The New York Times

When Thomas Frank was booed off the pitch by thousands of Tottenham fans just after 5pm on Saturday, it felt like the end.

Not many managers survive a moment like that, when the home crowd has so clearly turned against them, explicitly calling for them to go. Not many managers in fact even reach that point when the mutiny against them is that loud, that clear, that unambiguous. No Tottenham manager in recent years has been as unpopular as Frank now is. Not even the endings of Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte were as toxic as this.

So most people who were at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday would have left expecting never to see Frank in charge of Spurs there again.

Many of them would have remembered Nuno Espirito Santo’s last game in charge, the 3-0 defeat by Manchester United there in October 2021. Nuno was booed at home on that Saturday evening. Daniel Levy decided to sack him that night, putting into motion a plan he had been working on in secret. The club worked on the finer details on the Sunday. The official announcement, which everyone had been expecting, came just before 10am on the Monday morning.

Conte’s appointment — which had been lined up in private long before — was confirmed on the Tuesday. On the Thursday night, Conte took his first game, against Vitesse Arnhem in the Conference League. On the Sunday, Conte took his second, against Everton in the Premier League. Within a week, Nuno had been consigned to the footnotes of history. This was Levy at his most ruthless and most ambitious.

Under different circumstances, Tottenham might have followed the same pattern this week. The situation with Frank now is more grave than it ever was with Nuno in 2021. The atmosphere is worse, the stakes are higher, and there is less time to turn things around.

And perhaps if Tottenham could have found another world-class manager, a multiple title winner in both England and Italy, out of work, sat by the pool, waiting for the call, then maybe they might have considered a similarly swift change.

But instead, there was nothing. Any change would have needed to be very quick, given Spurs’ Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening. There was an afternoon of pre-match obligations that Frank had to fulfil. And sure enough, on Tuesday just after 2pm, Frank led out his players for a brief open training session at Hotspur Way. And later that afternoon, he did the press conference.

Frank was as bullish as anyone can be in his situation. He said that he has still been “feeling the trust” from the club hierarchy. He revealed that on Monday, as fans were waiting to hear whether he would stay in charge or not, he had lunch with CEO Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and Nick Beucher, influential member of the majority-shareholding Lewis family. Frank talked up a “good conversation about life and football, the future of the club” and said that this lunch was an “extremely good sign”. Because it showed that the hierarchy were not “running away” from him.

In a sense, Frank is right. It would have been perfectly easy for Tottenham to deliver ‘Club Announcement: Thomas Departs’ on Monday morning and just draw a line under the last six months. The hierarchy has been nothing if not patient with Frank since his appointment in June, sticking with him through average results, ugly football and a few moments of fan discord even before Saturday’s explosion. The decision to keep him for now is just a continuation of that. The view from the club is that the board still believes that Frank can achieve the right result against Dortmund on Tuesday night.

And were it not for the extreme toxicity of Saturday, it would be easier to agree. All season, the Spurs hierarchy has been focused on patience, rebuilding, sticking with the new plan even through choppy waters. The problem with this approach is that it feels as if no one was expecting things to go as badly as they have. Not just in terms of the results, but in terms of the football and, most importantly, the mood.

It is the souring of that mood, seemingly beyond the point of any return, that poses the biggest challenge to the hierarchy and to their policy of patience. By sticking with Frank for Tuesday’s game against Borussia Dortmund, they will put him back out in front of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium crowd.

Nobody knows at this point how the game will go and how the fans will react. Maybe the soured milk will magically un-curdle. But there is every chance that if things go wrong, the crowd will turn and get on the back of the man that they booed so heavily on Saturday. Frank managed to survive it once. It would be a surprise if he could survive it again.

Frank’s tenability in this job is now hanging by a thread after the events of this month. More scenes like Saturday will surely mark the end for him. And eventually, there will have to be a replacement. All season, people have been wondering whether Frank is the next Nuno and perhaps the biggest difference is the fact that there is no Conte figure waiting in the wings.

One of the strange things about football right now is how few out-of-work managers there are who Spurs might consider calling. Perhaps it is because of the World Cup this summer, meaning managers are more attracted than ever to the international game.

But it is hard to think right now who Spurs could get to finish their season if they did make a change. There is no obvious internal candidate, Matt Wells having just left to take over at Colorado Rapids. John Heitinga, who has effectively replaced Wells and has the experience to do it, only joined last week.

