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Keith Hackett in no doubt about Brennan Johnson controversy vs FC Copenhagen

Keith Hackett has insisted that Brennan Johnson should not have been sent off in Tottenham’s win against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Tottenham beat Copenhagen 4-0 in the Champions League, on what was a confidence-boosting night for Thomas Frank‘s side.

Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Micky van de Ven, and Joao Palhinha scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, despite the red card.

After the winger’s yellow card was upgraded to red after a review, Johnson became the first British player to score and be sent off in a Champions League game.

The moment will go down as a footnote on a superb night, however, with the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium seeing a great response after Tottenham lost 1-0 to Chelsea on Saturday.

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Keith Hackett questions VAR intervention

Johnson’s challenge had not looked to be much of anything at the time, with Copenhagen defender Marcos Lopez not even going down.

Referee Erik Lambrechts issued a yellow card, but video assistant referee Bram van Driessche halted play while he viewed the incident more closely.

On closer inspection, Johnson’s studs had been raised and were not near the ball, making contact with the Achilles of Lopez.

There appeared to be little force in the challenge, however, which looked far worse when played in slow motion.

An on-field review was recommended and Lambrechts overturned his decision, issuing a straight red card.

Hackett exclusively told Tottenham News that both the video assistant referee and the on-field official made a mistake.

“The referee in a good position clearly judged that the challenge was reckless and was correct to sanction the challenge with a yellow card,” the former PGMOL chief said.

“There is no clear and obvious error and VAR should not have intervened. The referee is wrong to show a red card.”

What games will Brennan Johnson miss?

Johnson’s red card will see him handed a three-game ban in the Champions League due to serious foul play.

The winger will serve the first game of that suspension when Tottenham travel to Paris Saint-Germain at the end of November, before ruling him out of a clash with Slavia Prague in December.

Johnson’s ban will then extend into January, when he will miss a game against Borussia Dortmund at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Frank will be able to deploy the Wales international once again for Tottenham’s final Champions League group stage game, against Eintracht Frankfurt at the end of January.

Thomas Frank has put the recent Tottenham controversy involving Micky van de Ven behind him after the centre-back shone against Copenhagen on Tuesday.

Tottenham smashed Copenhagen 4-0 in the Champions League, as many individuals had standout performances.

Xavi Simons looks to have finally arrived for Spurs in his best game so far at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, as Wilson Odobert scored his first goal of the season.

Brennan Johnson was sent off for Tottenham, but even down to 10 men, it didn’t stop Van de Ven from stealing the show.

After Tottenham’s defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, Van de Ven was caught walking past and ignoring Frank in a heated moment that now seems to be forgiven.

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Frank says van de Ven can ‘keep walking past him’

During the game against Copenhagen, Van de Ven scored a goal that may be nominated for the Puskas Award.

The defender picked up the ball from just outside his own box and ran the full length of the field before placing a shot into the back of the net.

In his post-match comments, Frank has swept their previous controversy under the rug, claiming van de Ven looked like Lionel Messi against Copenhagen.

Frank said, as quoted by football.london: “It seems like we had Lionel Messi turned into Micky van de Ven, roaring down from his own goal all the way to the other end and scored a fantastic goal.

“I think he’s our top scorer in all competitions, so he can keep going. He can keep walking past me if he’s angry after a game.”

Van de Ven has already tallied two goals more than his best scoring season at Spurs, but what’s been the biggest difference this campaign?

Frank has transformed Van de Ven at Spurs

Right now, it would be hard to argue against the fact that Van de Ven is Tottenham’s best player.

This season, the centre-back has taken his game to the next level and is the Lilywhites’ top scorer, looking a genuine goal threat every game.

The difference is Frank. For all the stick he gets, the head coach needs to be praised for the work he’s done with Tottenham’s backline, and Van de Ven in particular.

With Van de Ven still only 24 years old, the Dutchman is showing promise that he can one day captain Tottenham full time, as he looks like a true leader at the moment for the Lilywhites.

Tottenham may have beat Copenhagen 4-0 on Tuesday, but it was not all smiles in North London.

Brennan Johnson opened the scoring for Tottenham and was also sent off in the Champions League clash.

It was a big result for Thomas Frank‘s side after a run of just one win in their last five matches beforehand.

