{"id":416989,"date":"2026-01-19T16:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416989\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T16:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T16:48:08","slug":"tottenham-could-appoint-john-heitinga-as-thomas-franks-interim-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/416989\/","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham Could Appoint John Heitinga as Thomas Frank\u2019s Interim Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach John Heitinga is a potential caretaker candidate should Thomas Frank be sacked, according to The Times journalist Tom Allnutt.<\/p>\n

The north London side<\/a> are believed to be contemplating whether to part ways with the Danish tactician following Saturday\u2019s 2-1 defeat to West Ham.<\/p>\n

The lack of clear alternatives to replace Frank mid-season is claimed to be part of Spurs\u2019 dilemma, as the club board feel a wrong appointment could push them into a relegation battle.<\/p>\n

After 22 games, Spurs are languishing 14th in the Premier League table, eight points off the top five and 10 points off the relegation zone.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

According to The Times<\/a>, Heitinga is viewed as a possible candidate to take over temporarily at Tottenham, just days after being hired as Frank\u2019s assistant last week.<\/p>\n

The Danish tactician played a significant role in helping choose Heitinga for his backroom team, after being impressed with the former Everton defender\u2019s record working with individual players.<\/p>\n

Heitinga, praised for having \u2018the perfect profile\u2019 by Frank<\/a>, was an assistant to Arne Slot at Liverpool last season before taking over at Dutch giants Ajax in May.<\/p>\n

His tenure with the Eredivisie side lasted only four months, during which Ajax secured five wins in 15 games across all competitions.<\/p>\n

Frank penned a three-year contract with Tottenham following his appointment in June, replacing sacked Ange Postecoglou, who ended the club\u2019s 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League last season.<\/p>\n

John Heitinga\u2019s Coaching Career So Far<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

Heitinga began his coaching career in 2016, following a 15-year professional playing career during which he played for Ajax, Everton, Atletico Madrid, Fulham and Hertha Berlin.<\/p>\n

The 42-year-old spent the first seven years of his post-playing career at Ajax, where he worked with youth teams and took interim charge of the senior side in January 2023.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the 2023\/24 season, Heitinga joined David Moyes\u2019 backroom staff at West Ham, before being appointed Liverpool\u2019s assistant coach in July 2024.<\/p>\n

After helping the Reds to the Premier League title last term, Heitinga returned to Ajax for a full-time managerial role, which lasted just 15 games.<\/p>\n

Tottenham Eyeing Mauricio Pochettino<\/p>\n

\"Mauricio
\n Troy Taormina | Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Tottenham are interested in appointing former manager Mauricio Pochettino as Frank\u2019s permanent successor after the season.<\/p>\n

According to reports, the Argentine tactician is expected to be among the candidates to replace Frank<\/a> after the World Cup, when Pochettino\u2019s contract with the United States national team expires.<\/p>\n

\"Thomas<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\tHe Wants Job: Tottenham Considering Hiring ‘World-Class’ Thomas Frank Upgrade
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Tottenham have been struggling under Thomas Frank and that should see them opt for a move to bring in someone else<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach John Heitinga is a potential caretaker candidate should Thomas Frank be sacked, according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":416990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-416989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/416990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}