t season’. Or at least, it shouldn’t be.

Manchester City in 2016/17, that was a transitional season. Pep Guardiola’s first in English football was at times a struggle for him. There was a lot of dismissive chatter about his fancy-pants passing game and him saying stuff about not really being interested in tackles and such.

These things are all relative, of course. City weren’t as good as they had been and nowhere near as good as they would become, but their bed was still at least partially un-shat. They still won 23 league games and lost only six. They reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the knockout stages of the Champions League. They scored 80 Premier League goals that season which is still, you know, loads.

But they trundled in a distant third in the league. Eight points behind second-placed Spurs(!) and 15 behind champions Chelsea.

It wasn’t always pretty, it wasn’t always clear that what Guardiola was trying would go on to work in the kind of spectacular six-league-titles-in-the-next-seven-years way in which it did. But it was clear a transition was taking place and that if it did work it would be quite something.

City were playing differently, and – this is the important bit – doing so in a way that if it could be harnessed and finessed and moulded to the unique demands of Our League had the highest imaginable ceiling. It was, in short, worth finding out.

That’s a transitional season. City and Guardiola are even back in transitional season territory now, albeit less convincingly, as he builds a new team with another slightly different approach that actually moves back towards something more traditionally ‘English football’ in style. Might work, might not, but you can see the moving parts.

Mikel Arteta did about three transitional seasons at Arsenal before getting them to where he wanted to be. There were multiple points along that journey where faith could justifiably have been lost, but even if you didn’t think it was going to work you could see a plan.

Arteta’s pleas to ‘trust the process’ had an obvious self-serving side to them but they weren’t empty bluster either.

Fans will, to a greater or lesser extent, accept that these things happen and are even a necessary part of the game as long as they can see some evidence that it a transition to something better is at least possibly happening. If they can see, even if only sporadically and not necessarily in regular results, a team changing before their eyes from one thing to another, better one.

But it isn’t just a get out of jail free card. You can’t just say ‘transitional season’ because you’re sh*t.

And yes, we’re talking about Thomas Frank. Again.

“I knew it would be a big challenge, that it would be a transitional season and that we are building something that I am convinced will be very good in the future. I know there are a few things to improve, but I am very aware of what they are.”

But the key difference is that there is simply no evidence for this very good future during a worsening present. No straw to clutch that the ‘few things’ were improving. If anything, Frank’s season became less transitional. Very early in the season, in the Super Cup against PSG for instance, or Man City away, it was possible to imagine this could actually be a transitional season in which Spurs became a more solid, less ridiculous football team.

But they now concede two stupid goals every single game and are getting worse and worse at the time when, in a traditional transitional season, there should be signs of things coming together rather than falling apart.

Frank has deployed the ‘transitional season’ trope as disingenuous cover, aided and abetted by a pliant press pack who much prefer the quiet, polite bullsh*t of the Dane to the spiky, confrontational bullsh*t of Ange Postecoglou. After the fatal defeat to Newcastle left Spurs five points clear of the relegation zone he took it to extremes that amount to gaslighting.

“I understand the fans’ frustration. We are in a position we don’t want to be in. It’s also a situation the club has been in for almost two years, at the end of last season as well.”

Let’s call that what it is: a lie.

Spurs were never in this situation last season. Not to this existential threat level. They were very, very bad in the league, sure, but the closest their flirtation with the bottom three came was a gap of eight points, at which point – this exact point of the season in fact – they won their next three games in a row. Frank should remember, really, because one of those three wins was a 2-0 victory over his Brentford.

When Spurs abandoned their hugely disappointing Premier League campaign at this time last season they had 33 points from 26 games (Frank’s Spurs have 29) but more importantly a 16-point chasm between them and the bottom three. They were completely safe when they entirely logically chose to prioritise the Europa League.

He was brought in to ensure even that brief flirtation with relegation and humorous but largely irrelevant finishing position was a horror that would never be repeated. Instead he transitioned Spurs into a team fighting – and right now losing, very badly – a genuine relegation battle.

You can’t call it a transitional season when you’re making bad things even worse.

The reasons Spurs finally felt ‘forced’ to sack Thomas Frank have been revealed, from his Arsenal obsession to a meeting which ‘shocked’ new signings.

Frank has finally gone after a few miserable months in north London – not that it will solve all the issues which continue to plague Spurs.

With help from a great many journalists with contacts in and around the Spurs cheese room, here are the best bits of the inside stories of Frank’s sacking.

