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Spurs appointing Roberto De Zerbi in a relegation battle underlined how there are almost no reliable Premier League firefighters anymore.

De Zerbi was ‘cancelled’ all the way to a five-year, £60m contract to replace Igor Tudor and take over a Spurs side down in 17th, a point clear of the bottom three.

There were calls for Sean Dyche to be parachuted in, or for Harry Redknapp to take his first coaching role in nine years to save his former club.

But even those two managers, often cited among the proven top-flight firefighters who can rescue panicking clubs by Sorting Out The Defence and restoring ketchup to the menu, have Premier League relegations on their CV.

All the traditional options do: your Allardyces, your Hodgsons, the Pulis’ of this world. They have either been in charge of a Premier League club at the time of their drop into the Championship, or been involved at some point in a relegation season.

These are the only living managers who have taken over a Premier League club within five points of the relegation zone in the new year, and never suffered relegation as a coach in England’s top flight. The pool is hilariously shallow.

Oliver Glasner

Club: Crystal Palace

Date of appointment: February 19, 2024

Games left: 13

Position upon appointment: 15th, five points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 10th, 23 points clear of relegation

The stroll to safety was a precursor to the first piece of silverware in Palace’s entire history and a European campaign which could yet deliver another trophy, even if it has felt throughout their two-year union that Glasner considers himself to be the settler rather than the puncher.

Frank Lampard

Club: Everton

Date of appointment: January 31, 2022

Games left: 18

Position upon appointment: 16th, four points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 16th, four points clear of relegation

Having successfully stood still after inheriting Rafael Benitez’s mess at Goodison Park, Lampard befell the same fate as a great many of these firefighters in being engulfed by the flames the following season.

A reminder that going from 16th and four points clear of relegation to 16th and four points clear of relegation was sold as a ‘miracle’.

Francesco Guidolin

Club: Swansea

Date of appointment: January 18, 2016

Games left: 16

Position upon appointment: 17th, one point clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 12th, 10 points clear of relegation

It is faintly weird that Guidolin has not worked in any managerial capacity whatsoever since being sacked by Swansea almost a decade ago, with the Welsh side still outside the relegation zone by the time of his demise.

Perhaps the shame of being replaced by Bob Bradley forced the Italian into an unannounced retirement.

Dick Advocaat

Club: Sunderland

Date of appointment: March 17, 2015

Games left: 9

Position upon appointment: 17th, one point clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 16th, three points clear of relegation

For three years, Sunderland basically new-manager-bounced their way through a series of relegation battles, only actually succumbing to the drop when they gave someone a full season.

Advocaat slotted into the middle of that sequence, snugly between Gus Poyet (took over in October 2013) and Sam Allardyce (relegated with West Brom and Leeds).

The Dutchman kept the Black Cats up, then resigned on the same day Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers because he couldn’t be particularly bothered with doing it all over again.

Paolo Di Canio

Club: Sunderland

Date of appointment: March 31, 2013

Games left: 7

Position upon appointment: 16th, one point clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 17th, three points clear of relegation

Di Canio was eventually and inevitably dragged out of the Stadium of Light rather than leaving of his own accord. But a victory at St James’ Park forever secured his reputation as a Sunderland hero.

The Italian has not managed since, which is best for everyone really.

Mauricio Pochettino

Club: Southampton

Date of appointment: January 18, 2013

Games left: 16

Position upon appointment: 15th, three points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 14th, five points clear of relegation

It was a ruthless decision but an undeniably brilliant and transformative one not just for Southampton but in terms of the Premier League as a whole. There is indeed only one Nigel Adkins, but Pochettino represented a substantial upgrade from relegation battles to European tilts.

Pepe Mel

Club: West Brom

Date of appointment: January 9, 2013

Games left: 18

Position upon appointment: 14th, four points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 17th, three points clear of relegation

An absolute Sporcle stumbling block of the highest order.

Lawrie Sanchez

Club: Fulham

Date of appointment: April 11, 2007

Games left: 5

Position upon appointment: 15th, four points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 16th, one point clear of relegation

Having taken over too late to properly Michael O’Neill his Northern Ireland job share by calling up a load of Wigan, Sheffield United, Charlton and Watford players, Sanchez had to settle with dragging Fulham over the line by beating Liverpool and drawing with Blackburn.

Sanchez quit Northern Ireland to take over Fulham that summer; the Cottagers repaid him with a P45 by that December to allow for Roy Hodgson’s great escapism.

