Thomas Frank - it's over! Tottenham facing relegation under Danish manager and must make sweeping changes throughout the club before it's too late

We'll start with the facts and the cold, hard numbers. Since 2010, no manager of a 'big-six' team - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United or Tottenham - who took charge for 10 matches or more has recorded a worse win percentage or points-per-game total than Frank.

At 1.16 PPG - 29 from 25 matches, which extrapolates to 44 across a 38-game season - Frank's average is worse than Ruben Amorim's at Manchester United (1.23), Roy Hodgson's at Liverpool (1.25) and Graham Potter's at Chelsea (1.27). Even Nuno Espirito Santo in his 10 Premier League games at Spurs comes in at a relatively handsome 1.5.

When Frank was appointed, CEO Vinai Venkatesham and then-chairman Daniel Levy claimed that the Dane scored highly when ranked against their other candidates to replace Ange Postecoglou. Venkatesham said: "We ran a really, really thorough process at speed. We defined 10 characteristics that we think are important to be a successful manager at Tottenham Hotspur. We analysed in real detail through our technical staff led by Johan [Lange, sporting director], more than 30 candidates.

"We had a shortlist, we spent a lot of time with the shortlist, and Thomas was absolutely the number one candidate. I could not be more excited to have him join the club. I agree with everything that Daniel said around his characteristics. Personally, one of the things I'm really excited about is he's an outstanding developer of young players. I really look forward to seeing what he can do with the squad that we have here."

Granted, Frank coming in from Brentford was widely seen as a sensible, even if unexciting, appointment at the time. It has aged horrendously, however, and the club still seem to be clinging onto sentiments from last summer when they no longer seem relevant.

Frank at Brentford had a reputation that now stares back at you in a paradoxical, doublethink sort of way. He was extremely popular with Bees fans and sought to make a personal connection with them as well as his players, yet was still more widely renowned for how he and the club used data to inform their decisions. In general, Frank preached a never-too-high and never-too-low policy, best enforced by his belief that he and his squad should only feel the emotion of a certain result for a maximum of 24 hours.

Over recent years, other big-six sides glanced at Frank in wonder, with Chelsea and Manchester United even interviewing him. Sooner or later, we were going to find out how Frank scaled up to a club in a more glaring spotlight. He actually cracked in his first test - an opening press conference with a packed media room back in July.

"As I said to the staff on the first day here, I promise you one thing, one thing is 100 percent for sure - we will lose football matches," Frank said, trying to temper expectations. "I haven't seen a team not losing any football matches. There is Arsenal, that we can't mention... So I made my first rookie mistake there! Then there's Preston [in 1889], and those are the only two teams."

It was not enough that Frank had come in with the opposite sentiment to the dreamers before him such as Postecoglou and Mauricio Pochettino, but he also made a self-confessed 'rookie mistake' of praising rivals Arsenal. That's become a common theme over the course of the season and even penetrated the fanbase of the Gunners, who now chant that Frank is a 'silver member', one of the various levels of official Arsenal membership. He has long been an admirer of Mikel Arteta, who ironically has tricked many elite clubs into thinking all managers deserve a season or two to get their 'process' going. We don't even need to dive into the optics of 'cup-gate'.

Frank had a universal approval rating at Brentford and the club's constant good press meant he could barely ever fall over himself the way he has as Spurs boss. Be that saying 'who's Eberechi Eze?' in regards to their failed summer pursuit before he scored a hat-trick against them for Arsenal, trying to make out their inability to sign Manchester City-bound Antoine Semenyo was a sign of ambition or his new trick of saying that if Spurs play like they do when 2-0 down they would win more games, Frank's been a PR nightmare.

Spurs supporters' disapproval of Frank has grown rapidly ever since November, when they were beaten handily by Arsenal and fellow London rivals Chelsea. He is now regularly booed at away games when the players receive applause instead. When Frank said those who jeered goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario after his howler in another defeat to Fulham weren't 'true Tottenham fans', it was difficult to ever imagine a way back for him. It's bad enough for Spurs supporters that they have to pay among the most expensive prices anywhere in football to watch their team in the first place.

During and after last month's loss at home to struggling West Ham, Tottenham fans chanted "you're getting sacked in the morning" at the Dane. No Spurs boss has ever been as unpopular as this. Even actual Arsenal legend George Graham at least won the League Cup.

