• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

Thomas Frank - Former Head Coach

Legohamster said:
Just backs up the thought some of the playing squad are a disgrace as a well as Frank not being up to it.

In a relegation battle and doing this?

Whoever is next needs to wipe out that changing room and stop the

A squad with a large number of dislikable players.
Click to expand...

I think these players have been sorely let down by management and board. They didn't display the ultimate mutiny (ignoring what he told them to do) and tried to apply those tactics until the final whistle last night. Some will be moved on, but I hope we can somehow convince the likes of Romero and VdV to stick around; it will be a tall order.
 
Junior19 said:
Confirms what most of us saw with our own eyes, and called out here on the forum way back in august. (yes, I checked! Check Bournemouth-matchthread, for one)

And this has been one of the major gripes for a lot of us. I expect more such stories to emerge.
Click to expand...

It was clear as day. One hopes to be wrong and one hopes it turns around, but that is hope and fandom speaking; the eye-test is generally solid.
 
suffolkspur said:
The performances and results suggested something was amiss but its still somewhat surprising to read just how bad things appear to have been behind the scenes. I guess we have seen visible signs for a while with the incidents involving Van De Ven and Spence as examples but it sounds like the players haven't bought into Frank and his tactics at all and have felt shackled.

Biggest surprise reading this is that the board stuck with him for so long, but i guess they can say that they gave him every opportunity to turn things around even if that was never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Of course mate.
Essentially, they won a trophy, then saw themselves essentially being told they got lucky, that everything had to change, and that we were actually not 'building on a foundation' but were in the middle of a rebuild which was going to take a long time. Add to that pressers where being in the CL was written off and our league position last year was used as 'protection' for bricky performances, and yup, those players were going to turn pretty fast.

Rudderless leadership. They even left their mate in the lurch IMO, left him hanging. Even their statement was drippy.
 
Jurgen the German said:
Spot on. Clubs that know what they’re doing have continuity in style of play when they change managers:

Arsenal - Wenger > Emery > Arteta

Liverpool - Rodgers > Klopp > Slot

Ok so not like for like but they’re not radically different from the previous guy and they all play on the front foot.
Click to expand...

You think Arteta plays in the front foot? Or even more ridiculously, is similar in style to Wenger?
 
Whoever comes in, here's what they should say,

"This is a giant club having a tough moment. The talent here is unbelievable, the supporters here are among the best in football, the stadium is world class, we are in the Champions League, and we all need to take a deep breath and get back to who and Tottenham Hotspur are, play football our way, and when all those factors combine, this period will soon be a distant memory. The talent here is unbelievable, so there is not a shadow of doubt that they will have the opportunity to show that under me..."

I don't care if it is 100% accurate, it is positive, it is a statement, and it gets away from rubbish like 'you will lose games of football' and 'are we really a CL club? We finished 17th last season'.

I am also available for wedding speeches and presentations...
 
Yiddo said:
That statement is pretty much telling me that the club wanted to give him time but had to let him go due to the pressure from the stands.
Click to expand...
Well the board can take the blame. As they didn't help Frank in the slightest. I am honestly sick of this lot and their hollow words. I care for nothing they say. Means brick all
 
thfcsteff said:
Whoever comes in, here's what they should say,

"This is a giant club having a tough moment. The talent here is unbelievable, the supporters here are among the best in football, the stadium is world class, we are in the Champions League, and we all need to take a deep breath and get back to who and Tottenham Hotspur are, play football our way, and when all those factors combine, this period will soon be a distant memory. The talent here is unbelievable, so there is not a shadow of doubt that they will have the opportunity to show that under me..."

I don't care if it is 100% accurate, it is positive, it is a statement, and it gets away from rubbish like 'you will lose games of football' and 'are we really a CL club? We finished 17th last season'.

I am also available for wedding speeches and presentations...
Click to expand...

This is exactly right. So much of football, life, and leadership, is about self-belief - not just your own, but giving the people you lead and look after the self-belief to feel like they matter and that they can take on the world and win.

Do that, make them feel like you're in their corner, and they will run through brick walls for you. It doesn't even matter all that much if you're naturally charismatic or not - it helps, but it isn't the be-all and end-all. The message is.

