Tottenham Hotspur have dismissed head coach Thomas Frank after a turbulent spell of less than eight months, ending a tenure that never fully convinced the club’s hierarchy or its supporters.

Frank, appointed as Ange Postecoglou’s successor after leaving Brentford, arrived billed as a progressive coach capable of reshaping Spurs in his own image. Instead, his reign unravelled amid poor results, mounting fan unrest and a slide down the Premier League table that has left the club 16th, just five points clear of the relegation zone.

The breaking point came in a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle, when Spurs were booed off and chants calling for Frank’s dismissal rang around the stadium. Senior figures at the club are understood to have concluded that the atmosphere had become toxic and that the head coach’s position was no longer sustainable.

In a statement, the club confirmed Frank’s departure and acknowledged both the scale of the disappointment and the effort he had invested in the role. They stressed that he had shown “unwavering commitment” but admitted that performances and results left them with little choice but to act.

Frank’s record makes stark reading. He won just 13 of his 38 matches in charge, giving him the lowest Premier League win percentage of any Spurs manager in the competition’s era. A run of only two victories in 17 league games turned early-season optimism into anxiety, with the team drifting towards a relegation battle.

Off the pitch, Frank also struggled to build a strong rapport with supporters. One widely shared image of him drinking from a coffee cup bearing the badge of bitter rivals Arsenal became a symbol, however trivial, of a relationship that never truly warmed.

His exit continues a period of chronic instability at Tottenham. The club is now searching for a sixth permanent manager in seven years since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure, a churn that has undermined attempts to build a coherent long-term project.

Whoever takes over inherits a squad already eliminated from both domestic cup competitions but still alive in Europe, with Champions League knockout football offering a rare bright spot. The new head coach will also face an immediate test in a high-pressure north London derby at home to Arsenal, a fixture that now looms as a defining early examination of Spurs’ latest reset.