Outside of the club, Michael Carrick has just taken over at Manchester United and while Ryan Mason has just left West Bromwich Albion, it is hard to see him wanting to return to a caretaker role for a third time.

But somebody will have to coach Tottenham through the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, even if it is not clear right now exactly who that person should be. And if it is not Frank after all, then it is a thorny question to solve for the Spurs hierarchy.

The decision to keep Frank for the start of this week, and have him in the dugout against Dortmund, shaking hands with Niko Kovac and all the rest, does at least carve out some more time and space to think through it. Just in case there is another repeat of Saturday’s scenes, whether on Tuesday night, at Burnley on Saturday, or after that.

And suddenly, Tottenham’s power brokers are forced into the decision and the choice that they have been hoping to avoid all season.

Thomas Frank has said he feels the support of the Tottenham Hotspur board after having lunch with the club’s leadership team on Monday, and insists that he is capable of winning back supporters.

Frank said that he had lunch with CEO Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange and Nick Beucher — part of the majority-shareholding Lewis family — on Monday and has been “feeling the trust”.

The Athletic reported on Monday that Frank was expected to take charge of Tottenham’s Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, despite mounting pressure on the 52-year-old. Spurs have won just three of their last 15 games in all competitions, are out of both domestic cups and sit 14th in the Premier League with only 27 points from 22 games.

“I’ve just been feeling the trust along the way,” Frank said at his pre-Dortmund press conference on Monday. “I’ve said that every press meeting (that) there’s backing and support.

“I had lunch with Nick (Beucher), Vinai (Venkatesham) and Johan (Lange) 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.

“We had a good conversation about life and football, the future of the club, everything normal. Of course, there’s a little bit (of) 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.”

Frank has been targeted by boos from the club’s fans, most recently after the team’s 2-1 league defeat against West Ham United on Saturday. Fans in the south stand at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” towards the head coach.

Despite the growing pressure, Frank said that he was “not in doubt” that he could win the fans back.

“As I’ve said many times, and I’ll say it again, as long as we win football matches and make sure we win enough of them, then everyone will support us,” he said.

Tottenham are 11th in the 36-team Champions League table, one point out of the automatic qualification places with two games remaining in the league phase. After the Dortmund game, Spurs return to league action on Saturday when they visit Burnley.

Rebecca Caplehorn, Tottenham Hotspur’s head of administration and football governance, will join the Premier League as its chief football officer after she leaves the club at the end of the transfer window.

The Athletic reported in October that Caplehorn would be leaving the club at the end of the winter transfer window. Sources close to the club, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to do so publicly, said that Caplehorn’s departure was her own decision.

A start date for Caplehorn, who replaces the outgoing Tony Scholes, has not yet been confirmed.

Caplehorn spent five years with fellow London side Queens Park Rangers before joining Tottenham in 2015. She was promoted to her existing role in 2020 after former executive chairman Daniel Levy carried out a reshuffle of the club’s senior management positions.

Her remit has included all football governance at the club, representing Spurs with the European Football Clubs (previously the European Club Association) and being involved in transfer and contract negotiations.

Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed defender Ben Davies will undergo surgery on Monday after suffering a fracture to his left ankle.

Davies, 32, was taken off on a stretcher during Tottenham’s Premier League 2-1 defeat to West Ham United on Saturday.

The Wales captain received medical attention on the pitch before being replaced in the 19th minute at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“Following the surgery, Ben will commence his rehabilitation with our medical staff,” a Spurs statement read.

Davies becomes the latest member of the Spurs squad to sustain a long-term injury, with James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison all currently sidelined for a lengthy period, and Dominic Solanke returning to action at the start of January following four months out.

The defender is out of contract at Spurs this summer, having signed a one-year extension in June.

His injury comes just two months before Wales face Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2026 World Cup qualification play-off semi-final on March 26. Davies won his 100th Wales cap during October’s World Cup qualifier against Belgium.

Davies has been limited to five appearances in all competitions for Spurs this season, with Djed Spence established as Thomas Frank’s first-choice left-back. Saturday’s match against West Ham was just his second Premier League start of the campaign.

