The Reasons Why Tottenham Had No Choice But to Fire Thomas Frank

Tottenham Hotspur have severed ties with head coach Thomas Frank after only seven months and 29 days, a decision the club’s board insists became unavoidable once results nosedived and relegation fears took hold. The 52-year-old Dane, appointed in June 2025 to succeed Ange Postecoglou, departs with Spurs 14th in the Premier League and just five points clear of 18th-placed West Ham United.

Tuesday’s limp home defeat to Newcastle United proved the final straw. The loss, coupled with Leeds United’s surge into 15th after a dramatic draw at Chelsea, left Tottenham staring at a genuine survival fight with only ten matches remaining before the international break. The club’s statement was blunt: “Results and performances have led the Board to conclude that a change at this point in the season is necessary.”

Frank’s reign began with cautious optimism. A slick passage through the Champions League group phase—six wins from eight fixtures and automatic entry into the round of 16—offered early evidence that the former Brentford boss could trade punches with Europe’s elite. Yet domestic form unravelled at an alarming rate. Spurs’ last Premier League victory came on 28 December against Crystal Palace; since then they have collected meagre points from Burnley and West Ham, exited the FA Cup to Aston Villa, and posted the worst top-flight record of any club in 2026.

Style as much as substance hastened his demise. Players who had thrived under a more expansive blueprint struggled to adapt to Frank’s conservative game plan, while a mounting injury list robbed the squad of continuity. The club’s communiqué acknowledged “the time and support” afforded to the coach, but privately boardroom patience evaporated once the gap to the drop zone shrank to a single bad weekend.

Attention now turns to stabilising a dressing room that has not weathered a league win in almost three months. Tottenham are expected to appoint an interim manager rather than launch another long-term project mid-crisis, echoing Manchester United’s short-term pivot to Michael Carrick after parting with Ruben Amorim. Experience in relegation dogfights will be prized, as will the ability to re-energise a forward line that remains among the division’s most potent on paper.

Off-field lapses have further undermined morale. Frank’s stroll through Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium clutching an Arsenal-branded cup, and the club’s clumsy handling of the fallout, exposed a lack of institutional control. Added to chronic injury problems and pointed public criticism from senior players such as Cristian Romero following January’s transfer business, Tottenham’s decision-makers concluded that ripping off the plaster now offers the best hope of avoiding a relegation shoot-out.

Fixtures do not ease up: Arsenal, Fulham and Crystal Palace await in a treacherous run of London derbies before Liverpool and Nottingham Forest visit. With no team earning fewer league points in 2026, Spurs felt they could not risk clinging to a project that had lost both direction and momentum.

Frank leaves with his reputation bruised but not shattered. His European exploits confirm a coach capable of sophisticated tactical plans, and his body of work at Brentford remains respected. A stint in television punditry for the 2026 World Cup is likely before a return to the dug-out, with Crystal Palace among the clubs braced for managerial change in the summer.

For Tottenham, survival has become the sole objective. The next appointment will be charged with nothing less than preserving top-flight status and restoring order to a season that has careened from hopeful reboot to existential fight.