Hotspur HQ

Tottenham Hotspur have a few more pressing issues than the goalkeeper position, and their first priority needs to be sorting out the issues in the front office and manager because the employment of both Johan Lange and Thomas Frank has become untenable at this point.

But if Spurs are trying to build a better side in 2026/27 that is closer to the top four than the literal relegation battle, then they need to be ruthless and cut out all the areas of weakness that are costing them major points in the table.

Although Guglielmo Vicario is an excellent pure shot stopper with his reflexes, he is the classic sort of goalkeeper who works better on a small, relegation side in Italy like Empoly than a big club like Tottenham Hotspur.

Tottenham need a better GK

Vicario is literally lacking in everything else besides pure saving ability. His positioning, handling, skills on the ball, and leadership are all woefully lacking compared to an average Premier League goalkeeper. Spurs have literally lost games because of inexcusable mistakes from Vicario, who often flaps aimlessly in the air or makes terrible passes that screw over his teammates - and then he has the gall to yell and flap his arms again, this time directed his bird like motions at them in anger.

Tottenham fans have been quietly hoping for more minutes for young backup Antonin Kinsky, but, instead, Tottenham, in classic Tottenham fashion, seem to be close to sending the young Kinsky to rivals West Ham United on loan than actually giving him a few starts to see what he's got.

Then, they have also been hoping for dream replacement options. With just months left on his contract, AC Milan star Mike Maignan, who had been linked to Spurs rivals Chelsea in the summer transfer window, was the highest on the list of targets.

But Spurs have shown no real urgency or interest in making this obvious, inexpensive upgrade. All the while, AC Milan have been making inroads on extending Maignan and avoiding potentially losing him for free in the summer - or for very little this winter.

Now, transfer insider Fabrizio Romano reports that the Serie A giants have reached a "verbal agreement" with the world class French goalkeeper on a new contract that will keep him at the venerable San Siro through the 2030/31 Calcio season. Although "formal steps" still need to be done before a deal is official, the new contract is already "in place".

So that is the best possible Vicario replacement off the board for Tottenham. Vicario is being himself linked to Milan's rivals Inter Milan as a Yann Sommer replacement. Thus, Spurs do have a way out of the former Empoli man, but they just won't be able to replace him with the superior Magic Mike.

Tottenham Hotspur suffered through yet another poor performance under the guidance of manager Thomas Frank this past Saturday, as Spurs barely got a draw out of a game against Burnley, one of the least talented squads in the Premier League.

And once again, Frank's lineup selection and overall tactical plan were left begging, as Spurs supporters then had to listen to their horrendous manager try to explain that, no, Spurs actually played well by drawing Burnley.

So many players have to be just as sick to their stomachs as the collective fan base, who jeered Frank with boos after the game, and no player has more of a right to be utterly disgusted by Frank as his coach than Mathys Tel.

Tottenham cannot sell Mathys Tel

The former Bayern Munich forward has already made it crystal clear to Tottenham Hotspur that he wants out this winter for a loan move, at least as long as Thomas Frank is still coaching this team into the gutter and inexplicably leaving him on the bench.

Thankfully for the fans, Tottenham are not risking losing Tel and have no interest in letting him go right now, but that honestly risks making the situation even worse, especially since the club have been - here is the word of the day - too cowardly to fire Frank. Thus, Tel is stuck rotting away on the bench, and fans cannot blame him - and he has been fully COYS from day one, by the way - for feeling the way he feels right now.

Before the Tottenham vs. Burnley game even started, Frank addressed the Mathys Tel situation with this gem of a quote at the press conference, via Fabrizio Romano, “No more moves out are planned. The players we have in our squad we need to keep, to have enough players to play with and perform with”.

The reason why it's such a precious quote - sarcasm, obviously - is not because Tottenham fans are relieved Frank at least isn't crazy enough to want Tel out. No, it's the absurdity of Frank, on the one hand, saying he wants to keep Tel and that he is needed at the club and then undermining him at literally every turn.

Because here is the kicker. The very next day when Tottenham battled Burnley in a game that, for all intents and purposes, still has Frank's job on the line, the manager left Tel out of the starting lineup and on the bench. And Spurs were, once again, terrible, including attacking wise in the 2-2 draw, as the only goals were scored by the two center backs again.

