Thomas Frank at Tottenham has the worst Premier League record of any ‘big six’ manager of the modern era – even worse than Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.
Frank’s predecessor Ange Postecoglou went unbeaten in six meetings with Manchester United, with five wins including last season’s Europa League final. Now a 2-0 at Old Trafford leaves the club’s hopes of qualifying for Europe next season in tatters and relegation a genuine possibility.
The loss leaves Spurs 14th in the table, level on points with Leeds United and Crystal Palace. They do have a nine point cushion on the relegation zone, but they’ll be looking over their shoulder if West Ham can put a run together.
“It is what it is. We need to deal with it,” Frank told TNT Sports after the final whistle.
“I think a big area we’ve been working hard on is the resilience. We didn’t get the result out of it today, but what they showed out there on the pitch today, the players, was incredible. We need to focus on Newcastle on Tuesday night.
“Just focus on the next game. That is Newcastle on Tuesday night.”
*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" data-turn-id="request-WEB:31c240cd-d65b-48e4-9b90-cd05349c52d3-1" data-testid="conversation-turn-4" data-scroll-anchor="true" data-turn="assistant">
Note: this analysis only goes back to the point when the idea of the ‘big six’ became established — starting with Manchester City’s 2008 takeover and the period when Tottenham began seriously disrupting the old ‘Sky Four’ of Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in the race for Champions League qualification.
We’ve also included only permanent managers, or medium-term interims, that have taken charge of at least 10 Premier League matches.
Every Manchester City manager prior to the takeover, and every Tottenham boss before Harry Redknapp, would have made this top 10 — but measuring them by modern ‘big six’ benchmarks would be unfair.
Somewhat surprisingly, David Moyes’ spell at Manchester United (1.67 points per game) falls just short of qualifying for the top 10.
With that said, here’s the complete ranking:
10. Ralf Rangnick – Manchester United
Games: 24
Win rate: 41%
Points per game (PPG): 1.54
9. Frank Lampard – Chelsea
Games: 66
Win rate: 43%
Points per game (PPG): 1.52
Premier League Managers Premier League Caretakers worst in history
READ: Ranking the 10 worst Premier League caretaker managers ever: Lampard, Shearer, Rangnick…
8. Kenny Dalglish – Liverpool
Games: 56
Win rate: 42%
Points per game (PPG): 1.51
7. Nuno Espirito Santo – Tottenham
Games: 10
Win rate: 50%
Points per game (PPG): 1.50
6. Mark Hughes – Manchester City
Games: 55
Win rate: 40%
Points per game (PPG): 1.44
5. Ange Postecoglou – Tottenham
Games: 76
Win rate: 40%
Points per game (PPG): 1.37
4. Graham Potter – Chelsea
Games: 22
Win rate: 31%
Points per game (PPG): 1.27
3. Roy Hodgson – Liverpool
Games: 20
Win rate: 35%
Points per game (PPG): 1.25
2. Ruben Amorim – Manchester United
Games: 25
Win rate: 32%
Points per game (PPG): 1.23
1. Thomas Frank – Tottenham
Games: 25
Win rate: 28%
Points per game (PPG): 1.16
READ NEXT: Cristian Romero’s next club: Ranking the 7 favourites to sign Tottenham captain
TRY A QUIZ: Can you name the 20 players with the most red cards in Premier League history?