Frank watched Spurs suffer a third consecutive defeat in a horror week after they conceded twice in the first six minutes at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – the second following a moment of madness by goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
An early strike by Kenny Tete and Harry Wilson’s sublime lob put Frank’s team immediately on the back foot and, despite Mohammed Kudus’ 59th-minute effort, Tottenham slumped to their fourth defeat in six Premier League games.
This latest bad result extended an awful run of results at home, with Spurs only winning three of their last 21 home league matches.
Those statistics, combined with a string of toothless attacking displays, mean Frank has plenty of questions to answer going into December, with scrutiny growing.
A spirited display in defeat at Paris St Germain on Wednesday had earned Frank some credit after the derby hammering by Arsenal where fans were scathing of his tactics.
Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall provided green shoots of encouragement in Paris and Frank trusted the 19-year-old duo in what felt a significant fixture.
Yet before the highly-rated pair had even had time to make a handful of passes, Tottenham were 2-0 down in shambolic fashion.
Fulham broke the deadlock in the fourth minute when, within seconds of a poor header by Kevin Danso, the excellent Samuel Chukwueze cut inside from the left and picked out Tete, who had an 18-yard shot deflected beyond Vicario by Spurs’ Destiny Udogie.
Tottenham were stunned but 136 second later conceded again in a moment to forget for Vicario.
The keeper rushed out to intercept Joachim Andersen’s pass ahead of Raul Jimenez, but instead of knocking the ball out for a throw, he inexplicably cleared it infield and Joshua King teed up Wilson to curl home wonderfully.
It was a sensational 40-yard lob by Wilson, but Vicario’s comical error saw him heavily booed straight after by the home fans.
Chukwueze curled against a post moments later before Danso had to block a shot by Wilson.
Tottenham’s lop-sided 4-2-3-1 formation with no left forward continued to struggle to create chances and only a superb tackle by stand-in captain Micky van de Ven prevented another Fulham goal as he slid in to thwart Chukwueze, who had rounded Vicario after Pedro Porro’s lapse in concentration.
It was masterful defending by Van de Ven but did not stop loud boos at half-time and, despite no changes by Frank, Spurs returned with much-needed attacking intent.
Randal Kolo Muani had an effort blocked seconds into the second period before a succession of promising openings ended with a poor Tottenham delivery.
When Porro did finally produce a quality cross, Kolo Muani sent his 57th-minute header into the side-netting.
Spurs finally had momentum, though, and the deficit was reduced with 31 minutes left when Bergvall chipped into the path of Kudus and he lashed into the top corner.
Frank immediately sent on Rodrigo Bentancur, Wilson Odobert and Xavi Simons and the latter had a shot deflected over by Andersen as Tottenham pushed for a leveller.
The equaliser nearly arrived in the 67th minute when Bergvall flicked on Kudus’ corner, but Jimenez brilliantly headed clear and there was no grandstand finish, with Kolo Muani sending a backheel wide as Spurs lost again at home.