Thomas Frank’s coaching ability has won praise from many he has come up against [Alexander Canillas/SPP]

THE tradesman con­tracted to etch the name onto the glass door of the gaffer’s office at Hotspur Way must be on to a good gig: there have been six new starts in six years, and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has gone through a total of 15 managers since 2001.

Last Friday, Spurs relieved Ange Postecoglou of his role after two years in the hotseat – the scooping of the Europa League not enough to blunt the chairman’s axe.

Frontrunner Thomas Frank, who has been at Brentford for seven years, is hotly tipped to be announced in the coming days and could make his debut in the dugout against rivals Arsenal in a friendly due to take place in Hong Kong at the end of July.

Frank’s work with the Bees has seen his coaching ability praised by many he has come up against. Now the Dane needs time to improve a squad that seriously punched below its weight, at least league-wise, last year, and who are crying out for better discipline and greater tactical flexibility.

Above all, Frank is tasked with carving a promising young squad into a band of brothers who can genuinely compete for prizes.

It will be obvious to Frank the issues he has inherited. He will have to rip out the regular shooting-in-the-foot Postecoglou’s tactics allowed to occur.

To be clear, when Ange-ball worked, it was a thing of beauty. But it was quickly found out by opponents, and after a breathless opening six months, Ange-ball happened less and less, until it barely happened at all.

Ange undoubtedly was blessed with man management skills – his players’ response to his departure shows the esteem they held for him. But he looked lacking when it came to tactical changes.

When you are missing a swathe of starters, is it wise to go and play away from home with the same set-up as you would with the full deck? The answer is a clear no.

When Tottenham tried to play Ange-ball with half a team, they got found out and turned over. The only silver lining is the experience the young players such as Archie Gray gained on what it was like to be run ragged – they’ll learn from it, as Ange said with worrying frequency.

Then came in-game changes: conceding the same type of goal over and again, and in a way that even the most blinkered terrace critic could recognise. It was a huge cause of frustration for fans.

When things are going badly, surely switch it up?

When he decided to set his Europa League team up pragmatically – and make tactical changes with 20 minutes to go – the surprise was immense, and led to the question: why weren’t you doing something similar in the league?

Tottenham knew by January they weren’t getting relegated, and the final 15 games of the season were written off. But it’s no fun seeing your team getting beaten week in, week out, in the same manner.

And so for all the fun fans had in Bilbao, Ange’s time was always going to be evaluated at the end of the campaign. If Tottenham hadn’t learned to win ugly in Europe the majority of supporters would have wanted him out a lot sooner.

The fact we at Spurs have hoovered our way through managers at a disturbing rate doesn’t mean sticking with the current one simply because it’s such a pain to start afresh.

Now Frank needs four years to truly build a side in his image. He has youngsters such as Gray, Lucas Bergvall, Guglielmo Vicario, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and Pape Sarr to shape into a new Spurs.

Fans – and the board – need patience and to give Frank time to grow an exciting and successful brand of football, with the aim of winning another cup of some sort sooner rather than later.

Welcome to Tottenham, Thomas – and good luck. You’ll need it.