Here are our Tottenham talking points after their FA Cup exit at the hands of Aston Villa in the third round on Saturday evening
Almost exactly seven months ago Tottenham Hotspur declared in a statement: "It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond."
A couple of weeks later, the now ousted chairman Daniel Levy said: "We’ve won a European trophy, but it’s not enough. It’s what we haven’t done that is more important. We need to win the league. We want to win the Premier League, we want to win the Champions League. We want to win.
"We’re very proud of the stadium, but we need to make sure we win on the pitch. There’s no point in having a wonderful stadium if you haven’t got a wonderful team and winning."
Thomas Frank in his first press conference as Spurs boss further reinforced the message.
"The first thing and the first aim is that we need to be able to compete in all four tournaments and do it on a consistent level," he said. "That's got to be the ambition we build towards because I think 2019 was the last season where the club managed to compete in more than one competition.
"That's got to be the aim. We need to be able to compete in the Premier League, we need to be able to compete in the Champions League in Europe and also in the cups. That is a very high demand but that's got to be the aim."
Fast forward to January 2026 and that aim was off. Everything said has proved to be merely words not actions.
Spurs slipped out of the Carabao Cup in the fourth round after reaching the semi-finals last time around. On Saturday they exited the FA Cup in the third round at the hands of Aston Villa, who knocked them out in the next stage last January. It is the first time since the 2013/14 campaign that Tottenham have not reached the fourth round
In the Premier League, Frank's side lie in 14th place, exactly where they sat 12 months ago. If anything they've gone backwards this season across the competitions as a whole, barring in Europe which will require a Macclesfield-esque miracle to end the season with another trophy.
Even the injury situation, blamed on Ange Postecoglou's training sessions or the medical department throughout the past two seasons, has not improved.
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have enjoyed more availability, when the captain isn't suspended, but they've just been replaced by other long-term absentees in the treatment room.
When Richarlison - heralded as fixed this season - pulled up with a new hamstring injury in the first half on Saturday, he became Tottenham's eighth injured or unavailable player right now. That number would have been in double figures, but for the return of Dominic Solanke and the unused Destiny Udogie to the matchday squad.
Nothing has changed in a good way at Tottenham. If anything it's a club in a huge state of flux behind the scenes with new heads of department everywhere you look. Spurs are looking for stability yet have just changed everything. They're trying to build a Jenga tower on a moving conveyor belt.
The Lilywhites are a team without any stars in the wake of those Kane and Son eras and it's now clear just how much those two players propped up the entire club on the pitch.
Without that duo perhaps it made sense to appoint the Brentford manager for this is not a glamorous, big club right now. It's a club that needs building from scratch at a time, but at a time when those inside the dressing room and in the stands appear to have run out of patience with an organisation that is constantly promising and declaring but rarely delivering.
It's worth noting that Brentford are fifth in the Premier League so they have dealt absolutely fine with their huge summer of change because they are better prepared for it.
Tottenham still don't seem to know what they are. They're a club who sacked their first trophy-winning manager in 17 years - they sacked the last one as well - and they have just sold last season's top scorer without having any squad depth to make that decision logical apart from on the balance sheet.
Both decisions were backed by claims that it was all part of a plan. Yet nobody appears to be willing to say exactly what that plan is? An increasingly frazzled and frustrated Frank is wheeled out every other day in press conferences to answer the same questions in the same ways with very little in the way of inspiration or explanation.
The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust met with senior club representatives on Friday to discuss their concerns about the lack of a plan and "a dramatic fall in ambition of the football club", while calling on senior figures to speak to the fanbase.
football.london asked Frank about that declaration of competing across all competitions having resulted in failure and he could only solemnly nod before saying: "Of course that's disappointing.
"I said before the game that we went full strength. There was nothing....there were players we couldn't...should we energise. Micky [van de Ven] is in a top place, but that was definitely a player to think about [resting]. But we wanted to do everything we could to win the game.
"We did everything we could, especially the second half. You can see we did everything we could. Unfortunately we faced a good Villa team as well. They made two moments. They scored two goals. We could only make one."