A rocky relationship with the players

The lack of public reaction from the Spurs dressing room to Frank’s exit feels instructive, suggesting a disconnect between a manager and his squad.

Pedro Porro and Joao Palhinha had taken to social media to thank the Dane within the first 24 or so hours of his sacking; Cristian Romero is yet to post on Instagram about how ‘disgraceful’ it all is.

The well-connected Alasdair Gold of Football.London says Frank ultimately ‘lost the confidence of the dressing room’ and ‘put his faith in a small core leadership group of players’, with the rest potentially going ‘days without getting barely a word from him on an individual basis’.

The Daily Telegraph’s Matt Law explains that Frank encountered issues implementing the same “no d***heads” policy which underpinned his success at Brentford.

‘The cultural problems he encountered were not confined to his players, with issues existing and presenting themselves in other areas of the club,’ he rather cryptically writes.

It is added that ‘time-keeping was an issue for players, young and old, under Frank’. One specific case is cited: that of Yves Bissouma, dropped from the Super Cup squad against PSG in August ‘following repeated incidents’.

Bissouma was then largely ostracised (and injured) before suddenly returning (in an injury crisis) for the fateful home defeat to West Ham in January. He has played a part in the last five Premier League games, which Law points to as one of many cases of Frank ‘undermining his own authority’.

But Sami Mokbel of BBC Sport reports that Frank ‘put his players before his own agendas,’ which ‘certain members of the squad certainly appreciated’.

However, many ‘found Frank indecisive’ from early on, especially as ‘they were used to’ Ange Postecoglou’s ‘big personality’.

Mate.

The Romero problem

A defeat to Manchester United in which he was sent off after half an hour having publicly chastised the club for a lack of January transfer window reinforcements which left what few fit and available players who remained painfully exposed, was a fitting final game under Frank for captain Romero.

He was the root of another issue which plagued Frank.

Gold reveals a suggestion ‘inside the club that he will get away with things that others might not’, with Mokbel corroborating that perceived ‘preferential treatment’.

Law goes further, disclosing a belief in some quarters that Romero ‘is granted privileges not afforded to others’ and ‘is not somebody who sets standards with the way he behaves’.

Mokbel outright claims Romero was ‘more difficult to manage around the club’s training centre’ than others.

There’s your character reference, Manchester United.

Why did Frank have to go now?

Frank struggled to connect with the players or the fans – most of the inside stories refer to his opening press conference quip of “one thing is 100% sure, we will lose football matches” as indicative of his PR problems – couldn’t handle his captain properly and had won one of his final 11 Premier League games to send Spurs spiralling down to 16th and into a genuine relegation fight.

So why make the call now when things have been miserable for some time?

Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports sums the decision up succinctly: “The reason they’ve decided to do it now is they’ve got a small window of opportunity until their next game.”

The 12 days between Frank’s demise and Spurs’ next game, a home north London derby, is described as “a small window of opportunity”. Now Harry Redknapp or Jurgen Klinsmann just need to crash through it.

That “tiny bit of breathing space” is all Spurs needed to act when relegation became an awkward, unavoidable and active situation for the hierarchy to step in on.

Solhekol reports that Spurs risk ‘losing hundreds of millions of pounds’ if they go down, which was eventually enough to trigger his departure.

Kat Lucas, Football News Editor for The i Paper, corroborates those growing concerns over ‘the financial implications’ of dropping into the Championship, which ‘forced a decision’.

But there is said to be ‘some sympathy’ for Frank within the club based on the injuries he has had to deal with in a ‘transitional season’.

When else could Frank have been sacked?

An 11th defeat of the Premier League season, and seventh at home, triggered the latest bout of “sacked in the morning” chants from a fanbase which finally got it right.

The Newcastle loss was the final straw, but both Gold and the Daily Mail’s Matt Barlow refer to the goalless Brentford draw as ‘the beginning of the end’.

It did underline the fundamental problems in Frank’s appointment.

But he lasted well over a month in the job after that, despite a couple of other reign-defining flashpoints.

Mokbel actually writes that ‘one leading executive recommended the Dane should be sacked after the 2-1 home defeat by Fulham on 29 November’, after which Frank hit out at Spurs fans who booed Guglielmo Vicario for his role in what turned out to be the winning goal.

Earlier that month, Spurs fell to the most uninspired defeat imaginable against Chelsea.

The game is perhaps best remembered for its aftermath, when both Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence ignored Frank’s request for them to applaud the home supporters.

