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Vinai Venkatesham didn't want to do it, but he had to.

The mood and atmosphere inside the stadium in Tottenham's defeat to Newcastle left the Spurs chief executive with no choice but to go to the Lewis family and suggest the parting of the ways.

On Tuesday night, Venkatesham and Johan Lange put forward their opinion to the Lewis family, that they wanted to give Frank time to turn it around, but the atmosphere against Newcastle was the final straw. There were even big concern from the Spurs chiefs at half-time of the game.

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So why didn't Frank work? Off the back of the Europa League win last season, there was a mixed reaction to Frank's appointment in the summer from supporters. Many said he hadn't won anything and he had very little managerial experience in Europe.

Then came his first press conference.

It was fairly underwhelming. And unfortunately, he came out with something which seemed to stick with him and was ridiculed often on social media.

"We will lose football matches."

Now, of course, we all know what he was trying to say. All clubs lose football matches. But then he referenced Arsenal as an example of being unbeaten in the Premier League. That didn't go down well.

That negativity was a stark contrast to Ange Postecoglou's: "I always win things in my second season."

The season did start pretty well with a win over Burnley and a very comfortable win over Manchester City away. But there really wasn't much else to get excited about apart from that.

After that, the cracks started to show.

There were public clashes with players and supporters. When one of the leadership group at Spurs, Guglielmo Vicario, was having a very difficult season and drew criticism from Spurs fans, Frank called them 'not true Spurs fans'.

The Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence snub at home to Chelsea was another embarrassing public post-match incident.

At Bournemouth away, when Pedro Porro and Van de Ven had to be pulled away from supporters, there was even an embarrassing pre-match howler: Frank pictured with an Arsenal branded cup. That felt like his Steve McClaren 'wally with a brolly' moment.

There were also the damning derby defeats. Losing to Chelsea at home with a disappointing xG of just 0.05 - their lowest ever in a Premier League game.

And then there was the loss to Arsenal. "Who is Eberechi Eze?" Frank joked in his pre-match press conference. Two days later, Eze scores a hat-trick. Senior players started to doubt his methods.

Then there's defending the indefensible in Cristian Romero and the public criticism of the club on his Instagram account.

Frank defended him and then just days later, his red card at Manchester United earned him a four-match ban.

Let's be fair to Frank as well - the injuries were atrocious. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, two of Tottenham's creative midfielders, have been out for all of the season.

Dominic Solanke has only just returned and the forwards have just not been up to standard. Two defenders, Romero and Van de Ven are the club's second highest scorers this season.

The January window was also a disappointing one. Selling Brennan Johnson and not recruiting any forwards has left Spurs desperately short with just a few months of the season remaining.

But Spurs have now rolled the dice and now they have a huge decision to make. Discussions will take place over the next few days over whether the way forward is an interim or a full-time head coach.

If it's an internal appointment, you'd only really expect John Heitinga - brought in to Frank's backroom staff in the last few weeks - as we wait to hear how many, if any, of Frank's coaching team remain at the club.

Get it wrong and make the unthinkable could happen. Tottenham Hotspur in the Championship.

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Predict the score and pick your Aston Villa and Brighton XIs...

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Head-to-head record

Aston Villa have won seven of their last nine Premier League games against Brighton (D1 L1) and are looking to complete the double over them for the third time after 2022-23 and 2023-24.

Brighton have won just one of their six Premier League away games against Aston Villa (D1 L4), conceding at least twice in each of the five games they failed to win.

Hello from Villa Park!

Big game this one between Aston Villa and Brighton because both need a result badly.

Villa have lost their last two Premier League games here which is out of character given their previously spectacular home record. A third defeat would really set alarm bells ringing, although Manchester United and Chelsea failing to win last night has altered the momentum in the race for the top four.

Brighton's situation is more perilous with Fabian Hurzeler under fire from his own supporters given their miserable form. A bad one here after that home defeat to Crystal Palace would only sour the mood further.

We will have team news, video, stats and more before kick-off.

Hurzeler: Brighton suffering a lack of confidence

Under-fire Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler admits his side are suffering from a lack confidence as he battles to regain the faith of the club’s disgruntled fanbase.

Albion were booed off following Sunday’s deflating 1-0 defeat to fierce rivals Crystal Palace at the Amex Stadium, with some supporters calling for Hurzeler to be sacked.

The Seagulls have won only one of their last 12 top-flight fixtures – a run which began with a 4-3 home loss to midweek opponents Aston Villa in early December – to slip to 14th in the Premier League table.

“I will keep trying to find solutions together with my players because that’s why I’m here,” said Hurzeler.

“I try to help the players. I try to get into their minds. We have a loss of self-confidence and how you get the self-confidence back is by getting the right results. How do you get the right results? By working hard.

“This is the only option we have. We have to work harder. We have to stick closer together in these times and that’s what we try to do. We have the opportunity on Wednesday (at Villa) to do this.”

Brighton sit eight points above the drop zone with 13 games remaining.

Asked if his team could be dragged into relegation danger, Hurzeler said: “It’s not the moment to look like this. It’s (time) now to bring the self-confidence back, to get the results back. We have to focus on us.”

Predict the score and pick your Aston Villa and Brighton XIs...

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Nev on Villa's top-five hopes: I hope they don't miss out!

Sky Sports' Gary Neville speaking about Aston Villa's Champions League qualification prospects:

"I did say last week on the podcast that Aston Villa could miss out, but I said I hope they wouldn't.

"The manager knows what to do, but they've got their midfield players missing. McGinn, Tielemans and Kamara, they're out for quite a while.

"It's a big ask for Villa to miss their engine room, the heart of the team. That's the big question on them, but again Unai Emery is someone who you wouldn't put it past him to find a way.

"He has an ability to find a way."

Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner says striker Jean-Philippe Mateta does not require surgery on his knee.

The Frenchman's move to AC Milan fell through on Deadline Day because the club doctors believed he needed to have an operation.

However, there was a difference of opinion from several specialists that Mateta has seen since the transfer window closed, according to Glasner.

"He doesn't need surgery," said the Palace boss, confirming it was Mateta that took the final decision.

"The injury is not as bad as feared. That is the opinion from several doctors and specialists that we can deal with the knee in a better way than with surgery.

"He will miss a certain [amount of] time. I can't say two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, but he doesn't need surgery. That's very positive. Hopefully, he is back soon."

Glasner said Mateta was disappointed his move to Milan collapsed at the last minute but expects the striker to benefit from having clarity over his future.

"It is clear now that he will be a Palace player until at least the summer," said Glasner.

"He wants to be back as soon as possible and contribute to achieve our goals. That is his mindset and it's the best he can do."

Hello and welcome to Selhurst Park!

We’re set for midweek Premier League action as Crystal Palace host Burnley under the lights in south London. Palace come into tonight with an impressive recent record against the Clarets, winning their last three league meetings without conceding, while Burnley arrive still searching for consistency on their travels.

The hosts will be keen to arrest a worrying run at home - winless in their last seven Premier League games at Selhurst Park - but history is on their side against sides starting the day in the relegation zone. Burnley, meanwhile, have found trips to the capital tough going, with just one win in their last 16 league visits to London.

We’ll have all the build-up, team news, key stats and live updates right here throughout the evening, so stay with us as we get closer to kick-off in south London.

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