LONDON, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Victory for Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday lifted pressure off manager Eddie Howe, but left counterpart Thomas Frank’s future looking increasingly precarious.
Newcastle won 2-1 for only their third away success of the Premier League season, moving up to 10th place in the table and ending a run of three successive defeats.
Howe had said after their home loss to Brentford at the weekend that he would step aside if he did not believe he was the right man for Newcastle, but Tuesday’s win means talk about a possible departure will be tempered.
But for Frank, the future looks bleak unless he can quickly turn things around.
Tottenham supporters left no doubt about their feelings at the end of the encounter with jeers ringing out around the stadium as they suffered an 11th league defeat since the manager arrived from Brentford, slipping to 16th in the table and closer to the relegation zone.
"It's been better, of course. It hurts massively that we couldn't get the win today,” said Frank.
“I understand the frustration and the easiest thing is to point at me. That's part of the job, unfortunately. I will work day and night to turn this around, but it is not just one person. There is no doubt we need to improve, and I need to be part of that,” he added.
But he said he had spoken to the club’s owners on the eve of the game and was confident his job was safe despite Spurs’ winless run in the league stretching to eight games.
Frank now has the lowest win percentage of any Spurs manager in the Premier League era, with a win rate of just 26.9% and it also does not get any easier for him as they next play a derby against North London rivals, and league leaders, Arsenal on Sunday, February 22.
“We need to be doing better, and the next game will be another tough one. We've got time to get that right, but we've got great players on the team,” said Spurs striker Dominic Solanke.
"We don't want to be anywhere near the bottom of the table, but we know we can turn it around. It's a matter of when. We have a while until the next game now,” he added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