The main tactical questions over Frank's fit for Tottenham were related to his preferred style of play. Now, when Brentford were in the Championship, they actually did play on the front foot and with style, but that was over half a decade ago and those tactics weren't certain to work at a higher level, which is perhaps in part why Frank pivoted to a more conservative approach upon promotion in 2021.

His Brentford were always at their best when playing in transition and on the counter, which is why they so often succeeded in taking down the Premier League's elite. But Tottenham have never looked like a consistent attacking threat under Frank, regardless of opposition or game plan.

The only saving grace Frank can have in this regard is that Brentford were excellent recruiters working in an environment that allowed players to develop and thrive. Tottenham, meanwhile, are in an unrelenting pressure cooker and have made an absolute hash of trying to rebuild their attack without Harry Kane and Son Heung-min. Part of the problem is coaching, part of it is personnel. Long-term injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison have also, in fairness, left Frank without the team's two best playmakers and creators all season.

But the issues go beyond the frontline anyways. Spurs are still easy to get at despite ridding themselves of Postecoglou's high line. They can't control games because all of their midfielders, the ones who came into the season fit anyway, are of a box-to-box mould. Players don't seem to want to take the risks they would have 12 months ago. Where Brentford had clear tactics to attack from wide spaces inward as they got further up the pitch, Tottenham personnel usually appear and act confused at any given moment.

Cristian Romero made headlines last week for his pointed dig at the Tottenham hierarchy for a relatively quiet January transfer window. After coming off at half-time of their 2-2 draw with Manchester City due to illness, the Argentine wrote on Instagram: "Great effort from all my team-mates yesterday, they were incredible.

"I wanted to be available to help them even though I wasn't feeling well, especially since we only had 11 players available - unbelievable but true and disgraceful. We'll keep showing up and taking responsibility to turn this around, working hard and staying together. All that's left is to thank all of you for being there and for always supporting us, the fans, @spursofficial."

This was the second time in a few weeks that Romero seemed to take aim at the Spurs board. Following their 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth, Romero said on social media: "At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don't - as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies." The post was later edited to remove the 'tell a few lies' portion.

Frank has continually defended Romero in public over these transgressions, and it was only a matter of time before this refusal to publicly condemn his captain's ill discipline came to a head. Some view the Argentine's red card in Saturday's 2-0 loss at Manchester United as harsh, one inconsistent with Premier League refereeing this season and based on the defender's reputation, but it was a foul worthy of a sending off all the same. Tottenham will now be without their skipper for four crucial games.

Fans have been quick to side with Romero over his digs at the board. After all, Spurs have a huge accountability problem and it's refreshing to see someone in a position of some power speak their mind in such a way. That said, Romero's poor performances across the season have been masked by the six goals he's scored, and he's let the team down once again with a rush of blood to the head. The benefits of his quality have barely been evident over the last couple of domestic campaigns.

He is not captain material, and if the club receive a decent enough offer for him this coming summer, they should consider selling. Romero simply isn't worth the hassle despite his talent, and he could even go out as a martyr with a final parting shot to those upstairs anyway.

Venkatesham spent 14 years at Tottenham's most-hated rivals Arsenal, and when he was announced as Spurs' new CEO in April 2025, there was as much shock as there could possibly be over such an appointment to a football club's board. Not even a year down the line, many Spurs fans have already decided that Venkatesham has failed and should never have been onboarded in the first place due to his history at the Emirates Stadium.

The infamous Levy became a lightning rod for criticism during the final stretch of his 24-year stint as Tottenham chairman. He oversaw everything, perhaps even meddled in departments where he had no right to, but he accepted and absorbed all responsibility and criticism that came with doing so. "Daniel Levy, get out of our club" was a regular chant from 2023 until his eventual departure in September 2025, and it surely won't be long until Venkatesham faces a similar sort of backlash.

Meanwhile, sporting director Lange, appointed in November 2023, has seldom endeared himself to fans owing to his sketchy-at-best track record in the market. Here is the full list of senior players signed on his watch: Timo Werner, Radu Dragusin, Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Dominic Solanke, Wilson Odobert, Yang Min-Hyeok, Antonin Kinsky, Kevin Danso, Mathys Tel, Kota Takai, Mohammed Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Mason Melia, Xavi Simons, Randal Kolo Muani, Conor Gallagher and Souza.

Lange's remit has been to try and ensure Tottenham is a premier destination for young talent, but he has often neglected the needs of the first team. He also came under fire most recently for claiming he didn't want to make panic signings in January, even though half of Frank's squad was sidelined with mid-to-long term injuries and results were on a downward spiral.

