DAVID ORNSTEIN CONFIRMS THOMAS FRANK SACK IS "MATTER OF WHEN."
Thomas Frank is on borrowed time at Tottenham. Discover the candidates to replace him, from Francesco Farioli to Xabi Alonso.
Thomas Frank’s days at Tottenham look numbered. People around the club say it’s not a question of if he’ll get sacked, but when. And with two new names suddenly in the mix for the manager’s job, things are moving fast.
Tottenham brought in Frank over the summer, hoping he’d steady the ship after Ange Postecoglou’s chaotic run. Sure, Ange ended their 17-year trophy drought, but finishing 17th in the league was enough for Daniel Levy to show him the door.
Frank hasn’t exactly turned things around. He’s managed just 11 wins in 32 games. Now, after Saturday’s embarrassing 2-1 loss at home to West Ham, the mood around the club is rock bottom. On Sunday night, David Ornstein summed it up: Frank’s getting sacked—it’s just a matter of time.
Fraser Fletcher, our guy on the ground, thinks Frank will get a stay of execution, at least until Tuesday’s Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund. But nobody expects him to last much longer. After the loss to West Ham, Fabrizio Romano said Frank’s “on borrowed time.”
Tottenham tried to back him up last week—brought in John Heitinga (formerly an assistant at Liverpool) to join the coaching staff. They even staged a feel-good photo with Frank and Heitinga. But then came another defeat, and now Frank’s job hangs by a thread.
Romano didn’t sugarcoat it. Frank’s position isn’t safe, and the club’s already talking about what comes next. Internal meetings are happening, and with Champions League football looming, everyone knows the decision is coming soon.
Fletcher says any real shakeup won’t happen until the summer, with Heitinga likely taking over as interim if Frank goes before then. Meanwhile, Tottenham have started looking at fresh options. One is a rising Premier League manager who’s caught their eye with what some call a “rare skill”. The other is Francesco Farioli, the 36-year-old Italian making waves at FC Porto, where he’s won a staggering 86% of his games.
And that’s not all. Sources say Tottenham have also checked in on Xabi Alonso, recently departed from Real Madrid, though he seems to be holding out for a bigger job. Oliver Glasner’s name is in the mix too, but Crystal Palace aren’t letting him go without a fight. Even Xavi Hernandez—yes, the Barcelona legend—has been approached about the role.
So, with all these names flying around, we’ve ranked nine possible candidates for the Tottenham job, from contenders with real credentials to the long shots.
And it’s not just the manager’s seat that’s shaky. There’s trouble brewing on the transfer front, too, with a marquee summer signing now desperate to leave after being pushed to his limit. The drama at Tottenham just keeps coming.
SCATHING VERDICT: ANGE POSTECOGLOU CLAIMS TOTTENHAM ARE "NOT A BIG CLUB" TODAY
Ange Postecoglou claims Tottenham "isn't a big club" in a scathing review of their transfer policy following Thomas Frank's sacking.
Ange Postecoglou didn’t mince words about why Tottenham keep falling short. He says the club’s refusal to really compete with the Premier League’s top spenders holds them back, simple as that.
Postecoglou got the boot last June, right after he delivered a Europa League trophy and ended a 17-year wait for silverware. Now his replacement, Thomas Frank, is out too. Tottenham sit 16th in the league, just five points clear of relegation, and they’ve got league leaders Arsenal up next. Not exactly a fun place to be.
After Frank’s sacking, Postecoglou went on The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast and pretty much called out Tottenham’s whole approach. “If you look at what they spend and how they structure wages, they’re just not a big club,” he said. He saw it firsthand while trying to sign players; Tottenham just weren’t in the race for the big names.
In his first season, Postecoglou managed to get Tottenham up to fifth. But things went downhill. The next year, even with that Europa League win, they slipped to 17th. He’s convinced the club just doesn’t get what it takes to win, you have to take some risks, and they just won’t.
“I felt like the club was saying, ‘We’re one of the big boys,’ but honestly, they’re not,” he said.
Frank was Tottenham’s fifth full-time manager since Mauricio Pochettino left in 2019, even though Pochettino took them to a Champions League final. Fans are frustrated. Tottenham keep missing out on their transfer targets. Frank wanted Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest last summer, but that didn’t happen. Arsenal snatched up Eberechi Eze instead.
Postecoglou, who later had a short, rocky stint at Forest himself, thinks Frank might not have realised what he was getting into. “There’s no guarantee with any manager. They’ve had some world-class people in that job and still no real success. Why is that?” he asked. “What’s the real objective here? Did Thomas even know what he was walking into? Who knows?
136-YEAR CURSE: BURNLEY AVOID MATCHING 1890 RECORD WITH A SENSATIONAL COMEBACK CRYSTAL PALACE 3-2 WIN
Burnley escaped a historic 136-year record! Read how Scott Parker’s men scored three in six minutes to stun Crystal Palace 3-2.
Burnley looked finished. Down 2-0 after just half an hour, with Jørgen Strand Larsen scoring his first goals for Crystal Palace, it pretty much felt like Scott Parker’s team were about to tie their old record: 17 top-flight games without a win, a streak that’s haunted them since 1890. For Burnley fans, the past three months have been brutal. Then, out of nowhere, everything flipped in six wild minutes right before halftime.
Hannibal Mejbri pulled one back. Jaidon Anthony levelled it. Then Jefferson Lerma, of all people, knocked in an own goal. Just like that, Burnley snatched only their second away win since promotion. It keeps their survival hopes alive, barely, but Parker knows they’ll need a few more miracles like this to actually stay up.
For Palace, this was a harsh wake-up call. Their big win over Brighton had just snapped a 12-game winless spell, and for a while, it looked like Oliver Glasner’s side were cruising to only their third home victory of the season, something that would’ve eased their relegation fears. But sloppy defending let Burnley right back in.
Burnley’s luck before kickoff didn’t exactly scream “comeback”. Parker had never won a league game in London as an away manager, and the team bus got stuck in traffic, pushing kick-off back by ten minutes. Palace, for their part, hadn’t lost at home to a promoted side since Sunderland thrashed them 4-0 back in 2017.
When Strand Larsen smashed in a gorgeous ball from Adam Wharton and then dived to head in Lerma’s cross after Kyle Walker messed up, it just seemed like Burnley were doomed.
But then Mejbri gave the visitors a lifeline, beating Dean Henderson with a sharp finish. Suddenly, Burnley were level. There was some debate about whether Lesley Ugochukwu handled the ball before setting up Anthony to score, but nobody could argue with the bottom corner finish – no chance for the keeper.
Then came the third: Bashir Humphreys’ header was stopped by Henderson, but Lerma could only turn the rebound into his own net. Palace trudged off at halftime to boos. Glasner sent them back out early, probably after some choice words in the dressing room.
Even with £35 million man Brennan Johnson on the pitch, Palace couldn’t break down Burnley’s defence. Daichi Kamada missed a decent chance, and Martin Dubravka’s save in stoppage time kept out Ismaïla Sarr. In the end, it was Burnley’s small but loud travelling support celebrating. Somehow, their team had pulled off a rare and badly needed win.