Alain Perrin

Club: Portsmouth

Date of appointment: April 7, 2005

Games left: 7

Position upon appointment: 16th, four points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 16th, six points clear of relegation

One of the fillings, alongside Velimir Zajec, around which Portsmouth constructed their mid-2000s Harry Redknapp-based sandwich.

Glenn Hoddle

Club: Southampton

Date of appointment: January 28, 2000

Games left: 16

Position upon appointment: 17th, two points clear of relegation

Position at end of season: 15th, 11 points clear of relegation

Thomas Frank is now statistically the worst manager in Tottenham Hotspur’s history and his inept side are only going one way in this shambolic season.

Also in the early kick-offs on Tuesday night, Cole Palmer’s brilliance was undermined by Chelsea’s long-term weakness, while streaky Bournemouth have found a brilliant replacement for Antoine Semenyo.

Tottenham 1-2 Newcastle United

Surely, it must now be all she wrote for Frank?!

Pre-match, Tottenham vs Newcastle was billed as this season’s latest El Sackico, but there was only one side fighting for their manager in this match.

Spurs are in a relegation battle and they are playing like a team in one, having spent most of the first 50 minutes deep in their own half and showing no attacking gusto on the rare occasions they had a spell of possession.

Frank’s inept side would have been on the end of another embarrassing thumping had they played the Newcastle of old, but even this version of Eddie Howe’s side had too much for the hosts with their far superior intensity.

Tottenham failed to respond to the reprieve of Newcastle’s 43rd-minute disallowed goal, with Malick Thiaw taking the second of his two attempts to score from close range as the defending team was uninterested.

This was a stark contrast to Newcastle’s reaction to Archie Gray’s leveller; the visitors wrestled back control of the match and restored their lead via Jacob Ramsey’s cool finish only four minutes after conceding.

Newcastle are far from right, but this was a deserved and potentially decisive win that could turn their season. Spurs, meanwhile, are only going one way as things stand and need to wake up quickly if they are to avoid relegation.

With this loss, Frank is now statistically the worst manager in Tottenham’s history with a shambolic 26.9% win rate and their board cannot sleepwalk with him any longer.

READ: Who will be next Tottenham manager if (when) Thomas Frank is sacked? Poch? De Zerbi? Xavi?

Chelsea 2-2 Leeds United

Cole Palmer has returned to his best in recent days, but Chelsea’s defenders let him down against Leeds United.

Following his match-winning hat-trick against Wolves, Palmer opened up Leeds United’s resolute backline with a defence-splitting pass to assist Joao Pedro, who produced a fine chipped finish, for Chelsea’s opener and the England international later doubled his side’s lead with another penalty.

This had the Blues on course for an eighth win in ten games under Liam Rosenior, but their defence had other ideas; Lukas Nmecha pulled one back with the game’s second penalty, and Leeds equalised six minutes later via what will surely be the scrappiest goal of this season.

Robert Sanchez and Josh Acheampong shirked responsibility with clearing the ball inside the penalty area as Noah Okafor was gifted the simplest of tap-ins to equalise, while Chelsea’s late push for an equaliser came to no avail as Palmer fired over from a couple of yards out in one of the match’s final actions.

It’s another vital point for Leeds, who now look increasingly likely to survive in the Premier League, while Chelsea’s goalkeeper and centre-back issues continue to derail their hopes of major success this season.

Everton 1-2 AFC Bournemouth

A win for Everton would have seen them overtake arch-rivals Liverpool in the Premier League, but they threw away that opportunity in a calamitous eight minutes.

The Toffees had the lead via Iliman Ndiaye’s penalty that was conceded by January signing Rayan shortly before half time, but Semenyo’s replacement redeemed himself after the restart.

The 19-year-old is already justifying his £30m price tag, with his back-post headed equaliser against Everton his third goal involvement in his first three Premier League appearances (two goals and an assist).

Everton and Bournemouth headed into tonight’s match on respective four-game unbeaten runs, but Rayan’s leveller gave the visitors the impetus to kick on and took the lead via a well-worked free-kick that Amine Adli finished.

Minutes later, it was game over as Jake O’Brien was sent off for a last-man foul on Adli, with streaky Bournemouth now back in the top-half and a potential big move for head coach Andoni Iraola certainly back on.

According to reports, Real Madrid have ‘decided’ to turn to Tottenham Hotspur star Cristian Romero, who is preferred over a ‘ruled out’ Liverpool man.

Romero let Spurs down at the weekend as he was sent off for a rash challenge in the 2-0 loss against Manchester United, and this is not the first time this has happened.

The Tottenham captain is renowned for these moments of madness, but he has proven that he can be one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League when he’s performing at his peak.

