When Tottenham have made managerial changes in the 21st century, they have seemingly been guided by a specific principle. The new man must represent a fresh start and so it would surely help if he were radically different to his predecessor; often the complete counterpoint.
It began when Glenn Hoddle came in for George Graham in 2001 and over the ensuing years the club have bounced, for example, from Juande Ramos to Harry Redknapp to André Villas-Boas. From Mauricio Pochettino to José Mourinho. From Antonio Conte to Ange Postecoglou.
When Postecoglou ran out of road at the end of last season, his Europa League triumph no insulation against historically dreadful league form, the club were always going to turn the dial towards pragmatism: a head coach who could instil a little more defensive structure, who might not go for broke with every player pushed up on halfway after two red cards. And it was not only because any manager would look pragmatic after Postecoglou.
Thomas Frank was a sensible appointment because he is a sensible professional: solid and well-balanced, like his teams. A people person and excellent man-manager. Not to mention someone who had enjoyed outstanding success at Brentford over the previous seven years relative to the club’s means. Frank had received rave reviews for his work from Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp, among others. He was ready for the step up to a big club.
So how did it come to this, Frank bundled out of the exit door at Spurs on Wednesday with most of the fanbase happy to see him go? It is a tale of soaring dreams running into grim reality; of problems and missteps; of a rage, too, with the other mob from down the road, a complex with them. Above all, it is one about a misalignment, a relationship that felt as though it had started on the back foot and needed to exceed expectations pretty quickly if it was not to unravel.
It is easy to think that Postecoglou lasted as long as he did because the vision he outlined, however flawed, was a thing of beauty. Spurs fans demand excitement and attacking football and Postecoglou allowed them to dream. He seemed to have the knack of keeping them onside with his persuasive and almost romantic rhetoric, along with the patches of stirring stuff on the field.
With Frank, it was the opposite. If a Spurs manager is going to prioritise defensive tightness, set-piece productivity and forcing turnovers in dangerous areas, he had better deliver results, especially at home. The margins are finer, the buy-in more problematic. It was the case to an extent with Mourinho and Conte.
It is self-evident that Frank did not get the results, his aim to be competitive in all four competitions undermined by early exits from the domestic cups but mainly by the travails in the Premier League. It is the competition that matters most in the boardroom, the one that dictates the manager’s job security, and with the league position so poor in 16th, there was no grace for the fans in terms of what they were watching.
Frank is out of the job because the Spurs support got so little out of his team. Their disillusionment was the soundtrack to matches. A low point came in the 0-0 draw at Brentford on New Year’s Day when the travelling fans chanted “Boring, boring Tottenham” – a repurposing of the taunt they have historically reserved for Arsenal. And booed the team, of course. There was so much booing. So much anger.
It was not long before the situation became untenable, the point of no return reached in the home loss to West Ham in mid-January when supporters chanted that he was getting sacked in the morning. The toxicity inside the stadium was overwhelming.
It became a question of when, not if. The positive results such as the Champions League wins over Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt, even the comeback draw against Manchester City in the league, were akin to Frank chasing a pack of wolves from his door. They had scented blood and were going to taste it. The home defeat against Newcastle on Tuesday night was deeply uncomfortable; Frank’s team looked bereft. Again the fans chanted about him being sacked in the morning. This time they were right.
The Spurs support could not abide the stodginess of Frank’s team as they tried to build through the thirds; the absence of options. He talked about adding “layers” to an attacking game-plan that he wanted to be defined by bravery and aggression but they did not come.
There was plenty made about the team’s bankruptcy in the two most damaging defeats under Frank – the 1-0 home loss against Chelsea and the 4-1 reverse at Arsenal. The expected goals figures of 0.05 and 0.07, respectively, were used as sticks with which to beat him. As was the xG of 0.19 in the 1-0 home defeat against Bournemouth and the 0.33 in the 3-0 loss at Nottingham Forest.
And yet the statistics also showed that Frank’s team routinely out-performed their xG in league matches in which they scored. In other words – according to this very modern metric – they got more goals than the quality of their chances merited. It was the entrenched theme that damned Frank. Whatever combination of attackers he used, and he tried all of them, his team did not create enough.
There was mitigation in the injuries. What rotten luck it was to lose James Maddison to an ACL rupture in pre-season. To be denied Dejan Kulusevski because of a complicated, long-term knee issue. And to barely be able to play Dominic Solanke due to an ankle problem.
There was acknowledgement, too, within the hierarchy of where the squad had finished in the past few seasons, not least 17th last time out; where their true level lay. Is this an authentic Champions League team or one that jemmied open a side door into it? Moreover, simply being in the competition has been a double-edged sword. It is so much more draining than the Europa League. The strain it placed on players who have not been used to it was close to intolerable.
The problems piled up. Who were the leaders in the squad for Frank? He named Cristian Romero as his captain and had to be disappointed at how the Argentinian called out the board after the defeat at Bournemouth, accusing them of being too quiet during the hard moments.
Frank spoke to Romero and it was safe to assume that he urged him to keep any strong opinions away from social media in the future. Four weeks on, after the closure of the winter transfer window, Romero said it was “disgraceful” that the squad had been allowed to become so threadbare; a clear dig at the club’s recruitment strategy. How did this not undermine Frank? Was this leadership from Romero?
Guglielmo Vicario is arguably the most natural leader in the group but the goalkeeper has had issues with his form, while Micky van de Ven can sometimes be overtaken by the fiery streak in his personality. It was not a good look when he stormed past Frank after the Chelsea game; Van de Ven was overwhelmed by frustration at the team’s performance and the booing from the Spurs support.
Djed Spence did the same, ignoring Frank’s order to go over to acknowledge the South Stand. And when Spence reacted badly to being substituted at Forest, it did nothing to combat the notion that Frank was struggling to maintain his authority. Frank read the riot act to the players at half-time against Forest as they trailed 1-0. The second-half would be worse.
This was always going to be a transitional season for Spurs as the club navigate an unprecedented slew of ownership and executive-level changes and, make no mistake, the hierarchy did not want to dismiss Frank. They were acutely aware of the difficulties he faced. At Christmas, it was possible to feel that only a full-scale fan mutiny would force their hand. Well, it happened.
The supporters had been incensed by the manner of the Arsenal defeat when Frank set up in a 5-4-1 system and watched the team fail to lay a glove on their rivals. They did not like it when he responded to the booing of Vicario during the home loss to Fulham by saying it was “not true fans” who had done it. These guys, after all, were inside the stadium. And it was indicative of how far Frank had fallen when some of them saw red at him drinking from an Arsenal-branded paper cup at Bournemouth.
Clearly, Frank had not noticed the offending Arsenal badge. He is not stupid. He knows that, as he regularly put it, they are the club he could not mention. He would never do this on purpose. But some of those fans did not care. Frank had to be better. And, despite all of the issues, it had to be better than this.
