Tottenham will take on their London rivals West Ham this weekend.
Tottenham Hotspur are set to play quite an important London derby this weekend. While all the derbies in London are intense already, this will come with an added context, one that will affect the future of men on the sidelines for both sides.
Anything less than three points this weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will pile ample pressure on Thomas Frank. The Dane’s position at the helm at Spurs is becoming more fragile every passing day, and more so these days as the chiefs at Hotspur Way place an interim plan in the event of his sack.
And going into the game, the hosts are looking at prospects of not being without as many as seven players this weekend.
Given the current atmosphere around the club, a defeat here would make it extremely sore to look around for the players and the head coach this weekend.
In the midst of all of this, the Premier League have pulled a jack out of the hat of their own as they make a controversial referee announcement.
The Premier League have confirmed that Australian referee Jarred Gillett will be taking over the charge of proceedings in North London this weekend.
And this will not go down well with Tottenham fans.
Jarred Gillett has a controversial history with Tottenham
When both sides met earlier this season at London Stadium, the 39-year-old found himself central to controversy when he ruled out Cristian Romero’s goal. He judged that Micky van de Ven fouled Hammers’ full back Kyle Walker-Peters in the buildup.
And this hand has every Tottenham fan fuming. The Lilywhites midfielder James Maddison publicly questioned the standards of officiating after the final whistle.
And if we dive a bit more into numbers, they don’t look quite as cheerful either.
In the 14 Tottenham games that Jarred Gillett took charge of, Tottenham have lost seven of those (and won seven). But what is more concerning is his disciplinary record. Gillett has shown Tottenham players 33 yellow cards and one red card across those 14 games. These are quite some numbers.
The Australian has been the centre of a lot of high-profile controversies since he arrived in the Premier League, and their going on and appointing him for a game which could decide the future of head coaches for both sides means that every decision will be looked at with extra scrutiny.
Author Opinion
This game already feels like a must-win for Tottenham and Thomas Frank. For the Dane head coach, the stakes have never been higher. And Tottenham supporters would be hoping that it is the football that does the talking this weekend and that the referee is not the main storyline once again.
