Thomas Frank looks set to be Spurs manager, but many of their fans were disappointed to see Ange go and argue that the club’s problems are far deeper than the manager but stem from the owner’s strategy.
Brentford have flourished in the top-flight despite having
one of the lowest wage bills. Frank’s side finished 13th in their first year
and recorded memorable victories over Chelsea and Arsenal. Ivan Toney, David
Raya and Bryan Mbeumo blossomed into superstars under Frank’s guidance. After
finishing ninth the following season, they placed 16th in 2023-24 as they
struggled with injuries.
But this season they bounced back to record a top-10 finish,
coming close to qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
Brentford’s rise under Frank has been meteoric, and it is no surprise that
Spurs have him in their sights.
Frank initially joined Brentford in December 2016 as an
assistant and the long-term plan was for him to replace Smith. Two years later,
Smith moved to his boyhood club Aston Villa and Frank was promoted.
Brentford finished 11th in the 2018-19 campaign and they
came third in Frank’s first full season. They won eight consecutive games and
looked destined to be promoted automatically until they lost their final two
matches, which allowed West Bromwich Albion to finish as runners-up behind
Leeds United. Brentford lost the 2020 Championship play-off final to local
rivals Fulham in extra time.
Frank used to be a teacher and started his coaching career
in Denmark’s youth system. He worked for Frederiksvaerk, Hvidovre, B93 and
Lyngby before being appointed head coach of Denmark’s Under-16s.
He has a track record of developing talent, and if he joins
Spurs his focus would turn to helping their young stars, including Lucas
Bergvall, Archie Gray and Mikey Moore, fulfill their vast potential.
Frank’s job has never been under threat during his time at
Brentford, even when they went on an eight-game winless run during their first
year in the Premier League. He has an excellent relationship with owner Matthew
Benham, director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes, and
admitted once that lots of managers could be a success at Brentford due to
the infrastructure, environment and culture which has been led by Giles.
One Spurs fan commented, ‘Our squad will never have the
required investment in wages to attract the truly top players, so we’ll never
be competing for the top prizes, even though that’s the dream we were sold with
the new stadium. We know definitively that for this ownership, the game is most
definitely not about glory. So the best a manager can hope for is champions
league places and maybe a cup win. Apparently though, a cup win won’t be enough
so basically we’re after the fourth place trophy every year.’
As for Brentford, they have punched above their weight under
Frank. He could well take key players to
Tottenham with him. They need to find a
smart manager who can succeed with a budget that is always going to be smaller
than that of the big boys given the size of the stadium.
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