It felt like grasping at an answer rather than being able to admit that despite their words, Tottenham ended up assembling a squad for him that was suitable only for one competition, not four, without being able to cushion the long-term absences of Solanke, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.
Spurs provided a squad fit for Frank when he was Brentford manager, when he was used to focusing mainly on the Premier League, rather than giving him the tools for the far larger mandate that they set themselves.
If Frank does fail, then while he has not helped himself along the way with his decisions and football, he was never really given the tools to succeed. He was handed a huge jigsaw puzzle only to find some of the pieces were missing from the box.
It's almost like Spurs hoped they had found the perfect training ground coach with the ability to develop young players who could magically cure all of their problems with a wave of his tactics board. Yet at this stage it's difficult to point to those who have improved or any academy youngsters brought through.
The sight of Kevin Danso pushing around the Dane's own pieces on that very tactics board during one break in play hinted that the players are looking for a little more guidance or perhaps compromise.
Danso and captain for the day Micky van de Ven had a long conversation before the second half started with Spurs 2-0 down. Both covered their mouths as they spoke, perhaps fearful of getting their lips read on television, with the game screened by both the BBC and TNT Sports in the UK.
Frank wears the shell-shocked look of many who preceded him at the club. Tottenham Hotspur tires you out quickly and the Dane has already lost so much of the fanbase.
The Aston Villa fans mocked him with chants of "Thomas Frank, he's an Arsenal fan" after the midweek drama over a different kind of cup. When the travelling fans sang "You're getting sacked in the morning" so sections of the big 17,500-seater south stand of Tottenham supporters began joining in.
"Sideways and backwards, everywhere we go" has become a popular ditty among the Spurs faithful as they try to entertain themselves when the football doesn't.
Booed off at half-time and again at full-time, it's not a fun time to be a Tottenham fan or a player.
On Saturday night, the Spurs players looked like they had turned up for a slumber party wearing inside out pyjama tops to commemorate the club's remarkable first FA Cup triumph as a non-league team in 1901.
Most of the first half defending continued the slumbering theme as Tottenham undid any moments of positivity by dozing through the centre of the pitch, first allowing Donyell Malen to turn so easily before passing to the unmarked Emiliano Buendia, who sprinted on and crashed a shot home.
Pedro Porro looked unsure what side of an attacker a defender must stand in order to prevent him from advancing towards goal, giving Malen all the room in the world and leaving the gap for Buendia to run into. The Spaniard at least did pull off a goal line clearance in the second half and made another fine penalty box challenge to atone for his error.
The second Villa goal came from a mistake from the otherwise bright and proactive Mathys Tel. The young Frenchman lost the ball on the edge of his own box and after a flurry of passes, including a clever backheel from Buendia, Morgan Rogers fired home in added time at the end of the first half.
Frank spat his chewing gum out in disgust. The 52-year-old was brought in to fix the defence but in truth he hasn't. While Villa did not have many chances, they did not need to. Spurs fell asleep at two crucial times, as they did thrice in midweek at Bournemouth, and the game was lost. Perhaps wearing inside out pyjamas wasn't the greatest idea. They were just too comfortable and dozed off.
There were shades of Postecoglou's game at Goodison Park last season about this encounter at the break. The boos were deafening as the Spurs players headed inside, ditching their recent half-time huddle for the safety of the dressing room and the question on most people's minds, as it was that day at Everton, was 'Surely there's no coming back for the manager from this?'.
Yet as with that afternoon just under a year ago, the second half showed a team at least trying to play for the manager and their own pride. Postecoglou got to the end of the season and won a trophy. Frank will be hoping to simply get the chance to change some people's minds as players come back and newcomers arrive.
The second half was better and the players reconnected with the fans for periods, preventing the atmosphere from turning truly toxic.
Spurs were led by their recently under-utilised experienced heads in Ben Davies, who was one of the team's hardest workers on the day, and Joao Palhinha who appeared to be possessed by the angry spirit of Cristian Romero throughout, snapping into challenges and Villa players.
