Tottenham sit fifth in the Premier League table after 10 games under new manager Thomas Frank.
After a season where they finished 17th and Ange Postecoglou was sacked despite winning the UEFA Europa League, their 17 points at this stage of the season — two shy of second — should feel like a massive turnaround in their league form.
Yet all is not well in north London. Despite the results, the feeling around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is that the team has looked drab, and that a regression is coming. Defeats to Aston Villa and Chelsea in recent matches, plus an early exit from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Newcastle United, have begged questions of Frank's approach.
It appears some players are struggling with the former Brentford boss' plans, as evidenced by their reaction to his communications after a recent defeat.
The Sporting News explains what happened with Spurs after their latest slip, what Thomas Frank said about the situation, and if there will be any repercussions for the players who so blatantly disrespected their boss in public.
MORE: Latest team news, injury updates, and predicted lineups for next Tottenham match
Why was Thomas Frank snubbed by Tottenham players?
At the end of Tottenham's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea in early November, Spurs defenders Micky van de Ven and Djed Spence were seen walking straight towards the tunnel as the rest of the team went around the pitch applauding the supporters around Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As they were approached by Spurs boss Thomas Frank, the manager was seen appearing to say something to the two defenders.
Cameras caught the players completely ignoring their manager. While it was impossible to see or hear what Frank was attempting to say, it looked quite unlikely that the two players simply did not see him approach or hear him address them. It appeared as if the two players were completely ignoring Frank out of frustration, a lack of respect, or some other concern. The manager, in turn, stared the two players down, clearly taken aback by their behaviour.
The incident immediately blew up on social media. Fans and media both attempted to dissect what the situation could mean, with some extrapolating that the players may not respect Frank's managerial credentials.
What did Thomas Frank say about Van de Ven and Spence snub?
The following Monday, in his pre-match press conference ahead of Tottenham's Champions League match against FC Copenhagen, Thomas Frank addressed the situation.
“Micky and Djed came into my office yesterday unprompted and said, ‘We want to say sorry for the situation,'” Frank said of the two Spurs players.
“They didn’t want it to look bad or disrespectful or all kinds of perceptions you can get in this strange media world. That was not their intention at all towards me or the club. They were just frustrated with the performance, the loss and the booing during the game.”
Frank was then asked what he would have done had the two not taken the initiative to speak with him.
“If they didn’t come in, I would have asked them about the situation,” the 52-year-old said. “What they were feeling, why they were doing it. We all have a perception. We are very good to have that [assumption] of ‘that’s because their mum wasn’t well, or they didn’t like the head coach, or they were irritated with the performance or they lost or whatever.’ “We are very good at that [guessing] but none of us know. That would have been my first question to them. How were they and why?
“Of course I’m happy, because I knew the question would come today, that they are coming in. That means they care. That means they care about the team, the club, in this case me. Happy with that. So that was very good. Then we just had a good talk about a lot of things. Like with everything, we keep it internally. Like I said to the players, it will be very, very, very unusual if I ever throw a player under the bus. We are all humans, but I will always protect them. Always.”