"It's important as a club to remain disciplined and make sure to do the best of our abilities to only sign players who will help the team now or in the future," Lange told club channels after the window closed. "It's important you don't force yourself into a stress purchase, because that normally doesn't end well for anyone."

Well, now fans are stressing that the season won't end well because it could lead to relegation as a result of a lack of purchases.

Frank used his press conference on Tuesday to state that the blame at Spurs should be passed round evenly, rather than at one person when it was suggested Lange should be under the microscope.

"I think it's, like with me, it's never only one person. I understand it is the head coach who gets the most blame when it is not going well and maybe get a little bit of praise if it is going well. That's part of the job so I knew that," Frank said.

"In my opinion, the way I have already seen, I can't speak about what happened before, of course I inherited a squad and some players. But the way I see it and the way we do it now, we do things together. So in the September [summer] transfer window, it was Fabio [Paratici] as a consultant, Johan, Vinai, Daniel and I. Now this window it has been the Lewis family, Vinai, Johan, Fabio and I. That's been the way the whole time so it is us who do that."

Sticking by Frank, and that sentiment working in reverse too, is meant to come across as the club having some sort of alignment, that this is a transitional season so poor results are expected. It's actually not as smart as the club are making it out to be.

Jamie Carragher once questioned what 'freedom' was on a football pitch. "Is it doing a stupid turn and losing the ball?" he mused. In similar essence, what is a 'transitional season'? Is it losing the large majority of your games with a whimper and insisting things are fine because it can't possibly get worse than this?

Tottenham are not too big to go down. They shouldn't kid themselves otherwise. Their schedule is only going to get more relenting again when they resume Champions League action, having somehow finished fourth in the league phase and secured home advantage for the round of 16 at least.

At the time of writing, Spurs are level on 29 points with Leeds United. They are three ahead of Nottingham Forest in 17th, another three further back to West Ham in 18th. It's hardly beyond the realms of possibility at this stage that Tottenham could be relegated to the Championship, and the fact it has got to this point is a damning indictment on all who have had power over one of the world's richest clubs.

Frank was typically diplomatic when asked specifically about the possibility of relegation on Tuesday: "There is no doubt we are desperate to win games. Desperate. I am focusing on Newcastle tomorrow. That is a great opportunity ahead of us against a good team. That is the main thing."

Another spanner thrown into the works this week has been Pochettino and his appearance on Jake Humphrey's High Performance podcast. It's never been unusual for the Argentine to float the idea of a return to north London, but given the club's current state, it feels a more calculated time than ever to bat his eyelashes at Spurs.

When asked by Humphrey which club meant most to him and long-time assistant Jesus Perez, Pochettino replied: "It is very simple: Tottenham. Still, the people on the street, the fans of Tottenham, really show the love and the appreciation, and I think that is why it's so special."

He added: "To win a Europa League, that the team won, is good, but it's not enough. It is not enough to challenge for the Carabao Cup, or the FA Cup, or the Europa League, or the Conference League. It’s a club that should be, or needs to be because the fans, what they expect is, to be in the Champions League, fighting for the Champions League, trying to believe that you can win the Champions League and also fighting for the Premier League and believing that you can win the Premier League."

A significant chunk of the Tottenham fanbase would welcome a Pochettino reunion, with even those previously resistant to going back to an old flame now warming to the idea given the current state of affairs. GOAL understands the Argentine wants to come back, though only after his World Cup campaign as United States boss.

When Levy and ENIC took control of Spurs in 2001, they made a managerial switch that was popular among supporters, swapping out Arsenal legend Graham for one of Tottenham's greatest-ever players in Glenn Hoddle. If the new regime want to at least bring harmony back to the club, then Pochettino, far from finished at the top level, would bring an immediate lift. The main question on that front may be whether or not he would view the job as favourably if they were in the Championship.

Regardless, it's extremely unlikely that Frank will ever be the manager Tottenham need. Spurs can't keep banking on a long-term project if the short-term signs are historically miserable. Even bringing in an interim, perhaps new assistant coach John Heitinga, might help the team improve performances and results.

Frank isn't the only problem at Tottenham. He might not even be the biggest of their problems. But he's the one who can be swapped out in search of a solution easiest. This isn't a matter of scrounging in mid-table, rather life or death when it comes to Premier League survival. It's not alarmist to say that.