Credit: Imago

Evan Lloyd

Thu 4 December 2025 16:46, UK

Thomas Frank has experienced a difficult start to life in charge of Tottenham, with his team struggling for points.

Tottenham drew 2-2 with Newcastle on Tuesday, with Cristian Romero‘s stoppage-time equaliser preventing what would have been a fourth consecutive loss across all competitions.

Loss to Fulham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday felt like a significantly bad moment for the North London club, but their fight-back against the Magpies will have restored some hope.

Frank’s job at Tottenham is safe for now, but the Dane must feel the pressure increasing as his team slip further down the table.

Here, Football Insider looks at how the Dane’s start compares when put up against each of the last three managers to lead the Lilywhites.

Ange Postecoglou

Tottenham’s issues go deeper than Frank, and that is exactly what Ange Postecoglou found out in his time at the club, too.

But the Australian had a very different start to his tenure at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Tottenham sacked Postecoglou in June but after 22 games under the former Celtic boss in the 2023-24 season, decision-makers looked to have pulled off a masterclass.

Postecoglou‘s team had started the season in electric fashion, winning eight of their first 10 Premier League games and playing exciting, attacking football.

It was only after significant injuries hit that things started to slow for the Lilywhites, who still managed to finish fifth at the end of the campaign.

There is no contest between that team and Frank‘s team so far this season. As we know, however, sustainability was an issue for Postecoglou’s side, who would go on to finish 17th in the following campaign.

All in all, the Australian won 13 of his first 22 games in charge of Tottenham, losing six.

Antonio Conte

Antonio Conte represents the only Tottenham manager on this list to have taken over in the middle of a season.

The Italian was appointed in the wake of Nuno Espirito Santo‘s departure in 2021, and his effects were instantaneous.

Conte’s side won 12 of his first 22 games in charge, with some of those wins coming in the Carabao Cup and the Europa Conference League.

The season, which had started so awfully, ended brilliantly under Conte when Tottenham smashed Arsenal 3-0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to pip the Gunners to the top four.

But problems would again emerge in the Italian’s second season, leading to his departure by mutual consent in March 2023.

His final game had seen Tottenham let a 3-1 lead over Southampton slip in the final moments, with the former Chelsea manager branding his players “selfish” in an explosive press conference following the final whistle.

Nuno Espirito Santo

Frank has already surpassed Nuno on one front, in the fact that the Portuguese coach did not even make it to his 22nd game in charge of Tottenham.

But what does make for dismal reading is that the Dane’s eight wins across 22 games are bettered by Nuno, who had nine.

The now-West Ham boss had actually made an encouraging start to life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, beating Manchester City in his debut game in charge.

But big defeats against Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United spelt the end for Nuno.

In truth, the 51-year-old may well have had more time had Conte not made himself available to decision-makers at Tottenham, but his start had been woeful nonetheless.

Luckily for Frank, the former Brentford manager is expected to carry more patience from the higher-ups at Tottenham.