However, the most notable aspect of proceedings was something that supporters did at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham fans show their discontent in Copenhagen clash

Tottenham supporters have voiced their discontent recently, despite the Europa League victory at the end of last season.

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Some fans clearly protested against ticket prices in the Copenhagen clash, as they were priced at around £60 for a match against a lesser opponent on a Tuesday evening.

An image shared by John Wenham shows the extent of the issue, with lots of empty seats at kick-off at the state-of-the-art stadium.

Wenham, who goes by Lilywhite Rose on social media, shared the sad image, saying: “Many voting with their feet.

“South Stand, 8pm. £60 in between two Category A games.”

Tottenham chiefs need to unite the club and supporters

Spurs have a brilliant stadium, a great playing squad and a huge supporter base.

The club’s chiefs have to fix it, they must unite all factions of the N17 outfit, to ensure that success is repeated in the future.

If there is division between the club, players and supporters, that will lessen the chance of them winning the highest honours.

The departure of Daniel Levy was supposed to bring everyone together and put the club on the right track, but it seems like there are still issues that need sorting out.

It will only hamper Frank and Co. on the pitch, as they try to take Spurs forward into a new era where they challenge for the Premier League and Champions League.

There has been a lot of progress, but it could all stall, if everyone is not on the same page.

For starters, the prices need to be reflective of the quality of the game, £60 for Copenhagen is simply unacceptable.

Brennan Johnson made a piece of history after being sent off in Tottenham’s Champions League win against Copenhagen.

Tottenham secured a 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday night, just days after Spurs’ disappointing defeat to Chelsea in the Premier League.

This will be precisely the response that Thomas Frank would’ve wanted to see from his team after back-to-back defeats.

Despite some shock decisions throughout the game, it’s safe to say that it was Spurs’ best performance of the season.

Brennan Johnson scores and then sees red vs Copenhagen

Johnson opened the scoring against Copenhagen with a sensational finish from the right side from a tight angle.

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However, after netting his first-ever Champions League goal, the right winger saw red for a sliding challenge on Marcos Lopez, which caught the heel and then the calf of the defender.

The feat means that Johnson has made history as the first ever British player to score and be sent off during the same Champions League game, according to OptaJoe via X on 4 November.

While Johnson would’ve been disappointed with his actions, the red seemed to suit the Lilywhites quite well.

Indeed, Spurs went on to score two more goals after the altercation, including a stunning solo goal from Micky van de Ven, who is Tottenham’s top scorer this season.

All things considered, the game can be considered a massive win for Frank and Tottenham after a difficult couple of weeks.

How did Brennan Johnson perform before the red card?

Along with Xavi Simons, Johnson was Spurs’ best player before the red card.

Indeed, the right winger’s goal came from his only shot of the game, according to Sofascore, in a game that was both eventful and clinical for the Europa League winner.

As well as this, Johnson won two of his five ground duels attempted and lost possession just three times in 57 minutes played.

After such an impressive performance, Johnson will be kicking himself for his split-second decision, which led to the red card.

Either way, his display would’ve definitely given Frank something to think about moving forward, albeit the Wales international will now have to serve a European ban.

Ange Postecoglou is unlikely to return to Celtic this season.

Managerial updates have been the theme in North London for several months now, with Ange Postecoglou’s sacking at Tottenham closely followed by the appointment of Thomas Frank.

Postecoglou landed himself a new job at Nottingham Forest, before being sacked just 39 days into his tenure, and then being linked with a return to Celtic.

However, reports on Thursday claim that a move back to Glasgow is unlikely to happen for the Australian.

Lyall Thomas reported via X that it is “very unlikely” that he will become Celtic manager, though another familiar Spurs face remains in the running.

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Former Tottenham striker could land Celtic job

Harry Kane is the most notable, but Tottenham have had some incredible strikers over the years, several of whom have an excellent record in North London.

Names like Jermain Defoe and Jimmy Greaves all feature on a long list of Spurs legends, as does Robbie Keane.

Now, according to odds provided by William Hill, Keane is in the running to become the next Celtic manager, with odds of 3/1, which have been shortened significantly from 8/1.