Xavi Simons came alive after the break as well and was labelled "excellent" after the game by Frank in his club interview as the Dutchman continuously took the encounter to the visitors.
He had the ball in the net only to be flagged offside as did Randal Kolo Muani after a surging Xavi run before the break and the former Leipzig man sent in two curling efforts that the keeper had to push away at full stretch.
The foothold in the game came when Kolo Muani, who replaced Richarlison after he pulled up half an hour in, won the ball and fed it to Wilson Odobert and his compatriot buried his shot in the bottom left corner.
Odobert is a frustrating young player. He has so much talent yet not enough conviction nor strength to back it up. For every exciting run, there's a half-hearted challenge or attempt to track back.
His tail was up after his goal and he tested Villa keeper Marco Bizot with one more shot but that was it. Odobert was never heard from again and was replaced by Solanke in the final moments. The rusty and returning England international made a nuisance of himself but the ball just would not fall at his feet during some scrambles in the Villa box.
Ultimately Tottenham did not do enough to stay in the FA Cup. They were not pushing as they were in Bournemouth in the final minutes. They would not have merited a leveller, even for the improved second half display.
Frank was limited in his changes but what he did decide upon, didn't work. His first non-enforced substitution, replacing the lively Tel with Dane Scarlett and pushing Xavi out of his impactful area to the wing, was the least effective of the bunch and Spurs rarely threatened from that point on.
Villa had more shots - 17 to 13 with eight on target to Spurs' five - and had 60.3 percent of possession in Tottenham's backyard.
Frustrations boiled over at the final whistle. Ollie Watkins walked towards Palhinha and began his celebrations to the away fans in the Portuguese's face and bumped into him rather than walking around him.
The midfielder reacted and moved his head towards the striker's back before pushing him towards the supporters. That caused Lamare Bogard and Rogers to sprint over with the latter grabbing the Tottenham man, sparking a melee with players from both clubs trying to sort it out while Villa staff ran in as well.
Frank just stood rather oddly away from it all, detached and glaring as it all unfolded rather than making any attempt to sort out another head-loss from one of his players.
When asked whether his players were losing control, he said: "I don’t think so. I just saw it [now] to be sure I saw what I saw. Of course it’s all about keeping a cool head. The players gave everything, everything out there, [but] losing a tight game, season not going perfect and I think Ollie is very provoking.
"The way he is going down to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and he is walking into Joao, he can just easily walk around. I think everyone that has been in a competitive nature, that is difficult and can trigger things."
When asked if ill discipline was a growing problem in his side, the Dane said: "I think you need to play with passion, and when you play with passion, sometimes you play to the line. And sometimes a little bit borderline.
"So, I see players with big passion that want to do very well for the club, and I think that's very important. And of course, you also need cool heads."
What was also baffling was that for a third home game in a row, Spurs staff utterly failed to get one of their players off the pitch and inside the building.
Against Liverpool, the red-carded Romero was allowed to walk back up the tunnel and return to the side of the dugouts, which would not have helped his subsequent FA charge case.
Then against Sunderland after the final whistle, Rodrigo Bentancur was allowed to wait at the edge of the pitch as he wanted to restart an altercation with Lutsharel Geertruida. Ironically it was Romero who eventually convinced him to leave it before he could.
On Saturday, after Palhinha's part in the melee, the midfielder was again allowed to stand at the side of the pitch waiting to restart an argument, which he did. The Tottenham staff did nothing to get him off the pitch until he had to be separated from a quarrel, even though it was clear previously to everyone up in the stands what was going to happen.
It summed up the lack of control that Spurs appear to have over the players or the direction they are heading in.
The second half showing, while still ending in defeat, probably just about prevented a complete meltdown that would have been difficult for Tottenham to ignore after just two wins in 13 games.
That means Frank could be given the chance to turn things around with games that simply have to both be won in the Premier League against the 18th and 19th-placed West Ham and Burnley, home and away respectively, sandwiching the Champions League match in N17 against Borussia Dortmund.
