Tottenham suffered a crushing 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Sunday, increasing the pressure on Thomas Frank despite only joining the club in the summer.
Another week, another Premier League manager feeling the heat. It was Liverpool manager Arne Slott who lit up the atmosphere at Anfield last week, ending a difficult week with back-to-back wins.
However, it’s a different story for Tottenham and Thomas Frank. Spurs, who lost 3-0 to Nottingham Forest on Sunday, remain in the bottom half of the Premier League with just one win in their last seven games.
The manner of the defeat at the City Ground put pressure on Frank, who had only joined the club from Brentford during the summer. However, there are growing concerns among supporters about the way things are progressing under the Danish manager, with some calling for changes to the dugout.
Spurs next face Liverpool before a tricky trip to Crystal Palace concludes 2025. But with fan interest waning and the team’s players in trouble, will Frank be able to survive the long, cold winter?
We asked our writing team to decide whether Tottenham should sack their second manager in six months and accept their mistake before it’s too late.
read more: Alan Sugar speaks out, suggests Jurgen Klopp could replace Tottenham’s Thomas Frankread more: Jed Spence furious over Tottenham substitutions and clashes again with Thomas Frank
john cross
Tottenham need to give Thomas Frank time. It would have been a terrible mistake to pull the trigger before Christmas and not give the new manager a chance to turn things around.
Spurs have 22 points after 16 games, one point worse than they were at the same stage under Ange Postecoglou.
But even worse than that is the lack of style, entertainment and identity in football. That being said, these are exactly the things new managers need time to implement. It was by no means an overnight success.
Frank takes over a team that finished badly for most of last season, despite winning the Europa League. I thought the team was better than it actually was. They need another transfer window and a quick one.
It’s so lacking in quality, character, and fight. The quiet surrender in Nottingham Forest was truly alarming. However, we are only 4 points behind in 5th place!
But who could do a better job than this? Managers need time. Mikel Arteta has had an even worse time at Arsenal. Even Manchester United are fawning over Ruben Amorim.
Yes, Tottenham need to improve. But making new changes so quickly under Frank’s reign would be a huge mistake for Tottenham.
Andy Dunn
This is what today’s big clubs are doing. Here’s how elite soccer organizations operate. It remains classy. They trust their judgment.
Patience is the new necessity. Hiring and firing is outdated.
Tottenham Hotspur are a giant that has been hibernating for years, and it will be a long task to properly pull them out of that slumber. The idea that Thomas Frank should be fired after 10 wins into his tenure is a little ridiculous.
After a strong performance against Newcastle United, Spurs had a poor performance at the City Ground, beating Brentford by two points and Slavia Prague by three points.
How could that be a form of dismissal? Spurs are above Eddie Howe’s side in the Premier League table.
In the worst case scenario, they will advance to the Champions League play-off stage. Yes, it was pretty bad at Nottingham Forest. Yes, they were very inconsistent.
However, including the European Super Cup. Frank played 25 games for the Spurs, losing only eight of them. It would be foolish to fire him.
neil mcleman
Tottenham have won fewer points this season than they did in 16 games last season under manager Ange Postecoglou. And they were surprisingly bad against Forest on Sunday.
But the North London club cannot continue to cut back and change. And Frank is proving to be a Premier League manager, albeit one with limitations, having been interviewed by both Chelsea and Manchester United last year. Who could do better now?
Despite finishing 17th last season, they won the Europa League under manager Big Ange, so this season was supposed to be a relatively stable one under Frank. However, their only good result since October was defeating former club Brentford.
After Forest’s defeat, Frank said there was no “quick fix” and that this was a team of very average players brought together at great expense. Without the injured Dejan Kreszewski, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison and Destiny Udogi, the team becomes even more ordinary.
This season, their goal should be to finish in the top six or seven, and play in European football next season. If that doesn’t happen, it won’t be Frank’s fault alone.
nathan ridley
We’ve seen this movie before, right? After an up-and-coming manager excels in the Premier League and earns a long-awaited move to a big club, everything falls apart.
It feels like the red flags are there for Thomas Frank and Tottenham. Spurs have continued to do well in Europe, but there is still a lot of room for improvement in their Premier League form, and being eliminated so early in the Carabao Cup, coupled with a draw in the FA Cup that looks difficult, does not bode well.
But I want to be with him. The manager has a track record of developing players, having been at a progressive club in Brentford, and has the ability to build strong teams from possession, which is exactly what Tottenham lacked under Ange Postecoglou.
Of course, Frank needs to get more out of the Spurs’ offensive players, but ultimately the return of Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison will definitely help with creativity. Spurs have tried every other manager profile, so I’d stay the course for now.
Connor Mummery
“If no one has time, no one can change the situation. This is not a quick fix,” Thomas Frank said after Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest. That may be true, and as many have pointed out, players like Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta had tricky starts at Liverpool and Arsenal respectively, but were given the time and money to turn things around. But there is no indication that Frank is capable of the level of transformation that followed in both of these cases.
Tottenham have won only four of their last 14 games in all competitions, and there was nothing in most of their performances to suggest that time would ultimately turn the result in their favor. Frank was brought in primarily to stabilize a leaky defense. But Spurs have scored 16 goals in their last five away games and have looked equally ineffective at the other end.
The last time Spurs had fewer points at this stage of a season was in 2008/09, when they scored just two goals in their first eight games under manager Juande Ramos. The club acted quickly, replacing the Spaniard with Harry Redknapp in October, but will need to be just as ruthless this time around if they are to have a good season.
ben husband
Thomas Frank was a great manager and what he achieved at Brentford was very impressive. But he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time, and both parties had better accept that reality.
Establishing Brentford in the Premier League is a completely different challenge than doing it at Tottenham, and so far he has proven to be seriously lacking.
Sure, they’re missing two of their most creative players in Maddison and Kulusevski, but their absence alone doesn’t explain their lukewarm attitude under a struggling coach. According to Opta, Spurs’ average xG per game is 0.96, which is the 17th worst in the division and the worst since statistics began being recorded (2012/13).
All of this is eerily similar to Nuno Espirito Santo’s North London days, where he was a good director but a poor match. Spurs have come to terms with their mistakes just four months into their reign, but it ends on a desperate note not too dissimilar to their current slump.
Frank will almost certainly go elsewhere and be successful, but that won’t stop the Spurs from peeling the plaster off sooner or later.
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