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THOMAS FRANK ADDRESSES CRISTIAN ROMERO’S "DISGRACEFUL" SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS ON SPURS
Thomas Frank faces a leadership crisis at Spurs as Cristian Romero’s social media outbursts win the support of frustrated fans.
Cristian Romero is still Tottenham’s captain, even after taking another shot at the club’s higher-ups on social media—twice in a month, actually.
“Leadership means a lot of things,” Spurs boss Thomas Frank said, trying to make sense of it all. The timing wasn’t great, since Spurs had just pulled off an impressive comeback to get a point against Manchester City, stretching their unbeaten run to four games.
“I’m 52,” Frank went on. “I think I’m pretty good at leadership. Can I get better? Sure. Do I make mistakes? Not daily, but probably every week.
“Romero’s 27. He’ll continue to make mistakes as a leader. He also does a lot of things right.”
Romero’s latest outburst came right after the transfer window closed on Monday. He posted that it was “disgraceful” that the Spurs only had 11 available players. Frank said they handled the situation behind closed doors. It wasn’t the first time, either—last month Romero posted a cryptic message about people at the club who “show up when things are going well to tell a few lies”, but he avoided any punishment.
Romero’s frustration is hard to ignore. He just signed a new four-year contract in August, pushing him into the club’s top earners, but now there’s fresh talk about Atletico Madrid being interested. When asked about Romero’s future, Frank shrugged: “I have no idea. He’s our captain; he has a long-term contract. We just signed him.”
A lot of fans agree with Romero. They’ve watched transfer windows come and go, always ending with more excuses than new players. This time, the captain himself is saying what they’re all thinking.
Romero is in his fifth season at Spurs. He joined from Atalanta in 2021, first on loan, then permanently. He’s seen nine transfer windows, and, honestly, he sees a pattern.
Spurs always talk about ambition and having cash to spend, but the players they want usually end up somewhere else—sometimes even going to direct rivals. Maybe Spurs don’t offer enough money, or maybe players just think they’re less likely to win things here. Probably both.
Look at last summer: Eberechi Eze, Bryan Mbeumo—missed. It’s been happening for years. Willian? Gone. Virgil van Dijk? Nope. Liverpool hijacked Luis Diaz. Gabriel Jesus went to Arsenal, and just last month, Antoine Semenyo slipped away. Spurs can outbid Wolves for Kevin Danso or beat Brentford to Archie Grey, but when it comes to battling the really big clubs, they rarely win.
Romero left the Man City game at halftime because he was feeling unwell, but you can bet he’s heard all the promises before. Maybe his teammates' liking his posts has, too. The fans definitely have, which is why they back Romero for speaking up—it just adds to his cult hero status.
On Wednesday, Spurs put out an interview with sporting director Johan Lange on the club’s channels. Lange talked about how tough the January window was. He pointed out that only 33 signings happened across the Premier League, blaming it on the new European competition format, fixture congestion, and injuries forcing clubs to hold on to players.
Lange has been at Spurs since October 2023. The club’s spent £420 million on 15 players over five windows, plus four loans that haven’t become permanent yet.
No one’s really made a huge impact. Dominic Solanke, who cost £65 million, is probably the closest, and he might have done more if he hadn’t missed the first half of the season injured.
Now Solanke’s back, and Spurs look better with him up front. Xavi Simons is starting to shine. Mohammed Kudus looked promising before his injury. But really, it’s all still about potential and patience—waiting on Grey, Lucas Bergvall, Wilson Odobert, or Mathys Tel.
“I know the club wants to win, and so do the owners. I’ve got no doubt we’ll see that moving forward,” Frank said. He mentioned Simons and Kudus as good signings from last summer and Joao Palhinha as a solid loan. But for now, it’s still more talk than trophies.
“It’s not like we’re against loaning players to beef up the squad,” he said. “And if you look at the other top six clubs, bringing in Conor Gallagher was a pretty big move for us.”
But let’s be honest—there’s no blockbuster signing here. Nothing that shakes things up or sends a message, like Arsenal grabbing Declan Rice to show they mean business. Or Liverpool swooping in for Isak from Newcastle.
People say actions speak louder than words, and it’s true. Spurs needed a winger, but they couldn’t pull Jarrod Bowen away from West Ham, so they settled for Kudus instead.
Frank, just like Ange Postecoglou last year, has had to deal with injuries. He’s complained about juggling Europe and the Premier League, but come on—Spurs have played in Europe in 18 of the last 20 years. By now, they should know what it takes to build a squad that can really compete everywhere. If they don’t, will they ever?
That’s the heart of what Romero’s getting at. He’s echoing what a lot of fans—especially the ones fed up with ENIC—have been saying for ages.
Managers before Frank ran into this same wall, and even now, with Daniel Levy gone and new faces in charge, you’ve still got players in the dressing room raising the same issues, led by their captain, who seems untouchable.
LONDON DERBY: CHELSEA AND TOTTENHAM TO BATTLE FOR BAYERN’S KIM MIN-JAE THIS SUMMER
Kim Min-Jae is back on the radar! Discover why Chelsea and Tottenham are racing to sign the Bayern Munich defender this summer.