And recent reports have suggested that he could secure a big-money move to a Spanish giant in the summer, with Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid linked with the centre-back.

Real Madrid are known to be in the market for a centre-back as they need a long-term replacement for Antonio Rudiger and/or David Alaba.

READ: Ruben Amorim on Kobbie Mainoo and other stubborn pig-headed Premier League foolishness

Alvaro Arbeloa’s side have been linked with several potential targets, including Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Arsenal’s William Saliba.

However, Saliba is currently unattainable as he recently penned a new long-term contract with Arsenal, while Konate’s poor form for Liverpool this season appears to have put Real Madrid off.

Konate is one of Real Madrid’s cheap options as he is due to become a free agent at the end of this season, but a new report from Spanish outlet Defensa Central claims he has been ‘ruled out’ by club chiefs.

Instead, Romero is said to be a ‘strong’ target for Real Madrid, who have ‘made a decision’ to try to sign him.

However, this will not be easy as the report claims Spurs have set an asking price of around 100 million euros (£86m) for Romero.

Therefore, it is suggested that a deal for Romero is dependent on two conditions, which are the centre-back ‘forcing a move’ and the availability of Liverpool-linked Nico Schlotterbeck, who has been in fine form for Borussia Dortmund this season.

The report adds:

‘It’s true that Real Madrid are very keen on Cuauhtémoc Romero, but signing him could cost a fortune. He’s under contract until 2029 , and Tottenham won’t let the Argentine go easily. They’ll demand a price that could exceed €100 million.

‘It remains to be seen whether Real Madrid will be willing to pay such a high price for Cuti Romero. He will turn 28 in April, so he might already be too old for that kind of investment. They would prefer Nico Schlotterbeck, who is two years younger.’

Paul Scholes says he would “love” Manchester United to sign “p*ssed off” Tottenham star Cristian Romero, who he believes has “checked out” of his current club.

Romero made headlines for the wrong reasons on Saturday as he was sent off in the first half of Spurs’ 2-0 defeat to the Red Devils.

It was the Argentinian’s sixth red card in all competitions since joining Tottenham from Atalanta for £42.5m in 2022, the most of any Premier League player in that time.

The 27-year-old will miss Spurs’ next four games, including the north London derby against Arsenal, as it was his second red card of the season.

The misstep came just days after Romero took to social media to brand Thomas Frank having just 11 senior players available for the 2-2 draw with Manchester City as ‘disgraceful’.

Some Tottenham fans have taken against Romero, claiming he should be stripped of the captaincy, but amid interest from Atletico Madrid in his services, Scholes wants the Red Devils to battle the La Liga giants for his signature.

“Do you know what? I love him,” Scholes said on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast. “I love watching him play football.

“He’s pissed off at Spurs, isn’t he? He doesn’t want to be there. He’s having a go at the crowd, he’s having a go at the board, I think his head has checked out a little bit.

“But I would love him at Manchester United. I just love his character.”

MORE MANCHESTER UNITED COVERAGE ON F365…

* Neville reveals Man Utd’s ‘official position’ on appointing Carrick permanently – ‘I think that’s fair’

* Lineker jokes Man Utd star should ‘sue’ Amorim for being ‘absolutely detrimental to his career’

* Neville makes huge Man Utd claim after Liverpool lose to Man City; sends message to Arsenal

Speaking after Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester United, Frank insisted Romero is a “leader” in his dressing room but also admitted he should “learn” to control and harness his aggression.

“For me, I think he is a leader,” said Frank. “He is a young leader and he’s learning every day.

“I’ve said I used the example when I was 30 years old. I thought I was on top of the world, but I was no way near the level I am today in terms of leadership and understanding things.

“And then when you have a player that’s playing with so much passion and aggression, things like that can happen.

“That’s not to say he shouldn’t learn from it, of course he needs learn from it, going forward.”

According to reports, Thomas Frank’s exit from Spurs could be ‘imminent’ as the club have been given the ‘green light’ by his potential replacement.

Former Brentford boss Frank replaced Ange Postecoglou at Spurs ahead of this season and he is fortunate to still be in a job.

Frank to Spurs was initially viewed as a sensible appointment as he was expected to steady the ship following Postecoglou’s chaotic reign, but this has not proven the case.

The respected boss has not clicked with Tottenham’s supporters as he has often used negative tactics, while results and performances have also been poor.

The north London side are winless in their seven Premier League matches this year as they are only six points clear of the relegation places.

READ: Why is Thomas Frank not being given the full Ange treatment?

