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How a promising start unravelled and left Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank clinging desperately to his job, but for how long?
Thomas Frank has been given a stay of execution ahead of Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League home clash with Borussia Dortmund tonight.
But the Dane’s position remains perilous amid the club’s dreadful form and growing calls from the Spurs fanbase for him to be sacked.
Here, DAZN News reporter Ross Heppenstall assesses Frank’s reign and whether he can turn the situation around heading into the showdown with Dortmund.
An appointment that made much sense
After the chaos of Ange Postecoglou’s two-year reign, which ended with the club’s first trophy in 17 years and their worst league finish for 48 years, Frank seemed like a good fit for Spurs.
His work at Brentford earned him a reputation as one of the most progressive and forward-thinking managers in the English game.
During his seven years in charge, Frank took the Bees up from the Championship and established them as a respected top-flight force.
Many players, such as Ivan Toney, Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo, thrived under his guidance.
When Postecoglou, famed for his gung-ho football, was shown the door at the end of last season, Frank made the move across London on a contract until 2028.
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Encouraging early signs
After losing on penalties to Paris Saint-Germain in the European Super Cup, Spurs quickly hit the ground running in the Premier League.
They won three of their opening four games, which included an eye-catching 2-0 win at Manchester City, and opened their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 home victory over Villarreal.
There was resilience in how they fought back from two goals down to earn a point at Brighton and twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Bodo/Glimt.
When Spurs won 2-1 at Leeds United in early October, it was their third victory from four away games in the Premier League.
The signs were promising and the new chapter being patiently written by Frank looked like one of substance.
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Home comforts sadly lacking
Despite their impressive early-season away form, results at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium soon gave cause for concern.
Having lost their opening home game to Bournemouth, Frank’s men were beaten there by Aston Villa and arch-rivals Chelsea in successive home games.
The manner of the Chelsea defeat sparked anger amongst Spurs fans and a 4-1 hammering at Arsenal in the North London derby turned up the heat on Frank.
Frank opted to play a 5-4-1 system at Arsenal, but it backfired as the home side dominated the first half, scoring twice, while Spurs failed to have a shot at goal.
Frank apologised to fans afterwards for his team’s lack of fight, admitting it was “a very bad night for us.”
At this point, the Dane was starting to lose the trust of sections of the fanbase.
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Winter of discontent
The derby defeat to Arsenal kickstarted a run of three straight defeats, which included a 5-3 humbling at PSG in the Champions League and a dreadful 2-1 home defeat to Fulham.
The reverse at the hands of the Cottagers marked Spurs’ fourth home defeat in seven Premier League games this season.
Guglielmo Vicario made a terrible mistake, which gifted Harry Wilson Fulham’s second goal and the result left Tottenham 10th in the table and mired in mediocrity.
Vicario was booed by angry Spurs fans, prompting Frank to hit out afterwards, saying: “I heard some of our fans apparently booed the incident and booed after, which, in my opinion is completely unacceptable.
“They can't be true Tottenham fans that do that.”
Keeping the critics at bay before going all Spursy again
Despite coming under increasing scrutiny, Frank saw his men show impressive spirit to draw 2-2 at Newcastle at the start of December.
Cristian Romero led by example as captain with two goals to salvage a point for Spurs and spare them a sixth defeat in eight games.
Then came successive home wins over Brentford and Slavia Prague in the Champions League but, Spurs being Spurs, they followed that with two defeats.
First up was a shocking 3-0 surrender at struggling Nottingham Forest and a 2-1 home loss to Liverpool.
Spurs won 1-0 at Crystal Palace on December 28 but have not won since in five games and have lost their last three.
That alarming slump has included being dumped out of the FA Cup at home by Aston Villa and being beaten 2-1 there by West Ham last weekend.
Tottenham are 14th in the Premier League, having won just seven of their 22 games this season, and the Hammers defeat left Frank’s job hanging by the thinnest of threads.
A lunch date or the last supper?
There was plenty of speculation that Frank could be shown the door after losing to West Ham, but he survived and faced the media on Monday ahead of tonight’s clash with Dortmund.
Frank had lunch on Monday with chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, as well as other board members Nick Beucher and Johan Lange, and insisted he had their backing.
“We had a good conversation about life and football and the future of the club,” said Frank.
“It is an extremely good sign because normally people run away if there is bad news or bad weather coming, they are normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.”
Spurs have been decimated by injuries with the likes of Ben Davies, Richarlison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison all long-term absentees.
That is a huge mitigating factor, but Frank is honest and experienced enough to know that he needs wins if he is to keep his job.
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Can he turn the situation around?
Spurs will be massively understrength tonight against Dortmund, but Frank surely needs a performance at least if he is to avoid the sack.
A repeat of the abject fare served up last weekend would make the pressure unbearable with Tottenham supporters – and hierarchy –growing increasingly impatient.
Defeat tonight could spell the end of Frank after just seven months but, with no obvious replacement on the horizon, it remains to be seen where Tottenham will turn should they pull the trigger on the amiable.
He said: “If your back is against the wall then you fight and that is what I do.
“It's not about me, we need to win football matches and we need to win together.”
Full Champions League fixture list for Matchday 7
Tuesday, 20 January
- Kairat Almaty vs. Club Brugge
- Bodo/Glimt vs. Manchester City
- Copenhagen vs. Napoli
- Inter vs. Arsenal
- Olympiakos vs. Bayer Leverkusen
- Real Madrid vs. Monaco
- Sporting vs. PSG
- Tottenham vs. Borussia Dortmund
- Villarreal vs. Ajax
Wednesday, 21 January
- Galatasaray vs. Atletico Madrid
- Qarabag vs. Eintracht Frankfurt
- Atalanta vs. Athletic Club
- Bayern Munich vs. Union Saint-Gilloise
- Chelsea vs. Pafos
- Juventus vs. Benfica
- Marseille vs. Liverpool
- Newcastle United vs. PSV
- Slavia Prague vs. Barcelona
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