Guglielmo Vicario was booed by his own fans after his howler capped a shambolic opening six minutes against Fulham which saw Spurs concede twice, with an eventual revival not enough to avoid a 2-1 defeat which could have been much worse.
Already trailing from Kenny Tete's third-minute deflected opener, a moment of madness from the Italian goalkeeper less than three minutes later gifted possession to Harry Wilson after running some 25 yards off his line, and the Fulham midfielder punished his poor clearance with a stunning strike into the unguarded net.
It was the earliest Spurs had conceded two goals in the history of the Premier League and enough for a sizeable proportion of their fans, who have seen their side win just three of their last 21 home league games, to turn on Vicario and boo a number of his touches across the remainder of the half.
Thomas Frank was left so angered by their reaction that he told SportNews after the game: "I didn't like that our fans booed at him straight after and a few times he touched the ball.
"They can't be true Tottenham fans because everyone supports each other when you are on the pitch.
"And we do everything we can to perform. After, fair enough, boo, no problem. But not during. That's unacceptable in my opinion."
Vicario's team-mates were not immune either. At half-time Micky van de Ven anticipated the reaction of the infuriated home crowd and called his team-mates across to walk off together and face their ire as one.
By that point Fulham would have been out of sight were it not for the actions of the home skipper, whose vital slide on Samuel Chukwueze from a seemingly impossible position denied the Cottagers a crucial third after Vicario had been rounded.
Frank had clearly changed tack following the insipid defeat at Arsenal last weekend and named an attacking line-up including both Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, only to see his side cut apart at will by every first-half Fulham attack. The only question appeared to be the margin of the visitors' victory.
That would have been bad enough without Spurs' attacking display proving limper than ever, with an xG of just 0.07 racked up by the break and not a single shot on target.
It made Frank's decision to retain confidence in his starting XI all the more surprising but that same line-up looked a different side from the restart, though still found clear-cut opportunities hard to come by.
Even their lifeline 14 minutes into the second half required a rocket of a strike from Mohammed Kudus to beat Bernd Leno at his near post, before their momentum slowly ebbed away and it reverted to a familiar story - a lack of creativity on home soil, and yet another poor result to add to the collection.
This time, it may also begin to raise the heat on Frank himself.
Former Tottenham defender Michael Dawson on Saturday Night Football:
"It was always going to improve from last season [in the Premier League]. They are 10th now but only four points off the top four, so that's where you have to be realistic.
"Did I expect them to finish in the top four this season? I didn't. I thought top six was realistic with Frank going in.
"With what he did over the last four or five years at Brentford, we can't now just say Frank isn't a good coach.
"The performances have been well below par at home. It is that creativity. It is hard for Thomas but he has only been in the building a blink of an eye, you have to give him a chance but you have to see an improvement.
"They are only four points off top four. Top six was a realistic aim. Thomas Frank is a good coach because we have seen it for years, but a big club brings expectation and scrutiny.
"This group of players aren't playing to the levels I expect them to be."
Tottenham head coach Thomas Frank to SportNews:
"This result leaves us in a place where we have lost another game. Every game has a single story, this game we lost in the first six minutes. We just need to keep working.
"After that, we rushed the first half in many ways. We wanted to come back into the game but couldn't do it in the first half, but we got much better in the second half. We got a bit of momentum, created more chances and opportunities, but couldn't get the second goal.
"It was an emotional performance in the second half, and I think that's quite normal. We know that we badly want to win at home, so when it's not going your way, it is hard. That's why you need to stick to the plan, be cool and not stress. It is easier said than done."
Fulham boss Marco Silva to SportNews:
"I'm very proud of the boys. We have been really speaking about the games on the road and all that stuff, so it was very important for us to win. We knew that it was going to happen one day and we prepared ourselves again for that tonight.
"What a great first half from us, definitely. We got two early goals so we were clinical, but we probably should've scored more in the first half. The way we controlled our game during the first 35 minutes was pleasing, we didn't leave anything for them and our fast attacks were very good."
