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Manager Thomas Frank

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Are you Frank Out or In?

  • Total voters
    623
CJJ said:
I mean for the most part, it starts off with stupid opinions like from candrews of "We should just apologise to Ange and get him back" or other Postecoglou simps trying to suggest he should have been kept.

For the most part though, the real point is that you don't just "reset" a team every season like some american draft system. The performance of this team needs to be considered relative to the team that it is. You don't take a team that finished 17th with 22 league defeats and magically expect it to be winning the title the next season - the 'progress' has to be measured against that
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You're just conveniently forgetting the 5th place finish the season before?

Skim read so many of your posts and the mental gymnastics you're doing to try and excuse our lack of anything is scary.

Wonder if I went back far enough would you have been saying that Ange should have been doing better than mid table last season.

Frank has been backed so much more than what Ange was, and has inherited a squad fresh off winning a trophy... The results and performances thus far an absolute disgrace and you're being disingenuous if you're implying it's a hangover effect of Ange.

Ange would be doing a lot better with this group of players... We know this - because he showed exactly that.
 
scarletjim said:
It's an interesting question, well two questions really:
1. In July, what end-of-season league position would people have considered the difference between success and failure for Frank?
2. And what about right now? (if it's different - I don't think it is for me, or certainly not much - perhaps I'll allow him 2 positions leeway due to having no Dom, Kulu or Mads for so long)

For me, given the squad he has at his disposal, I'd say 10th or above would be reasonably successful as long as there are positive signs in the actual play and performances (would have been 8th with a full squad). 11th or lower would be unacceptable. I know they are relatively arbitrary numbers, and I know other factors definitely come into play (for example, our stats, xG etc, being either staying very low or gradually improving etc) but I wonder where 'the line' is for others. (And of course that line might be in a totally different place for the Board).
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The club's objective for this season is Champions League qualification ie top 4 finish.
 
if I thought for one minute that we could finish 5th this season, I would unhesitatingly support the retention of Frank. My often stated position here, from his appointment to the Fulham shambles, was that he should be supported, and given time and resources to build his squad and vision.

My position has changed utterly.

I see no possibility of us finishing top 5. I see very little possibility of us finishing top 10. I see no vision. I see no improvement. I see no passion. I see no plan. I see a man afraid of the magnitude of the job he has been entrusted to deliver. I see a man with no pedigree to suggest things might change. I see a man who is not capable of managing a major club. I see my beloved Tottenham collapsing into terminal mediocrity.
 
Deuterz said:
Another manager will get us up the table .. Frank hasn’t worked. The appointment has failed. We should be doing a lot better.

It doesn’t impact Ange being even more terrible (22 losses, outshined by Dyche at Forest) - it just means another coach has failed.
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So we've gone from "any half decent manager will have us flying up the table" to "the right manager will get us up the table"

Well I think we can all agree on that. Because it's quite the climb down from the original claim. :D
 
Sidford said:

View: https://x.com/Matt_Law_DT/status/2003491932992057433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2003491932992057433%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=






The five issues that could define Thomas Frank’s Tottenham future​

Matt Law2025-12-23T15:40Z
As the January transfer window nears and the club embark on a vital run of fixtures, the next few weeks will be crucial for the manager
Matt Law Football News Correspondent
23 December 2025 3:40pm GMT

Thomas Frank is facing what could be a defining period of his Tottenham Hotspur career just six months into his time as head coach, with crucial decisions hanging over the club.
While the message from the Lewis family owners has been one of support for Frank, the Dane is yet to win over the Spurs fans or some of his own players following a difficult start to his reign.
With the January transfer window – the club’s first without former chairman Daniel Levy for almost 25 years – fast approaching and Spurs about to embark on a vital run of fixtures, the next few weeks will signal how strong the support from within the club is for Frank.
It will also be crucial as to whether Frank can fully win over the majority of his players with his methods and approach, and improve his approval rating among supporters.
Here, Telegraph Sport examines the key issues of what may prove to be a defining period in Frank’s Spurs career.

Coaching conundrum​

Highly-rated assistant coach Matt Wells has left Spurs to become the new head coach of Colorado Rapids, who are run by Woolwich’s owners Kroenke Sports and Entertainment. Tottenham will replace Wells, whose specific area of coaching expertise was the defence, and how they do so will prove crucial to Frank. Although Wells was seen from the outside as a “club” coach because he was at Spurs before Frank arrived, he was actually interviewed for his job by Frank after his appointment as head coach. It is expected that Frank will also interview Wells’s successor, but will it be his pick or will it be the club’s with Frank’s approval?
Levy always liked to have a “club” coach on the staff, just in case he needed an interim to turn to. Who Tottenham appoint to replace Wells may well tell us if the Lewis family have an eye on the possibility of a future without Frank, or whether he is being fully backed.

Paratici riddle​

Reports emerged from Italy over the weekend that Tottenham’s co-sporting director Fabio Paratici was in talks over taking a job as director of football at Italian club Fiorentina. Paratici and Spurs have not commented on the link and the Italian was present at Tottenham’s defeat by Liverpool, with Spurs insisting they had received no direct approach from Fiorentina.
Paratici was only formally reappointed by Spurs in October, having worked as a contracted consultant for the club during his ban from football. He was re-hired as a co-sporting director with Johan Lange and some sources believe the link to Fiorentina could essentially be an attempted Spurs power-grab by Paratici that would involve Lange being sidelined or even heading for the exit. That is unsubstantiated and it remains to be seen whether Paratici is on his way out, Lange is being frozen out or both men will stay in their co-sporting director roles. Whatever happens will have an impact on Frank and Tottenham’s transfer business.

