Thomas Frank is trapped in a gilded cage at Tottenham Hotspur, his attempts to escape hindered by yet another joyless experience and more Premier League points dropped.
The magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium resounded to a familiar sound of loud boos at the end of Sunday's 1-1 draw against Sunderland, more out of widespread frustration than specifically aimed at Frank, but a soundtrack of deep discontent nonetheless.
Spurs were functional rather than thrilling as they held sway in the first half, their superiority rewarded by Ben Davies' eighth goal in 244 Premier League appearances for the club.
And there the good news ended for Frank.
Sunderland woke from their first-half slumbers, detected the growing anxiety around the stadium, and a sense of inevitability accompanied a thunderous 80th-minute equaliser from Brian Brobbey.
The Black Cats punished Spurs for going into increasing retreat in the second half, inviting the sort of pressure that eventually cost them the chance of improving an embarrassing home record in the league this season.
It sparked a reaction at the end that reflected the mood that hovers over Spurs like a rain cloud. This stadium is not a happy place – and Frank is failing to provide the style or substance to change things.
Denied the relief of victory, Frank's Spurs have now played 10 league games at home, winning only two, losing five and drawing three.
Spurs were not bad. They were dull, uninspired, lacking spark, wasteful.
And therein lies Frank's problem in forging any sort of bond with Spurs fans. In the modern parlance, the majority are simply not having him. Once supporters decide this, it is often an impossible job to turn those feelings around.
In Frank's defence, he hardly inherited a winning machine from the sacked Ange Postecoglou, in the Premier League context at least. Spurs won the Europa League, but 22 defeats and a Premier League placing of 17th was the more realistic measure.
Frank's initial task was to win over supporters sceptical that he had arrived from the more low-key environment of Brentford, but he has been unable to provide any sort of consistency, identity and – far more significantly – excitement and wins.
He has been without injured key creators Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison this season. Dominic Solanke has barely figured, while he lost Mohammed Kudus after only 19 minutes here.
And Brennan Johnson, of course, has been sold to Crystal Palace for £35m. Frank was willing to lose the Wales forward, but he may well have cursed the decision as Kudus limped disconsolately away with what looked like a muscle injury.
The dour nature of the fare offered up by Spurs under Frank is illustrated by the fact they have drawn six of their 20 Premier League matches this season, as many stalemates as in the final 53 league games under Postecoglou.
However, those who still support the manager would point out that only Arsenal have a better away record than Spurs, while Frank's 27 points from 20 games measures up well against his predecessor's 38 from 38 last term.
How does Frank transform what seems to be a largely loveless relationship with Spurs fans?
By winning games in a style that at least has supporters shifting towards the edge of their seats, not slumping back in boredom.
At the moment, this looks an impossible task as many seem to have made up their mind that Frank is not the man for them. Harsh so soon into a head coach's reign, but already it is only a sequence of wins, preferably achieved with panache, that will shift hearts and minds in this part of north London.
The Spurs fans did not turn on their team or head coach during this game, a fact acknowledged by Frank, but the reaction at the final whistle was one of loud dissatisfaction.
Frank, however, told BBC Match Of The Day: "First and foremost throughout the game the fans were very good and backing us and that is all we are asking for. I am sure the fans will acknowledge the first half - and the players tried throughout the game, but sometimes it doesn't go your way."
He added: "There were a lot of positives in the performance. The first half was much more like we want to do. I liked our intensity with and without the ball. We created a lot of good situations, but we lacked the decisiveness to finish the game off.
"The second half was a little more back and forth but we were slightly on top, and still got into those attacking situations where we needed to kill the game off. The positive is the intensity. The negative is we didn't score a second goal.
"When you are working very hard, sometimes you get into that momentum where everything clicks and goes your way. Sometimes you have to work very, very hard to get the margins on your side.
"That is all you can ask for and then we're all a little disappointed that we couldn't get the three points."
Disappointment, worryingly for Frank, is becoming the byword for Spurs and his tenure so far.
