Tottenham Hotspur have confirmed the appointment of Thomas Frank as head coach on a three-year contract through to 2028.
Frank succeeds Ange Postecoglou, who was sacked by Spurs last Friday, and leaves Brentford after seven years in charge.
Frank is the 13th permanent manager to work under Spurs chairman Daniel Levy and reunited with the club’s technical director Johan Lange, a fellow Dane with whom he briefly worked at Danish outfit Lyngby Boldklub.
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As reported by The Athletic earlier on Thursday, Frank will be assisted at Spurs by Justin Cochrane at Spurs, with the highly-rated 43-year-old one of three members of Brentford’s backroom staff to follow the Dane across London – along with coach Chris Haslam and analyst Joe Newton. Andreas Georgson also joins as assistant head coach following his departure from Manchester United.
A Spurs statement read: “In Thomas we are appointing one of the most progressive and innovative head coaches within the game. He has a proven track record in player and squad development and we look forward to him leading the team as we prepare for the season ahead.”
Frank emerged as the leading candidate to replace Postecoglou, who was sacked on June 6 despite leading the north London club to their first trophy in 17 years when they defeated Manchester United to win the Europa League 16 days earlier.
Postecoglou oversaw Tottenham’s worst Premier League campaign in their history, finishing 17th on 38 points and losing 22 of their 38 games.
Frank joined Brentford in 2016, initially as an assistant coach, and was promoted to head coach in October 2018 when Dean Smith left for Aston Villa.
He led the club to promotion to the Premier League in 2021 and has kept the Bees in mid-table and away from relegation, despite the departures of star players including forwards Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney.
Brentford finished 10th last season, nine points off the European places, and were twice beaten by Postecoglou’s Spurs.
Frank’s first competitive fixture in charge of Tottenham will be the UEFA Super Cup, where Europa League champions take on Champions League-winners Paris Saint-Germain on August 13 at The Stadio Friuli in Udine, Italy.
Frank’s representatives held talks with Manchester United and Chelsea in the summer of 2024, before he was again linked with the job at Old Trafford following the sacking of Erik ten Hag in October 2024.
Frank leaves as a Brentford legend
Frank lost eight of his first 10 games in charge of Brentford but managed to stabilise the team and they finished 11th in the Championship in 2018-19, his maiden season in charge.
Brentford reached the Championship play-off final in Frank’s first full campaign but they lost 2-1 to Fulham after extra-time. Brentford returned to Wembley the following year and beat Swansea City 2-0 to earn promotion to the Premier League.
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They were widely expected to flirt with relegation, but memorably beat Arsenal on the opening day of the 2021-22 season and finished 13th. Frank’s coaching helped his young squad, including Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and David Raya, to excel at a higher level, while he convinced Cristian Eriksen to join them on a short-term contract.
Brentford’s second season in the top-flight under Frank was phenomenal. They thrashed Manchester United 4-0 at home and were the only side to beat future champions Manchester City twice. Toney scored 20 goals in 33 appearances and became Brentford’s first England international since Les Smith in 1939.
Brentford’s third year in the Premier League was disrupted by injuries but they bounced back stronger this season. They finished 10th and had three players reach double figures for goals (Mbeumo, Yoane Wissa and Kevin Schade).
Frank’s impact at Brentford has been huge and he will probably be recognised with a statue outside their stadium in the future. He has a fantastic connection with the fanbase, the players love him and he has a great relationship with the owner Matthew Benham, director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes.
Replacing Frank will be a difficult challenge for Brentford.
What would Frank bring to Spurs?
Tottenham’s transfer policy has changed since Johan Lange became their sporting director in November 2023 and now they mainly focus on signing players under the age of 23, including Archie Gray, Lucas Bergvall and Wilson Odobert.
Frank has an excellent track record of developing talent, including Ollie Watkins, Toney and Mbeumo, which can be traced back to his time in charge of Denmark’s youth-sides, so he would be a great fit for this young Spurs squad.
Lange and Frank have previously worked together at Danish side Lygnby which will help. When Lange was Aston Villa’s sporting director, he considered hiring Frank to replace Steven Gerrard before Unai Emery was appointed.
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Frank prefers to use a 4-3-3 formation but is more flexible than Postecoglou. During Brentford’s first two seasons in the Premier League, he regularly deployed a 3-5-2 formation against better-quality opposition and used long balls and set-pieces to good effect.
Brentford have evolved and now mainly play out from the back and press opponents high up the pitch. A switch to a 4-2-3-1 system this season to extract the best out of attacking midfielder Mikkel Damsgaard highlighted Frank’s willingness to make subtle tweaks for the benefit of the team.
One of the biggest challenges for Frank would be adjusting to European competition. His only experience in UEFA competitions is reaching the preliminary rounds of the Europa League with Brondby, so it would be a steep learning curve jumping straight into the Champions League.
(Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
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