The loss to relegation-threatened West Ham left Spurs 14th in the Premier League. The Athletic reported on Monday head coach Frank was expected to take charge of Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund despite mounting uncertainty over his future.

Frank confirmed during Monday’s pre-match press conference that Mathys Tel has been dropped from Tottenham’s Champions League squad and replaced by Solanke. Tel was initially not included in Spurs’ squad when this was named in September, but he was brought in for the injured Solanke in December.

UEFA regulations allow changes to squad personnel in the event of a “long-term” injury with an absence of at least 60 days, as was the case with Solanke. The regulations dictate that once he had recovered from injury, Solanke could only return to the squad if Tel was removed.

“It was either Dom or Matty and I chose Dom,” Frank explained. “I think Matty has done very well over the past couple of games. If I could pick between all the players, he would start tomorrow.”

Spurs will also be without centre-back Micky van de Ven for the visit of Dortmund due to suspension after accumulating three yellow cards in the league phase. Midfielder Joao Palhinha is again set to miss out through injury.

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank is expected to take charge of his team’s game against Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday despite mounting uncertainty over his future.

The expectation at the club is that he will lead the open training session at 2:15pm on Monday and appear at his press conference at 3:30pm before being in the dugout for Dortmund’s visit to north London.

Pressure is growing on the Dane with the club 14th in the Premier League with just seven wins in 22 games. After losing 2-1 to West Ham United on Saturday, Tottenham’s sixth home league defeat of the season, Frank insisted that there were positive signs.

“It’s a super-tanker we are turning in the right direction,” he said. “There are a lot of good signs behind the scenes, and also in some of the performances. But of course when you lose last-minute to one of your rivals, it is very emotional in football and there will be noise. That noise we need to keep out there, and get our heads down and keep walking. Keep doing the right things.”

Spurs were eliminated from the Carabao Cup by Newcastle United in October and knocked out of the FA Cup third round by Aston Villa earlier this month. In the Champions League, Tottenham are 11th in the 36-team table with two games remaining in the league phase, one point off the automatic qualification places.

Club CEO Vinai Venkatesham addressed fans in a statement in the pre-West Ham programme, saying that more the team needs to “add more quality, experience and leadership to compete consistently at the highest level.”

Venkatesham also acknowledged recent dissatisfaction amongst the club’s fans, stating: “We know there is distance between the club and our supporters and are committed to rebuilding the connection.”

There have been plenty of bad performances, awful results and toxic moments at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium so far this season. But until Saturday, there had been nothing quite like this.

It was not just about the performance, where Spurs looked utterly devoid of confidence in a painful first half, after which West Ham should have been well out of sight. Not just the ending, where Callum Wilson bundled in a 93rd-minute winner from a corner to make it 2-1. And not just the result either, with Spurs’ fifth home league defeat of the season, leaving them on a run of two league wins from their last 13 games. They have taken two points from four league games — all against nominally easier opposition — in 2026.

What truly stood out here today was none of that. Because at this point, bad performances and bad results have been comprehensively priced in by the Spurs fans. No one is showing up to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium right now with high expectations about dazzling football, or any real hope of seeing Spurs racking up goals, or even grinding out results. Tottenham fans have been nothing if not clear-eyed and realistic about what they have been watching.

So, the real story here was not the performance or the result, as bad as they both were. But rather the further damage done to Thomas Frank’s standing with the home fans. After Wilson’s winner, there were — louder than ever before this season — clear chants of, “You’re getting sacked in the morning” directed at Frank, largely coming from the south stand.

After the final whistle, Frank walked out onto the pitch to shake hands with the officials, and staff and players from both teams. Every time Frank moved out of a crowd of people and became visible to the fans, he was booed. It felt especially pointed that when a few of the Spurs players went over to clap the fans at the end, they were rewarded with reciprocal applause.

There has been plenty of booing from Spurs fans this year, some of it directed at results, some at performances, some at officials, some at the players in general, some at players in particular. But the striking development of this month has been that the booing has been directed clearly, unambiguously and personally at Frank himself. That has been true at away games for some time — at Brentford, at Bournemouth — and today it was true at home too.

It feels as if the relationship between Frank and the Spurs fans, which has never been especially warm, is now broken forever. It is hard to see how it can recover from this. The only way would be with Spurs going on a long run of wins, but no one who has watched them play recently would bet on that.