Frank is talking a big game about Tel, but when it comes time to actually play him, he screws it all up and thus screws over Tottenham because everyone knows Tel should be starting.

For months, Tottenham Hotspur were actively trying to sell Yves Bissouma, and there was optimism that they would be able to sell him off in the summer transfer window. Bissouma had suitors in the Turkish Super Lig and Saudi Pro League, and there were also rumblings of sparse interest around Europe. Due to injury, he could not be sold, and with a year left on his contract, Spurs were worried about not being able to find anyone to buy him at all this winter.

But since coming back from injury, Bissouma has been playing pretty regularly for Tottenham now. It is to a point where there are no conversations about selling Bissouma at all, especially after injuries to Rodrigo Bentancur and now Lucas Bergvall in midfield - both men will be out for months. And the signing of Conor Gallagher is not enough cover for both of them; Tottenham still need a deep lying midfielder to help out, too.

So the narrative with Bissouma has almost completely shifted from a player Tottenham seemed desperate to get rid of, especially after a laughing gas incident earlier this season, to now someone who has become maybe too important to the team.

Thomas Frank did not even hide it

Ahead of Tottenham Hotspur's Premier League showdown on Saturday against Burnley, Spurs manager Thomas Frank heaped lavish praise across the brow of his veteran midfielder. He said, via Football.London's Alasdair Gold, "Bissouma has a great top ceiling. I think his qualities we can all see, on the ball, really wanting the ball, constantly seeking it, looking forward, driving forward. Very good technical abilities. Physical stature. He's a strong player,"

And lo and behold, Tottenham went ahead and started Yves Bissouma against Burnley. Now, Bissouma did not play the full 90 minutes, but it was still wild seeing the Malian international now lining up as a preferred starter for Spurs. Frank discarded Archie Gray for Bissouma. Granted, Pape Matar Sarr and Joao Palhinha were not available still, but it was jarring to see Bissouma as the manager's choice.

What's crazier is that Bissouma actually played reasonably well. He won a combined seven tackles and interceptions to lead the way as a ball winner defensively, and he even completed nearly 94 percent of his passes.

But at the end of the day, Tottenham did not win this game against one of the worst teams in the Premier League, because they themselves are one of the worst teams in the league. And a player everyone wanted gone universally just a month ago is now a starter. Tottenham are headed down a dangerous path with Bissouma, because if this is going to be the standard they want to meet, they might as well pack it in. Bissouma being this important is a big part of the problem, and Frank and the club are on the verge of overvaluing him for real.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters could only chant the same thing at their beleaguered manager after another unacceptable result. As Spurs needed Cristian Romero's heroics to rescue a draw from the jaws of defeat against one of the Premier League's least talented sides in Burnley, the "We want Frank Out" chants rained in from the crowd on a manager who is arguably the worst in the history of this great (well, sometimes) football club.

Spurs next move has to be getting Frank out of here, as the win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League at mid week was nothing more than a fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on just how strongly you feel about the current manager) band aid over the obvious solution of sacking an inept head coach.

But the next move after that appears to be another veteran transfer, with Tottenham in intense negotiations to sign Andrew Robertson from Liverpool to bolster a left back position that the club technically already tried to bolster with the signing of 19 year old Brazilian prospect Souza.

Andrew Robertson is the sign of a problem

Even if you do not subscribe to the belief that Robertson is a beyond finished footballer above the age of 30 who has little to offer Tottenham Hotspur and instead see him as a veteran leader and an ersatz for the unfortunately injured Ben Davies, you still have to admit that Robertson hardly moves the needle in any meaningful way.

Signings like Conor Gallagher and Andrew Robertson are short term additions that are meant to help try and keep Tottenham's head above water, and they strongly imply that, deep down, the Spurs brass knows that they have royally screwed things up and are headed for disaster.

Robertson is a few million pound flier of a desperation signing. He is not better than Destiny Udogie at all, and while he is probably still a better actual left back than Djed Spence, in an ideal world, he would not be a starter for Tottenham, precisely because Liverpool, even as champions of England, did not think Robertson was good enough to start for them (hence why they bought a younger and better player in current starter Milos Kerkez).

