A week is a long time in politics. In football, 48 hours can suddenly feel like a lifetime, especially if you are David Ornstein.
Frank is under intense pressure following a poor run of form, with Tottenham sitting around 14th in the Premier League after a series of disappointing results, including a home loss to West Ham.
Ornstein has described the situation as a matter of “when, not if”, Frank will be sacked. Key points from his reporting shared via platforms like NBC Sports, Instagram, and other outlets, citing him… Team Talk covered the extremely damning statement here.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Back Pages segment on Tuesday night, Ornstein issued an update on Frank’s future:
“There’s a huge amount of goodwill behind Thomas Frank, within the corridors of power at Tottenham, extending to the ownership and Chief Executive, Vinai Venkatesham, and they’re the ones who will make the decision on his future. It’s an absolutely enormous result for him tonight. Make no mistake about that.
“That’s why we’ve reported that there are no contingencies in place, even though, naturally, you’d be looking at coaches, because they want to go forward with Frank. He’s a thoroughly decent man who hasn’t deserved the level of abuse that’s come his way, certainly on social media, but it’s a results industry and tonight was a step in the right direction.”
It can be all too easy to trowel on the discontent; however, the football can turn very quickly.
Ornstien was quick to make Frank look like a complete novice, based on just a few conversations, after some displeasing results.
Frank’s words must be tough to recall from his pre Dortmund presser where he said, “I had lunch with Nick, Johan and Vinai today, so all good. I know it is part of the media circus, and the only thing I am focused about is tomorrow. As long as we win football matches and make sure we do that, win enough, then everyone will support us.”
We were told that the club’s hierarchy and board have turned against him, with no clear contingencies or ready replacements lined up (as they didn’t anticipate being in this position).
We were told that many players at Tottenham are dissatisfied with Frank, feeling he’s “not the right fit” and are “understandably dissatisfied” with the direction and performances.
Perhaps this more measured view might have done the trick a few days ago, as opposed to pandering to the “media circus” and its insatiable demand for clickbait, which I am pretty sure that publications such as The Athletic despise.
Dan Kilpatrick is no longer at The Evening Standard after sailing too close to the breeze with the way he spoke about Ange Postecoglou. I’m struggling to see how this is much better; a professional courtesy must be retained, or The Athletic name the big shot that wanted Frank’s blood so much.
