‘I Fight’—Thomas Frank Comes Out Swinging After Tottenham Reach Sack Verdict

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank promised to “fight” to maintain his position at the helm in north London and insisted that he retains the support of the club’s upper hierarchy.

Frank appeared to be on perilously thin ice after overseeing a dismal 2–1 defeat at home to London rivals and relegation scrappers West Ham United on Saturday afternoon. That loss left Spurs a lowly 14th in the Premier League table and limited their points tally to just nine from 11 home games this season. Only West Ham themselves and rock-bottom Wolverhampton Wanderers have worse home records.

The reigning Europa League champions reportedly gave consideration to sacking Frank over the weekend after fans turned on the head coach following the latest ignominious defeat.

However, a decision was subsequently taken to leave Frank in his post for Tuesday’s crucial Champions League tie at home to Borussia Dortmund. For all their domestic struggles, Spurs are on course to qualify for the knockout stages and lie just one point adrift of the top eight which guarantees automatic passage into the last 16.

With a wild torrent of uncertainty still swirling overhead, Frank addressed the media on Monday afternoon. The well-spoken 52-year-old struck a defiant tone throughout, preaching positivity which veered almost towards a self-help forum at times.

Tottenham Board Gives Frank Their ‘Trust’

Johan Lange (left) and Vinai Venkatesham. — Johan Lange (left) and Vinai Venkatesham both had lunch with Thomas Frank on Monday. | Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images

Before addressing the press, Frank first had a sit down with Tottenham’s powerbrokers. The manager revealed that the club’s CEO Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and the influential figure of Nick Beucher were all in attendance.

In the power vacuum left by Daniel Levy’s unexpected departure at the start of the season, Beucher has become an increasingly prominent figure. He is the son-in-law of co-owner Vivienne Lewis and serves as the co-chief executive of Tavistock Group which owns ENIC—the majority shareholders of Tottenham.

Frank insisted that he is “feeling the trust along the way” of this key trio and dismissed the noise around his future as “all part of the media circus.”

“I haven’t heard any situation like that in football where someone says, ‘Hey mate if you win tomorrow no problem.’ We had a good conversation about life and football and the future of the club,” Frank revealed.

“I think it is an extremely good sign because normally people run away if there is bad news or bad weather coming, they are normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.”

For the Spurs boss, his objective is clear: “As I have said many times, as long as we win football matches and make sure we win enough of them—everyone will support us. It is not about me. It is about supporting the team, the players.”

Frank’s Three Steps of Resilience

Thomas Frank scratching his eyebrow. — Thomas Frank turned Monday’s press conference into a self-help forum. | Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

1. Good Values

At one point during the stubborn defence of his position, Frank’s press conference took a philosophical bend. “I listened to something the other day where the three biggest things in showing resilience is one, you have good values,” Frank began.

“I see myself as a guy that has pretty good values.”

2. Self-Awareness

Frank explained that the second step of resilience was to “know the reality” of your situation. “Reality is that one in five normally don’t like you, no matter what you do,” he explained. “One in five love you, no matter what you do. Then there’s the three in five that, if you behave well, are respectful, show integrity, do your best, normally they are swayed.

“So, no matter what you do, the reality is someone will not like you.”

It felt as though more than four-fifths of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium were against their current coach when they drowned out the final whistle of Saturday’s fixture with boos. However, a poll on BBC Sport found that 50% voted to stick with Frank.

3. Perspective

“The last bit, have perspective in life, which I have in abundance,” Frank concluded. “I keep doing what I do, what I believe in.

“If your back is against the wall, you fight and that’s what I do. I’m energetic, I fight.”

Frank insisted that his players are still willing to fight for him as well. “In the last three games where we are down at half time, how they come out and respond is a massive thing,” he pointed out, ignoring the wretched first-half displays which had preceded those improvements. “They responded fantastic and we should’ve got more out of it.

“Sometimes, it’s just football. That happens when you are in that spell.”

Frank: Tottenham Have 11 Fit Outfield Players

Xavi Simons looking pained. — Xavi Simons is struggling with injury. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

At this point, it’s easier for Frank to list the players that aren’t injured. “We are playing a game tomorrow against a very good German side and we are a little bit limited with the players available,” the Danish boss sighed.

“We have 11 outfield players available for the game from our normal first-team players. One of them is Xavi [Simons] and he didn’t train today because there was a bad tackle from behind that injured his ankle but because he is so strong mentally he will play through pain tomorrow. Big courage to Xavi. And I cannot understand why that is not a red card, but that is for a bigger discussion.

“We have 11 players available,” Frank repeated for impact, “and we probably have three players that need to push massively to get through 90 minutes physically, so that’s why we need everyone to support us.”

Tottenham’s Fit Outfielders

Defenders: Kevin Danso, Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Djed Spence, Destiny Udogie
Midfielders: Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray, Xavi Simons
Forwards: Randal Kolo Muani, Wilson Odobert, Dominic Solanke