Time and time again, Thomas Frank has embarrassed himself as Tottenham Hotspur manager, and the club may already be suffering the consequences for their poor preparation. By not having a contingency plan for Frank being awful and needing to be replaced mid season, Spurs are forced to keep Frank through the Tuesday night Champions League battle against Borussia Dortmund.

As Tottenham fans in the stadium who witnessed the horrid 2-1 loss to West Ham United on Saturday were chanting at Frank, he really should have been fired swiftly on Sunday morning for his latest disaster class.

Instead, Frank gets a few more days to screw things up at the club, and, of course, he only needed those few days to do more damage. Throughout the season, Frank has been treating Mathys Tel so badly that despite being fully COYS since day one, even as a loanee from Bayern Munich, the Frenchman now wants the rest of the season away from Tottenham in order to actually play.

Fire Thomas Frank into the sun

Frank ticked him off - and literally everyone in the fan base as the crowd booed - by subbing him off against West Ham despite Tel being his best attacker. He could have taken off the lazy, indolent Randal Kolo Muani for a display so embarrassing that everyone wants him gone from the club now, but instead he hooked off Tel yet again in one more display of utter stupidity.

And stupid is as stupid does, as Frank proved on Monday, mindlessly pulling Mathys Tel from the Tottenham Hotspur Champions League squad the literal day before Dortmund, replacing him with a subpar Dominic Solanke who has barely played this season due to injury and is still literally yet to make start, having only just returned from a nagging injury.

Fabrizio Romano is reporting to the surprise of nobody that Tel and his camp are royally upset with Frank's latest dreadful snub. As Paris FC in Ligue 1 push harder and harder to acquire Tel on loan, Tel may be pushed more and more towards demanding an exit. Fab says Tel and his camp are "not happy at all" with what Frank did.

Nor should they be - and nor are the fans. Tottenham supporters want Frank out NOW before he can do further damage like this absolutely insane bit of managerial malpractice. Frank is somehow already a contender for being the worst manager in Tottenham history, and if he costs them Tel after this blunder, his legacy will forever be a stenching stain at the N17.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been wanting the club to fire Thomas Frank for weeks, with many supporters begging the club to part ways more than a month ago. The losses just keep piling up for Spurs, who are now losing to the caliber of opponents they are desperately scared to avoid becoming.

Just this past weekend, Tottenham fell 2-1 at home to West Ham United, who are in the relegation zone and have been one of the most hopelessly dysfunctional sides in European football. That is, of course, until you factor in that Spurs have not been much better, strictly speaking in terms of the Premier League, having finished 17th last season.

But Spurs are getting worse and worse, and the only light that exists in the tiniest of cracks at the end of a foreboding tunnel is the belief that finally Spurs will do the right thing and can this imposter sitting in the manager's chair.

Thomas Frank is toast

Tottenham fans screamed for Frank to be sacked in the morning after the West Ham game. It did not happen, but with reporters like David Ornstein indicating it is a matter of when, not if, Frank will go and reports circulating of Tuesday night's battle with Borussia Dortmund being Frank's last with the Lilywhites, the optimism is palpable.

All the while, whenever Thomas Frank opens his mouth, all he does is give Tottenham Hotspur fans more reasons to want him out and to seal his fate as being sacked. Prior to the Dortmund game, which could - and really should - be his last as a Tottenham coach, Frank vomited more diarrhea that had everyone in the fan base cringing.

He actually went out of his way to defend the poor results, asking fans to look at the last seven games as an example of reasons to be positive about him continuing. What? Here is what Frank said to everyone, via The Spurs Express, “I would refer to the last seven games. I think they have been quite regularly in the right direction and where it’s such a little things that need to drop for us.”

Please get him out as soon as possible. There can be no possible way he thinks the last seven games - of which Tottenham literally only won one game - can be in any way remotely acceptable. Tottenham are the epitome of a terrible football team, and they are losing to other terrible football teams with lower revenues like West Ham and Bournemouth.

it's time to go for Frank, and, at this point, anyone who thinks otherwise is either related to Frank or owes him in some way. Because what he is saying defies logic, reality, or any form of common sensibility at this point. He is cooked.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been fed up for months with the work of Thomas Frank as manager, and while there was some resistance to wanting to fully declare him out due to the nature of the nearly annual managerial upheaval at the N17, the lack of any sort of progress slowly eroded at the last remaining shreds of hope for improvement.