This toxicity will surely prove corrosive to Frank in the end. Because even the positive case for Frank being Spurs manager rested on his ability to rebuild the culture, to bring people together, to transform the environment into one where everyone pulls in the same direction. And he is certainly a good people person, very popular behind the scenes, someone who tries to go about things the right way. But when almost every single Spurs game ends with discord, booing, pain, public rows, public anger — whether between Frank, the players, the fans or a combination — then how good can the culture be? What does it say about the aligned environment?

Everyone left here on Saturday evening knowing they will be be back again in just 72 hours to see Spurs host Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League. And yet, as big as that game feels, the real test will come at Turf Moor next Saturday. Losing to West Ham was awful, but if they lose again at Burnley — three points behind West Ham — it is hard to see how the manager’s position could still be tenable. That game now feels like the decisive moment, one of the last chances to prove that this is, in fact, progressing.

One of the most striking things about Tottenham this season is their ability to keep finding new nadirs. You never know when the next one will be. And it might be that Turf Moor — even more so than this Saturday — turns into the nadir that truly defines Frank’s tenure.

Frank put a brave face on it when he gave his post-match press conference. He talked up the support he has been given by the Tottenham hierarchy, saying how “aligned” the whole club is. He compared his work to the long arduous task of turning a “supertanker” around, and insisted they are turning in the “right direction”.

Many fans will wonder how Frank can be so sure Spurs are moving in the right direction, or indeed any direction at all. For many, the experience of watching the team make the same mistakes week after week, with no obvious progress, no obvious solutions, will instead feel that this particular tanker has got stuck like the Ever Given in the Suez Canal.

Despite many earnest attempts, that ship never did successfully turn around. Instead, it had to be refloated and salvaged by a flotilla of helpful tugboats. The question, as more and more Tottenham fans lose faith in the captain of this ship, is who or what will be able to stop it running aground permanently.

Callum Wilson struck a late winner for West Ham United to boost their survival chances and pile pressure on Tottenham Hotspur head coach Thomas Frank.

Spurs have not lived up to expectations in the Dane’s first season in charge, and his side looked to have secured a point after Cristian Romero’s bullet header cancelled out Crysencio Summerville’s deflected first-half goal.

But Wilson, on as a substitute, scored after a corner in stoppage time to leave Tottenham in 14th place, with 27 points, and their opponents 10 behind them in 18th.

Here, our writers break down the key talking points of the match…

What went wrong?

Tottenham were not at their stodgiest in the first half, as there was a visible aim to play the ball forwards and attack, but they remained as ineffective in attack as they were against Chelsea at home, or Brentford or Nottingham Forest away.

When Spurs worked the ball into threatening positions, the final ball was easily cleared. In defence, they were sliced through on several occasions, with West Ham seemingly needing just one pass to break through Tottenham’s midfield.

Yves Bissouma, earning his first minutes of the season, replaced Archie Gray at half-time, which brought a much-needed midfield anchor prepared to receive and play passes through the lines.

While West Ham were content to sit back and allow Spurs time on the ball, Bissouma’s willingness to patrol the middle of the pitch and contribute to the team’s attack added a dynamism rarely seen from Spurs’ midfield this season.

Like against Bournemouth, Spurs somehow turned their momentum into a shock defeat. For much of the second period, Spurs were considerably better than their opponents and looked far more likely to grab the winner after Romero’s equaliser. But after a heroic block from Pedro Porro to prevent a Wilson goal, the Englishman was on hand to convert from the resulting corner.

Spurs fans responded by chanting “you’re getting sacked in the morning” to Frank, who was pictured looking shell-shocked in the dugout.

Elias Burke

What happened at the protest?

Away from a must-win game against West Ham on the pitch, Saturday was the first occasion since August when Tottenham fans had arranged to congregate outside the stadium in protest.

The planned demonstrations were led by fan group “Change for Tottenham”, formed in 2021. In a statement released on their social channels on January 11, they outlined their reasons for protest, including “the board’s transfer strategy”, “extortionate ticket prices” and “clarity on the director of football role”. Vinai Venkatesham, the club’s chief executive officer, addressed some of the issues in the match programme, a gesture that was received gratefully by fans who desire more communication from the boardroom.