Frank has come under increased pressure as the favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked, so he needs a win when his side hosts Newcastle United on Tuesday night.

Now, a report from journalist Fraser Fletcher for our pals at TEAMtalk claims Frank could be ‘one match away’ from the sack, with his exit ‘imminent’.

Frank is said to have ‘reached breaking point’ at Spurs and a defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday ‘might seal the Danish coach’s fate’.

The report adds: ‘Insiders suggest that another poor showing against Eddie Howe’s Magpies could prompt immediate action.

‘Should Frank depart, Tottenham are expected to appoint an interim coach — possibly Johnny Heitinga, already part of the backroom staff — to guide the team through to the end of the campaign, buying time for a permanent solution.’

MORE SPURS COVERAGE ON F365…

* Premier League winners and losers: ‘Angry’ Howe in busy sack race while Arsenal force more rule changes

* Man Utd, Chelsea offer encouragement to Liverpool, Spurs to sack Slot, fire Frank

* Man Utd to get £39m windfall with Liverpool, Tottenham ‘ready to offer’ £78m for Greenwood

The same report claims beloved former boss Mauricio Pochettino, who currently is the United States manager, is a leading contender to replace Frank as he has given the ‘green light’ to a ‘sensational reunion’.

However, Wayne Rooney has explained that he feels sorry for Frank.

“I feel for Thomas Frank because he looks tired, he looks like he’s aged 10 years,” Rooney said on his BBC Sport podcast.

“That’s what that Tottenham job has done to him in a short period of time. I hope they stick with him because he’s fantastic manager, but I think it’s going be very difficult for them to do that.

“And you don’t need your captain going out getting sent off on a regular basis or being as vocal as he was this week.”

You’ll have to forgive us, but we’re going to have to pick on Henry Winter a little bit here. We’re pretty sure he can take it, and it’s just one example among many.

We’ve chosen Winter because few others have so flawlessly captured what’s happening right now in two wonderfully specific tweets 10 months apart.

Here he is in April last year after another shambolic Premier League defeat for Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs against a Big Six rival.

And here he is this weekend after another shambolic Premier League defeat for Thomas Frank’s Spurs against a Big Six rival.

It’s already clear that this country’s football media is deploying cover for Frank that it never did for Postecoglou, but it leads us to two thoughts.

First, a grim chuckle at the way the very excuses that were dismissed out of hand when Postecoglou made them are now being wheeled out to defend Frank, who is only now having to field anything like the cartoonishly underpowered defence with which Postecoglou battled through last winter, and who cannot possibly be blamed for the kind of ill-discipline that was very much within Ange’s remit a year ago.

But the second thought is a more simple one: why? Genuinely, why have the media decided so entirely to bat for a manager so obviously failing as badly as Frank?

It surely can’t just be that he’s polite rather than spiky in press conferences? They can’t actually be that pathetic, can they?

Sure, the name Thomas Frank makes him sound like he’s from the home counties, but what Frank is getting here really does amount to full British manager privileges of the like we’ve never before seen afforded to a continental type.

Maybe it’s just that he’s been in Our Game for so long. Or maybe it’s just that Winter and the lads had convinced themselves Frank was better than he is and now just don’t want to back down.

But they all fell in love with Postecoglou at the start of his Spurs adventure, and it never stopped them (quite understandably) turning on him when it all went south.

For what it’s worth, we don’t disagree with anything Winter said there about Postecoglou after a mortifying defeat at Chelsea in which the Australian absolutely did make a complete chop of himself with a mocking celebration aimed at his own supporters for a goal that would subsequently get VARed out of existence. It was the managerial equivalent of a Richarlison tops-off yellow card for a goal that ends up never having existed in the first place.

But beyond the superficial similarities in which Franks’s struggles, which are definitely not his fault because reasons, so deliciously and perfectly mirror Postecoglou’s, which were entirely his fault because reasons, is that line about the fans when it came to Postecoglou. ‘Fans have clearly had enough of him.’

A lot of them absolutely had. Yet even then, as he was openly mocking them, plenty still supported Postecoglou. Even those who had run out of patience and wanted him gone still at least understood what he was attempting to achieve (HINT: He went on to achieve precisely it).

Almost no Spurs supporter now backs Frank. And even the ones that do are doing so more out of a sense of just not wanting to keep repeating the same old fire-and-hire cycle.

Everyone understood what Postecoglou was trying to achieve, whether they agreed with it or not. Nobody understands or for the most part even knows what Frank is trying to achieve, and almost nobody agrees with how he’s going about it.

