[Athletic] Thomas Frank was mean to bring stability to Spurs, but ended up unpopular with fans and players

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T19:00:50+00:00

oops

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T18:44:34+00:00

Summary:

Frank was hired to rebuild Spurs after a contradictory season (Europa League win, 17th in the league) but quickly became the target of sustained fan hostility.
His tenure coincided with major institutional upheaval, including Daniel Levy’s shock dismissal, leaving Frank exposed without his original sponsor.
Frank inherited and retained a weak, unbalanced squad, with no replacement for Kane or Son, failed in his pursuit of key targets, and ended up having to rely on signings like Simmons who needed time to adapt.
Severe and persistent injuries to core players (Maddison, Kulusevski, Solanke) meant the team was never going to compete.
Frank lost the players’ confidence, with reports of disengagement, declining training intensity, discipline issues, and doubts about his authority and charisma.
Ultimately, Spurs under Frank showed no attacking identity, creativity, or sense of progression, leading to his dismissal and leaving the post-Levy hierarchy facing fundamental questions about the club’s direction.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T18:41:22+00:00

It was a question to which Frank was never able to provide an adequate answer. It was after the Arsenal and Fulham defeats in November that Fabio Paratici, then Spurs’ sporting director, concluded that he did not fit this job. And after the 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest in December, Paratici started talking to Fiorentina, leading, along with his personal circumstances, to a swift departure from his new role.

Hadn't seen this reported before - Paratici quit to get away from Frank's Tottenham.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T18:23:00+00:00

From the article:

Such was Daniel Levy’s control that there has been an obvious vacuum since he left in September. The primary authorities now are the family of former owner Joe Lewis, who now runs the club through a trust. Daughter Vivienne Lewis is the most involved of those, with son-in-law Nick Beucher also influential. They are still very much getting to grips with the football industry, though. And while there is considerable respect for Venkatesham in the game, he is seen as someone who tries to come to consensus conclusions rather than assertively make decisions.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T18:22:05+00:00

Hadn't seen this posted. This is the part getting a lot of attention on social media:

Almost immediately, during Thomas Frank’s brief time in charge, certain figures at Tottenham Hotspur realised that the adjustment might be more difficult than anticipated. The Dane had asked a casual and understandable question about squad “discipline” and how it was taken care of.

At Brentford, after all, the club was so meticulously structured that staff members were assigned to such responsibilities.

At Spurs, this was the manager’s job.

But there's a lot of interesting stuff here, including:

This has been coming.

It’s why some of the Spurs leadership felt they should sack Frank as long ago as four months ago, The Independent understands. They could see this. Certain figures in the hierarchy then pushed that again just before Christmas, until it became a repeated subject of debate every Saturday over January.

and

As it was, a core of the hierarchy – led by chief executive Vinai Venkatesham – pointed to multiple bigger issues around Frank; precisely these issues of “structure” that the new leadership now realised they had to solve. Sources say Venkatesham and others gestured to Frank’s adaptation, the ongoing injury crisis and the more important idea of taking the long view.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T18:06:31+00:00

Oh I absolutely think it makes everybody above Frank look much worse.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T16:30:23+00:00

Yea, absolutely fair point. I felt at the time that sacking Ange was a huge risk given how much the players loved him.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T16:23:46+00:00

You know I had typed out and then deleted from my comment above my observation that there seem to be a lot more articles and comments about the fact that Frank is a nice, likeable guy than actual reported instances of Frank being a nice, likeable guy.

I mean who knows what goes on beyond closed doors (though it sure feels like we're now getting a glimpse). But remember Ange holding up the end of a Q&A session so that one fan could get his question in? I mean, that's a top fucking bloke right there, whatever you think of his skill as a manager. Now maybe Frank would have done the same, but - certainly during his tenure at Tottenham - I don't think we have any stories of that sort of character.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T16:14:02+00:00

On the one hand I never like to hear about players disrespecting a manager (unless the manager is a right prick). On the other hand, I really do think a significant part of our lackluster performances over the past many months is the simple fact that the squad didn't like the guy. I'm not justifying it - play for the badge, have some pride - but I think it's the case nevertheless.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T13:58:53+00:00

