Everything normal at Spurs, says Frank despite toxic atmosphere around the club only intensifying following loss to West Ham.
Thomas Frank insists ‘everything normal’ despite turmoil at Tottenham.
In the face of the fury engulfing the club, Thomas Frank has maintained that the Tottenham management is behind him.
Following Saturday’s home loss to West Ham, the manager’s job is in jeopardy. The outcome and the team’s dismal Premier League performance—they have only won twice in their last 13 league games—infuriated the Spurs supporters, who called for Frank to be “sacked in the morning.”
Frank will be in the dugout for Tuesday’s home Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund since he has so far survived. Whether it turns out to be just a stay of execution is still to be determined.
With just 11 outfield players available for the Dortmund match, Frank faces a selection dilemma; three of them, he claimed, would find it difficult to play the full 90 minutes. He is leaning his back against the wall.
On Monday, though, Frank came out fighting and saw the opportunity to have a cordial lunch with three of the club’s key players as a plus. They were Vinai Venkatesham, the CEO; Johan Lange, the sporting director; and Nick Beucher, the son-in-law of Vivienne Lewis, one of the proprietors.
“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 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.’”