Tottenham are parting ways with coach Thomas Frank after just eight months

Tottenham's decision to part ways with Thomas Frank came almost immediately after their defeat to Newcastle on Tuesday night. Managing director Vinai Venkatesham, together with sports director Johan Lange, made this decision, which the club initially did not want to make. But Spurs' disappointing season left even Frank's biggest supporter no longer doubting the Dane's suitability as a coach. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, the recommendation was made to the Lewis family, the owners of the club, to part ways with Frank. In recent weeks, fans' anger has increasingly been directed at the Lewis family, as there was a widespread impression that supporters' opinions on the issue of Frank were not being heard. However, according to conversations with people close to the owning family, this was not the case; Rather, they would have noticed the widespread dissatisfaction with Frank. However, it would have been harder to ignore this given the strong reaction to the coach in recent weeks. However, as the Lewis family had largely left Venkatesham in charge of the club following his appointment as the club's CEO last summer, it was only fair, it was seen, that Venkatesham's decisions and recommendations were followed. When he made the recommendation to dismiss Frank on Wednesday morning after the defeat against Newcastle, it was v

accepted immediately by the owner family. All that was missing was formal notice to Frank that he was being fired. This took place on Wednesday morning in a conversation between Frank, Venkatesham and Lange. Frank's appointment in June 2023 was seen as a wise decision. He had done an excellent job at Brentford, first getting the club promoted to the Premier League and then successfully staying there. But he lasted just eight months at Tottenham after struggling with player discipline issues, a divided management team at the club and doubts about his tactical approach. Frank had tried to establish a positive culture at Tottenham, as he had done at Brentford. That was also one of the reasons why they decided to sign him after the dismissal of Ange Postecoglou. But there were repeated incidents that tested Frank's efforts to create respectful working conditions for his players and employees. Earlier in his tenure, he had a player excluded from the starting eleven after arriving late for a pre-match meeting and subsequent misconduct. However, the player in question subsequently apologized for his behavior. The fact that Frank drew conclusions in such cases was well received by many players. For example, Yves Bissouma was selected for the UEFA Super Cup game against Paris St. Germain in Au

He was ruled out because he repeatedly showed up late at the training ground. In recent days, however, it has been an open secret that Frank did not want to exclude Cristian Romero, the team's captain, from the captaincy, despite his public criticism of the club on social media and a red card against Manchester United. Romero is considered a more difficult figure to handle in training and it is said that he was given preferential treatment by Frank. When players Micky van der Ven and Djed Spence appeared not to shake Frank's hand after the loss to Chelsea at home, the coach responded by saying the players were simply frustrated and later explained that the two had apologized for it. Frank always seemed to put his own interests ahead of those of his players. Many players appreciated that, but there were also some who couldn't draw so much positive from Frank's manners. In the first few weeks of Frank's tenure, he was said to have given some players the impression of being insecure. They were used to the previous coach, Ange Postecoglou, being a strong personality, even if his status in the team became increasingly isolated towards the end of his term. There were also doubts about Frank's tactical approach; Concerns were repeatedly raised that he was not relying enough on his team's strengths

zte and instead was too focused on adapting to the opposing team's strengths. This picture of Frank reinforced the widespread view that the position at Tottenham was simply too big for him. There have been doubts about his suitability for the coaching position at Tottenham for a long time. After the 2-1 defeat against Fulham at home on November 29, which was Tottenham's third consecutive defeat, a senior club member recommended parting ways with Frank. Former Brighton coach Roberto de Zerbi, who was working at Marseille at the time, was also considered a possible successor. But the club rejected these recommendations and continued to stick with Frank. It is interesting that Tottenham's new management, led by Venkatesham, stuck with Frank for so long. Because while Frank's signing was largely the matter of Daniel Levy, the club's controversial former chairman who stepped down in September 2023 after 24 years in charge, Venkatesham's implementation of the signing was a mere formality. However, with the chairman gone, it should have been easier for Venkatesham to part ways with Frank, especially as public opinion among fans was increasingly tilting against Frank. But for some reason, Venkatesham continued to hold on to Frank. It would probably have been possible for him to break up with Frank

e to increase his own popularity among the fans, but there were apparently other reasons that motivated him to continue to rely on Frank's coaching skills. For example, Johan Lange, the club's sports director, was a close confidante of Frank. In addition, the club's former sporting director, Fabio Paratici, who now works at Fiorentina, was also said to not have been convinced of Frank's suitability for the coaching position. Overall, however, the Tottenham club management was convinced that in Frank they had hired a coach who could bring stability to the team even in difficult phases. In this regard, a comparison was made to Mikel Arteta from Arsenal, who was always supported by club officials despite public criticism of himself. While Venkatesham was able to use Arteta as an example of a stabilizing coach last year, there were increasing doubts about Frank's ability to bring stability. After the defeat against West Ham on January 17, which was surprising for Tottenham as it was a defeat against a team threatened with relegation, the belief that Frank could bring stability to the team was severely shaken. It was even considered parting ways with Frank after this defeat. However, Champions League victories against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt allowed Frank to remain in office for the time being. But the defeat against Newcastle on

Tuesday, which took Tottenham's winless league games to eight, has now resulted in him being sacked. The new Tottenham club management is now faced with the task of finding a new coaching solution. It is still unclear whether they are looking for an interim solution that will last until the summer or whether they are looking for a coach to fill the coaching position immediately.