But some players were ‘shocked’ during a subsequent team meeting, according to Law:

‘As exclusively reported by Telegraph Sport, players discussed their relationship with the fans in a team meeting after the defeat. It can now be revealed that players who had arrived in the summer were shocked to hear longer serving players articulate their strong feelings on what they believed was a long-standing disconnect.’

But Frank remained, sustained largely by strong Champions League performances and results, until mid-February.

A point of no return was seemingly reached with the home loss against West Ham on January 17.

Law says ‘the vehemence of the chanting against Frank’ then ‘forced Tottenham’s Lewis family owners and Vinai Venkatesham to consider their options’.

Tom Allnut of The Times says that game ‘raised serious concerns about the team’s performances and Frank’s relationship with the fans’. But a managerial change was deemed sub-optimal due to a lack of feasible replacements.

Lucas endorses the belief that ‘contingency plans were first made’ after the West Ham game, which marked ‘the first indication that it had been accepted the appointment had not worked out’.

Both Lucas and Mokbel point to how senior managing director Vivienne Lewis was ‘confronted’ by ‘an irate fan’ near the hospitality section after that match.

It was then, according to Mokbel, when ‘the foundations of Tottenham’s faith in Frank were irreparably shaken’.

The gap to West Ham was ten points and three teams for Spurs then. Four games later, only five points and managerless Nottingham Forest are between them.

Trouble with Tommy’s tactics

There might be some surprise to learn that Frank deployed actual tactics at Tottenham, so disjointed were the majority of performances under him.

Lucas says ‘players were left baffled’ by his ideas towards the end, ‘did not always understand what they were being asked to do’ and ‘were left confused by a negative approach in what they perceived as winnable games’.

Tom Barclay of The Sun feels Frank developed a ‘habit of abandoning a planned approach, sometimes just before matches and at other times early on in game,’ which understandably led to the squad becoming ‘confused’.

Mokbel reports on the ‘concerns’ that Frank ‘was not assertive enough in matches and was too focused on adapting to the opposition rather than imposing Spurs’ own strengths’.

That is echoed by Law, who quotes one source as saying: “Most of the work was on what to do out of possession and how to nullify the opposition, rather than working on how they could hurt opponents.”

Frank had been small-timing his big job for months and it showed.

Five transfers which haunted Spurs

Spurs were arguably the biggest losers of the January transfer window, during which they added Conor Gallagher and Souza but ultimately emerged with a weaker hand than they went in with.

Barlow says the early sale of Europa League hero Brennan Johnson to Crystal Palace ‘had left its mark on players’.

‘Those who had been told when signing or in contract talks that the new post-Levy regime were serious about investing saw the first window start with a significant sale,’ he writes.

But the transfer problems for Frank started in the summer.

Jay Harris of The Athletic details how a number of targets slipped away due to reasons largely out of Frank’s control.

‘The uncertainty over whether they would be competing in the Champions League this season or have no European football at all impacted their ability to act swiftly in the summer transfer market,’ he claims, adding: ‘Taking two weeks before deciding to sack Postecoglou only truncated this.’

That feels like a far bigger problem, considering Manchester United, the team Spurs beat in the Europa League final to condemn to a season out of continental competition altogether, snared Frank’s first target before he could even act.

‘Frank wanted to sign Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford but, by the time he had been appointed in mid-June, Mbeumo had decided he wanted to join Manchester United,’ Harris says.

Antoine Semenyo was considered by Spurs ‘baulked at the £70m asking price’ before moving on to Mohammed Kudus instead.

Then came the Morgan Gibbs-White fiasco, before Spurs ‘mishandled negotiations’ over Eberechi Eze, who eventually joined Arsenal after a good old-fashioned hijacking.

The Arsenal boys, we’re on a bender, Thomas Frank is a silver member

Arsenal supporters have certainly enjoyed the extent to which the actual Spurs manager has gone to painstaking lengths to apparently reveal his inner Gooner.

The Telegraph’s Law says it became a genuine issue for Frank behind the scenes.

The Dane ‘is said to have regularly referenced the strengths’ of Arsenal, ‘much to the frustration of some players’.

Some were ‘surprised by his reverence to the Premier League leaders’ and the squad was ‘just as dismayed as supporters’ to see him holding an Arsenal-branded coffee cup before the defeat to Bournemouth in early January.

David Hytner of The Guardian describes Frank’s seeming obsession as ‘a complex’, while The Sun’s Barclay calls it ‘a strange, almost involuntary habit of bringing up Spurs’ arch-rivals in glowing terms’.

