You might have noticed, but Tottenham Hotspur got thumped by Arsenal in the season’s first North London Derby on Sunday, losing 4-1 in a performance that could generously be referred to as “listless” and ingenerously as “shambolic.” And like clockwork, one day after Spurs lose another London Derby, the knives start to come out in the British football media.
Our good buddy and noted Tottenham Hotspur super-fan (lol) Matt Law has a new EXCLUSIVE in the Telegraph that says that Thomas Frank’s job is
not presently in danger, but the Powers that Be are starting to sit up and take notice after a series of underwhelming performances in recent weeks.
Sources around Spurs have told Telegraph Sport they believe Frank’s numerous changes have contributed to inconsistency and the team’s lack of attacking potency.
Some players are thought to be keen for Frank to focus more on the strengths of his own team, rather than the opposition, although it is unclear how strong and widespread that feeling is.
— Matt Law, The Telegraph
This kind of background, unsourced information almost makes me laugh, because it feels so predictable. As Law would put it, people are upset that… Frank is rotating his players? While the team has a double-digit injury list? And also that, what, he tailors his tactics to the opposition? I’m actually chuckling at this, as I thought after two years of Ange Postecoglou playing “his way” that this was what we wanted. Maybe it isn’t! Who knows!
I mean, look — the football has been awful, and there’s no point in sugar-coating that. Everybody’s upset after another bad loss to a London rival in a massive derby this season, and while knees are likely to jerk in the short term, it feels like things would have to get orders of magnitude worse before the people now in charge of the club would feel forced into making a change. Law’s “sources” in this Telegraph article appear to be simply mad that the club isn’t winning, because the the stated reasons for wanting Frank out above don’t make a ton of sense. Coming out to say “Spurs were bad against Arsenal & Chelsea” isn’t necessarily a wrong reason for wanting to fire your manager (Ohio State football fans have this exact dynamic about head coach Ryan Day and the University of Michigan, Google it), but at least it’s an honest one.
Law even states that it’s unlikely that Frank’s leaving anytime soon. The Lewis Kids are said to be taking the long-term view on this, meaning that we shouldn’t expect a picture of a cockerel detail on the stadium exterior on social media and a COMMUNICADO OFICIAL anytime soon.
The Lewis family, the club’s owners, have been clear in their messaging that they are targeting long-term sporting success under Frank and that is understood to remain the case, which suggests no short-term decisions are on the horizon.
Sunday’s limp defeat at the Emirates was described as a “painful day” by insiders, but more than one source insisted the club are not panicking and remain focused on the long term.
— Matt Law, The Telegraph
The truth is that we have absolutely no idea what the Lewis Kids will do. With Daniel Levy, we had years of experience watching him hire and fire managers so we could pretty much guess at what point he’d pull the plug on any one guy. Now? We have no idea. That’s part of what makes this scenario so intriguing.
Frank certainly has a big job ahead of him and up to this point he hasn’t succeeded. Remember, Spurs fired their last head coach despite winning their first trophy in 17 years because he focused on that tournament at the expense of the league and finished 17th. The implication was that Tottenham is a club that should be better than what it’s showing. Now, we can argue that point — the problem with Spurs is likely a combination of a bunch of factors including squad construction, overall talent, injury luck, and tactics — but Frank was hired to get a tune out of this group of players, and at present that tune is extremely discordant.
So no, Thomas Frank’s job is not in jeopardy, but this is the kind of article that emerges when things start going off the rails. There’s still time to turn things around, but knives are being sharpened as I type. And as we know, things in football can change shockingly fast.