The protests attracted between 50 to 100 people outside the Corner Pin pub just yards away from the stadium. In addition to common terrace songs, they chanted “we want ENIC out”, a chant heard less frequently by home supporters at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium since Daniel Levy was removed from his role as executive chairman in September.

Hostilities within the fanbase, which have been growing in recent weeks and reached a head in the 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth, where several players were involved in heated discussions with travelling supporters, may have been eased slightly by Venkatesham’s statement and Conor Gallagher’s signing from Atletico Madrid. That perhaps explains the relatively low turnout compared to the hundreds, if not thousands, who marched up to the stadium last February before a game against Manchester United.

Change for Tottenham was formed in response to, and continues to protest against, the board, but results and performances are not helping. Tottenham have not won a Premier League game at home since the 2-0 win over Brentford on December 6, just their second league home win of the season. But after another disappointing defeat to West Ham, there’s no question discontent within the fanbase will continue to grow.

Elias Burke

How was Gallagher’s debut?

Having only finalised his switch from Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, Gallagher barely had any time to get to know his new team-mates on the training pitch before he was thrust into the starting line-up.

Gallagher has famously never missed a game through injury in his professional career, but within 30 seconds he was on the ground holding his head after colliding with West Ham forward Pablo. Fortunately, he was up and ready to go after receiving treatment, and he brought many of the attributes Spurs signed him for.

Gallagher was industrious and tough-tackling in midfield, fighting for possession and second balls as one of Frank’s defensive midfielders. Given he has had limited time to build a partnership, it is natural that his relationship with Gray looked disjointed, but he improved, while the unit did overall, in the second period alongside Bissouma.

It was not the dream debut he envisioned, especially with the result, but there was enough encouragement from his opening outing that he will be a success in north London.

Elias Burke

What does this result mean for Frank?

It would have been difficult to imagine a worse ending to this game. Tottenham worked hard to get back into it after another disastrous first half, made it 1-1 through Romero’s header, and then had chances to go 2-1 up. But then Wilson bundled in a corner in the third minute of added time.

There have been plenty of bad moments in this miserable season but none as bad as this one. Hearing the boos and jeers of the home fans after Wilson’s winner — and then again at the final whistle — will put Frank under more pressure than ever.

And will surely make next Saturday’s game away to Burnley the highest-pressure game of his tenure. Expectations have been low all season, but Frank’s Spurs still keep on finding ways to fail to meet them.

And while the nature of West Ham’s late winner was perhaps unfortunate, on another day, West Ham would have won this game in the first half.

Jack Pitt-Brooke

What did Frank say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Spurs?

The discussion among Chelsea fans is already underway: is Conor Gallagher a traitor or will he always be remembered fondly as one of the faithful?

Gallagher choosing to join Tottenham Hotspur from Atletico Madrid this week for €40million (£34.7m; $46.4m) is a plot twist worthy of a certain high-profile reality TV show.

This is a Chelsea academy graduate who grew up 10 minutes’ drive from their training ground as a fan of the west London club in a family full of them. He went on to play 95 times for their senior side, almost a third of them while wearing the captain’s armband. Yet he has now signed for the team many Chelsea supporters consistently make it very clear they hate more than any other.

That is a pretty risky strategy if you are worried about maintaining popularity back at your boyhood club.

And Gallagher has done little to cushion the blow since putting pen to paper.

No player is going to express contrition to fans of a former club while doing a first interview after joining one of their fiercest rivals. You almost know the quotes before you see them when transfers are announced these days, the script is so predictable. But read the following through the prism of many of those who adored him in his years at Stamford Bridge and the words sting.

“I’m so happy and excited to be here, taking the next step in my career at an amazing club,” Gallagher says in a video on Tottenham’s official website, while wearing his new team’s shirt. “I wanted to be a Spurs player, and thankfully the club felt the same. It was very easy. I know how great the fans are, I’m really happy to be a part of it here and want to create special moments and memories together.”

Gallagher is not the first Chelsea player to go on to play for Tottenham. There have been in excess of 20 of them overall, including the legendary striker Jimmy Greaves. The England midfielder’s new Spurs team-mate Dominic Solanke is the most recent to leave their part of west London and end up in the blue-and-white corner of the city’s north, albeit in his case via spells at Liverpool and Bournemouth spanning seven years.

