Thomas Frank led Brentford to new heights. It’s no surprise he is the leading contender for Tottenham job

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Thomas Frank has been Brentford’s figurehead for just under seven years but the 51-year-old is now the leading contender to replace Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach.

Frank has overseen one of the most successful periods in Brentford’s history. The west London side were mid-table in the Championship when he replaced Dean Smith in October 2018. He guided them to successive play-off finals and they beat Swansea City 2-0 at Wembley in May 2021 to earn promotion to the Premier League at the second attempt.

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.

Spurs lifted their first piece of silverware in 17 years after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 21, but their awful domestic form has been impossible for chairman Daniel Levy to ignore. They suffered 22 defeats and ended Postecoglou’s second season 17th in the Premier League. The decision to sack Postecoglou was made on Friday.

Frank would need to quickly win over any doubters among the fanbase, but he has endured slow starts in his last two jobs as a head coach. Brondby failed to win any of his opening eight games in charge, while he lost eight of his first 10 matches with Brentford.

(Harry Trump/Getty Images)

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.

They finished third again the following season and lost 1-0 at Bournemouth in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final. Before the start of the second leg, Frank ran around Brentford’s entire stadium in an attempt to whip the crowd up.

When Arnaut Danjuma scored in the fifth minute to give Bournemouth a 2-0 lead on aggregate, Frank smashed a bin on the touchline with his foot. Brentford recovered to win 3-1 and then beat Swansea in the final.

He is a much more animated head coach than Postecoglou. He barks out instructions from the technical area and often gestures to his players. He claps when his team cut through the opponent’s press. He frequently talks to his assistants and, during breaks in play, will sometimes pull out a tactics board to visually show what he wants from the players. Frank plans his substitutions in advance for each game.

(Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)

He was sent off after Brentford lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2022 after confronting Joao Moutinho and Ruben Neves. The referee Peter Bankes booked Frank, who responded, “You may as well show me the second yellow (card).” Apart from that incident, he is calmer after a defeat than Postecoglou. Frank will say, “My body is burning”, but he tends to be measured and thoughtful with his responses. Postecoglou was guilty of being grumpy and created unnecessary drama at times.

Frank celebrates victories with a glass of red wine and has a strict rule that, whether his team wins or loses, they are given 24 hours to process their emotions before focusing on the next task. He has a “no d***heads policy”, which means a potential new signing’s personality is equally as important as their ability. Throughout his reign at Brentford, he repeatedly told the squad about the importance of being “confident but humble.”

Apart from a 3-2 defeat by Everton earlier this year when he experimented with a back three due to an injury crisis, Postecoglou always stuck with a 4-3-3 formation at Spurs. Brentford switched between a 3-5-2 system and 4-3-3 across their first two years in the top-flight under Frank. He would use a 3-5-2 with aggressive wing-backs, which would morph into a back five out of possession, against quality teams who were expected to dominate possession, including Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

For example, left wing-back Rico Henry pushed forward and created multiple goalscoring opportunities in their famous 2-1 victory over Manchester City at the Etihad in November 2022. They had a lot of success with goalkeeper Raya pumping the ball long for Toney, who would flick it on for his strike partner Mbeumo.

(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)

Frank would sometimes switch to a 3-4-3 if Brentford were losing but rarely uses this tactic now. Yoane Wissa moved to the left wing, Josh Dasilva pushed up on the right and Mbeumo operated as an offensive right wing-back. Frank used this system when Brentford were losing 2-0 to Leicester City on the opening day of the 2022-23 season. Toney scored midway through the second half and Dasilva equalised in the 86th minute.

Frank prefers to use 4-3-3 but recognises when subtle tweaks need to be made to benefit everybody. Mikkel Damsgaard excelled and recorded 10 assists this season, operating as the advanced central midfielder in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Damsgaard thrived playing quick balls in behind to the rapid front three of Wissa, Mbeumo and Kevin Schade, who all reached double figures in the league.

“He is very methodical in the way he works, and the level of detail he goes into is the most I’ve been involved in,” Ben Mee told The Athletic’s audio documentary Access All Areas: Brentford in July 2023. “Technically, tactically, he wants players to know every part of their job and is good at getting his point across.

“He’s approachable in ways that maybe others wouldn’t be. He’s open to ideas, which is great, he’s always trying to take things on board from players but ultimately he’s got a lot of knowledge about the game.

“I remember speaking to Thomas when we were either losing or drawing in a game. I looked over to him to say, ‘Shall I go up for a throw-in?’ He said, ‘Yeah, always go every single time, no doubt about it.’ That is refreshing for me.”

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.

At Lyngby, Frank crossed paths with Johan Lange, who became Tottenham’s technical director in November 2023 after holding a similar position at Aston Villa. While at Villa, Lange had been keen on hiring Frank to replace Steven Gerrard in October 2022. Nearly two decades after they first met, Lange and Frank could be reunited at Spurs.

Frank managed Denmark at the Under-17 European Championship in 2011, and his squad included future Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Brentford captain Christian Norgaard. They reached the semi-finals after beating England, who had Raheem Sterling and Jordan Pickford in their starting XI.

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.

At Brentford, Frank converted Ollie Watkins from a winger into a centre-forward, helped Toney, Mbeumo and Wissa evolve into elite strikers and persisted with Damsgaard after he struggled with injuries during his first two years in Brentford. Frank has also improved experienced players, including Mee and Pontus Jansson. He even helped former Sweden international Jansson overcome superstitious rituals he followed before matches.

(Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

The biggest question mark around Frank if he moved clubs would be how he handles the step up in attention and expectation in north London. Tottenham have a packed fixture schedule next season following their qualification for the Champions League. They played 17 more games than Brentford in the 2024-25 campaign, while Frank has no experience of coaching in a European competition apart from the preliminary qualifying rounds of the Europa League with Brondby. His coaching methods will be tested and might require further adaptation.

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.

Frank did give serious consideration to joining Villa three years ago, and last year he was interviewed by Chelsea and admired by Manchester United.

Tottenham have burned through four permanent managers since Mauricio Pochettino was sacked in November 2019 — nobody has lasted more than two years — but Frank has always been ambitious.

(Top photo: Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

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