Thomas Frank has been sacked by Tottenham eight months into his tenure, having been unable to change the club's fortunes since he arrived from Brentford in June
Tottenham have sacked manager Thomas Frank after just eight months in charge. Defeat at home to Newcastle proved his final game in charge, with the club slipping perilously close to the Premier League relegation zone.
Frank was appointed at the start of the season to replace Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked despite ending the club's long trophy drought by winning the Europa League. But Frank has struggled to make an impression in his time in the dugout, with fans becoming increasingly critical of the former Brentford boss.
Supporters have consistently called for the manager to lose his job, despite qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
But their Premier League form has been desperate. Spurs are winless in their last eight league games and have not won on home soil in the Premier League since early December.
That run of form has left Spurs just five points clear of the drop zone, with the sides in the bottom three moving even closer following their 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle. And that has forced Spurs bosses into immediate action.
Contingency plans are now being put into place to appoint a replacement and help stave off the ever growing risk of a disastrous drop to the Championship. Spurs' search for Frank's successor will now begin, with former Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi the outstanding name following his exit from French side Marseille.
Frank's exit comes hours after he expressed confidence over his position despite the rising pressure. Asked if he would be in charge for Spurs' next game against North London rivals Arsenal, he said: “Yeah, I’m convinced I will be. I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.
“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now. Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”
Frank was also asked if he believes he remains the right man to lead the club. He added: “1000 per cent sure. I am also 1000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing, but I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head, carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”
- Ben Husband & Daniel Orme
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