Chelsea’s past two title-winning managers — Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte — plus the rather less impactful Andre Villas-Boas, have also taken jobs there after moving on from the Stamford Bridge hotseat.

Mourinho’s warm reception when returning with current employers Benfica for a Champions League game in October shows that Chelsea followers are prepared to forgive and forget. But he had been booed and jeered by sections of the home crowd when he was in the Spurs dugout (and the Manchester United one before that, too).

If Chelsea’s most successful manager, with seven major trophies at the club to his name, gets such treatment, what lies in store for Gallagher?

Another former Chelsea midfielder, Gus Poyet, who went on to spend three years at Tottenham from 2001, offers a potential clue. His standing with the Stamford Bridge masses never recovered. Kissing the badge on his shirt during a 5-1 Spurs win against Chelsea in January 2002 did not help matters.

You just have to see how Mason Mount and Kai Havertz, who combined for the winning goal in Chelsea’s Champions League final win over Manchester City in 2021, are treated every time they play against them these days for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively to realise how they have gone from revered to rebuked because they are now with big domestic rivals.

Gallagher has been blessed by the fixture schedule in that, barring the clubs being drawn to play each other in the Champions League knockout stage, his first game for Tottenham against his boyhood club is four months away (May 17, at Stamford Bridge — and even then it would need to be moved if Liam Rosenior and company are in the previous day’s FA Cup final), which gives those of a Chelsea persuasion time to cool off.

When Gallagher last played in this fixture, as captain, at home to Spurs in May 2024 (a 2-0 win, he got the assist on the opening goal), a large banner of him was unfurled at the stadium’s Shed End with the words ‘Chelsea since birth’ on it. That homage clearly no longer applies now he is going to be representing their most-loathed rivals. Hopefully someone kept the receipt for the flag.

Gallagher cannot plead ignorance. Everyone connected with Chelsea knows which team they dislike the most. Even though Chelsea have dominated Tottenham in terms of trophies won and in head-to-head matches for three decades now, the venom directed their way is as strong as ever.

But despite all this, not every Chelsea fan outside his family will regard this transfer as treachery.

There is still a lot of sympathy towards Gallagher for the manner of his departure to Atletico in summer 2024. The now 25-year-old wanted to stay with Chelsea when there were 12 months left on his contract, but talks over an extension did not go well.

Gallagher turned down two offers from the club in June and July that year.

Significantly, the lifespan of this proposed new deal was just two years, plus an option for a further 12 months. Contrast that with all those new signings at Chelsea getting six- to eight-year deals during the Todd Boehly-Clearlake era, which began in May 2022. His fellow academy graduate Reece James, albeit more advanced in his career at the time it happened, was also given a big payrise and six-year deal in September 2022.

So the far-shorter length of Chelsea’s offer was hardly sending Gallagher the message that he was a serious part of their long-term plans.

As explained at the time, Gallagher came away from a meeting with the club believing there would be consequences for his first-team role if he did not sign the contract or agree to join Atletico.

Even when he acquiesced to the latter, he ended up in the farcical position of flying to Spain (to sign for Atletico) and then back again as Chelsea pulled out of a seperate €40million move for Atletico’s striker Samu Aghehowa.

Gallagher’s transfer only went ahead after Chelsea bought previous loanee Joao Felix from the La Liga club first, for £44.5million. Notably, the Portugal international was given a six-year contract including an option for another 12 months. In the following winter window, however, he was loaned to Milan for the remainder of last season and then in the summer he moved to Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia for an initial €30m (potentially rising to €50m with add-ons).

Those in Gallagher’s corner will argue that, under those circumstances, is it any wonder the player is putting himself ahead of any sense of loyalty to Chelsea’s long-standing rivalry with another London club? After all, where did that stance get him before? There’s a World Cup in five months, and he needs a strong end to the season to get back in head coach Thomas Tuchel’s England plans after missing his past three squads.

The counter to that is there was interest from other clubs, such as Aston Villa, he could have joined instead. But no agreement was reached with Villa because of their desire to maintain tight financial discipline.

Regardless of what side of the fence Chelsea fans sit on over this, Gallagher’s presence at Spurs will surely add even more spice to the fixture for as long as he is their player.

Tottenham Hotspur need “more quality, experience and leadership” if they are to compete at the highest level, according to CEO Vinai Venkatesham.

