The Tottenham Hotspur board were debating whether to give Thomas Frank the Borussia Dortmund Champions League match on Tuesday, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, after the shock 2-1 loss against West Ham on Saturday.
The 2-1 home defeat to completed a dismal week for the Dane, with the club hierarchy having previously been intent to try and withstand pressure and give the coach space.
The hierarchy are understood to have been divided on the issue last Saturday – after another 2-1 home defeat, that time to Aston Villa – but the atmosphere this weekend turned toxic in the manner that had initially been warded off in that FA Cup match.
The nature of West Ham’s late winner – a messy goal bundled home in the 93rd minute by Callum Wilson – only made it worse.
Spurs had been mindful of the fact that Frank had been adapting to a bigger club, with an incomplete football infrastructure and many of his best attackers missing for some time. They wanted to at least give him the chance of working through better conditions, but now fear the situation may be irretrievable.
Some are nevertheless pleading patience, especially as Tottenham can still qualify for the Champions League top eight. That situation is further complicated by how there are only two days – Sunday and Monday – before that crunch match against Dortmund.
Should Spurs ultimately sack Frank, Xabi Alonso is a name that would have appealed, and has been raised within the club, but he feels he will have better options over the coming months.
The same might apply to Oliver Glasner, who stunningly left open the possibility that he could leave Crystal Palace, after the 2-1 defeat at Sunderland. The Austrian already announced on Friday that he will leave at the end of the season – with Manchester United known to be interested – but events may now have accelerated his departure.
The Spurs faithful fully turned on Frank with the South Stand singing “you’re getting sacked in the morning” and the manager admitted: “Of course, I’ve probably had better times. It’s probably not the best time of course, but I understand, I’m the man in charge, so the blame will go to me. That’s fair.
“No problem in that sense. As long as they are backing the players, doing everything they can to support them and drive them forward, that’s what we do and we will keep going forward. If you’re not winning enough, we know you will not get enough support from the fans, but when we’re winning, it will change. When we start winning again, which we will do. I’m not in doubt of that.
“I think you all saw the game today, we could easily have won this one 2-1. I think it’s no excuses, but also the reason we’re a little bit down to the bare bones with players and we also need some of the offensive players to score a goal or two. All that is difficult for me to do like that and click with a finger, but I can promise that I’m sitting here, giving everything, every single day. I feel the trust from everyone and there’s only one way, we need to keep going.”
