‘That’s a no go’ – Paul Merson slams Thomas Frank gesture at Tottenham fans
Paul Merson doesn’t think Thomas Frank properly understands how he is supposed to behave as Tottenham manager.
Frank‘s job as Tottenham boss is in increasing doubt after a difficult first half to the season since making the step up from Brentford in the summer.
Tottenham lost 3-0 at Nottingham Forest last week in miserable fashion to heap pressure back on the Dane, but it has been at home where this side has had most problems.
Between the opening day of the season against Burnley and a Xavi Simons-inspired victory over Brentford on 6 December Spurs went nearly four months between Premier League wins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, and Frank’s reactions to home fans during that time is a big problem according to Merson.
Frank wrong for clapping Tottenham fans in defeat says Merson
Speaking live on Sky Sports Soccer Saturday this weekend Merson highlighted where Frank appears to have misunderstood how to interact with his club’s support when things are going badly.
The former England international believes Frank has put himself in the firing line with how he reacts to bad results at home, and particularly highlighted the fall-out from fan fury at Guglielmo Vicario after his error in the loss to Fulham.
The Italian was booed by home supporters after a massive error gifted Harry Wilson a goal, with Frank criticising those fans afterwards.
Merson said: “I don’t think he’s read the script… to start of with, with clapping the fans after you’ve been beaten at home. That’s a no go.
“You just clap and you want to get off, you know, you’re gonna get pelters. You’ve let the fans down, you’ve let yourself down.
“The other one was telling the Tottenham fans they’re not real fans, certain people, you can’t do that.”
Wins will fix everything for Frank but time running out
Frank is stuck between a rock and a hard place when he has been hired off the back of his methods at Brentford, while expected to adjust how he operates in order to prove he understands the larger scale of things at Spurs.
He might rightly point out that Ange Postecoglou wasn’t far off getting this side relegated from the Premier League last term, although the Australian will always be able to point to the Europa League trophy to protect his reputation.
However, even if Spurs were the reigning treble winners fans would quickly lose patience with getting beaten at home with such regularity.
But the reaction, ranging at times between confusion and outrage, from within the squad to supporters who are unhappy with what they are seeing gives the impression that Frank and his players somehow don’t think bad results are their fault, and that won’t do anything to solve the problems.
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