He has lost a far greater share of the fans and far more decisively than Postecoglou ever did. Yet losing the fans no longer seems as important as it did 10 months ago.

We’ll hold our hands up and admit we flip-flopped on Postecoglou during those confusing months at the end of last season. He did appear to have lost his way so thoroughly that he couldn’t continue, but after the elation and cathartic release of Bilbao, we kind of thought he’d earned the right to fail; earned the right to at least find out if the third series really is always better than the second.

We think we know the answer to how that would have gone. But we definitely know the answer with Frank. He’s been floundering for months now. The only difference between now and a month ago is that West Ham have awoken from their own slumbers and thus the threat of relegation is very, very real.

And this is the other key point of difference. The other reason why, if you were going to back either of these managers through historically awful league campaigns, it would be Postecoglou.

We’ll be careful to avoid revisionism here. Spurs were having an awful league season even before Postecoglou decided to abandon it altogether; a big part of the reason he could abandon it altogether was because of how bad it was. That qualifying for Europe that way was so distant and unlikely a prospect that chucking all the eggs into the Europa League knockout basket was the way to go even if it didn’t pay off.

But Postecoglou was also never facing anything like the current crisis-level threat of relegation. The diciest things ever really got was after a cruddy 3-2 January defeat at Everton which left Spurs still eight points clear of the drop.

Yet by the time the Europa League knockout rounds came around Postecoglou could disregard the league because Spurs were safe. It was around this time last year that they made their last real concerted effort of the Premier League season, picking up three consecutive wins against Brentford, Ipswich and Manchester United that gave them the freedom to focus entirely on the ultimately successful Europa League bid.

After the third of those wins in late February, Spurs were 16 points clear of the marooned bottom three. That number right now under Frank is currently six; closer to the bottom three than Postecoglou’s patched-up side ever were, and a month deeper into the season. And with West Ham resurgent and Spurs’ next two games against Newcastle and Arsenal, it is entirely possible the gap is zero points at around the precise point Postecoglou was putting even lingering doubts entirely to bed.

Even more importantly, of course, Frank hasn’t actually sacked the league off. He’s just naturally been this bad. Unless he’s trying to follow the Postecoglou example of prioritising a very winnable Europa League by prioritising an entirely unwinnable Champions League. In which case he should be removed from office anyway on grounds of insanity.

Postecoglou perhaps takes some lingering blame here, in fairness; what he did was normalise league defeats to an unhealthy degree. However valid his reasons, he unintentionally created a world where Spurs could finish 17th even if the gap from there to 18th was a chasm.

Frank has been able to exploit that normalisation to his advantage, however disingenuously. He’s been able to paint this season’s struggles as a continuation rather than the nightmarish new low they actually are.

Yet even he has realised it can fly no longer. Even Frank has stopped saying “Guys, we were 17th last year you know” while pretending that was the full story and also perfectly normal and not the very specific aberration that got the last guy fired despite winning a trophy exactly as he said he would.

As Spurs slump ever closer to that same position, with league form that is worse than Postecoglou’s and, due to the presence of an actual relegation battle bubbling away ever closer to their bare feet, far more dangerous, it loses its protective power.

But it has already carried Frank this far. It has got him through a winless January full of six-pointers, where victory in any one would have put Spurs almost safe.

It has carried him to a point where his many, many media supporters can suggest it’s now simply too late to change things anyway even after a defeat to the one team that highlights better than any other how utterly untrue that is.

We’re not here for a hagiography of Postecoglou’s reign. His Premier League form was awful long before he abandoned it altogether. He could have no real complaints, and has hardly proved Spurs wrong with his own subsequent efforts. But even the sh*ttiest parts of his time could at least be understood, and did in the end achieve their stated aims.

Frank’s sh*ttiest parts are sh*ttier and serve no such wider purpose or grander plan. Frank is as bad as Postecoglou ever was in the Premier League; the difference is that Frank is, we can only assume, trying his absolute best.

We wouldn’t be particularly minded to go to bat for either of them. But we know which one we’d pick if we had to.

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney thinks Tottenham Hotspur are “definitely” in a “relegation battle”, while he has offered his thoughts on Thomas Frank.

Spurs are coming off another damaging weekend as they suffered a deserved 2-0 loss against Manchester United and have lost Cristian Romero for four games following his red card.

The north London side are now winless in seven Premier League games and have slipped to 15th in the table. They are also only six points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United.

Tottenham have reached the Champions League knockout stages, but they have been knocked out of the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, while their form and performances in the Premier League have been shambolic.

