Tottenham 1-1 Sunderland: Why is Thomas Frank trapped in a gilded cage at dismal Tottenham?

After Frank was denied victory, Tottenham played 10 league matches at home, winning only two, losing five and drawing three.

Tottenham wasn’t bad. They were boring, uninspired, lacking spark, and wasteful.

And here lies the problem for Frank in establishing any kind of bond with Tottenham fans. In modern parlance, the majority simply do not enjoy it. Once supporters decide this, it is often impossible to change those feelings.

In Frank’s defence, he hardly inherited the winning machine from Ange Postecoglou, at least in the context of the Premier League. Tottenham won the Europa League, but 22 defeats and 17th place in the Premier League was a more realistic measure.

Frank’s initial task was to win over fans skeptical of him coming from Brentford’s lesser milieu, but he was unable to provide any sort of consistency, identity and, much more importantly, excitement and wins.

He has been without injured key starters Dejan Kulusevski and James Madison this season. Dominic Solanke barely featured, while Mohammed Quddus was lost after just 19 minutes here.

Naturally, Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace for £35m. Frank was prepared to lose the Wales striker, but may have cursed the decision as Kudos limped away with what appeared to be a muscle injury.

The harsh nature of the price Spurs are offering under Frank is evident in the fact that they have drawn six of their 20 Premier League games this season, as many draws as they have in their last 53 league games under Postecoglou.

However, those who still back the manager point out that only Arsenal have a better away record than Tottenham, while Frank’s 27 points from 20 games measures up well against his predecessor’s 38 points from 38 last season.