SPORT

The Tottenham hierarchy now have a huge decision to make.

Thomas Frank’s future at the club is uncertain. That isn’t a secret, of course – it has been the case for weeks.

Large sections of the supporters want him sacked. The boos that rang round Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at full-time were testament to that prevailing feeling from a disgruntled fanbase.

Crucially, there has been a loss of support towards the Dane internally.

So, the fact Frank’s disastrous first season in charge lurched to deeper depths following this defeat by Newcastle may have significant consequences.

If Nottingham Forest, who occupy 17th, beat Wolves on Wednesday night they will go level on points with Tottenham.

Frank is understandably hesitant to admit his side are in relegation fight – but the numbers don’t lie.

That said, it may not be Frank’s problem for much longer – Tottenham‘s latest loss will push the beleaguered manager closer to what appears an inevitable exit.

Indeed, such has been the level of contemplation regarding Frank’s immediate future at Tottenham in recent weeks that this loss will almost certainly trigger further soul-searching from the club’s leadership group.

The fact the Spurs board have stuck by Frank during such a difficult period proves they want the appointment to work.

The easier decision would have been to show Frank the door by now.

However, the Tottenham hierarchy believe Frank has been dealt a rough hand.

There’s an acknowledgment that the season has been disrupted by multiple injuries to key players.

There is also recognition that the squad needs repair work – particularly considering the departures of their two main sources of goals in Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

There is also a sense behind the scenes that the squad is lacking in leadership. It was why they signed England international Conor Gallagher and tried to land Andy Robertson from Liverpool – both with plenty of Premier League experience.

There is also a sense from Tottenham‘s executive team that the club require a period of managerial stability.

But by the same token, sources have told BBC Sport that work towards a contingency plan in the event they make a decision they really don’t want to make illustrates the precarity of Frank’s position.

If the club decide to part with Frank in the immediate aftermath of this Newcastle defeat, they will have 12 days until their next fixture against Arsenal on 22 February.

That leaves Tottenham with a prolonged window to execute their replacement plan and leave Frank’s successor with time to implement a blueprint for the north London derby.

The pressure on Frank is at breaking point. We are about to find out if Tottenham crack.

Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa were left on the bench – just a few months after Howe spent £124m on the forwards.

That told its own story as the visitors lined up without a recognised striker for the second away league game in a row.

Anthony Gordon was instead tasked with leading the line on the road again after Howe took heart from the opening half an hour of his side’s 4-1 defeat against Liverpool.

Gordon put Newcastle in front at Anfield that night, but it was still a bold call.

However, Gordon, Elanga and Harvey Barnes aggressively led the press out of possession as they hunted down Spurs’ defenders and broke forward quickly with the ball.

There were still occasions where Newcastle were crying out for a poacher in the box to get on the end of a number of teasing crosses from Elanga.

However, the speed of Newcastle‘s front line caused Spurs problems and Gordon’s dancing feet set up Ramsey’s winner.

Remarkably, it was just travel-sick Newcastle‘s third away league victory of the season.

Newcastle have too often been soft, throwing away more points (19) than any other side in the division.

But this was an evening where they “really did inspire each other” following a difficult few days.

“If anything they used it in a positive way and reinforced relationships,” Howe added.

“It made us all look inward and look at what we’re doing and how we can do it better.”

For nearly all of his 11 seasons, Rob Havenstein was a Rams mainstay at right tackle.

He started two Super Bowls, winning one, and provided sage wisdom and experience for younger players in what would be his final season in 2025.

On Tuesday, Havenstein, 33, announced he was retiring.

“What a ride it’s been!” Havenstein wrote in a post on Instagram. “I can look back on my career and smile knowing I have given everything I had and more to the game I love.

“In saying that, I am officially retiring from the NFL.”

Havenstein, the longest-tenured Rams player on the roster last season, thanked his teammates and coaches, the Rams organization and his parents and wife for their support.

The 6-foot-8 Havenstein, grew up in Maryland and was a second-round pick by the Rams out of Wisconsin in 2015.

He started 13 games as a rookie, and then moved with the team from St. Louis to Los Angeles.

Havenstein started 148 regular-season games and 13 playoff games, including the Rams’ victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium to cap the 2021 season.

Due to injuries, Havenstein was limited to 14 games in 2023, 11 in 2024 and seven this past season.

Yet the four-time captain was a constant presence, and helped Warren McClendon Jr. develop into a consistent starter.

After the season, coach Sean McVay described Havenstein and tight end Tyler Higbee, who also completed the final year of his contract, as “all-time Rams.” McVay said the team would give the players time to digest the season and decide what might be next.

For Havenstein, that is retirement.

“As this chapter ends,” he wrote, “I couldn’t be more grateful, hopeful, and excited to see what comes next!”

Carrick’s initial victories over title challengers Manchester City and Arsenal were unexpected. The ones against Fulham and Tottenham were anticipated but did not arrive without problems that had to be solved.

Combined with the failings of Chelsea and Liverpool, the end outcome is United are fourth, with a handy, but by no means pivotal, advantage in the hunt for a Champions League return, something few could visualise in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s dismissal following the draw at Leeds on 4 January.