Now, Rooney has explained why he thinks Spurs are “definitely” in a fight to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

“You’d have to say they are [in a relegation battle] with their current form,” Rooney said on The Wayne Rooney Show.

READ: 16 Conclusions from Manchester United 2-0 Spurs: Frank sack, Romero sale, Carrick appointed

“West Ham have been in form, Nottingham Forest pick up results here and there.

“You can’t think that they’re not in a relegation battle where they are. I think they’ll definitely be looking over their shoulders.”

Rooney also commented on Romero’s red card, claiming it was a “bit harsh”.

“I can see why it’s been given but I think it’s a little bit harsh,” said Rooney.

“Sometimes you lose your head at times. And I think he’s done that throughout his time at Tottenham.”

He added: “What doesn’t help is comments in the week before about the lack of players Tottenham have.

“He clearly speaks his mind as well. But unfortunately, you’ve got to go and back that up with performances when you’re vocal like that – and I don’t think he’s done that. All that’s going to do is bring more pressure on Thomas Frank.”

Frank is once again the favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked before the end of this season, but Rooney has explained why he does feel sorry for the head coach.

“I feel for Thomas Frank because he looks tired, he looks like he’s aged 10 years,” he said.

“That’s what that Tottenham job has done to him in a short period of time. I hope they stick with him because he’s fantastic manager, but I think it’s going be very difficult for them to do that.

“And you don’t need your captain going out getting sent off on a regular basis or being as vocal as he was this week.”

Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero is ‘hot-headed and impulsive’ – so who should Thomas Frank pass the armband on to? Richarlison…obviously.

Also, the people want proof of Stewie Griffin eating his hat when Arsenal win the Premier League.

Send your mails to theeditor@football365.com…

Spurs captaincy

Hi F365,

Christian Romero arrived at Spurs four years ago, in 2022. Since then, the captaincy has changed three times…Lloris to Kane, Kane to Son, Son to Romero. Which does beg two questions: If Romero was not captain material when Lloris left, what has he done to show that he is since then? And why hasn’t the club recruited experienced players with leadership qualities?

It is clear that Romero is not good enough as Captain. He is hot-headed, impulsive and selfish, as clearly evidenced at Utd. He wears the armband but he doesn’t lead the team. Now we have to play the useless Dragusin for four games when we are already struggling.

As soon as they are fit, Frank should strip Romero of the captaincy and give it to Richarlison or Kulusevski. One of Solanke or Van de Ven could even deputise while we wait for the first two to be fit again.

There are many problems with the off-field leadership, but the on-field leadership needs to change too.

Kind regards

Sam

READ: 16 Conclusions from Manchester United 2-0 Spurs: Frank sack, Romero sale, Carrick appointed

A question for Stewie

Saw that Stewie addressed a question that another mailbox contributor asked him the other day, and fair play. I write this mail from a genuine, interested, impartial position.

I’ve read the mailbox now for coming on 20 years and so obviously seen a great deal of Stewie’s contributions and in turn a lot of the comments below the line and I think it’s fair to say that like him or loathe him, he’s become an absolute mailbox icon.

I’m writing in not to slate him or praise him, – I know there’s been accusations that he’s a troll or spurs fan and so forth, and then some contributors like Davos think he talks complete sense – but to genuinely ask another question that I don’t think has been asked before but surely it must have crossed the minds of anyone who’s read and consumed Stewies musings. And this is based on the stance that I DO believe he’s an Arsenal fan, albeit a critical one but, we’re allowed to be critical of our teams and it must be widespread the amount of people who have love / hate relationships with their teams.

My enquiry is about the ‘hate’ side of the relationship.

Stewie will be the first to admit his mails are never praised based or congratulatory and are exclusively critical / negative, whether that’s directed at the ethos, the tactics, the manager, the signings or even the mentality of the fans.

So Stewie, my question, quite simple although maybe me not wording it correctly, is basically;

At this point, after years of (often justified) criticism, are you still a ‘fan’ or ‘supporter’ of Arsenal and how does that look like / play out to you?

Answer in any style or wordings you like but I mean things like, do you cheer when they score, do you wear the shirt, do you like it when they win etc, does anything provide you with happiness or that weird unique elation our football teams give us, or has it got to a point, like the mother in law and father in law, where it’s just complete animosity now and gives you no joy whatsoever.

I’m a Wigan Ath fan, so zero skin in any game here, and so I ask this coz on the back of another win against a tough surprise side like Sunderland, they are 9 points clear (with liverpool v city tomorrow) and looking like they’re not just going to win the league but get maybe 90-95 points and of course still very much in all 4 competitions.

