THOMAS FRANK has been in the game long enough to know it is better to be a lucky manager than a good one.
And after waiting 30 years to take charge of his first Champions League game, he had some real good fortune to thank for a maiden victory.
More specifically, it was a moment of amazing misfortune for Villarreal goalkeeper Luis Junior, who somehow managed to divert a routine early cross into his own goal.
The mega gaffe came inside the first four minutes and proved to be enough to give Europa League champions Spurs a winning start to their campaign back in the big time.
But Frank, who first started his coaching journey in 1995 with the Under-8s of a local team in Denmark, will know his side underwhelmed here.
And on another day, particularly one where Villarreal’s man between the sticks was concentrating just a tad more, Tottenham could easily have ended up on the losing side.
This was not only Spurs’ first Champions League game since a limp last 16 exit to AC Milan in March 2023 that fans are still trying to forget.
But it was also the first home match of the post-Daniel Levy era.
Frank and chief executive Vinai Venkatesham paid tribute to the long-serving chairman, who was surprisingly ousted by the Lewis family earlier this month.
Viv Lewis and brother Charlie Lewis – the younger members of the family now calling the shots at Spurs – watched from the director’s box alongside new chairman Peter Charrington and Venkatesham.
The quartet could not have believed their luck when Luis Junior had his early moment of madness.
Villarreal’s Brazilian stopper had dived low to claim a simple Lucas Bergvall delivery, with Richarlison lurking behind him in the six-yard box.
But somehow the ball slipped out of the goalie’s grasp and rolled backwards over the line – a gaffe so bad it has been labelled as the “worst keeper blunder you’ll see all season”.
Frank’s reaction on the touchline was priceless. First he had his hands on his head thinking the attack had broken down, next he was punching the air in celebration.
It was an absolute gift that Frank, having waited so long for a chance to manage in this competition, gratefully received.
But Marcelino’s Villarreal, having finished fifth in La Liga last season, are no mugs, even if their goalkeeper looked like one with the opener.
And they quickly set about causing their hosts problems with Nicolas Pepe proving their most dangerous player.
The former Arsenal winger, who famously failed to live up to his £72million price tag at the Emirates, was roundly booed for his connection to the enemy.
Yet he caused problems and were it not for a timely Micky van de Ven deflection, Pepe’s shot may well have found the bottom corner instead of going agonisingly wide.
The Ivory Coast international then neatly teed up his Canadian team-mate Tajon Buchanan, but the left-winger’s poor effort went off target.
It was hardly a bad-tempered clash but ref Rade Obrenovic still dished out yellow cards like they were going out of fashion.
Normally we talk about teams needing to get to half-time to have a reset, but in this case, it felt like the man in the middle needed it more.
But before the interval arrived, Obrenovic turned down two penalty appeals for Spurs – and was upheld by VAR on both.
Each involved Pape Gueye, the first when Richarlison went down in the box under the Senegalese challenge, the second when the ball bounced up against his hand, but neither were given.
Frank’s side were not at their best in the first half – but were far worse at the start of the second.
Suddenly their passing became sloppy, with the likes of keeper Guglielmo Vicario and captain Cristian Romero giving the ball away, and their grip on the game became less firm.
Their Yellow Submarine opponents, meanwhile, were launching stealthy attacks with ever-increasing frequency.
Ex-Spurs man Juan Foyth headed wide, before ex-Arsenal man Pepe curled just beyond the post.
Much of the build-up had centred around another former Gunners player, Thomas Partey, who is due in Southwark Crown Court at 10am on Wednesday, to stand trial after being charged with five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.
The midfielder was roundly booed as he warmed up early in the second half.
Spurs’ most likely route to another goal looked to be through a set-piece and, more specifically, through another Luis Junior cock-up.
They very nearly had it too as he fumbled at a Mohammed Kudus’ corner but mercifully for the 24-year-old, the ball was hacked away.
Whistler Obrenovic could not stop himself giving out yellows in the first half – and then, astonishingly, decided NOT to give Simons a second one after the Dutchman had cleaned out Pepe.
The £51m new signing was a very lucky boy indeed – as Marcelino seemed to make clear to Obrenovic from the touchline and was cautioned himself for his troubles.
Simons then appeared to bundle over sub Ilias Akhomach in the area but again, nothing was given.
Partey came on, to an avalanche of boos, and Pepe whistled a free-kick inches wide of the far post in the final stages, but somehow Spurs held on.
Had they drawn, or even had they lost, Frank could have hardly complained.
But having waited three decades for his big chance, who could begrudge him a huge slice of luck served up by Luis Junior.
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