Not sacked in the morning as the South Stand choir had recommended. Nor the morning after as it turned out and Thomas Frank summoned his brightest demeanour as he led a depleted squad from Tottenham’s training centre.

'Very good, actually,' he said in response to enquiries about his wellbeing as he stepped onto the grass. 'The sun is shining and we’re playing football.' 

To be honest, the sunshine was scarce. And there has been very little football to savour in these parts of late. But the morning drizzle had finally ceased. And the beleaguered Dane was clinging to his job despite swirling uncertainty since the latest defeat.

The Spurs board have taken a determined stance this season to stand by Frank, conscious that problems run far deeper than the identity of the head coach and will only be overcome by an extended period of stability.

'At some point, the club needs to stick to something,' as Ange Postecoglou said last year while fighting in vain to keep the job Frank is now fighting to keep.

Spurs supporters, however, turned the mood toxic inside the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after the late winner scored by West Ham on Saturday and the club’s new regime spent the rest of the weekend wavering, considering options before three of them descended for lunch with the head coach yesterday.

There were no assurances on offer about Frank’s long-term job security from chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange or Nick Beucher, influential son-in-law of the club’s co-owner Vivienne Lewis. And he was not expecting any. But he lives to fight another day.

'I haven’t heard any situation like that in football where they say, "Hey, mate, if you win tomorrow, no problem, and if you lose tomorrow, no problem",' said Frank. 'We had a good conversation about life and football, the future of the club, everything normal, like you do.

'Of course, there’s a little bit of stormy weather out there. I just think it’s an extremely good sign, because normally people are running away if there’s bad news or bad weather coming, they’re normally not coming in and being friendly for lunch.'

Whether this turns out to be the ultimate show of faith from a board under fire or a club simply paralysed by fear remains to be seen.

There is a certainly a school of thought within Spurs that to sack Frank and his coaching staff would further destabilise a wildly unstable environment, making matters worse and potentially tipping them into a full-scale relegation crisis.

The chairman, the head coach and his coaching team, the captain, one of the two sporting directors, the head of football operations and more executive figures have all been changed in the last 12 months.

After years of poor recruitment, there is major surgery required on the squad and Frank claims small signs of progress he detected in recent weeks have been nullified by twists of ill fortune.

Ben Davies is the latest ruled out by serious injury. Davies has had surgery after breaking his left ankle against West Ham on Saturday. Others absent through injury against Borussia Dortmund are Joao Palhinha, Richarlison, Rodrigo Bentancur, Mohammed Kudus, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.

Pape Matar Sarr is on his way back from international duty and Micky van de Ven is suspended from a yellow card in the previous Champions League outing against Slavia Prague.

Radu Dragusin, Yves Bissouma and Mathys Tel are omitted from the UEFA squad and new signing Conor Gallagher cannot be registered until the end of the league phase.

Archie Gray and Xavi Simons, who took knocks against West Ham, are among the 11 outfield players declared fit and playing despite pain. Dominic Solanke, who has not started a game since May, is another.

Frank hit out at the tackle by Jarrod Bowen on Simons which, he said, was far worse than the one by Simons on Virgil van Dijk, which earned him a red card and a three-match ban.

'That was a bad tackle from Bowen,' said the Spurs boss. 'Not that Bowen is a bad guy and would do anything intentional, but a bad tackle from behind that injured his ankle.

'He has a swollen ankle, but he is strong mentally and will play through pain so big credit to Xavi. I can’t understand why that isn’t a red card when a red card is given when he accidentally put his foot on Van Dijk.'

It all feeds into the notion that fate is conspiring against Frank, and he urged Spurs fans to get behind his team against Borussia Dortmund, currently second in the Bundesliga.

'We have 11 outfield players available and maybe three who need a massive push to get through 90 minutes,' he said. 'We need everyone to support us. We want them to support us from minute one. All of us. Especially the team. Especially the players. Especially if it’s not going too well.

'We need them to support us. Because if we do get that support everything can happen. Magic can happen.'

With 11 points from their six Champions League fixtures, Spurs are well set for the knock-out rounds. They could feasibly qualify without a point tonight or next week at Eintracht Frankfurt.

In the Premier League though, there is an awkward trip to Burnley looming on Saturday before a daunting quartet of games against Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle and Arsenal.

This is where Frank needs some magic because if his team cannot start winning the crescendo of dissent will reach the point where it is too loud to ignore.