Spurs are materially worse than they were to start the season when the club still had the remnants of Ange Postecoglou's ideology sticking to them. As Frank has implemented what is nothing short of cowardly, defensive football that is as much of an eye sore as it is ineffective, so, too, have Spurs results gone down the gutter.

Losses to arch rivals Arsenal and Chelsea were bad enough, but the last straw for many was the 2-1 defeat to West Ham United at home, representing a clear down turn in performances since last season under Postecoglou and even earlier this season when Mohammed Kudus spearheaded a vengeful blowout of the Hammers.

Thomas Frank's days are numbered

Thomas Frank may be days away from the sack, and there are many fans who do not want him to even survive the upcoming Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund, as is rumored. And while Spurs supporters are discouraged by how quiet the club has been about Frank - they literally chanted they wanted him fired the next day during Spurs 2-1 loss to West Ham on Saturday - a new report from David Ornstein may reassure angered supporters.

Speaking on the NBC Sports Premier League broadcast to Rebecca Lowe, The Athletic's chief transfer insider stated that "it is a matter of when, not if" Tottenham fire Frank. He even added that not only have the fans and the "hierarchy" turned on Frank, but also "many players" are upset with the direction of the club and "understandably dissatisfied" with the job the manager is doing.

That sentiment is echoed by everyone. Ornstein further states that there is a sense within the club that while Frank is not a bad manager, he was not the right fit for Spurs. And that seems to be something all the fans who want him out can get behind.

Frank's style of football suits a small club like Brentford better than Tottenham, and the laughable way he puts in players just for long throws as an end of game strategy pretty much typifies it. Ornstein's full report to Lowe is well worth listening to and pretty much hammers home all the issues at the club, including the overall leadership. But based on what he is saying, it is only a matter of time Frank is fired; Spurs fans will hope it is sooner than later.

Frank earned more jeers and chants of being fired by Spurs supporters on Saturday afternoon, but there were also several Tottenham players whose displays on the pitch merited cries for them to lose their job status, too.

Striker Randal Kolo Muani began his loan tenure from PSG to Tottenham quite dismally with a dead leg, but he started to heat up when healthy, including a brilliant individual display against his parent club in the Champions League.

Randal Kolo Muani is killing his reputation

However, that match feels like a one off and ancient history at this point. Kolo Muani initially impressed Spurs supporters with his work rate and was tabbed as the solution at striker, but over the past several weeks as results have mounted against Spurs, a dark side to RKM has emerged.

Simply put, Kolo Muani looks like a guy who does not want to be here. His performance against West Ham was lackadaisical in every sense of the word. Kolo Muani was slowly meandering about the pitch, passing sideways, offering genuinely no sort of goal threat, and looking like he wanted nothing to do with Tottenham Hotspur as a club.

Fans are increasingly calling the Frenchman out as a player who appears to be phoning it in, and it is true that he has no need to show Spurs any loyalty since he will be back out of Tottenham and on the next flight to France the moment the season ends.

Tottenham need to phase him out. Kolo Muani has no future value to Spurs, he will not be back next season, and he is treating the club like he is a mercenary. Spurs need to exile him to the bench and start giving all those minutes at the 9 to Mathys Tel, as the younger French forward has outperformed his fellow former Bundesliga man. Tel means something to Tottenham long term, and it is better to start him at striker and appease him against any loan move than to give a player with Kolo Muani's lack of effort a single second more.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank is on the verge of getting sacked after an abysmal performance over the Premier League weekend against West Ham United, one of the teams toiling away in the relegation zone.

The fact that Spurs were outplayed and outcoached by West Ham was bad enough, but fans were even more incensed after the game seeing the response Frank had to the defeat. Whereas captain Cristian Romero talked about the result being unacceptable, Frank tried to make excuse and explain away that Spurs were close to a positive result, when nothing could be further than the truth.

Frank has not been sacked yet, but it could be a matter of days when the news comes through the grape vine that the ex Brentford manager is offiicially done at the N17. Spurs may merely be waiting until the dust settles after the Borussia Dortmund game in the Champions League on Tuesday night, scrambling for a replacement until then.

