Thomas Frank's dismissal as Tottenham manager materialised shortly after his bold prediction concerning Dominic Solanke's future
Not even Dominic Solanke's comeback after nearly six months out injured could rescue Thomas Frank at Tottenham. This comes despite the Dane's belief that the England striker could be Spurs' salvation.
Solanke, 28, was sidelined for the first half of the campaign and missed 27 matches following ankle surgery. It proved a devastating setback for Frank so early into his spell at Tottenham, adding to a lengthy list of injuries and suspensions that hampered the manager this season.
What made matters worse was that Solanke had displayed glimpses of his finest form since his January return, bagging four goals across seven Premier League and Champions League appearances. According to the Daily Mail, Frank believed he could transform the forward into a "goal machine," mirroring his success with Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa during his time at Brentford.
Frank was thrilled with the player's impact after his double in a 2-2 stalemate with Manchester City. Perhaps more remarkable than the scorpion-kick finish for his second goal was Frank's revelation that the striker was still building up to peak fitness.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings
"He clearly also struggled to run," he said following that result. "So he knew, he struggled to run fitness-wise. We knew before the game that again it would be a big push to play 90.
"He's not there fitness-wise where he should be, because he's been out for so long. And we've been, in a way, a little bit forced to play him. And I think it's pretty evident that he's relatively important for us."
Frank drew comparisons between Solanke's injury absence and City being without Erling Haaland. This goes down as one of the highest compliments a striker could receive in the current football landscape.
He added: "Four goals in four [starts since his return in January], with him being on his 70-80 per cent of fitness and top sharpness. But imagine City playing without Haaland for six months. So I think we've been quite hard-hit with injuries. Yeah, in general, but Dom was excellent."
The boss also praised Solanke's clinical finishing following his goal in a 2-0 Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund last month. Yet it wasn't solely the striker's impact in the box that caught the manager's attention.
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook page
"You could see today his link-up play, his hold-up play," Frank said at the time. "I think he could have scored maybe one or two goals more, because I think he just missed the timing to arrive, just a little bit.
"He has a good connection with Pedro [Porro], for example, but when he hasn't played for a while...but also his work ethic. He works so hard. I know he was not match fit, but I would say he went so much all-in that after 65 [minutes], he'd done everything."
After his brace against City, Solanke found it harder to replicate that impact in consecutive losses to Manchester United and Newcastle. The latter result, a 2-1 home defeat on Tuesday, proved the breaking point, with Spurs promptly confirming Frank's exit.
Nevertheless, Solanke will be determined to vindicate his former boss by spearheading Tottenham's rescue mission. The north London outfit currently find themselves just five points clear of the drop zone, heaping enormous expectation on the incoming manager to reverse their slide and preserve their Premier League status.