Spurs could appoint Frank upgrade who O’Hara claims is “better” than Arteta

Thomas Frank will take charge as Tottenham Hotspur welcome Borussia Dortmund to London in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.

The mood at N17 is, to say the least, miserable, and it is hardly contentious to claim that Frank is a man on borrowed time after an awful six-month stint at the helm.

Tottenham lost at home to relegation-threatened West Ham United at the weekend, and the manner of the loss was perhaps worse than the result itself.

It would be naive to suggest that Frank is solely to blame, but a captain to takes the wheel of a sinking ship will still be held responsible, and Frank has provided very little to suggest he has what it takes to turn things around.

The latest on Thomas Frank’s Spurs future

Overwhelmingly, the Tottenham fanbase have lost faith in Frank’s ability to lead this club forward. The Danish coach is more pragmatic than Ange Postecoglou, but his deep principles gathered many plaudits with Brentford, and ENIC Group sought a stable and intelligent manager to spearhead this next chapter.

But the home defeat to West Ham in the Premier League, Spurs’ seventh of the season in all competitions, has led to “board-level talks“, as per Sky Sports’ Lyall Thomas, and an increasing feeling that Frank will be dismissed.

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Should that be the case, Spurs will need to line up a successor, for failure to do so could spiral the club back into a relegation fight for the second successive year, as is the concern of the Lewis family.

If Frank persists in the dugout for the time being, Tottenham might earmark outgoing Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner as the man to replace him.

Glasner will remain at Selhurst Park despite extraordinary rebuke against the board following his side’s recent defeat away to Sunderland.

Regardless, the 51-year-old will move on when his contract expires at the end of the campaign, and Tottenham’s recent interest has been well-documented.

Why Glasner would be an upgrade on Frank

Frank’s Tottenham tenure has eroded, burned away before it could get going. A turnaround is, of course, not impossible, but it’s highly improbable that he will lead the squad to a sustained period of success.

Glasner could be the perfect man to turn things around. After all, in 2025, he won the FA Cup and then the Community Shield with Crystal Palace, having previously lifted the Europa League when with Eintracht Frankfurt.

The key thing here is that he achieved such feats as an underdog, taking the material in front of him and creating something special. His resourcefulness and sharp tactical eye have even led journalist Buchi Laba to hail him as “one of the best coaches in the world“.

His three-man backline will take some getting used to, but Tottenham have implemented that strategy in the past, finding success with a 3-4-3 during the height of Mauricio Pochettino’s reign.

But Glasner is nothing if not fluid and adaptable. Moreover, his Crystal Palace side are sixth in the xG standings this season, fashioning far more openings than Spurs, whose lack of creativity has stifled any hopes of progress.

But he’s also a winner, and that is important. Sky Sports pundit Jamie O’Hara has even said that Glasner is a “better manager” than Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, having defied expectations in south London to bring home multiple pieces of silverware, all the while shaping Palace into a stylish outfit.

Oftentimes, O’Hara’s assertions should be taken with a pinch of salt, but there’s a ring of truth about his take on Glasner. The Austrian, indeed, has won three titles since Arteta lifted the FA Cup during his first season at the Emirates helm.

This is an unsavoury situation, but one which needs dealing with swiftly. Tottenham are going nowhere under Frank’s management, or if they are, they are going backwards.