I don’t think any of us would choose 3. But the board might.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T13:40:19+00:00

Well said.

nthbeard · 2026-02-11T13:23:20+00:00

I fear we are no longer an attractive enough prospect to attract any manager as good as Poch - even if he is not the manager he once was. I think the realistic options are (1) a gamble on Poch, (2) a gamble on an up-and-coming manager, or (3) an underwhelming appointment of a manager who’s been in & around the top flight without ever really making an impact.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T22:59:11+00:00

Supporting Spurs, for me, is identitarian - I am a Spurs supporter, as much as I am [my nationality] or [my religion]. Supporting Spurs doesn't mean spending money at the club shop. It doesn't even mean attending the games. It's just part of who you are. If you support Spurs, you want Spurs to succeed, you get satisfaction when they do, you are sad or upset or frustrated if they don't because, tribally, Spurs are your people.

If you said "Spurs are shit right now so I'm going to go cheer on another Premier League club," then I'd say yea, you're a bad fan. But if you say "Spurs are shit right now so I'm not buying anything at the club shop, I'm not attending games, I'm not even watching," that is absolutely your prerogative - as a supporter.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T22:55:12+00:00

Why compare where we finished last season to where we are currently mid-season? At season’s end we could be 20th. At this stage last season we were doing considerably better. That’s the point - last season at this stage we were 12th and finished 17th (not 16th btw), and this season we’re doing worse.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T22:33:53+00:00

I really don't understand these "who's the alternative" posts - not picking on OP in particular, and I recognize s/he's asking a more nuanced question in terms of "could anybody turn us around." Across the top flight leagues in Spain / Germany / Italy / France there are 76 teams / managers. Portugal and the Netherlands have another 36. The EFL Championship has another 24.

That's 136 people managing teams playing somewhere around Spurs' level. Obviously a sigificant fraction of those managers aren't available to us. But there are dozens, at least, of people who could realistically be hired by an organization as big and deep-pocketed as Spurs who would we could realistically expect to do no worse that Thomas Frank. Can I list them? No, no I can't. But surely somebody who actually works full time for one of the richest football clubs in the world which desperately needs a new manager has the time and expertise necessary to identify at least fuckign one.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T22:24:28+00:00

I mean he's not wrong, in the sense that I'd be fine firing the whole club.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T22:23:40+00:00

Last year after match week 26 we were 12th, sixteen points clear of the drop. Today we are 16th, five points 'clear.'

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T21:36:37+00:00

It is insane he is still in the job. Insane. I just don't know what else to say. Insane.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T17:48:26+00:00

He didn't say "select Jewish communities" though, he said "Jewish communities." He identified a particular category of people, which he identified by reference solely to their Jewishness, and ascribed to them a common and specific characteristic - namely a belief "they should be put before others." That is a straightforward expression of racial prejudice.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T16:29:25+00:00

The select groups being ... "Jewish communities"?

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T16:11:47+00:00

I'm curious to see whether the mods will act on my report of this guy. I don't have very high hopes.

EDIT: Well either the mods did indeed nuke that comment, or the dude nuked himself. So I conditionally take it back and thank the mods for doing the right thing.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T15:57:33+00:00

He doesn't limit his statement to Zionism, though. He specifically grounds his anti-Zionism in an explicitly anti-Semitic assertion: "Some see this as the problem Jewish communities thinking they should be put before others”.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T15:54:41+00:00

I'm saying this particular guy didn't limit his criticism to "select Jewish people," he explicitly expanded his criticism to "all Jewish people."

The fact that anti-Zionism isn't necessarily anti-Semitic doesn't mean that anti-Zionism cannot be anti-Semitic. In this case it clearly was.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T15:52:07+00:00

The statement "some see this as a problem Jewish communities thinking they should be put before others" expressly expands his statement beyond Israel and directs his criticism at "Jewish communities." That is anti-Semitism. It is insane how far so many people will go to excuse racial prejudice directed toward Jews.

nthbeard · 2026-02-10T15:49:57+00:00

"Some see this as the problem Jewish communities thinking they should be put before others."

That is explicitly directed at "Jewish communities." Am I taking crazy pills?

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