Tottenham must survive at any cost and then turn to Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham Hotspur’s season reached a new nadir on Tuesday night as a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle United left the club 16th in the Premier League, five points above the relegation zone and with supporters chanting for both the return of Mauricio Pochettino and the dismissal of current head coach Thomas Frank.

The loss, Spurs’ 11th in the league, was soundtracked by the 49th-minute roar of “Mauricio Pochettino” from the stands, a love letter to the Argentine who guided the club to four successive top-four finishes and the 2019 Champions League final. By full-time the refrain had turned to “You’re getting sacked in the morning,” aimed squarely at Frank, who was powerless to prevent second-half goals from Malick Thiaw and Jacob Ramsey cancelling out Archie Gray’s first Premier League strike for the club.

Frank, who entered the match without 10 senior players and lost Wilson Odobert to injury midway through the first half, insisted afterwards he retains the backing of the board. “I spoke to them yesterday, so no,” he replied when asked if his job is under threat. “I am 1,000 per cent sure I am the right man for Tottenham.”

Yet the numbers are stark: Spurs have taken 12 points from their last 15 league fixtures, are closer in the table to the Championship than to the Champions League places, and have won only once at home since October. The club’s chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham, and executive chairman, Peter Charrington, were present to witness the mutinous mood inside the stadium, where empty red seats outnumbered late stragglers long before Anthony Taylor’s final whistle.

Pochettino, currently contracted to the United States national team through the 2026 World Cup, has done little to dampen speculation. Speaking on the High Performance Podcast, he reiterated his enduring affection for the club and his desire to “win with Tottenham,” adding that the club’s infrastructure now matches his ambition. “It’s a club that should be… fighting for the Champions League, trying to believe that you can win the Champions League and also fighting for the Premier League,” he said.

Frank, who previously described Pochettino as “a true legend” and endorsed supporters singing his name, now finds himself cast as the placeholder until the summer. Privately, club sources acknowledge that no alternative appointment would be greeted with anything approaching universal approval; publicly, the Dane continues to preach patience. “We need to show unbelievable strong resilience,” he said. “We can only do this if we stick together – the board, the players, the staff, the fans, me.”

Whether the fan base is willing to wait until May is another matter. With a north London derby against Arsenal looming on 22 February and fixtures against Fulham, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest to follow before the international break, Tottenham’s next six matches could decide more than local bragging rights. Relegation remains mathematically improbable but emotionally imaginable; survival is now the non-negotiable first step toward the reunion supporters crave.

Until then, the itch Pochettino and Tottenham never quite managed to scratch remains untreated. The Argentine wants another go; the fans want nothing less. Frank, for all his defiance, is merely keeping the seat warm.