Senior football correspondentTottenham's decision to sack Thomas Frank was made almost immediately after Tuesday night's loss to Newcastle.

Chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, in conjunction with sporting director Johan Lange, made the call - one the club had been reluctant to make.

But the sorry state of Tottenham's season meant not even Frank's biggest advocate could disagree with the decision.

Early on Wednesday morning, Venkatesham made the recommendation to the Lewis family - the club's ownership - to dispense with Frank.

In recent weeks a furious fanbase have directed their ire towards the Lewises amid a widely held belief that supporters' views about Frank were not being listened to.

According to conversations with those closely connected with the ownership, that was not the case - and the Lewis family were attuned to the widespread discontent from Spurs fans.

Of course, it would have been harder not to notice given the ferocity of ill feeling towards the Dane in recent weeks.

But given they effectively handed the running of the club to Venkatesham when appointing him chief executive last summer, it is fair to say the ownership have not sought to intervene - feeling a decision should be made 'on the ground'.

So, when the recommendation from Venkatesham to terminate Frank's employment arrived in the hours after the loss to Newcastle it was accepted immediately by the ownership board, who formally approved the decision.

All that was left was for Frank to be officially informed of his departure - a formality that took place on Wednesday morning in a meeting between the manager, Venkatesham and Lange.

Frank's appointment in June was welcomed at the time as a shrewd move.

He had done a superb job at Brentford to, firstly, earn promotion from the Championship and then, crucially, consolidate their position as a Premier League club.

But he lasted just eight months at Spurs amid player indiscipline, a split executive team and doubts over his tactical approach.

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Frank's struggle to create a successful cultureFrank was intent on implementing a positive culture at Tottenham - having done so at Brentford - which was one of the factors behind the decision to appoint him as Ange Postecoglou's successor.

There have been instances, however, when Frank's efforts to build respectful working conditions for his players and staff were tested.

Towards the start of his reign, Frank dropped a player from Tottenham's starting XI after the squad member reported late for a pre-match meeting and then did not apologise for the indiscretion.

However, after being removed from the team the player did later apologise.

The way Frank handled apparent threats to his authority ultimately impressed some players, who liked the fact there were consequences for below-par behaviour.