Thomas Frank given no assurances over Tottenham future in lunch with key figures

By George Sessions, Press Association

Thomas Frank insisted it was business as usual at Tottenham before Tuesday’s visit of Borussia Dortmund, but received no assurances about his future during lunch with key figures on Monday.

Frank faced chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” from Spurs fans towards the end of Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to West Ham, which made it one victory in eight matches and eight defeats in 14.

The Press Association understands talks have taken place at Tottenham over whether to cut short Frank’s tenure after only seven months, but he remained defiant on Monday and revealed he had lunch with chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and Nick Beucher.

Beucher is the influential son-in-law of Spurs co-owner Vivienne Lewis, who was confronted by a supporter in the aftermath of the latest loss under Frank.

The mood among the Tottenham fanbase is low, with the club out of both domestic cups and 14th in the Premier League, but Frank claimed it was “the media circus” behind intense speculation over his future.

The Spurs boss said: “I’ve just been feeling the trust along the way. I’ve said that at every press meeting, that there is backing and support.

“I had lunch with Nick and Vinai and Johan today, so all good. I know it’s part of the media circus and the only focus I have is to do everything I can for us to win tomorrow against Dortmund.”

Asked if he had been given any assurances or clarity over his future during that lunch, Frank said: “I think it’s a nice question.

“I haven’t heard any situation like that in football where they say ‘hey, mate, if you win tomorrow, no problem. If you lose tomorrow, no problem’. We had a good conversation about life and football, the future of the club, everything normal, like you do.

“Of course, there’s a little bit, how would we say, stormy weather out there. I just think it’s an extremely good sign, because normally people are running away if there’s bad news or bad weather coming, they’re normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.

“I think if your back is against the wall, you fight. And that’s what I do. I’m energetic, I fight and again, it’s not about me.

“We need to win football matches and we need to win football matches together. And that’s what it’s all about. We planned well, we are ready, we are focused for the game tomorrow and the players look good.”

Frank’s options are extremely limited with Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma and Conor Gallagher all ineligible, while Micky van de Ven is banned and Joao Palhinha is ruled out. Spurs also confirmed Ben Davies had surgery on a fractured left ankle on Monday.

Tottenham were already without Rodrigo Bentancur, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohammed Kudus and Richarlison.

Mathys Tel is also unavailable due to Dominic Solanke’s return to fitness, which meant Frank had to pick between the duo after Tel was initially left out of the club’s Champions League squad, but put in as an injury call-up last month.

“It was not a nice decision to have to make. Unfortunately that’s football, you have to make a decision. With the way the rules are, the only option was either Dom or Mathys in the squad,” Frank said.