Thomas Frank is 'Tottenham Hotspur' is trapped in a golden cage, his escape attempts hindered by another disheartening experience and a loss of Premier League points.

The magnificent 'Tottenham Hotspur' stadium echoed with the familiar sound of loud booing on Sunday, a broader expression of disappointment rather than specifically directed at Frank, but a deep-seated discontent.

Tottenham dominated the first half against Sunderland, earning a 1-0 lead with Ben Davies' 8th goal for the club in 244 Premier League appearances.

That was the end of the good news for Frank.

Sunderland awoke from their first-half slumber, sensing the growing anxiety around the stadium, and Brian Robson's equalizer in the 80th minute felt inevitable.

The Black Cats punished Tottenham for their second-half retreat, inviting pressure that would ultimately deny them a chance to improve their home league record for the season.

This led to a reaction at the end of the game that mirrored the mood that has been following Tottenham like a rain cloud. The stadium is not a happy place, and Frank cannot provide the style or content to change that.

Freed from the pressure of victory, Frank's Tottenham have played 10 home league games, winning only two, losing five, and drawing three.

Tottenham were not bad. They were dull, uninteresting, uninspiring.

And that's Frank's problem in connecting with Tottenham's fans. In modern parlance, the majority just don't get him. Once fans have decided that, it's often impossible to change those feelings.

In Frank's defense, he hasn't been handed a winning machine by the released Ange Postecoglou, at least in Premier League context. Tottenham won the Europa League, but 22 losses and a 17th-place finish in the Premier League were a more realistic measure.

Frank's initial task was to convince supporters that he came from a lower-profile environment, Brentford, but he cannot provide any kind of consistency, identity, and, more importantly, excitement and victory.

This season, he has been missing key playmakers Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison due to injuries. Dominic Solanke has barely played, and he has lost Mohamed Kudus after just 19 minutes.

And, of course, Brennan Johnson was sold to Crystal Palace for £35m. Frank was willing to sell the Welsh forward, but he could have avoided the curse due to Kudus' injury, which appeared to be a muscle issue.

Tottenham's dull fare offered by Frank is illustrated by the fact that they have drawn six of their 20 Premier League games, as well as Postecoglou's last 53 league games.

However, those still supporting the manager point out that only Arsenal have a better away record than Tottenham, and Frank's 27 points from 20 games is a fair measure of his predecessor's 38 from last season.

Can Frank change hearts and minds?

How can Frank transform what seems to be a largely loveless relationship with Tottenham's fans?

Through victories that, at least, keep fans on the edge of their seats rather than slumping back in boredom.

Currently, it seems like an impossible task, as many feel Frank isn't the right fit. It's tough for a manager in the early stages of his tenure, but only a string of victories, preferably with elegance, can change hearts and minds in this part of North London.

Tottenham's fans did not boo their team or manager during the game, a fact Frank acknowledged, but the reaction at the end of the game was a loud expression of discontent.

Frank told BBC Match Of The Day: "Firstly, the fans were very good throughout the game and supported us, and that's all we ask for. I'm sure the fans will recognize the first half - and the players tried throughout the game, but sometimes it doesn't go your way."

He added: "There were many positives in the game. The first half was more like what we want to do. I liked our intensity with and without the ball. We created many good chances, but we lacked the decisive moment to finish the game."

The second half was a bit more back and forth, but we were slightly on top and still got into those attacking situations where we needed to finish the game. The positive is the intensity. The negative is that we didn't score the second goal."

When you work really hard, sometimes everything goes your way, and sometimes everything goes against you. Sometimes you have to work really, really hard to swing the pendulum in your favor."

That's all we can ask for, and then we're all a little disappointed that we didn't get the three points."

Disappointment, unfortunately for Frank, has become synonymous with Tottenham and his tenure.