The Tottenham Hotspur players had one worry about Thomas Frank from the day he walked through the door at Hotspur Way in the summer.
Frank has finally been put out of his eight-month misery by the Tottenham hierarchy, bringing to an end what has been a disastrous spell in charge.
Ultimately, the Spurs top brass appear to have been left with no choice as the Lilywhites failed to win for their eighth consecutive league game against Newcastle and dropped down to 16th place in the table.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 14 |  BrightonBrighton | 25 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 34 | 33 | 1 | 31 |
| 15 |  LeedsLeeds | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 36 | 45 | -9 | 30 |
| 16 |  TottenhamTottenham | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 36 | 37 | -1 | 29 |
| 17 |  Nottingham ForestNottingham Forest | 25 | 7 | 5 | 13 | 25 | 38 | -13 | 26 |
| 18 |  West HamWest Ham | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 32 | 49 | -17 | 24 |
After the 2-1 loss to the Magpies, Frank was convinced he would still be in the job for the North London derby, but it took mere hours for the 52-year-old to eat his words.
Tottenham players did not like one of Thomas Frank’s tactical traits
The Telegraph revealed that there was one concern among the Spurs squad from the day that they started working with the former Brentford boss.
The Tottenham players felt that Frank was placing too much emphasis on the opposition during training and while preparing for matches.
In fact, one source is even quoted as saying to the publication: “Most of the work was on what to do out of possession and how to nullify the opposition, rather than working on how they could hurt opponents.”
That has been a common feeling among fans in recent weeks, as Tottenham seem creatively stunted in the final third.
While the Spurs faithful have seen this type of football before under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, they were at least defensively solid during those periods. Not to mention the fact that they had Harry Kane and Heung-min Son in their prime to carry them up front.
Spurs’ Champions League form bought Frank some time
The Telegraph goes on to say that alarm bells first started ringing at Tottenham during the club’s draw at home to Wolves in September and defeat to Aston Villa back in October.
The fact that Frank kept starting both Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur was seen as ‘unnecessarily pragmatic’ when Sprus needed to take games to their opponents.
The report claims that it was Tottenham’s impressive showing in the Champions League that stopped Frank from being sacked sooner.