Archive June 9, 2025

“I probably won’t be at Brentford forever,” Thomas Frank told BBC Sport in January when asked about his ambitions. “I will maybe walk into another club.”

That club could be Tottenham Hotspur, who finished 17th in the Premier League table – seven places below Brentford – but will play in the Champions League next season after winning the Europa League.

Spurs have closed the door on the Ange Postecoglou era and are bidding to replace him with the Dane who established Brentford in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship in 2021.

Frank, 51, is the second-longest-serving current manager in English football’s top-flight behind Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola.

“It is just a question of time,” said six-time Premier League-winning boss Guardiola last September, when asked if he was surprised Frank, appointed by Brentford in 2018, had not been offered a bigger job.

Frank did not play football professionally but has overseen 152 Premier League games – winning 54, losing 60 and taking 200 points from a possible 456.

Of the 54 managers to take charge of 150-plus games in the Premier League era, Frank ranks 29th for points per game (1.32).

During his Brentford reign, Frank has spent £254m on players and received £183m in sales – a net spend of £71m. Tottenham have spent £961m on transfers since 2016-17, according to FootballTransfer.com data.

Frank, who has been described as the opposite of Postecoglou for his adaptability, would be Tottenham’s fourth permanent manager since 30 June 2021.

Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months, Antonio Conte 16 months and Postecoglou, despite ending the club’s 17-year wait for a major trophy, has been sent packing after two years.

Frank’s boundless energy and motivational skills have got the very best out of Brentford, who are planning for a fifth consecutive season in the Premier League despite one of the smallest budgets.

He has built a reputation for producing teams full of strong characters with no egos, and has helped the likes of Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa become better players – as well as many others.

Often described as a ‘great human’, Frank built strong relationships and socialised with his players and staff – including his love of padel – and has been praised regularly for his motivational skills.

Brentford midfielder Christian Norgaard told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Thomas is very personal with the players.

“He cares a lot about how we are and how we feel. It’s a very important quality for a manager to have.

“Not every manager has it, and the ones that do seem to have more success. He’s definitely a leader and someone who guides us. He’s done a fantastic job in the years that I’ve worked with him at Brentford.”

Managing Brentford feels a very different proposition to managing Spurs though – moving from a club with consistently one of the lowest budgets in the division, to one full of high-paid, high-profile players.

Sutton described Tottenham’s decision to part ways with Postecoglou as “madness”, and added: “That is how things work at the club that Frank is walking into.”

He also also believes Spurs are taking a gamble on a manager who has no experience in the Champions League.

“Thomas Frank has done a brilliant job at Brentford, but this is a whole different kettle of fish,” said Sutton.

“Because of the expectation at Tottenham, Frank won’t get time to get his feet under the table. He will be under pressure from the off.

“Postecoglou has just won them their first major European trophy for 41 years and has gone. So already you have to wonder what does Frank need to do this season to keep his job?

“The aim for Frank will be to keep them in the Champions League, and whether that is by making the top four or five, that is not going to be easy.

“That is a big ask for this squad, to compete on both fronts. We know this Tottenham team is better than 17th place, because they finished fifth in Postecoglou’s first year, but other Premier League teams have improved since then.”

Brentford finished 2024-25 with more points than Tottenham (56 compared with 38), more goals (66-64) and fewer goals conceded (57-65).

In addition, Mbeumo (20), Wissa (19) and Kevin Schade (11) scored 50 goals between them after Frank was forced to adapt following the departure of Toney – 36 goals in 83 top-flight appearances for the Bees – to Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli.

There have been many different versions of Brentford though since Frank first took charge. High-possession football, more counter-attacks, more percentage football – Frank has played them all, leading to many seeing him as one of the game’s more adaptive coaches.

From attacking flair and bravery, to at times being more pragmatic, what will Spurs look like under Frank?

“It’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer because he’s a really flexible manager,” said football tactics writer Alex Keble.

“He will automatically adapt his tactics to whoever the opposition is, a bit like Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

“In many ways he’s the opposite of Ange Postecoglou, who is famously wedded to one idea.

“There’s a statistic – what Opta call 10+ – referring to the number of passes and sequences [in one move]. In 2023-24 Brentford registered 245. In 2024-25 that figure was 325.

“That tells you as time has gone on, Frank has wanted to play a more possession-based game. There’s certainly plenty of counter-attacks, fast transitions and plenty of highly choreographed long balls forward – direct football.”

Who are the Tottenham players who could benefit from the arrival of Frank, a manager who pays great attention to stats?

“You can certainly imagine Dominic Solanke linking with Wilson Odobert in a way Wissa and Mbeumo interact,” added Keble.

“Defensively, Tottenham are least like Brentford. Would Frank look at the Spurs squad and think ‘I can’t play Brentford football here?'”

Spurs fans struggled to buy into the brand of football under recent managers Jose Mourinho and Conte. Will they take to the Frank style?

“I think the way he played at Brentford was quite balanced – they had different ways of playing, depending on the opposition,” added Sutton.

“His Brentford team played good football at a high intensity, but ultimately fans take to managers when they win games, and that is it.

“I do think he has got different strings to his bow, but it will be interesting to see what Tottenham do recruitment-wise this summer.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy is another to praise Frank’s flexible approach.

Frank, praised for his methodical detail, has likened managing in the Premier League to being a head chef in a high-end restaurant.

“The chef needs to be able to cook the food himself,” said Frank.

“He’s got 20 other chefs doing all these things for him so he’s leading all these many chefs through his vision, his recipes and they are maximising every little detail.

“But he knows how the perfect outcome should be.”

His profile has rocketed since he arrived in England in 2016, being appointed Brentford’s assistant head coach under Dean Smith.

Despite not playing professionally he has ended up in the Premier League after starting his coaching journey with the under-8s of his hometown club Frederiksvaerk.

He progressed to become coach of Denmark at various youth levels until 2013, when he was offered a first-team coaching role at Danish Superliga giants Brondby.

Former striker Lee Rochester Sorensen, who was part of the Denmark Under-17s side, said: “He was always looking to improve and had a plan for every step of the way.

“Thomas always had a plan A, B and C, making it clear what was needed through the four phases of play, from our goalkeeper to our attackers – he’d tell us how to press our opponents and the reasons why.”

Ex-Brondby midfielder Martin Ornskov enjoyed Frank’s collaborative approach during their time together at the club.

“There were times when he’d discuss solutions with us during games,” he said. “Far from seeing it as a weakness, I saw that as a strength.

“I knew he’d be liked as a person and could evolve as a coach, but to work in the Premier League without having the experience or being a big name was a huge test.

“But the thing about Thomas was he was always so curious about football – he lived for the game. I saw a different coach at the end of my three years with him.”

After Frank Lampard left his role as Chelsea boss in 2023, Frank invited the former England midfielder to watch Brentford train.

“When you see someone like Thomas and how diligent he is and how well he speaks, you understand he has put thousands of hours into viewing, observing, working out his way, his approach to people,” Lampard, now boss at Coventry City, told the Football Daily podcast.

BBC Radio London commentator Phil Parry added: “Thomas Frank as a manager is exceptionally gifted, as a person he’s great – he’s an exceptional coach and leader.

“He also accepts he is the head of something that is very important. He stands on the shoulders of other giants who make that thing tick.”