Under-pressure Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank has insisted the key figures at the club are "completely aligned" about the future and hailed the importance of "calm" chief executive Vinai Venkatesham.
Frank was already under scrutiny after a difficult start at Spurs, but the shock departures this month of Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim at Chelsea and Manchester United respectively will place a magnified lens on the work of the Danish coach.
Tottenham travel to Bournemouth on Wednesday unbeaten in three matches, but they have won just two of their last 11 in the Premier League and not scored from open play since Dec. 6, which has resulted in sections of a disgruntled fanbase losing faith in Frank.
However, the 52-year-old has stayed steadfast about his long-term prospects in N17 and detailed the key role of ex-Arsenal chief Venkatesham this week alongside co-sporting directors Johan Lange and Fabio Paratici.
Venkatesham joined Spurs in April after a lengthy and successful spell at Arsenal, where he was one of the most influential figures during the early troubling days of Mikel Arteta, who is currently the second-longest serving top-flight manager.
"I think the biggest thing, which we are, is that we are completely aligned, so the biggest thing is that let's say Johan, Fabio, Vinai and I are aligned. That's the biggest thing and then we also aligned with the ownership," Frank said.
"Vinai is one of the best communicators I ever met, as a CEO, leader or whatever, he is absolutely excellent in that. I think I'm OK, but he is way superior, which I think is crucial internally and externally.
"He's calm and he takes sensible decisions -- two rare abilities in football, but also two absolutely crucial abilities if you want to have success long term. For me, Vinai is crucial for Tottenham to have success in many ways.
"Then, of course, we have known each other for six months, so we are getting closer and closer and know each other better and better.
"Vinai is good and, besides being smart and taking sensible decisions, he also has got huge experience of 10 years at Arsenal, with how they built and experienced how they built it."
Asked if Venkatesham's decision to stick with Arteta during a rocky first 12 months had influenced his approach, Frank agreed: "Yeah, definitely, no doubt about that, plus he also knows what good looks like and also knows how unfortunately it can take time to get up to where good should look like.
"That's definitely beneficial because also he understands the journey we're on."
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While Venkatesham and Frank appear aligned, Paratici has continuously been linked with a move back to Italy with Fiorentina during recent weeks, which made the recent decision to send Manor Solomon on loan to the Serie A club particularly eye-catching.
However, Frank pointed out of Paratici: "We're paying his wage, he's working very hard.
"The last time I spoke to him? I spoke to him in the morning before the [Sunderland] game."
Frank was candid about several topics in Monday's press conference, but declined to reveal if Dejan Kulusevski had suffered a setback in his recovery from a serious knee injury after a rough return of December had previously been set.
"It just takes time," he said. "They are working very hard and he is working very hard to come back on the pitch."
