Thomas Frank responds to boos at half time and full time in Tottenham’s defeat to Bournemouth

Thomas Frank responds to boos at half time and full time in Tottenham’s defeat to Bournemouth, his first defeat as new Spurs manager.

Bournemouth came away with a 1-0 victory, Evanilson’s deflected goal in the 5th minute proved decisive, with the Cherries dominating and creating numerous chances, including misses by Semenyo and Brooks.

Tottenham’s late efforts fell short, leaving both teams level on points with two wins from three matches.

Alasdair Gold tweeted – Thomas Frank on the Spurs fans booing at half-time and full time: “I prefer them not to boo but I understand it was not a good performance today. They have high expectations which I understand. The players put their heart out there but didn’t hit our football levels today.”

One fan, @Giles_Edwards, replied: “Everyone (or at least the majority) was booing the ref. Why has nobody clarified this. Surely you were there Ali G?”

Alasdair Gold replied: “I was there. It was both. People who booed the ref will feel most were doing that around them, those who booed the team will say otherwise. As I wrote in my piece today there was a big frustrated boo at the final whistle and then another louder one when the officials walked off.”

To which Giles Edwards added: “I agree it was both. But where I am, which is close to you I’m sure, felt at least 80% at ref. Appreciate what you’re saying, we think everyone thinks like us. But it feels far too early to be booing a new team/manager to believe it was much more than that. To me. COYS”

Thomas Frank spoke to Sky Sports after Tottenham’s defeat against Brentford: “Not a shock if I’m honest but not what I expected. I hoped for more. We played against a good Bournemouth team. I don’t think we handled the balls behind and the second ball game very well for whatever reason.

“They play behind as soon as they can and have willing runners. A few passes and they play the ball behind. That’s difficult to play against.

“In football, it goes so quick. We can still find good bits but overall, it’s not a good performance.

“I think we looked very strong in three games but it’s about being consistent and doing that throughout the season.”

On what Simons can bring to his Spurs side: “I think he can bring on a day where our structure building up and all that, it’s not only about all that, then sometimes you need a player who can do a little bit out of nothing – go past a player, produce a cross, a shot, that extra quality you need on the day.”

“No excuse, we should do better”

Thomas Frank on the loss to Bournemouth 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/msUhVGSudE

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 30, 2025

When asked about the reaction from Spurs supporters: “I would prefer them not to boo,’ Frank said when asked about the reaction from Spurs supporters.

Andoni Iraola spoke to BBC Match of the Day after Bournemouth’s victory against Tottenham: “It was a very good win. We played very well and should have scored and finished the game in a better way. I am happy because I have seen a good performance.

“We missed big chances today. You want to score a second one and kill the game. We haven’t done it, same as against Wolves. We had to defend well at the end.

On Adrien Truffert: “We believe a lot. He was playing against a player who is very good. I think he was exceptional. He was cramping at the end. He combined very well with Antoine on the left side.”

Antoine Semenyo also spoke to Match of the Day after the win: “We had our chances. Overall, we played really well and made it uncomfortable for them. I was frustrated and it was playing on my mind a bit. I need to get myself in those positions to get more chances. I kept focus and got my head in the game.

He also spoke about Adrien Truffert: “We have a good understanding and been training since the start of pre-season. The boy can run!”

Here’s how fans reacted as Thomas Frank responds to being booed off after Tottenham lose to Bournemouth…

@jamie_schneid: Seriously bad booing culture has developed at spurs. We’re two and a half games in and played 45 mins of bad football, people need to get a grip #thfc #COYS

@TomTraubert2009: I don’t think it warranted that level of booing. It’s his 3rd game FFS. #coys #thfc #totbou

@jamie_schneid: 6/9 points with the fixtures we’ve had is not the end of the world , just typical the first loss falls before the international break. THE fans booing need to give their heads a wobble, and actually support the team #THFC #COYS

@Trevorlloyd92: Booing was absolutely pathetic btw

@cgs23: Booing on the 3rd match of a new manager after we’ve only had very good performances and just after announcing a star level player is pathetic. Yes, tickets are expensive, but these are humans on the pitch, that 3 months ago gave us our best night ever as well. chill ppl #thfc

@jonhotspur1988: I’d boo a side if I thought they were losing due to a lack of effort. Today didn’t feel that way to me. It felt like we were out thought & lacked the quality to unlock them. I know it’s a broken record but that ire should be reserved for the boardroom, not the football pitch.

@KidiabaPonyTail: I get that there’s a long of anger and frustration thats been mounting for a number of years but over past few seasons booing has become to normalised at WHL.

@AltuKop: Small part of the reason I’ve stepped back from Spurs this season. Our fans will give you sh1t for protesting, citing reasons like “just support the team!”, before going into the stadium and booing the team on (remember Sanchez?) and off the pitch. We are a very confused fanbase.

@harv_yid: Nothing to do with performance was towards ref

@CNK82: The booing was for the ref! Anyone who was at the game would know that tbh

@ryan_spurs14: Expectation is high Thomas because a certain man (your boss) said ‘he wants to win the league and UCL’ We pay over 1K a season, we don’t expect to be having 1 shot on target against bloody Bournemouth. LW and striker is a necessity.

@CriticalWax: Totally abject performance. Zero energy levels and zero creativity. When you spend a lot of money managing to get to just a few games, you’d hope for more of a game plan than that when you finally get there. Ref though was atrocious, how did Semenyo not get a 2nd yellow??

@COYS_Spurs523: Being at the game, we didn’t play great but thought people were booing at the ref

@TWTHFC98: The booing at full time was 100% towards the ref. Was clear when in the ground

@watkis77: I was booing Simon Hooper, who simply isn’t capable of refereeing at any level, let alone PL.

@benhayes17: If we’re paying to watch that and the players look like they wanna be asleep we’ll boo. Embarrassing performance