Law quotes one source thus:

“He was constantly going on to the players about Arsenal and they quickly got sick of it. Even before and after the game at the Emirates, he was telling them how good Arsenal were. The feeling among some was very much ‘just shut up about Arsenal’.”

It is unknown whether Frank will be in the away end when his favourite team visit Spurs on February 22.

Who will Spurs turn to next?

The candidates to replace Frank are sensationally eclectic, ranging from Roberto De Zerbi to John Heitinga, Robbie Keane and Tim Sherwood.

But Graeme Bailey of TEAMtalk presents the nuclear option:

‘In a surprising development, we can reveal that Sir Gareth Southgate has admirers within the Spurs structure. Some senior figures believe the former England manager’s leadership, calmness and player‑management skills could steady a fractious dressing room.’

Yes please. Although Sean Dyche is now available too.

Tottenham have been dealt a significant blow in their bid to source a replacement for Thomas Frank as a top target has already ‘said no’ as he ‘has his sights set on higher things’.

Frank was sacked on Wednesday after Spurs’ 2-1 defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday night, with a report claiming CEO Vinai Venkatesham made the decision at half-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Reports have since detailed what was going on behind the scenes, including how he would not “shut up about Arsenal”.

There have already been rumours that Roberto De Zerbi could be one of the candidates to replace Frank after the Italian was sacked by Marseille on Tuesday.

And CBS Sports journalist Ben Jacobs has revealed Mauricio Pochettino, De Zerbi and Andoni Iraola as potential long-term candidates, while Frank’s assistant John Heitinga has been rumoured as a potential interim option.

Giving an update after Frank’s sacking on Wednesday, Jacobs wrote on X: ‘More on Thomas Frank’s Spurs sacking. Club tried to give Frank time, but the situation became untenable. Decision made by Spurs’ leadership team, including Vinai Venkatesham and Johan Lange, and recommended to the board.

‘Nick Beucher also involved and active on behalf of the Lewis family, even though he doesn’t sit on the board. Spurs have various contingency plans in place, including potential interim options.

‘Mauricio Pochettino is a candidate for the permanent vacancy, but is not available until after the World Cup. Roberto De Zerbi and Andoni Iroala both appreciated by Daniel Levy before his departure, and turned down approaches back then. Frank’s recently-hired assistant John Heitinga remains contracted, as it stands.’

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

* Thomas Frank actually was ‘sacked in the morning’ by rebellious Spurs!

* Who will be next Tottenham manager now Thomas Frank is sacked? Poch? De Zerbi? Xavi?

* Frank sacking means Howe has claimed consecutive Spurs manager scalps

Sky Sports News‘ Michael Bridge and Lyall Thomas have claimed that an interim appointment until the end of the season is seen as the most likely option.

They wrote on Sky Sports‘ blog: ‘As it stands, early indications are that an interim appointment until the end of the season is the most likely route Tottenham will do down.

‘There is expected to be a lot of change among head coaches at various clubs this summer, so it makes sense to wait until then to see who is available to them.’

Andoni Iraola is one of the coaches, along with Marco Silva and Oliver Glasner, who is out of contract in June having been on Tottenham’s radar when they opted for Frank in the summer, but GIVEMESPORT claim the Spaniard has already ruled himself out of the running.

The Bournemouth bosses are ‘braced for an approach in the short to medium term by Tottenham’, but Iraola ‘says no’ as he ‘has his sights set on higher things’.

The report states:

‘He is ambitious and recognises that Tottenham is a ‘big club’ compared to Bournemouth. But the systematic unravelling of the season under departed boss Frank has proved Iraola was right to stay put on the south coast.

‘He will be a free agent in the summer but has his sights set on higher things – a top team on the up or an opportunity to return home and manage Athletic Club in Bilbao where he spent 12 years as a player amassing more than 400 appearances.’

Tottenham have made a huge offer to sign Real Madrid striker Endrick ahead of the summer transfer window, according to reports.

Spurs announced on Wednesday morning that they had sacked Thomas Frank as manager after a dreadful first six months of the Premier League season.

In déjà vu from last season under Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham have excelled in Europe – finishing fourth in the Champions League standings – and been poor domestically, sitting 16th in the Premier League table.

Their 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United was their 11th in the Premier League this season and saw Spurs extend their winless streak to eight league games.

Now Frank is gone, Tottenham are planning for next summer already with the north London club doing groundwork on a couple of potential early signings.

Spanish website Fichajes insists that Spurs have made a ‘dizzying’ bid for Real Madrid striker Endrick, who has been impressing on loan at Lyon.