Venkatesham, who was appointed in the summer of 2025, stressed that the club’s “priority” is “to make signings that genuinely move us forward.”

He explained such progress demanded a more “proactive” recruitment strategy, in addition to “a wage structure that supports our ambition”.

“We believe in our current squad, but must add more quality, experience and leadership to compete consistently at the highest level,” Venkatesham wrote in the match programme for Saturday’s Premier League fixture against West Ham.

“Doing so requires a more proactive approach to recruitment, alongside a wage structure that supports our ambition.”

Tottenham are 14th in the league, having won just one of their last six Premier League games, and their form under new head coach Thomas Frank has provoked wide-ranging criticism, aimed not just at Frank, but the club’s board as well, who have faced frequent accusations about a lack of ambition and poor communication.

Venkatesham also addressed recent fan unrest, with a confrontation between travelling supporters and the first team players taking place following the 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in early January.

“We know there is distance between the club and our supporters and are committed to rebuilding the connection,” he added.

Tottenham have already been eliminated from both domestic cup competitions this season, losing to Newcastle United in the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup in October and, last weekend, to Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup. Spurs remain in the Champions League and are on course to qualify for the playoff round ahead of the knockout stages.

A spate of recent injuries has built further pressure. Mohamed Kudus and Richarlison are both likely out until at least March, Rodrigo Bentancur had surgery this week on a hamstring injury, and they have been added to a long-term injury list that includes Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, neither of whom have featured at all this season. Dominic Solanke has recently recovered from an ankle injury suffered in pre-season, with the England forward making a substitute appearance in the defeat to Aston Villa.

Venkatesham stressed that the club must become “world class in performance services” to ensure players are in the correct condition to compete at the highest level.

Spurs face West Ham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The scenes at the end of the 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday were all too predictable.

Metres away from the travelling Villa supporters, Ollie Watkins revelled in their FA Cup third-round win against Tottenham Hotspur in front of the home side’s Joao Palhinha, who shoved the England international away. That much seemed justified, given Watkins had made a beeline to deliberately celebrate in front of the Portugal midfielder. But once Palhinha escalated the situation, following Watkins and pushing his head towards the striker, it invited Villa players Lamare Bogarde and Morgan Rogers to join in, inciting a scuffle.

For the second time in four days, a narrow Tottenham loss ended in post-match drama — the kind of incident that does not reflect well on anyone.

“I don’t think so,” Spurs head coach Thomas Frank replied in his post-match conference when asked if his players are losing control. “I guess you have seen the situation through? I just saw it, to be sure I saw what I saw.

“Of course, it’s all about keeping a cool head. The players gave everything out there, (but) losing a tight game, season not going perfect, and I think Ollie is very provoking. The way he is going down to celebrate in front of the Villa fans and he is walking into Joao… he can just easily walk around.

“I think (for) everyone that has been in a competitive nature, that is difficult and can trigger things.”

With emotions also high after losing to a stoppage-time Antoine Semenyo goal against Bournemouth in the Premier League last Wednesday, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Palhinha were involved in an angry exchange with travelling Spurs fans after the final whistle.

Tottenham are in a poor run of form and playing and coaching staff alike are feeling the pressure, so expressions of frustration are to some extent natural and excusable, but there’s a continued and underlying sense of ill-discipline plaguing Frank’s first season in charge.

The first publicised incident occurred before the Premier League season had even begun.

Yves Bissouma, months after an excellent performance as Tottenham won the Europa League final, which seemed to breathe new life into a stagnant Spurs career, was left out of the new head coach’s squad for the UEFA Super Cup match against Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain in August due to persistent lateness.

“Bissouma isn’t here because of disciplinary reasons,” Frank said. “He has been late several times. The latest (was) one too many. We need to give love and have demands, but there have to be consequences. There’s been a consequence. We will follow it up when we get home and park it for now.”

In that sense, Bissouma is a unique case.

He has frustrated players and coaches alike over his three-plus years at the club due to his timekeeping issues, with team-mates having private discussions with the 29-year-old Mali international midfielder at various points to try to enforce the importance of reporting for work on time, according to a source close to the dressing room who wishes to remain anonymous to protect relationships. But even with the opportunity for a clean slate under a new manager, he could not make it through pre-season before Frank lost his patience.