Despite the update claiming it is unlikely, Postecoglou remains above Keane at 5/2, with Kieran McKenna a surprise favourite at 11/8.

Throughout a nine-year spell at Tottenham, Keane made 306 appearances, with 112 goals to his name.

Robbie Keane’s managerial career to date

Since leaving Tottenham in 2008 and then again in 2011, Keane has certainly had an exotic career.

The Irishman spent time on loan at Celtic, West Ham and Aston Villa, as well as having stints at LA Galaxy and Atletico de Kolkata in India.

Upon retiring there, Keane moved into coaching, where he would spend time as an assistant at Ireland, Middlesbrough and Leeds before landing his first full-time job.

In 2023, Keane was appointed as Tel Aviv manager, where he recorded an average of 2.32 points per game from 53 games.

Now at Ferencvaros, Keane has seen his side average two points per game from his first 40 in charge, with links to Celtic emerging as a result.

Defeat at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup has seen former Tottenham players round on the poor quality of the squad at Thomas Frank’s disposal.

A limp 2-0 loss at St. James’ Park on Wednesday night saw the Dane’s men crash out of the League Cup and miss out on a chance to add to last season’s long-awaited first trophy in years.

Richarlison was singled out for criticism against Newcastle by Gabby Agbonlahor, but ex-Spurs men Jamie O’Hara and David Bentley weren’t impressed with the performance, or the rest of the playing staff.

Goals from Fabian Schar, after which Richarlison was booked for dissent over Chris Kavanagh’s refereeing, and Nick Woltemade secured the victory without too much fuss for the home side.

Jamie O’Hara and David Bentley blast Tottenham defeat

After Tottenham beat Everton last weekend they are sitting pretty comfortably in third place in the Premier League, but with the cup loss at Newcastle it is just three wins in nine in all competitions for Frank.

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Debating the performance in the North East live on talkSPORT Bentley expressed his disappointment at the visitors going out of the competition so meekly.

Adding to the assessment O’Hara then launched in on the squad as a whole, suggesting they are not of the right level to deliver proper success.

Bentley said: “I just thought Newcastle were a big, physical presence, just run over Tottenham. Tottenham just got turned over really tonight. They’ve gone up there, didn’t lay a glove on them, went through the motions.

“Newcastle are a strong team. If you’re not at it [against] Eddie Howe’s teams at St. James’ Park you come unstuck and Tottenham just weren’t at it tonight, which is such a shame.

“I like the manager, I think he’s a positive influence and he’s trying to do things right, but losing football matches, specifically like that, it’s not great is it?”

O’Hara then launched him: “I look at it Dave and I go, ‘the squad just ain’t that good’. Do you know what I mean? Newcastle have got a better team than us, let’s be honest. The midfield are better, the strikers are better, Woltemade’s come in, he’s a good player, scoring goals. The back four’s decent, strong.

“I’m looking at us and Brennan Johnson, weak. Richarlison, don’t look like he can score any more, I don’t know what’s happened. I look at it and go, ‘we play alright, we play some nice football, but we ain’t like a proper side are we?'”

Chelsea clash beyond huge for Thomas Frank

Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea come to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday in a game that could be a major indicator for how life will be under Frank long term.

It was almost exactly two years ago that the first significant warning signs emerged of what was to come for Ange Postecoglou in the very same fixture as Spurs’ early-season joy came crashing down with a 4-1 defeat to former boss Mauricio Pochettino.

The Argentine and the Australian are both gone now, while Nicolas Jackson who scored a hat-trick that day against the nine-man hosts is out on loan at Bayern Munich.

But another damaging defeat to their London rivals could spell trouble for Frank amid an inconsistent run of form, although equally if the former Brentford boss records a first win in five against Chelsea it would be a welcome statement of intent.

Thomas Frank decided to give a new role to a Tottenham star against Newcastle, as the stats prove it was a bad decision.

Tottenham lost 2-0 to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, as the coach will be looking for an instant response on Saturday against Chelsea.

Richarlison continues to struggle for Tottenham, as the need for a striker is more clear than ever with Dominic Solanke still sidelined through injury.

However, Frank didn’t help himself when he made one change to the Lilywhites’ lineup that nobody would have seen coming.

