Thomas Frank sacked: Did Spurs wait too long to remove their head coach - and could it cost them Premier League survival?
Thomas Frank has been sacked as Tottenham head coach after less than eight months in the role; Spurs will hold discussions over the coming days about whether to hire an interim or a long-term successor; Spurs sit five points above the relegation zone - so cannot get this step wrong...
Thursday 12 February 2026 06:38, UK
Vinai Venkatesham didn't want to do it, but he had to.
The mood and atmosphere inside the stadium in Tottenham's defeat to Newcastle left the Spurs chief executive with no choice but to go to the Lewis family and suggest the parting of the ways.
On Tuesday night, Venkatesham and Johan Lange put forward their opinion to the Lewis family, that they wanted to give Frank time to turn it around, but the atmosphere against Newcastle was the final straw. There were even big concern from the Spurs chiefs at half-time of the game.
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So why didn't Frank work? Off the back of the Europa League win last season, there was a mixed reaction to Frank's appointment in the summer from supporters. Many said he hadn't won anything and he had very little managerial experience in Europe.
Then came his first press conference.
It was fairly underwhelming. And unfortunately, he came out with something which seemed to stick with him and was ridiculed often on social media.
"We will lose football matches."
Now, of course, we all know what he was trying to say. All clubs lose football matches. But then he referenced Arsenal as an example of being unbeaten in the Premier League. That didn't go down well.
That negativity was a stark contrast to Ange Postecoglou's: "I always win things in my second season."
The season did start pretty well with a win over Burnley and a very comfortable win over Manchester City away. But there really wasn't much else to get excited about apart from that.
After that, the cracks started to show.
There were public clashes with players and supporters. When one of the leadership group at Spurs, Guglielmo Vicario, was having a very difficult season and drew criticism from Spurs fans, Frank called them 'not true Spurs fans'.
The Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence snub at home to Chelsea was another embarrassing public post-match incident.
At Bournemouth away, when Pedro Porro and Van de Ven had to be pulled away from supporters, there was even an embarrassing pre-match howler: Frank pictured with an Arsenal branded cup. That felt like his Steve McClaren 'wally with a brolly' moment.
There were also the damning derby defeats. Losing to Chelsea at home with a disappointing xG of just 0.05 - their lowest ever in a Premier League game.
And then there was the loss to Arsenal. "Who is Eberechi Eze?" Frank joked in his pre-match press conference. Two days later, Eze scores a hat-trick. Senior players started to doubt his methods.
Then there's defending the indefensible in Cristian Romero and the public criticism of the club on his Instagram account.
Frank defended him and then just days later, his red card at Manchester United earned him a four-match ban.
Let's be fair to Frank as well - the injuries were atrocious. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, two of Tottenham's creative midfielders, have been out for all of the season.
Dominic Solanke has only just returned and the forwards have just not been up to standard. Two defenders, Romero and Van de Ven are the club's second highest scorers this season.
The January window was also a disappointing one. Selling Brennan Johnson and not recruiting any forwards has left Spurs desperately short with just a few months of the season remaining.
But Spurs have now rolled the dice and now they have a huge decision to make. Discussions will take place over the next few days over whether the way forward is an interim or a full-time head coach.
If it's an internal appointment, you'd only really expect John Heitinga - brought in to Frank's backroom staff in the last few weeks - as we wait to hear how many, if any, of Frank's coaching team remain at the club.
Get it wrong and make the unthinkable could happen. Tottenham Hotspur in the Championship.