But he’s not the only one who has fallen short.

After a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Chelsea on November 1, a scoreline that does not reflect Tottenham’s ineptitude that day, Van de Ven and Djed Spence caused a stir by ignoring Frank’s attempts to keep the duo on the pitch to applaud the fans at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Though they lost, Spurs ended that day fourth in the Premier League, a point off second place, it was an incident that sparked a string of negative post-match reactions from the players.

There have also been two occasions this season when a player who has been in line to start the game involved has reported late for the pre-match meeting and been removed from the line-up as a result.

Learning how to manage players who are important on the pitch but have not met the expected standards off it is a challenge Frank is still adapting to, and the long-time Brentford manager is trying to address it by actively penalising misconduct.

But the issues are possibly even more pronounced during matches.

Only Brighton & Hove Albion have been shown more yellow and red cards combined this season than Spurs (see table below), but while they are yet to have anybody sent off, it has happened to Frank’s men twice.

Incidentally, both dismissals came in the same match — the 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool on December 20.

Xavi Simons received the first, an initial caution that was upgraded to a straight red after the VAR official advised referee John Brooks to go to the pitchside monitor to review a late challenge he made on his Netherlands team-mate Virgil van Dijk. Forward Simons is still adapting to English football after arriving from RB Leipzig of Germany for €60million (£52m/$70m at the current rates) in the summer, and has a habit of timing his tackles late, but there was no obvious malice or intent to harm the Liverpool captain.

The second involved club captain Cristian Romero, who kicked out at Ibrahima Konate in second-half stoppage time while his team were pushing for an equaliser, receiving his second caution of the game. For acting “in an improper manner by failing to promptly leave the field of play and/or behaving in a confrontational and/or aggressive manner towards the match referee after being sent off”, the centre-back was awarded a further one-match ban by the FA, which he served in the Villa defeat on Saturday.

“I think any player needs to control their emotions and be cool-headed,” Frank said in his post-Liverpool press conference. “It’s not only because you’re a captain that you need to be exceptionally cool-headed. That’s also always good, of course. We’re talking about a very passionate player that’s been very good for this club and team for many years.”

For all his quality and pedigree as a World Cup and two-time Copa America winner with Argentina, expecting Romero to ever be “exceptionally cool-headed” feels wishful, at best.

He was given the armband after Son Heung-min left for LAFC of Major League Soccer in the summer — arguably a reflection on the lack of natural and experienced leaders in Frank’s likely starting XI than a ringing endorsement of his captaincy credentials — and has assumed the role differently. Son was the reserved type of skipper who preferred to lead by example on the pitch rather than by making rousing speeches, but Romero is an outspoken and fearless character. That was evident at half-time in that match against Bournemouth, where he delivered a team-talk that inspired his colleagues to a better second-half performance.

Points: One for a yellow card, three for a red card

Then, hours after that loss on the south coast, Romero released a statement on Instagram where he appeared to criticise the Tottenham hierarchy. Part of it read, “At times like this, it should be other people coming out to speak, but they don’t — as has been happening for several years now. They only show up when things are going well, to tell a few lies.” He later edited the wording, removing the “to tell a few lies” bit.

It’s not the first time Romero has criticised the board. In December 2024, he complained to Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo Deportes about the club’s lack of investment compared with the money Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea were spending.

Within the fanbase, many praised the sentiment — Tottenham sit 14th in the 20-team Premier League just past the campaign’s halfway stage and have now been eliminated early from both domestic cups this season, and there are sensible questions about the club’s direction under new leadership and ownership. Others believe it’s a side to his captaincy that needs to be toned down.

Frank and co-sporting director Johan Lange — set to be Spurs’ sole sporting director once Fabio Paratici departs for Fiorentina in his Italian homeland after the current transfer window closes in just over two weeks — had a “good conversation” with the 27-year-old that Thursday morning. Frank described the incident in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Villa cup tie as a “mistake” on Romero’s part, indicative of his status as a “young leader”. He said they continue to have “a good relationship”.

Still, it was yet another incident this season related to off-field conduct that Frank would rather not have to address when sitting down with reporters, and it’s seemingly only a matter of time until the next one occurs. The Dane is wisely trying to avoid a media circus around Tottenham’s discipline and conduct, and it’s a spiral he’s striving to maintain a handle on.