Some of the stuff coming out about Frank today absolutely screams that he didn't do that. Saying only Porro could make it at a top club, for instance - these players *won a European trophy*, for GHod's sake. You tell them that and they are going to look at you with utter disdain, because you've won nothing at all, have never managed a top club, and are still doing them down.

Or that 'we will 100% lose games' stuff. There's two crucial parts of any manager's job at Spurs - political, in the sense of managing the expectations of the fans and the board, and man-management - managing the expectations of the players.

It seems like Frank failed at both. it didn't help him coming after Ange, who was a masterfully political operator, but GHod, did he not help himself.
 
thfcsteff said:
Whoever comes in, here's what they should say,

"This is a giant club having a tough moment. The talent here is unbelievable, the supporters here are among the best in football, the stadium is world class, we are in the Champions League, and we all need to take a deep breath and get back to who and Tottenham Hotspur are, play football our way, and when all those factors combine, this period will soon be a distant memory. The talent here is unbelievable, so there is not a shadow of doubt that they will have the opportunity to show that under me..."

I don't care if it is 100% accurate, it is positive, it is a statement, and it gets away from rubbish like 'you will lose games of football' and 'are we really a CL club? We finished 17th last season'.

I am also available for wedding speeches and presentations...
Click to expand...
Whatever you do don't read Steffs post in your best Sherwood voice.......

doesn't quite land the same. :)
 
ricky2tricky4city said:
Whatever you do don't read Steffs post in your best Sherwood voice.......

doesn't quite land the same. :)
Click to expand...

Dunno why, but in my head, when I'm reading Steff's posts, I always subconsciously think he sounds like Dan Louw, the guy who made all those Spurs Away Days videos in the mid-2010s. Just something about the often poetic way he writes.

First time listening to him on the podcast was certainly a surprise in that sense! :D
 
SteveAWOL said:
Sounds like the perfect fit for us!

www.bbc.co.uk

Ajax to sack manager John Heitinga less than six months after Liverpool exit

Ajax have sacked manager John Heitinga after 15 matches and less than six months after he joined the club from Liverpool.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Ajax have announced they will sack manager John Heitinga less than six months after he joined the club from Liverpool.

Heitinga, 41, won just five of his 11 Eredivisie matches in charge of the Amsterdam club who sit eight points adrift of league leaders Feyenoord.

Ajax have lost all four of their Champions League matches this season, including a 3-0 home defeat to Galatasaray on Wednesday.
Click to expand...
You have to wonder why we hired him?
 
SissokoWasGood (BoL) said:
I think it’s one of those that people see as an emotional decision (getting back with your ex) but actually it’s entirely rational. And actually the emotions and incorrect, irrational decision at the time was to sack him in the first place.

This was a clearly wildly talented manager with real charisma, who turned down the chance to go to Real Madrid to stay with us despite going more than one transfer window without signing a player. He could have been our Fergie. I think he knows too that his strengths are in developing players, building unity, setting standards and building a culture. We blew all that up by sacking him, and I think it was the stupidest thing this club has done probably going back to the Sugar years.

Get him back and I agree, we need patience again. The first year is going to be restablishing a culture, and standards, and a way of playing. But by the end of the first season we’ll see it, and the foundations will be laid for season two. And as long as we don’t get relegated, not having Europe next year will mean a style of play will probably start to pay dividends more quickly with him on the training ground.

I think it’s the entirely rational decision to bring him back. There is no one out there who is both as good, as suited to us, and crazily for some insane reason seems to romanticise our club. But it’s because he knows he’s right for us like we are for him.
Click to expand...
Hmm, ok, but unsure to what extent that narrative jives entirely with us being a 'Big top 4/6 club'? As such, seems a bit cheesy to me, and yes somewhat unfortunate, that he's the one and only, having to go back to the well, cap in hand, as it were.
 
Last edited:
thfcsteff said:
Whoever comes in, here's what they should say,

"This is a giant club having a tough moment. The talent here is unbelievable, the supporters here are among the best in football, the stadium is world class, we are in the Champions League, and we all need to take a deep breath and get back to who and Tottenham Hotspur are, play football our way, and when all those factors combine, this period will soon be a distant memory. The talent here is unbelievable, so there is not a shadow of doubt that they will have the opportunity to show that under me..."