So again, not being critical but I don’t imagine you’ll be writing in praising Arsenal, but if they’d been turned over today we know there’d have been a brutal email on its way. (Which I’d have welcomed)

As I say, genuine mail, genuinely interested.

For what it’s worth I think there’s a lot of sense / truth in there mixed in with a hell of a lot of other stuff. ‘Fraudergaard’ genuinely made me chuckle, the kool aid thing gets a bit repetitive for me if I’m honest, but I’m more on the side of looking forward to the mails rather than skipping them.

So, where do you stand as an Arsenal fan Stewie?

Hope you get to read this and hope you answer it.

All the best

Wigan Dave

My Dad is an Everton fan so has obviously felt the sting of FFP points deductions. Just text me a photo of a birthday cake celebrating 3 years since the 115 charges against City came up.

Has it all just been been brushed under the carpet now? Got to admit I had completely forgotten about it! Are the Premier League just relying on that? Them charges will absolutely never be answered will they…

Money yo

Stop dissallowing perfectly good goals

Looking at the Jesus’ goal disallowed vs Sunderland and I agree with Arsene Wenger that we have to change the offside rules. The aim of the game is to score goals and we should not be trying to make it harder. I’ve always said we have to emulate the NFL where is it is almost unheard of for a team to not get on the board in the game. Also, if you need 5 mins of VAR to check an offside goal, then the goal should stand.

Gyokeres now has more goals than Woltemade (70mill GBP), Watkins, Cunha and Mateta (combined 44 goals last season), Sesko (74mill GBP) is one behind Mbuemo (70mill GBP). When do we start talking about them or is the flop of the season conversation only reserved for Arsenal players?

“Boring” Arsenal now has the best attack and defence in the league but we can’t be worthy champions because we do not “entertain” you enough. I don’t know about you but I’m very entertained being top of the league, champions league, final of one cup already, with a possibility to win the 4th.

Damola AFC Berlin Germany

Tickers’ crystal ball

Watching the Man Utd Match now and Christian Romero has just been sent off just like Dave Tickner predicted. Well sir, hats off to you and I promise to take your predictions more seriously forthwith. Thank you sir.

McKiaveli (I hope we win this now, GGMU) Ushuta. Makurdi, Benue, Nigeria.

Proof from Stewie Griffin

I really appreciate the Stewie warnings as it enables me to scroll and scroll and scroll (he really does write a lot of b*llocks and nothing original since about 2020) past his latest diatribe.

However, as he obviously scours the pages for anything related to him, I do have a question for him. Stewie, if by some miracle (according to you) Arsenal do win the league, how are you going to prove to us all that you have eaten your hat and done all the other things you have said you would do if Arsenal win?

Andrew Goonerabroad Brown

…37 points a week into Feb.

I think we might be safe.

Aidan, EFC, Hoxton

Pep leaving?

Peps going nowhere, that’s from a better source than you’ll ever get, he knows how bent and bias the league is to the red shirt American owned cartel clubs and how the media both tv and newspapers pander to the red masses also slandering Mcfc, he understands us proper Mancunians and the club.

Us and pep are going f***ing nowhere, we can taste your salty tears and smell your urine boiling, 115 oh dear!!!

“What about citeh” is all you city bingo callers say, many thanks a proud Mancunian and Mcfc season ticket holder for over 50 years mr s jones.

Anon

A response to Zak

The fact that you think that what Pep Guardiola says – or what any famous person says about the Israel/Palestine conflict – has more to do with Islamist attacks on Jews than Israel’s occupation of Gaza and treatment of its people going back to 1948 (let’s not forget the Nakba – sure not as a widescale as the Holocaust but the intent was the exact same thing) says everything about you.

Not at all against Israel or its existence but don’t act like the Trump administration and think people can’t see what’s going on with their own eyes. It’s ridiculous and insulting and what happened 80 years ago is irrelevant to war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetuated today. Not to sound cliché but two wrongs don’t make right and all…

And many Jewish people have spoken about their feelings of being let down by those running Israel at the moment – I know some of them personally. Moreover, current and former government/military officials, media within Israel, various Israeli human rights groups have also publicly voiced their disappointment.

Tottenham Hotspur captain Cristian Romero will be banned for four matches after being sent off during his side’s 2-0 loss against Manchester United.

Earlier this week, Romero made the headlines for hitting out at Tottenham’s board over a “disgraceful” lack of backing in the transfer market, while he cost his side against Man Utd.

There was not a great deal between Spurs and Man Utd before Romero was sent off for a rash challenge on Casemiro, which led to the Red Devils running out 2-0 winners via goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes.