Joao Palhinha suffered at centre-back vs Newcastle

After Micky van de Ven scored a brace against Everton on Sunday evening, the Dutchman was handed a rest in the midweek clash with Newcastle.

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With Cristian Romero still out, it meant that Frank saw Joao Palhinha as the only other option to put next to Kevin Danso.

Palhinha, unsurprisingly, looked out of sorts in centre-back, and it’s an experiment that Frank needs to learn from.

Although Palhinha was not entirely at fault for either of the goals, Tottenham certainly lacked leadership in their midfield against the Magpies.

Palhinha has been excellent in midfield for Frank, and the Portuguese needs to be put back in his best position instantly against Chelsea.

Frank needs to make calculated decisions

While it’s understandable that Frank may have wanted to rest van de Ven, the majority of Spurs’ side against Newcastle featured regular starters, as it makes no sense as to why the Dutchman was benched.

If Frank wants to seriously compete for trophies this season, he needs to take more risks.

Frank has made some questionable decisions for Spurs so far, and sometimes, the calls are never justified with good reason.

Tottenham fans will want Frank to make more calculated and processed decisions that make them confident that their head coach does, in fact, know what he’s doing.

Thomas Frank has fewer outfield players available than Ange Postecoglou around the same time in his first season.

Tottenham were criticised when they sacked Postecoglou weeks after he had won the UEFA Europa League with the club.

Postecoglou later moved to Nottingham Forest but was sacked after an abysmal string of performances.

But while he may be looking for his next adventure, Postecoglou is still someone who greatly interests Spurs supporters.

Mostly for winning them silverware for the first time in 17 years, but some fans still lie awake at night mulling over the injury crisis while he was at the helm. However, upon second glance, his injury woes may not have been as bad as initially believed.

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Thomas Frank is faring worse than Ange Postecoglou when it comes to injuries

It was widely reported that Tottenham’s Archie Gray will be sidelined for several weeks due to injury.

Meanwhile, Wilson Odobert picked up a knock in Spurs’ goalless draw to Monaco in the UEFA Champions League, which saw him benched against Everton and unavailable to face Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup.

As a result, the Lilywhites only have 14 outfield players able to feature in Tottenham’s upcoming game against Chelsea on 1 November.

However, in a surprising turn of events, Spurs had 15 outfield players available around the same time during Postecoglou’s first season.

While it must be remembered that players like Dejan Kulusevski and Radu Dragusin were injured before Frank’s arrival, the stat does vindicate Postecoglou to an extent.

Indeed, it all started to go wrong for the Lilywhites in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 6 November 2023.

Destiny Udogie picked up a muscular issue before receiving a second yellow against the Blues, while Cristian Romero, who was also shown red, and James Maddison both suffered injuries against Chelsea.

Thus, most fans will be hoping that a repeat of this does not happen this time around.

Ange Postecoglou’s injury crisis was not as bad as it seemed

Injuries were the reason, agreed by most Tottenham fans, that their team gave up top spot in the 2023/24 season and the reason they came 17th in the 2024/25 season.

However, this does not seem to be the case, at least where the first season is concerned.

The Lilywhites suffered fewer injuries in Postecoglou’s first season than in the 2022/23 period, according to a report from Howden Group Holdings.

This makes the claim that injuries derailed Spurs’ season seem quite far-fetched.

However, injuries definitely played a role in Tottenham’s results in his final season, suffering 41 separate injuries, which was the second highest in the league.

Therefore, while there is some truth to injuries influencing Postecoglou’s time in North London, it’s far from the whole truth.

Thomas Frank has been backed to go into the January transfer market with serious purpose and strengthen his Tottenham side with three key signings for its spine.

Despite being third in the Premier League Tottenham’s Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle on Wednesday makes it just three wins in nine across all competitions.

With significant injuries to the likes of James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevsky already biting the Spurs squad is seen to need significant reinforcements at the earliest opportunity, according to former midfielder David Bentley.

Dominic Solanke is also unavailable and Son Heung-min is now long gone, leaving Richarlison catching heavy criticism up top for Tottenham, and striker is seen as an obvious priority.

Thomas Frank urged to sign trio for Tottenham spine in January

An impressive display against PSG in the Super Cup coupled with another away victory at Man City early in the season had hopes high under Frank.