Tottenham fans have made their choice

Tottenham Hotspur supporters want former Real Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso above anyone else, and unless Liverpool fire Arne Slot now as opposed to waiting just to hire their former midfielder, he could be theirs for the taking if they can offer the right package.

And as if to answer the prayers of their fans, Liverpool reporter DaveOCKOP reports that Tottenham Hotspur are indeed interested in hiring Alonso as a Thomas Frank replacement, should Spurs fire Frank (and it is looking increasingly likely that this will happen).

DaveOCKOP is the first journalist with a positive track record to directly link Tottenham to Xabi Alonso, and there is a lot about the marriage that would make sense. Alonso needs a young, hungry squad of talented players who will buy into his tactics, and after dealing with Frank's negative ways, Spurs players will buy into anything.

And Alonso will want a less pressurized situation than Real Madrid after dealing with the egos there. Spurs do have a couple of players with unnecessary egos like Pedro Porro and Guglielmo Vicario, but they are very mild and benign; Alonso can whip them up into shape easily, and they used to be leaders before being jaded by how terrible Frank is.

Alonso is the breath of fresh air Tottenham are looking for, and while names like Mauricio Pochettino and Oliver Glasner will be on the table, as well as Alonso's old rival Xavi from his Barcelona days, there is no question to Spurs supporters that Alonso, formerly undefeated in the Bundesliga, is a cut above the rest.

Tottenham Hotspur may only be days away from firing Thomas Frank, who buried himself as deep in the gutter as he has ever been in as coach of this team. Spurs just lost 2-1 to one of the most abysmal teams in the Premier League, 18th placed West Ham United, and Frank's tired old refrain after the game was all about how Spurs were unlucky and were close to a good outcome.

News flash, buddy, you have never been close to doing anything remotely good for Tottenham over the past two months. Each passing week is a new lecture in humilitation written by Frank, and Tottenham fans are counting down the days, hoping he gets canned after the Borussia Dortmund game on Tuesday at the absolute latest. They have been done with Frank for weeks, if not months, as a collective fan base.

Now, the question is about who will replace Frank. There is a clear dream option Tottenham supporters have in mind in recently fired Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso, who only failed at the high pressured Santiago Bernabeu owing to a lack of experience at coaching the massive egos in Madrid. And to be fair to Alonso additionally, those egos have gone completely out of control and never gave Alonso a shake to begin with.

Xabi Alonso is not realistic

Alonso, though, is unrealistic, and if Liverpool fire Arne Slot, there is no way he would pick Tottenham over his former club. Tottenham can not put all their eggs in his basket and have to come up with alternatives, but, unfortunately, all of those alternatives are, like Thomas Frank, of the mid table Premier League ilk.

The most prominent of those mid table Premier League managers is Oliver Glasner, a former Europa League winner at Eintracht Frankfurt and winner of the FA Cup last season for Crystal Palace. Glasner may just be the best coach in the history of the Eagles, and because of his trophy case, he is automatically miles above the other middling middle men in the mid table.

However, Glasner, character wise, may be a worse higher than Frank. While Frank is a coward who clearly does not belong at Tottenham, you have to question Glasner's temperment and ability to deal with a top team, based on how foolishly and childishly he has reacted to Palace selling Marc Guehi out of necessity, having already warned Glasner for months that they would have to sell him.

Glasner threw a temper tantrum, even after already confirming he would be leaving Crystal Palace at the end of the season and not renewing. He told reporters on Saturday, via Fabrizio Romano, “I feel we are being abandoned completely. The worst thing is selling our captain one day before playing a game. I have kept my mouth shut until now... You get your heart torn out twice this season, both times one day before a game, Eze and Guehi”.

He also said, via Crystal Palace beat writer Bobby Manzi, “Crystal Palace are fine to end the season like this — with Oliver Glasner, with another manager, I don't know, I don't care.”

Wow. Yeah, Tottenham Hotspur need to stay away from Oliver Glasner at all costs. Using the third person is never a good sign, but complaining about sales that were perfectly valid when you are Crystal Palace is an entirely different story. Who does this guy think he is, Antonio Conte at Juventus? Glasner sounds like he is not stable enough to be a leader, and it is no wonder why he cycles jobs so quickly. He is stronger tactically than Frank but maybe even weaker mentally, and Spurs don't need that rubbish again.