Come away with six points from both league games and Spurs will shoot up the tightly-packed table and that will give everyone a chance to breathe amid the chaos. Fail to do so and things will look bleak for Frank.
He needs help and Tottenham must make their moves in the transfer market, beyond the impending signing of 19-year-old Santos left-back Souza.
Who will help him exactly? The Italian media continue to revise the schedule of Fabio Paratici's arrival at Fiorentina. In recent weeks, it has reportedly moved throughout January with the latest stories now suggesting he will be announced in February. He had better hope it's not too late to save the relegation-battling Serie A side by then.
football.london reported before the window opened that Spurs were looking for a left-back, left winger, central midfielder and a centre-back if one left. The club have rejected a loan bid for Radu Dragusin from Roma, seemingly learning from the awful timing of Brennan Johnson's exit.
Yves Bissouma is on his way back from the Africa Cup of Nations after a trademark daft couple of yellow cards saw him sent off before half-time in Mali's quarter-final defeat to Pape Matar Sarr's Senegal.
So short is Frank on midfield options that with just five months remaining on Bissouma's contract and seemingly no chance of playing under the Dane, there may be no choice but to utilise him until Sarr's return.
Frank admitted on Saturday that his lack of options on the bench was the reason he delayed his substitutions.
"Yeah. Basically, that was it. I don't think we, for whatever reason, had the depth in the bench today," he said. "We basically didn't have a midfielder to replace Archie [Gray] and Joao. So I had a few solutions in my head, if we had to lose one of them. We fortunately didn't. So that was part of it, yeah."
For many Tottenham fans the season is already over, certainly in terms of dreams of silverware.
A protest is being planned by fan group Change for Tottenham ahead of the West Ham game next week, marking the first protest of the post-Levy era. The group are calling on the club to be bold in this transfer window and, like the Supporters' Trust, are looking for some semblance of long-term football strategy.
There is still time for both to happen but once again it feels like a season at Spurs has been wasted while everyone works "very, very, very hard" in Frank's words.
The Tottenham head coach knows there's only one thing he can try to control.
"We all know there's only one way to have everyone happy. That is performing consistently and winning enough games. That's the only way," he said.
"And we could see, second half especially, the energy, how they feed off each other, the players and the fans. It was a fantastic experience to be in the middle of it. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that fantastic comeback, which sometimes kicks start a momentum. And that's what we are working very hard to do.
"But I think the fans, the way they backed the team and pushed them forward, second half was very, very good. I still think it's, first and foremost, us.
"We need to perform, and then they can feed off the energy. But of course, we also need them in tough times, which they are there. They're travelling in big numbers to away games, and they are backing us. So that's a two-way solution."
The Tottenham fans have not taken to Frank and it's going to require a tremendous effort from all involved to turn things around for him and ensure he is not another Nuno Espirito Santo - a manager passing through after failing to translate his efforts with a smaller club onto a bigger and more expectant stage.
The crowds are dropping. They did not sell out for a Saturday FA Cup match with 57,718 in attendance and the big upcoming Premier League games against Manchester City and Newcastle have made it to general sale on the club website with the declaration "Secure up to four seats!" complete with a flame emoji.
Tottenham Hotspur should not need to plead with fans to buy tickets to their matches and it's a sign of the general apathy that has descended around a club that has got used to losing. Fans aren't bothered about watching every game, in the flesh or on TV, because it's just not that enjoyable an experience.
You wouldn't keep paying to watch a singer belt out their tunes badly in concerts week after week and people are finding it hard to justify paying some of the most expensive ticket prices in the Premier League for the 14th-best entertainment.
Reading the stories of the 1901 cup-winning side and seeing the emotional legends at pitch-side paying tribute to the much-loved Martin Chivers and Terry Yorath only served to remind people what this club once was.
It might be shiny and modern but this Tottenham Hotspur is not the one the fans fell in love with. They want to be thrilled, they want opponents to be fearful and they want to win football matches. Spurs must be better. They must be more.
