Tottenham manager Thomas Frank is a man under enormous pressure. Last weekend, Spurs were dumped out of the FA Cup in round three by Aston Villa, 2-0 down at the break, comprehensively outplayed in the first half, and thereby unable to turn the tie around thereafter.
In the Premier League, the Lilywhites have won only two of 12 matches since the start of November, only managing to beat Brentford and Crystal Palace during this period. This leaves Spurs 14th in the table, closer to the bottom three than the top three.
On Saturday, Tottenham will take on West Ham United in a heated London derby. Given that the Irons are seven points from safety, without a win in ten league outings, many are dubbing this El Sackico, with Nuno Espírito Santo equally under enormous pressure.
From a Spurs perspective, including caretakers, they have already changed manager on seven occasions in five years, so dismissing Frank, even if many supporters would like him gone, will achieve nothing. Thus, the club's current predicament simply reinforces what Gary Lineker had to say all the way back in 2019.
Gary Lineker was right about Tottenham all along
Gary Lineker is rightly considered a Spurs legend. He made 139 appearances for the club between 1989 and 1992, scoring 80 goals, winning the FA Cup in '91.
Post-retirement, Lineker has been one of the most vocal and opinionated ex-pros in the British media, including on Twitter. Following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino in November 2019, this is what Lineker had to say:
""Mauricio Pochettino... helped the club to punch massively above their weight for years. Good luck with finding a better replacement... it ain't gonna happen.""Gary Lineker
He has certainly been proven right. During his five full seasons at the club, Pochettino led Tottenham to the Champions League Final as well as five successive top-four finishes. Since his departure, they've only ended up in the top four of the Premier League once in six attempts. None of the Argentine's successors have been nearly as successful.
Tottenham managers (2014-present)
Manager | Matches | Win % |
|---|---|---|
Mauricio Pochettino | 293 | 54% |
José Mourinho | 86 | 51% |
Nuno Espírito Santo | 17 | 47% |
Antonio Conte | 76 | 54% |
Ange Postecoglou | 101 | 47% |
Thomas Frank | 31 | 35% |
Pochettino's tenure was 13 matches longer than that of Mourinho, Nuno, Conte and Postecoglou combined. Of all managers to oversee 81 games or more, he boasts, by some distant, the best win percentage, despite an elongated period calling Wembley home as well as limited funds to spend in the transfer market.
Without Pochettino's transformational period, Spurs would not have a 60,000+ seater stadium, and the empty seats seen at recent games, most notably the visit of Slavia Prague, reflect this. Pochettino raised expectation levels and pushed the boundaries of what is possible at Spurs, with every subsequent boss unable to live up to these heights, instead dealing with a dose of reality.
With Frank fighting for his job, come the summer, perhaps Tottenham will finally replaced Pochettino with, well, Pochettino, set to be available after the World Cup, so could he return to N17?