January business​

This will be the first Tottenham transfer window of the post-Levy era and the first with Frank under the full control of the Lewis family owners. It is quite obvious that Spurs will have to recruit and sell better if they are to make any real progress, but there is a feeling around the club that any eye-catching transfer business may have to wait until next summer.
January is a notoriously difficult month to do good business in and, unless Spurs can pull a rabbit out of the hat, Frank has already warned that he does not want the club to spend for the sake of spending. There must be a question mark over whether it would be wise to spend big on Frank targets in January while the jury is still out on him. Some will argue he must be backed while others may prefer to pause the spending to see how Tottenham perform for the remainder of the season.
Spurs also need to become much better sellers. Whether they can get good deals for the likes of Brennan Johnson and Yves Bissouma will give a clue as to whether the Lewis family can be good salespeople.

Player doubts​

Telegraph Sport first revealed in November that there were doubts inside the Tottenham squad over Frank’s approach and methods, and it is unsurprising that they have not yet been fully extinguished. While Frank is generally popular with his players and very well liked inside Spurs, there is a feeling that his approach, tactical set-up and messaging can be focused too much around the opposition.
Hardly any managers and head coaches have a squad without any doubters or frustrated individuals, but Frank needs to fully win over all of those he intends to build a team and a squad around. That may involve having to tweak his approach and messaging to concentrate more on the strengths of his players, or Spurs will simply have to win more games under his instruction to convert the non-believers. If the doubts begin to grow, then Frank could find himself in real trouble.

Fixtures​

It is not an overstatement to say that Tottenham have what appears to be a season-defining run of fixtures up until the end of January. Crystal Palace, Brentford, Sunderland, West Ham United and Burnley all represent Premier League games that Spurs would normally be looking to pick up a large haul of points from.
Tottenham will celebrate Christmas in 14th place in the table and one point worse off than last season. That has to improve. Add in an FA Cup third-round tie at home to Aston Villa and the final two league phase games of the Champions League, and Tottenham could either have something to look forward to by the start of February, or the season could effectively be over.
If the Spurs owners are still backing Frank by the end of January, then he will be in a good position to at least see out his first season as head coach at the club. But if there is little improvement over the next few weeks, then the case for sticking with Frank will become tougher to argue.
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Thanks for posting that.
He makes some interesting points.
It's funny it took so long for the Wells departure and I had not considered a Machiavellian move by Paratici.
 
nicoclaesen said:
What green shoots mate ? What are you seeing that I’m not. I honestly wanted Frank to succeed but I’ve seen nothing in 25 games that makes me think this will work.
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To be honest mate it probably is more hope but I think we'll pick up a few good results and hopefully performances to go with it in coming weeks.

Feel we've been shooting ourselves in the foot a lot recently, now we have a decent run of fixtures and its up to Frank and players to turn it around.
 
McCOYS said:
Has he?

Van de Ven, Maddison, Solanke, Johnson, Gray, Vicario. Odobert, plus Werner, Tel, and Danso on loan (I can't remember if Bergvall was signed for Postecoglou, or during Conte's tenure).

vs

Simons, Kudus, plus RKM and Palhinha on loan, Tel and Danso given permanent contracts but already at the club.
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Werner, Gray, Bergvall (came in from the summer before) , Odobert and Solanke is not exactly what I would call backing a manager?

Gray and Berg both 18 year old youth players. Odobert bought from Burnley being like 19 himself.

The signings made this summer in terms of player standings and experience has to be up there in all of the windows I can remember as a spurs fan. Many on here were saying it was a 8+ / 10 window.
 
Skippa18 said:
To be honest mate it probably is more hope but I think we'll pick up a few good results and hopefully performances to go with it in coming weeks.

Feel we've been shooting ourselves in the foot a lot recently, now we have a decent run of fixtures and its up to Frank and players to turn it around.
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I hope you are right and I think 4 pts minimum from the next two games is a must or he could be in trouble. I think the Villa cup game is so important for him. If that goes wrong he’ll be out.
 
Percy Clay said:
if I thought for one minute that we could finish 5th this season, I would unhesitatingly support the retention of Frank.
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If Frank got us fifth this season I'd build him a fucking statue (to go alongside the one Deuterz Deuterz promised to build Ange if we won Europa :D ) ...

I don't think people truly appreciate the difficulties Frank faced coming into this season - not least the very unbalanced squad. Top 8 would have been a very good first season imo.

But yeah even that looks a pipe dream right about now.
 
candrews said:
Frank has been backed so much more than what Ange was, and has inherited a squad fresh off winning a trophy... The results and performances thus far an absolute disgrace and you're being disingenuous if you're implying it's a hangover effect of Ange.

Ange would be doing a lot better with this group of players... We know this - because he showed exactly that.
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Now you're definitely off your trolley.

Ange spent over £400m and took us from 5th to 17th ffs :ange-facepalm:
 
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