Denied the relief of victory, Frank’s Spurs have now played 10 league games at home, winning only two, losing five and drawing three.
Spurs were not bad. They were dull, uninspired, lacking spark, wasteful.
And therein lies Frank’s problem in forging any sort of bond with Spurs fans. In the modern parlance, the majority are simply not having him. Once supporters decide this, it is often an impossible job to turn those feelings around.
In Frank’s defence, he hardly inherited a winning machine from the sacked Ange Postecoglou, in the Premier League context at least. Spurs won the Europa League, but 22 defeats and a Premier League placing of 17th was the more realistic measure.
Frank’s initial task was to win over supporters sceptical that he had arrived from the more low-key environment of Brentford, but he has been unable to provide any sort of consistency, identity and – far more significantly – excitement and wins.
He has been without injured key creators Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison this season. Dominic Solanke has barely figured, while he lost Mohammed Kudus after only 19 minutes here.
And Brennan Johnson, of course, has been sold to Crystal Palace for £35m. Frank was willing to lose the Wales forward, but he may well have cursed the decision as Kudus limped disconsolately away with what looked like a muscle injury.
The dour nature of the fare offered up by Spurs under Frank is illustrated by the fact they have drawn six of their 20 Premier League matches this season, as many stalemates as in the final 53 league games under Postecoglou.
However, those who still support the manager would point out that only Arsenal have a better away record than Spurs, while Frank’s 27 points from 20 games measures up well against his predecessor’s 38 from 38 last term.