Romero’s challenge would typically result in a three-match ban, but he will be absent for game as he has already been sent off once this season.

And he has been criticised by former Premier League striker Chris Sutton, who claims the centre-back “killed his team” against Man Utd.

“Romero’s focus should be on playing football first and foremost. today he killed his team making that challenge,” Sutton said on BBC Sport.

READ: Carrick has Romero, Amorim, Mainoo and co. to thank for inevitable permanent Man Utd appointment

“People have been throwing the blame for Tottenham’s problems at the manager but there’s a guy, a World Cup winner, that should be leading by example.”

Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, meanwhile, confirmed after the match that Romero “apologised” to his teammates.

“He is disappointed because he knows this red card could have been avoided so he apologised,” Vicario said.

He is our captain and today he made a mistake but we know the player he is and he is going to come back stronger and help us massively throughout the season.”

Frank also spoke on the red card and explained why he was “very proud” of his players despite the defeat leaving them only nine points clear of the bottom three.

“I think the first 30 minutes were a good away performance at a difficult place against a team with confidence in them and flow. Then after the red card, I am very proud of the players,” Frank said on TNT Sport.

“The resilience, staying in the game mentality, still being a threat at times trying to create something. Very proud of them. Then, of course we just made the three offensive subs and then we concede the second.

“I think the last 60/70 minutes, we were playing with 10 men. They put everything into it. Very proud of the fans. You could hear them loud throughout the game.

“No, because that was the error they could explore. It can always happen, of course. You can play 10 against 11. Of course, that was the area that got a little bit exposed.

“Cristian first and foremost, there is no intention to do the follow through and get a red. He clearly goes for the ball. Unfortunately, the way the rules are, it becomes a red. Cristian apologised to his team-mates in the dressing room.

“It is, but it is what it is. We need to deal with it. I think a big area we’ve been working hard on is the resilience. We didn’t get the result out of it today, but what they showed out there on the pitch today, the players, was incredible. We need to focus on Newcastle on Tuesday night.

“Just focus on the next game. That is Newcastle on Tuesday night.”

According to reports, there has been a ‘major development’ regarding Thomas Frank’s future at Spurs, who have a ‘frontrunner’ replacement in mind.

Frank left Brentford to replace Ange Postecoglou at Spurs ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, but this is proving to be a poor appointment.

The current Spurs deserved a crack at a bigger job as he worked wonders at Brentford, but he has looked increasingly like the wrong fit for the north London outfit.

Frank has built a bond with supporters, who have been incredibly critical of his uninspiring approach to certain matches. Under him, Tottenham’s results and performances have also been far from good enough as the bottom-half Premier League side are arguably no better than they were under Postecoglou.

The Spurs boss has spent most of this season as a leading contender in the sack race and this remained the case before Saturday’s game against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

READ: Carrick makes another no-brainer Man Utd decision as Frank sends ‘message’ to Spurs captain Romero

Before this match, a report from journalist Fraser Fletcher for our pals at TEAMtalk provided a ‘major development’ regarding Frank’s future, with it claimed that club legend Mauricio Pochettino has ‘said yes’ to a ‘sensational return’ after the World Cup.

Pochettino is set to lead the United States at this summer’s World Cup, but ‘he would unequivocally accept a return to Tottenham if offered the role following the World Cup’.

Regarding Frank’s current situation, the report explains: ‘Insiders suggest that poor results could precipitate Frank’s sacking, paving the way for an interim appointment. Johnny Heitinga, already embedded in the coaching staff, has now emerged as the frontrunner to steady the ship until summer.

‘The rationale behind retaining Frank amid the turmoil? Tottenham’s hierarchy is playing the long game, eyeing superior managerial options post-World Cup.’

Frank has revealed why he thinks it’s currently unfair to compare Spurs to Man Utd.

“It is maybe a nice little context to say that Man United don’t play European football,” Frank said.

“I think we can all acknowledge there is a little bit [extra]. It is an extra challenge, [but] something we embrace and we are happy with.

“I think let’s judge us when we are on the same challenges. The ambition is that we want to do very well and carry on with the good performances and beat Man United.

“I think [Carrick] has had a great start. It seems like there was injected a little bit of energy into the team. I think it looks like some of the players are in a good place.

“We know the threats they pose before from [Bryan] Mbeumo, Amad, [Matheus] Cunha and Bruno Fernandes is getting this team ticking. He has done that the last, I don’t know, four or five years. It has been incredible.

“It is a threat, it is a challenge, but we are looking forward to it.”