Roberto de Zerbi has already made one apology at Tottenham - it must be his last

Roberto de Zerbi has already made one apology at Tottenham - it must be his lastThomas Frank went easy on the Tottenham players and that is something the latest manager, Roberto De Zerbi, will surely avoid doing as he prepares for a seven-game relegation fightCommentsSportopinionAndy Dunn Chief Sports Writer15:06, 07 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesRoberto de Zerbi is known to have fallen out with players during his managerial career(Image: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP via Getty Images)This might be wide of the mark but my guess is that Roberto de Zerbi will not make extensive use of Thomas Frank’s padel court.‌I might be completely wrong but De Zerbi does not look like the padel type. And we all know the padel type. They can’t stop telling you they play padel. Like vegans tell you they are vegan, or people who use air-fryers tell you they use air-fryers.‌Nothing wrong with padel, of course - or veganism, or air-fryers, for that matter. But it is just a bit, er, nice. Frank was just a bit nice.‌For a BBC interview when he was Brentford manager, Frank went to Gary Lineker’s home in Barnes and the pair shared a lunch cooked by the host. A crab starter was followed by sole meunière. Nice.The accompanying, chilled white wine was unnamed, but it was probably a Chablis, or a Puligny-Montrachet perhaps. Nice. Barnes, in case you don’t know, is the homeland of posh bohemia. Nice.READ MORE: Rio Ferdinand declares Marcus Rashford deal 'absolute robbery' with Man Utd farewell messageREAD MORE: Championship promotion race hots up after play-off twist with Coventry on brinkThomas Frank is nice. That does not mean he is not a good manager, he clearly is. But he was too nice for this collection of Tottenham Hotspur players.‌A few must have had wry smiles on their faces when they saw him having padel courts built at the Spurs training ground.Now they are up a creek, these players need a different character to paddle them out of it. And De Zerbi certainly strikes you as different to Frank.JOI...