Frank signed a contract until 2028, with Spurs paying Brentford around £10 million in compensation. The move was seen as a progressive one: Frank had built Brentford into a solid Premier League side on a limited budget, promoting them in 2021 and finishing 9th and 10th in recent seasons. Many hoped he would bring his data-driven, pragmatic, organized style to Spurs and deliver consistent results in the top half (or better).
Early promise versus current reality
The beginning was reasonable: He won his first Premier League game 3-0 against Burnley, and there were some positive signs in the early months, including a strong away record in parts of the season. However, in 2025/2026, things have gone badly.
As of mid-January 2026 (after around seven months and around 32 games in all competitions), Spurs sit 14th in the Premier League – a huge underachievement for a club of their resources and ambitions.
Key statistics from his time to date include:
A win percentage hovering around 34% (11 wins, 9 draws, 12 losses in reported league/context matches).
A run of eight defeats in the last fourteen games (including the recent 1-2 home defeat against West Ham).
A winless start to 2026, untimely exits such as the FA Cup third round defeat to Aston Villa, and continued problems with home form (fans booing regularly at full-time).
Frank has highlighted challenges such as injuries to key strikers (e.g. Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison’s long absence, Dominic Solanke only recently back), the need to build a clear identity and the ‘supertanker’ scale of turning around a big club compared to Brentford’s more agile set-up.
He has been defiant at press conferences, insisting that there is progress behind the scenes – better movement in attack, data-driven adjustments – and that Spurs are “close to something very good”.
Recent signings such as Conor Gallagher (£35m from Atlético Madrid) and additions to his staff (e.g. John Heitinga as assistant) show some support from the board.
The growing pressure and backlash from the fans
The atmosphere in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has become toxic. After West Ham’s late defeat (with Callum Wilson’s winner in the 93rd minute), fans booed the team, chanting at Frank ‘you’ll be sacked in the morning’, and pre-match protests calling for change.
Captain Cristian Romero called it a ‘disaster’, and pundits have drawn parallels with short, failed tenures such as Nuno Espírito Santo’s at Spurs.
Reports indicate that the hierarchy (new CEO Vinai Venkatesham, the owner) is still backing him for now, avoiding the cycle of quick dismissals that has plagued Spurs (Frank is the fifth permanent manager in around six years). But the pressure is immense: some media say his points-per-game average is one of the worst for a permanent Spurs boss in more than two decades, and that a sacking could cost more than £8million in compensation.
The upcoming Champions League match against Dortmund in midweek feels like a huge test; one more bad result could turn things around.
Do you think the board should continue to monitor him throughout the season, or is it time for another change? What is your opinion on where things go wrong tactically or otherwise?
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