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But despite some positive results in the weeks since there have been too many draws and a lack of Tottenham consistency overall.

Bentley reacted to the 2-0 loss at St. James’ Park live on talkSPORT in a conversation with Jamie O’Hara, and detailed his hopes for how the manager will address what he has at his disposal.

“I think they’ve got to go into the market and make a bit of a statement,” he said. “Purchase at least two or three players down the spine of the team.

“Just add a little bit more class… They need to get some goals, they need to get more creative players. I don’t know who they’re gonna go into the market and buy but they definitely do need [to].”

“They need a striker”, O’Hara cut in.

And Bentley replied: “Yeah they do need a striker, yeah.”

Tottenham full of inconsistent goalscorers

It’s easier said than done but simply throwing money at the problem is a risky way to fix things, and historically it hasn’t been Frank’s way.

That was largely out of necessity at Brentford, and he had an excellent track record of getting the best out of the likes of Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo while he was there.

It doesn’t appear that the Dane is particularly taken by Richarlison given his usage after a good start to the season while Mathys Tel remains goal-shy.

If Solanke, and to a lesser extent Randal Kolo Muani, can get fit and stay fit there is reason to believe the manager could get things firing but he just hasn’t had a proper chance to find out yet.

Thomas Frank drops Xavi Simons in five changes – Tottenham predicted XI vs Chelsea

Thomas Frank is in need of a win against Chelsea after a disappointing result in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Newcastle United dominated Tottenham in a 2-0 victory in the Carabao Cup at St. James’ Park on 29 October.

While Frank has an abysmal record against Newcastle, the defeat reflects the Spurs’ inconsistency this period, winning seven and losing four games in all competitions this season.

But in football, things carry on moving, and Tottenham will need to pick themselves up when they welcome Chelsea at home in the Premier League on 1 November.

Mathys Tel to replace Richarlison after disastrous Carabao Cup performance

Richarlison was heavily criticised for his performance against Newcastle, which hardly comes as a surprise given that it was disastrous from beginning to end.

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Indeed, the Brazilian took four shots, three of which were on target, according to Sofascore.

At first glance, that doesn’t seem too bad, and one could conclude that Aaron Ramsdale had an incredible performance.

And yes, that is all true, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that Richarlison arrived late to at least three excellent crosses delivered into the box.

His passing wasn’t all that impressive either:

Mathys Tel showed more promise in 12 minutes than Richarlison had all game when he was substituted on, completing 100 per cent of his passes. As a result, the young striker will likely replace the Brazilian against Chelsea on Saturday.

While Randal Kolo Muani is an option, given Frank’s cautious approach all season, he’s likely to go with Tel, who’s played more minutes this season.

Brennan Johnson actually had his first good game in a while for Spurs against Newcastle and could’ve had a couple of assists if Richarlison was more clinical.

As a result, Frank could move him back onto the left wing ahead of Lucas Bergvall, who would be demoted to the bench with Mohammed Kudus returning to the right wing.

Meanwhile, Xavi Simons wasn’t half bad against the Magpies, completing 100 per cent of his dribbles and making two key passes. However, the Dane could opt for a more defensive approach in a move which would see Simons enter the field as a substitute.

This would result in Frank returning to a 4-3-3 formation rather than the 4-2-3-1 used against Newcastle, with Joao Palhinha returning to the midfield from the defence, as well as Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr retaining their starting spots.

Micky van de Ven will likely come in for Palhinha as centre-back, and fans will be pleased to see Guglielmo Vicario replace Antonin Kinsky, given the latter’s unconvincing display.

Newcastle game highlights what Thomas Frank must change against Chelsea

Tottenham struggled to create meaningful chances against Newcastle in what has been a recurring issue for the Lillywhites.

Indeed, Spurs generated 0.94 expected goals against the Magpies, with their best chance of the game being an attempt from Sarr on goal outside of the box.

While Kudus has been Tottenham’s best creator this season and his absence was no doubt felt, the team should still be able to create with the likes of Simons and Bergvall in the midfield.

Chelsea are a strong attacking team, creating around 2.8 big chances per game and keeping the game level would be a tough ask for the Lilywhites.

As a result, Frank will need to organise Spurs in a formation which guarantees goals on Saturday.