Are Chelsea and Tottenham about to scrap over a top defender this summer? It’s not out of the question.
Both clubs have different priorities right now, but things could get interesting if Bayern Munich decide to let Kim Min-Jae go. That would put two London rivals on a collision course, each desperate for defensive reinforcements.
Chelsea, under Liam Rosenior, appears to be a different team, boasting eight wins from eleven games in all competitions. Rosenior’s barely had time to settle in, and he’s already been tested on four fronts. They’re hungry, and the mood around Stamford Bridge has shifted.
Tottenham, though, are in a very different place. They’re flirting with the relegation zone, and this time the threat feels real. West Ham, Leeds, and Forest are all clawing for survival. Spurs have Igor Tudor in charge until the end of the season, and managing in England for the first time while juggling a pile of injuries isn’t exactly a dream start. If they stay up, and right now, that’s still a big "if", they’ll need to strengthen fast.
That’s where Kim Min-Jae comes in. Both Chelsea and Spurs are eyeing him up, according to reports. Bayern paid £43 million to bring him in from Napoli last year, making him the most expensive Asian player ever. He helped Napoli win the Scudetto before that, and he’s won titles in Germany and South Korea, too. The guy knows how to get over the line.
But things haven’t clicked at Bayern. Kim was excellent in their 3-0 win over Bremen last weekend, but he’s mostly been third-choice behind Upamecano and Tah. Ten Bundesliga starts, just two in the Champions League. Not exactly what he signed up for. Bayern insider Christian Falk says Chelsea and Spurs have both shown interest, and Kim’s on their shortlist. Liverpool have been linked to, but right now, it’s the London clubs circling.
Chelsea have a hole at the back ever since Thiago Silva moved on. Kim, at 29, would instantly become the oldest player in the squad – not a bad thing for a team packed with young talent that sometimes looks a bit lost under pressure. They need his experience.
Spurs, on the other hand, have a solid pairing with Van de Ven and Romero, but if they lose one, things get thin pretty fast. Kim would be an upgrade on their depth and could slot straight into the starting eleven. And let’s be honest, the Son Heung-min effect is real. Kim would draw huge support from South Korea, just like Son has.
Kim isn’t agitating for a move just yet, but if Bayern decide to cash in and the right offer lands on the table, don’t be surprised to see him in the Premier League next season. Whether it’s in blue or white, that’s the part nobody knows yet.
PGMOL SIDELINES CHRIS KAVANAGH AS REFEREEING STANDARDS COME UNDER INTENSE SCRUTINY
Chris Kavanagh won't referee this weekend! Analyse the PGMOL decision and Wayne Rooney’s "worst ever" handball claim at Villa Park.
Chris Kavanagh won’t be refereeing any Premier League games this weekend, and honestly, that’s no surprise after all the drama in last Saturday’s Aston Villa vs Newcastle FA Cup match.
Kavanagh and his assistants, Gary Beswick and Nick Greenhalgh, got hammered by critics for how they handled that fourth-round tie at Villa Park. There was no VAR in play; none of the matches in that round had it, so the officials had to make the big calls themselves.
They missed Tammy Abraham standing offside for Villa’s first goal. Then Lucas Digne put in a high challenge on Newcastle’s Jacob Murphy, the sort of tackle that usually gets a red card, but nothing happened. Later, Digne got penalised for a handball, but he was clearly inside the box, and somehow the ref gave a free-kick outside instead.
This weekend, Beswick is working as an assistant for the Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool game on Sunday, but Kavanagh and Greenhalgh are nowhere to be seen on the official appointments list.
Referees are judged on their performances. The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMOL) decide who gets which games based on a bunch of factors, including independent assessments after each match.
Still, Kavanagh is well-regarded among refs. He just made it onto UEFA’s top officials list and often gets Champions League matches. Earlier on Monday, Wayne Rooney chimed in and said the mistakes from Saturday showed just how much refs have come to rely on VAR.
On BBC’s live coverage that night, Rooney called the handball decision “one of the worst” he’d ever seen. Later, on his podcast, he said, “I think there’s over-reliance on VAR. Now the officials are used to it; they wait for VAR to bail them out. With no VAR, they have to make the call themselves, and they’re so used to keeping the flag down that it cost them yesterday.”
Graham Scott, who used to referee in the Premier League, joined the podcast too. He pushed back against the idea that refs hide behind VAR. “I work with them closely; I know these guys, and they’re not like that,” Scott said. “That’s not how they think or work. I spent half my career with VAR and half without it – well, actually, without it first. Even when I was in the Premier League, I’d sometimes ref in the Championship with no VAR. You’re in and out, but your process doesn’t really change.”
VAR comes back for the FA Cup from the fifth round. In the Premier League, officials are told to trust their own judgement. The English top flight actually has the lowest rate of VAR interventions in Europe’s major leagues. Here, they only overturn a call if it’s clearly and obviously wrong.
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