The signs were clear for Thomas Frank at half-time of Tottenham’s 2-1 home defeat against Newcastle on Tuesday evening.
Sources in the directors’ box at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium say they have noticed a change in mood from managing director Vinai Venkatesham and chief executive Peter Charrington following Frank
and his players were booed with the team trailing 1-0.
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Venkatesham and Charrington were engrossed in what was described as a “group” conversation during the break, according to The Pitch Prospect.
Even after his 11th defeat in 26 Premier League games as manager, Frank believed he had retained the support of Venkatesham and sporting director Johan Lange despite dismal domestic form.
Nick Beucher, husband of Joe Lewis’ daughter Vivienne, has become a key figure in the club’s day-to-day operations and was owner ENIC, who made the final decision to sack Frank after just eight months at the helm.
Third time lucky on the De Zerbi hunt?
TalkSPORT knows Roberto de Zerbi is desperate to return to the Premier League.
De Zerbi left Marseille in dramatic fashion late on Tuesday evening following Sunday’s 5-0 defeat to PSG.
The hotheaded former Brighton boss was a potential target of Tottenham before they appointed Ange Postecoglu but was not keen under the old board structure.
With Daniel Levy no longer chairman and former sporting director Fabio Paratici no longer involved, de Zerbi seems interested in replacing the sacked Thomas Frank.
Italian De Zerbi, who led Brighton to Europe for the first time in their history, is also on Manchester United’s list of summer targets.
Spurs wanted Carrick before United
Tottenham have informed Michael Carrick of a possible return to his old club ahead of his arrival at Manchester United.
Spurs sources say they have been making contingency plans for an inevitable change in the dugout since the turn of the year.
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This also included the possibility of Carrick, who played 64 Premier League games for the club, stepping in on an interim basis.
Ironically, Carrick helped seal Thomas Frank’s exit by leading United to a 2-0 win over the north Londoners live on The Pitch Prospect on Saturday.
Spurs are now considering appointing a Carrick-style interim coach for the remainder of the season, when old coach Mauricio Pochettino is likely to be available and open to a return.
At the time of writing, Ryan Mason, who has served as caretaker twice, had not yet been contacted.
Another option is former Ajax coach John Heitinga, who was appointed first-team assistant coach just last month.
Spurs stars will not be informed of Frank’s decision
Tottenham players were not personally informed of Thomas Frank’s departure before it was made public after a five-day break.
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Frank revealed after the Newcastle defeat that he was “convinced” he would still be in charge of the North London derby at home to Arsenal on Sunday weekend.
That optimism followed a lunch with chief executive Vinai Venkatesham earlier in the week, who revealed that the club hierarchy wanted to give him time to turn around Spurs’ poor form.
However, sources close to the Lewis family, the club’s majority owners, say the results ultimately left them no choice but to pull the trigger.
The suddenness of the decision and the break in training due to the fact that Tottenham will not play again for the next 11 days meant that many professional stars had already left for short breaks when the news broke.