Thomas Frank has insisted the Tottenham hierarchy are standing with him in the face of the storm gripping the club.
The manager’s job is in the balance, his situation precarious after Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat against West Ham. The Spurs support were so incensed by the result and the continuation of the team’s terrible Premier League form – they have won twice in their past 13 league matches – that they demanded Frank be “sacked in the morning”.
Frank has survived, for now, and will be in the dugout for Tuesday’s Champions League tie at home to Borussia Dortmund. It remains to be seen whether it proves to be merely a stay of execution. Frank has a selection crisis for the Dortmund clash, with only 11 available outfield players – three of whom he said would struggle to complete the 90 minutes. His back is firmly against the wall.
But Frank came out fighting on Monday and took it as a positive that he was able to have a friendly lunch with three of the club’s main powerbrokers. They were the chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, the sporting director, Johan Lange, and Nick Beucher, the son-in-law of one of the owners, Vivienne Lewis.
“I’ve just been feeling the trust,” Frank said. “I’ve said that at every press meeting … that there is backing and support. I had lunch with Nick and Vinai and Johan today, so all good. I know it’s part of the media circus. The only focus I have is to do everything I can for us to win against Dortmund.
“We had a good conversation about life and football, the future of the club, everything normal. Of course, there’s a little bit of stormy weather out there. I just think it’s an extremely good sign because normally people are running away if there’s bad news or bad weather coming. They’re normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.”
Frank knows it will be a tall order against Dortmund, especially with such depleted resources. The German club are second in the Bundesliga, having lost once in the competition all season. They have been beaten only once in the Champions League, too. Frank was asked whether the Spurs executives had given him any assurances in the event of another defeat.
“It’s a nice question,” he said. “I haven’t heard any situation like that in football where they say: ‘Hey, mate, if you win tomorrow, no problem. If you lose tomorrow, no problem.’”
Frank’s continued employment can be seen as an extraordinary show of faith by a board who have not wanted to jettison him; they are mindful of the problems he has faced, not all of which have been of his own making. On the other hand, the questions continue to come thick and fast. Has Frank remained in the job because of the absence of a suitable and available interim alternative? Would it have been prudent to bring someone else in for such a difficult game and with the squad situation as it is?
Frank sought to radiate positivity. When he walked out for training on Monday afternoon, he was asked how he was. “I’m fine,” he replied. “The sun is shining. We are playing football.” Which was a nice answer, albeit one that overlooked the fact the skies were grey.
Frank said fine margins had gone against his team in the West Ham game – and others of late, including the defeat at Bournemouth. The players, he stressed, were still running and giving their all. “If your back is against the wall, you fight,” he said. “And that’s what I do.”
Yet the team news was worryingly bleak. Just before training, the club announced that Ben Davies was to undergo surgery to repair the ankle fracture sustained against West Ham. Then João Palhinha did not emerge for the session, with the rest of a group bulked up by young players. He remains out. “When it rains, it pours,” Frank said.
Xavi Simons did not train either, having damaged an ankle against West Ham when he was on the end of a tackle from behind by Jarrod Bowen. Simons, though, is poised to play against Dortmund. Frank will miss 13 players, including the suspended Micky van de Ven. Spurs’s new signing, Conor Gallagher, is ineligible.
“It was a bad tackle from Bowen, not that Bowen is a bad guy and would do anything intentional,” Frank said. “Xavi has a swollen ankle but because he’s so strong mentally, he will play through pain. While we are there, I can’t understand why that isn’t a red card [for Bowen] when a red card is when Xavi accidentally put his foot on Virgil van Dijk [and was sent off against Liverpool].
“We have 11 [outfield] players available and we maybe have three that need to push massively to get through 90 minutes physically. That’s why we need everyone to support us from minute one. Especially the players, especially if it’s not going too well. If we do get that support, everything can happen. Magic can happen.”
Frank has chosen to reinstate the fit-again Dominic Solanke into his Champions League squad at the expense of Mathys Tel, who drops out for the second time this season. Frank had recalled Tel before Spurs’s sixth league phase game against Slavia Prague to replace Solanke, who had been injured for more than 60 days. The rules allowed Frank to reverse that decision and he has taken up the option.
Tel is understood to be extremely surprised, having started the past four matches. Frank’s decision to substitute Tel and send on Solanke against West Ham was booed by the Spurs support.
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