I don't care if it is 100% accurate, it is positive, it is a statement, and it gets away from rubbish like 'you will lose games of football' and 'are we really a CL club? We finished 17th last season'.

I am also available for wedding speeches and presentations...
Click to expand...
What they say doesn't matter, it's what they do that does.

What the new man says in public matters little, it's what he says through players in private and the instructions he gives them on the training field that matters.
 
Kane said:
Hmm, ok, but unsure to what extent that narrative jives entirely with us being a 'Big top 4/6 club'? As such, seems a bit cheesy to me that he's the one and only, having to go back to the well, cap in hand, as it were.
Click to expand...

I think it’s more that we are quite a unique proposition as a club, in that we have expectations from the fans and board to try and be CL regulars, but we will never be the 4th or 5th highest wage bill. We are also treated by oppositions like a top club who they cede possession to, but we haven’t yet been able to spend at the level of the truly top sides in the league to buy the players that would consistently break those teams down.

So what do we do? We need someone who plays elite level football in possession, but also loved working with younger players and establishing a culture and standards that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not like Poch is the one and only, but I do believe that if we want that culture to endure over the long term, it’s probably best to double down on one person. The right person. And the great thing about Poch is that he loves us, so he would actually turn down bigger clubs to see this through, to be our Fergie.

I don’t think he’s the only one. I think Ange was close in a lot of ways, but he doesn’t have proven longevity and his commitment to one way meant he needed the players to do it, so there would always be wild swings if he didn’t have them available. Poch is more adaptable, and genuinely pragmatic but without playing mid table football against beatable sides.

But yeah. It’s the fact that we should be minimum 6th and with expectations of more that makes it so hard to find the right profile of manager for us. It’s a rare shape.
 
SissokoWasGood (BoL) said:
I think it’s more that we are quite a unique proposition as a club, in that we have expectations from the fans and board to try and be CL regulars, but we will never be the 4th or 5th highest wage bill. We are also treated by oppositions like a top club who they cede possession to, but we haven’t yet been able to spend at the level of the truly top sides in the league to buy the players that would consistently break those teams down.

So what do we do? We need someone who plays elite level football in possession, but also loved working with younger players and establishing a culture and standards that make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. It’s not like Poch is the one and only, but I do believe that if we want that culture to endure over the long term, it’s probably best to double down on one person. The right person. And the great thing about Poch is that he loves us, so he would actually turn down bigger clubs to see this through, to be our Fergie.

I don’t think he’s the only one. I think Ange was close in a lot of ways, but hemore than 30 candidates, doesn’t have proven longevity and his commitment to one way meant he needed the players to do it, so there would always be wild swings if he didn’t have them available. Poch is more adaptable, and genuinely pragmatic but without playing mid table football against beatable sides.

But yeah. It’s the fact that we should be minimum 6th and with expectations of more that makes it so hard to find the right profile of manager for us. It’s a rare shape.
Click to expand...
I hear you. Such is our need then, and with apparently such very limited viable options, we'd best hope that he doesn't stay where he's at, or get his head turned by someone else, that he doesn't move back to South America, or that he simply just retires, etc.
Of course, our current Board saw fit to interview more than 30 candidates last time so maybe they see it differently:)
 
Bishop said:
I don't even think Poch returning is a good idea but at this point it makes sense. Like you say, it exorcises that ghost and the cloud that lingers in most fan's minds about what could have been or what could be.

I think maybe we just have to see it likely fail to just get past him as a coach. We don't have the same calibre of talent hence my doubts but I dunno. We've tried most other things at this point. 🤣
Click to expand...
Poch’s record with and without Dembele should tell you everything you need to know.
 
Kane said:
I hear you. Such is our need then, and with apparently such very limited viable options, we'd best hope that he doesn't stay where he's at, or get his head turned by someone else, that he doesn't move back to South America, or that he simply just retires, etc.
Of course, our current Board saw fit to interview more than 30 candidates last time so maybe they see it differently:)
Click to expand...

Honestly, how Vinai confidently proclaimed they ran a thorough process at pace and landed on Frank as the stand out candidate when there were such obvious flaws apparent in the fit…it genuinely amazes me. Whatever else his strengths around longevity and building a culture, his football was way off and his leadership style didn’t seem to suit our squad. Just a completely bizarre situation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back