Manchester United and Chelsea recently fired their managers.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United have employed 10 different managers (including interims), with nearly one manager per year, which has seen them spend around £100 million on compensation and their staff payouts. Let’s look a bit closer to home in Chelsea, which has been even more extreme. With their latest managerial appointment, it takes their tally to 16 managers in 16 years by rarely giving any one of them more than a couple of campaigns, having spent £193 million in severance to the managers since 2010.
Tottenham Hotspur also have a history of not being patient with their head coaches. We saw how Daniel Levy went on to sack Jose Mourinho just before a cup final, while the former club chairman showed Nuno the door after 17 games, and ultimately showed the door to Conte despite a bit of upside under him, and to Postecoglou despite his trophy run.
If we look at the numbers, Tottenham have also had 12 full-time or interim managers since 2010. They have been among the busiest of any big club when it comes to changing the man at the helm.
And by choosing Thomas Frank, who spent six years at Brentford, it showed that Tottenham are finally changing their ways of doing things. In the Dane head coach, the club has someone who wants to build on the long term. He also stated how a big club must be built on sustainable foundations and not just on surviving season to season.
We think that Tottenham could avoid the costly cycle of knee-jerk sackings, as we have seen at United/Chelsea recently, by backing a patient strategy under Thomas Frank. And his track record also shows how he thrives with continuity (a luxury that Tottenham rarely had under Levy).
Thomas Frank had a successful spell at Brentford (and it is an important context for continuity)
The Bees under the Dane head coach consistently punched above their weight. He took Brentford from the Championship to a solid Premier League club. But more importantly, in doing so, his team was outperforming financial expectations every year.
When they were promoted in 2021, the Bees operated on the league’s smallest wage bill. When promoted, there was a conventional wisdom among the supporters that they’d struggle in the English top tier, yet under Frank, they finished 13th (2021/22), 9th (2022/23) and 10th in 2024/25.
In fact, there was an analysis which showed Brentford were first in the league when you look at the performance relative to wages every season in the PL era.
The Bees under the Dane head coach consistently punched above their weight. He took Brentford from the Championship to a solid Premier League club. But more importantly, £14.3m for Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, and sold them for £126m last summer. They profited ~£54m by selling Ivan Toney (£40m) and David Raya (£27m). And if we look a bit beyond that, there were also the likes of Ollie Watkins and Said Benrahma, who were bought for <£3m each and sold later for around £30m.
Under Frank, Brentford excelled at this “Moneyball” approach, which put them in line for stability and success before his eventual Tottenham move.
Why should Tottenham not take that United & Chelsea approach with Thomas Frank
It is easy for Tottenham to swap the man at the helm and try to fix things for the short term. But while Tottenham fans are desperate, they want to see something built for the long term.
While the Lilywhites’ supporters crave silverware, the fact that Frank has not yet won any major trophy disregards that proposition. But his sides can beat top teams (Brentford was the only side to beat Man City twice during City’s treble season), and given that he will have an expanded budget and talent at his disposal, Frank has the ability to build something for the long term.
Yes, things have looked shaky this season at times, but it always is when you are trying to put in a stable base (it was for Pep’s City as well as for Arteta’s Arsenal). But after that, if Frank is able to put pieces together as he did at Brentford, his approach has the capacity to compete right at the top. And Tottenham should try to aid that with stability and backing rather than reacting to short-term results.
