Under-fire Thomas Frank is convinced he will still be Tottenham manager for next week’s visit of Arsenal despite the club’s relegation fears increasing after a 2-1 home loss to Newcastle.
Spurs were set to be only three points above the bottom three until Manchester United produced a last-gasp equaliser at 18th-placed West Ham.
However, Jacob Ramsey’s 68th-minute winner for Newcastle consigned Frank’s injury-hit team to a fifth defeat in nine matches and they have won only two of their last 17 Premier League fixtures.
Fans once again turned on Frank during this latest home loss with chants for old manager Mauricio Pochettino and more calls for the current Tottenham head coach to be “sacked in the morning” in another toxic atmosphere in N17.
Even though Frank’s tenure slipped into crisis mode once more on Tuesday night, he claimed to still hold the support of the club’s ownership and revealed he had spoken with them on Monday.
“Yeah, I’m convinced I will be,” Frank responded when asked if he expected to be in charge when Arsenal make the trip to Tottenham on February 22.
“I understand the question and I understand it’s easy to point on me but I also think it’s never only the head coach or the ownership or the directors or the players or the staff.
“It’s everyone. If you do something right, you build something that can last. Of course we are not in a top position now.
“Everyone knows, directors, ownership, myself, what position we are in, what we need to improve and what we need to do better. That is what we are working very hard on.”
Pressed on if he had any doubts about being the right man for Tottenham after they slipped to only five points above the relegation zone, Frank appeared to aim thinly-veiled digs at some of his predecessors.
Frank added: “(I’m) 1,000 per cent sure. I am also 1,000 per cent sure that I never expected us to be in a situation like this with 11 or 12 injuries on the back end of this and what we’ve been facing.
“I know when you need to build something and need to get through things, you need to show unbelievable strong resilience.
“I think it is fair to say there are a few before me up here, not only for Tottenham but in many other clubs, that have lost their head many times and I think you need to have a calm head.
“Carry on, keep fighting and keep doing the right thing, make sure we stick together because we can only do this if we stick together. That is the board, that is the leaders, that is the players, that is the staff, that is me and that is the fans. We’ve got to get through this.”
It was a painful evening for Tottenham and Frank, but a night to savour for Howe after a difficult run of form.
Malick Thiaw’s stoppage-time goal ensured Newcastle held a deserved half-time lead and even though Archie Gray levelled for Spurs in the 64th minute, Ramsey swept home four minutes later to restore the Magpies’ advantage and earn only a third away league win this season.
Howe had sympathy for opposite number Frank and said: “Momentum is very tough to get and it’s easy to lose. I think in my experience, the times I have really struggled to get results has been down to injuries and that is probably the main reason.
“That is exactly why Tottenham are where they are currently. I have sympathy for Thomas and his staff because if you look at the list of players, they probably have a very strong Premier League team that they are missing.
“So, I think you need your players to really fight for you as I feel my players did for me.”