READ: Spurs ‘do Man United favour’ as Frank sacked but hair today remains tomorrow

The report adds: ‘Tottenham has devised a £100 million financial strategy to persuade Real Madrid’s board to part with their prized young talent. The intention is to make the Palmeiras academy graduate the face of their attack for the next decade. Although Real Madrid sees the player as a key part of their future, the possibility of a record-breaking transfer fee is viewed favorably.

‘Real Madrid are open to offers, provided they reach stratospheric figures that justify the departure of such a highly talented player.’

In order to convince the young Brazilian to move to north London, Tottenham know ‘the project must revolve around him’ and ‘negotiations between the parties could intensify in the coming weeks if Real Madrid gives the final go-ahead.’

Tottenham ‘is pushing hard to finalize the deal before other European giants enter the race’ and the Premier League side are ‘prepared to make the biggest outlay in its history’.

Another report from Fichajes insists that Antonio Rudiger’s situation at Real Madrid ‘has not gone unnoticed by the Tottenham hierarchy’ with the former Chelsea defender out of contract in Spain in the summer.

And Tottenham have made ‘an offer’ to sign Rudiger on a free transfer with Spurs keen to avoid being left short if Cristian Romero leaves in the summer.

MORE TOTTENHAM COVERAGE ON F365…

* Thomas Frank actually was ‘sacked in the morning’ by rebellious Spurs!

* Who will be next Tottenham manager now Thomas Frank is sacked? Poch? De Zerbi? Xavi?

* Thomas Frank ‘constantly going on about Arsenal’ as details of Spurs downfall emerge

Former Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood has suggested he would be open to taking on the Spurs head coach role on an interim basis but reckons John Heitinga will get the gig.

When asked if he would consider an offer to return, Sherwood told Sky Sports News: “I think there’s going to be a shortlist of people they could turn to.

“I genuinely believe they’re going to give it to John Heitinga. He’s the man there already, he’s got experience as a manager.

“It didn’t work out great for him, obviously, at Ajax but Tottenham in the Premier League is a great opportunity for someone who is not in a job.

“It’s a club I love, I know a lot about it and I’ve spent many years there in different capacities and it needs someone to give them a lift at the moment.

“Whether that’s me or whoever they decide to bring in, they’ve got a tough job on their hands.”

Sacked Spurs boss Thomas Frank reportedly would not stop talking about Arsenal to his players, so much so that there was a feeling of “just shut up about Arsenal.”

Frank’s long-expected departure was confirmed on Tuesday after a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle and details have already begun to emerge about the atmosphere within the club during his final days.

According to a report in the Telegraph, one major sticking point with the former Brentford boss was an apparent infatuation with Arsenal and a source told the newspaper that Frank would constantly bring up Tottenham’s biggest rival

“He was constantly going on to the players about Arsenal and they quickly got sick of it,” the source said.

“Even before and after the game at the Emirates, he was telling them how good Arsenal were. The feeling among some was very much ‘just shut up about Arsenal’.”

That feeling would not have been helped by Frank emerging onto the Bournemouth pitch with an Arsenal-branded coffee cup. The image was circulated online and fed into a meme among Arsenal fans that Frank was secretly one of them.

At the time, Frank tried to play down the mistake but failed to grasp the optics: “I definitely did not notice it. It would be completely stupid of me to take it if I knew. It’s a little bit sad in football that I need to be asked about it. I would never do something that stupid. I think we’re definitely going in the wrong direction if we need to worry about me having a cup with a logo of another club.”

MORE ON THE THOMAS FRANK SACKING ON F365

* The 12 days of Spurs’ contingency plan, from Pochettino to Maresca with Redkanpp and Allardyce in between

* Thomas Frank had to go but rotten Spurs are stuck in a familiar cycle of failure

* Who will be next Tottenham manager now Thomas Frank is sacked? Poch? De Zerbi? Xavi?

A disharmony in the squad was hinted at last weekend when Frank himself admitted he was “pretty sure there are also some players who don’t think I am the best bloke or whatever it is.”

The same source told the Telegraph that Frank’s focus on out-of-possession work had also annoyed some of the squad.

“Most of the work was on what to do out of possession and how to nullify the opposition, rather than working on how they could hurt opponents,” they said.

Meanwhile, the Guardian has reported that Tottenham paid Brentford £6.7m in compensation to bring Frank and his staff to North London, only to sack him eight months later.

Frank signed a three-year contract worth a reported £24m, meaning he will have been owed a hefty amount in compensation.