“We know how hard it is to put a run together in this league,” said Carrick, whose side are now unbeaten in nine league games, which spanned three managers, including initial interim Darren Fletcher.

“Sometimes it comes naturally, it flows and everything clicks. You look really dangerous and there’s a spark. Sometimes it’s a little bit stodgy.”

The question being asked of Carrick is whether his side can deliver winning performances against opposition they are expected to beat.

Many felt West Ham were in that category, even though Nuno Espirito Santo’s side were aiming for their fourth win in five league games and they had led Chelsea 2-0 in the one that got away.

Carrick did not manage a victory.

What he did do was take a risk to try and get something from a game that appeared lost.

When Manchester United drew against West Ham at Old Trafford in December, Amorim’s only substitution involving an offensive player was Mason Mount for Joshua Zirkzee, 12 minutes from time.

His last change was one defender, Lisandro Martinez, for another, Luke Shaw. Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo and young forward Shea Lacey remained on the bench.

At London Stadium, Carrick gambled. Not so much with Sesko, who replaced Matheus Cunha, who had been ineffective, a charge that could be levelled at all United’s attacking players on this occasion.

It was through his introduction of Zirkzee for full-back Diogo Dalot eight minutes from time where the risk and reward element came.

Carrick switched to a back three and pushed men forward.

He knew there was a chance of conceding a second. It didn’t happen, thanks to two superb saving tackles from another substitute, Leny Yoro, and a Senne Lammens save.

It meant as the clocked ticked past five minutes of injury-time played of the seven added, Carrick’s side still had a chance. Sesko’s brilliant finish ensured they did not head home empty handed.

“It’s always worth it to try and get something out of the game,” said Carrick of his substitution.

“We all want the perfect kind of performance, to be the best we can be.

“Sometimes it doesn’t quite happen, but it doesn’t mean you give up.

“Obviously we went for it, with three at the back and the rest all attacking basically to try and find that goal. That’s the way we should do it.”

It’s an attitude straight out of the Sir Alex Ferguson playbook. He was always prepared to gamble in order to get a desired outcome and felt it was why he enjoyed so many late successes in his stellar career.

An 87th-minute winner against Arsenal, a 90th-minute winner against Fulham, and now a 95th-minute equaliser against West Ham.

Carrick is pleased with 13 points out of 15 from his first block of games.

As he regroups before the next run of three matches, he will be just as delighted at the spirit and never-say-die attitude that helped to get them.

The late goals are not the only habit that Hearts are forming. Winning the hard way, getting maximum points from a bare minimum performance, is something that title-winning teams do too.

“If you want to challenge for titles and win leagues, you have to win ugly, and Hearts did that tonight,” former Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew told Premier Sports.

He was not the only pundit to comment on Hearts’ below-par performance. While McInnes named an attacking side, they looked timid in the build up, struggling to stay calm in the typical chaos of an Edinburgh derby.

“They’ll not really care about the performance, they’ve got 12 games to create history,” former Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson, who also had a hard job picking a man of the match, told BBC Sportsound.

“Harry Milne, for me, he tried everything he possible could to affect the game, to drive Hearts forward. Other than him, pretty much all of them were stinking.”

Well, quite. Scott Allan, the former Hibs and Celtic midfielder, was a bit more eloquent in his assessment.

“Tonight was such a big game and to not play well at all… I couldn’t see Hearts scoring a goal, I thought there was only going to be one winner and it was Hibs,” he reflected.

“To win like that, clean sheet as well, it says so much about what you’re building in there.

“Derek McInnes will not be worried about that performance. What a position that puts Hearts into, going into that game on Sunday.”

Ah yes, the game on Sunday. Rangers at Ibrox. Hearts won there back in September, their first victory away to the blue half of Glasgow since 2014.

No-one could have imagined then that, the next time Hearts came to town, the visitors would still have a lead over their hosts in the standings.

“If they get three points at Ibrox, I think they’ll win the league,” Stevenson predicted. A big call for a big game.

Jones says he developed various symptoms after being regularly concussed during training and matches.

Speaking to BBC Sport from Malaysia, where he and his family now live, he said: “I noticed that if I was doing simple tasks, like making my children a bottle of water, trying to pour it and trying to steady my hand, putting a card in the card machine, putting the keys in the door, I just couldn’t stop my shaking,” he said.

“And that’s when things progressively started to get worse; headaches, brain fog, neck pain, eye pain… I’m sensitive to light and to noise, anxiety, depression.

“The scariest thing I find is being unable to regulate my emotions. That terrifies me. I cope with it by just taking myself away. It’s been at the detriment sometimes of our marriage and me being a father and to my friends… I very much isolate myself.

“I would never let my children play, and that’s a really sad thing.”

Jones’ wife Olivia told BBC Sport that the changes in her husband’s personality were “very gradual at first” but became “impossible to ignore”.

“He went from being confident, energetic, and present to being withdrawn, irritable, forgetful – and he just seemed to be constantly in pain,” she said.

“And he often complained about suffering with headaches, brain fog, and anxiety, and it became quite scary for me.”