Aston Villa supporters ruthlessly capitalised on Tottenham Hotspur manager Thomas Frank's midweek mishap, taunting him with chants labelling him an Arsenal fan during their side's 2-1 FA Cup third-round victory on Saturday.
Frank's North London Derby Blunder
The gleeful goading from the away end at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium came after Frank was photographed earlier in the week drinking from a coffee cup bearing the crest of Tottenham's arch-rivals, Arsenal. The 52-year-old Dane, who has endured a difficult start since moving from Brentford last summer, was snapped with the cup before Wednesday's last-gasp 3-2 Premier League defeat at Bournemouth.
The image did little to endear Frank to the Spurs faithful, who have seen their team win just seven of his 21 league games in charge. The misery was compounded by Antoine Semenyo's 95th-minute winner for Bournemouth, setting a bleak tone for the FA Cup clash.
Villa Fans Rub Salt in the Wounds
On Saturday, first-half goals from Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia put Aston Villa in control and sent them through to the fourth round at Tottenham's expense. The jubilant travelling fans seized the opportunity to amplify Frank's discomfort.
Adapting the tune of the Village People's 'Go West', the Villa supporters sang "Thomas Frank is an Arsenal fan" throughout the first half, a pointed reference to his inadvertent show of support for Spurs' greatest enemies.
Frank's Frustrated Post-Match Defence
Speaking after the match, a clearly irritated Frank addressed the cup controversy, insisting he had been unaware of the logo. "Definitely, I have not noticed it," he stated. "I think it's fair to say that we're not winning every single football match so it would be absolutely, completely stupid of me to take a cup with Arsenal (on it)."
He explained that the cup was simply provided by staff in the changing room, which had been used by another team previously, and called the line of questioning "a little bit sad." Frank emphatically denied any intentional provocation, saying, "Of course I'll never do that. That's extremely stupid."
However, his defence did nothing to change the result or silence the taunts, as Aston Villa progressed and left Frank facing further scrutiny after a chastening week that saw two damaging defeats and an unwanted off-pitch distraction.
