Thomas Frank
Posted inDaily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank praised Brentford mentality after Bournemouth draw #BRENTFORDFC

September 4, 2023
Mbeumo’s fourth of the season cancelled out goals from Dominic Solanke and David Brooks after Mathias Jensen put Brentford in the lead for Brentford in the first half. And Frank praised his team’s second-half display which saw them extend their unbeaten start to the season, with six points on the board. “First half we were good but second half we were fantastic,” Frank said. “I think we ran over Bournemouth in the second half and we created chance after chance. "The only chance I can remember from Bournemouth was the goal, and that was a mistake from Rico (Henry). "But the mentality in this team is incredible. What character. They never give up, they will never die. "After we got a more than well-deserved equaliser, we still went for it, with centre-backs Nathan Collins and Kristoffer Ajer still overlapping. "I am very proud of the team's performance. "If we play this 100 times, we win it 98, draw one, that was (Saturday), and lose the other time, because there were so many big chances."
Thomas Frank
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank’s verdict on AFC Bournemouth under Gary O’Neil #AFCB #BRENTFORDFC

October 4, 2022
BRENTFORD boss Thomas Frank said Gary O’Neil and his staff had done a “very good job” since taking charge at Cherries and added the Dorset outfit “work unbelievably hard”. The Danish coach was speaking after his Bees were held to a 0-0 draw with interim boss O’Neil’s Cherries at Vitality Stadium on Saturday. The result meant O’Neil was now four games unbeaten since taking over from sacked Scott Parker back in August, picking up six points in the process. “I think it was a tight game. I think Gary O’Neil and his staff have done a very good job,” said Frank, after his side shared the spoils on the south coast. “Four games unbeaten, very difficult to break down, difficult to create chances against. They work unbelievably hard. “If there should have been a narrow winner, I think it should have been us. I think we had the better chances – Pontus Jansson, Kristoffer (Ajer), free headers. (Mikkel) Damsgaard could finish and Ivan (Toney) had three or four half chances. “But we just didn’t have the quality. For me, we lacked the quality from more or less all my offensive players.” Former West Ham and Portsmouth midfielder O’Neil has been linked with both Huddersfield and Middlesbrough during his interim spell at Cherries. Asked whether he should get the role at Vitality Stadium full-time, Frank said: “That’s not up to me to answer! Of course, I watched the three games they played. In many ways, very impressive performances and in football, sometimes you get an opportunity that you didn’t see coming. “It could be one of them. We all, of course I, myself only got better with more and more experience. “Gary maybe doesn’t have the most experience as a head coach, but if you have a skillset as a coach and tried a lot, and he had a good playing career as well, then why not?”
Thomas Frank
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank heaps praise on referee Thomas Bramall after Bournemouth clash #BRENTFORDFC

October 2, 2022
BRENTFORD boss Thomas Frank moved to praise referee Thomas Bramall for the way he refereed Saturday's clash at Vitality Stadium. Cherries and Brentford played out a goalless draw in the club's first ever meeting in the top flight. But it was referee Bramall at the centre of attention for two of the game's biggest flashpoints, opting not to award Cherries a penalty on two separate occasions. The hosts claimed for a spot-kick during the first half when Jordan Zemura went down under Kris Ajer's challenge. Having not given a penalty, Bramall was referred to the pitchside monitor by VAR John Brooks. After a lengthy review, Bramall opted to stick with his initial decision and award a goal kick. Then, in the dying seconds of the contest, Cherries gave loud appeals when a ball flew up onto the arm of Brentford midfield Mathias Jensen inside the box. Again Bramall was unmoved and the game ended level. Bramall was taking charge of just his second Premier League match, his first coming when Fulham hosted Brighton in August. Asked for his thoughts on the penalty claims, Frank said: "First, I would like to praise Thomas Bramall for his job. "A young ref, I don’t know how many games he’s reffed in the Premier League. But every game in the Premier League is important. "You can say Liverpool v City, but I think Bournemouth v Brentford is equally as important for both teams. "His character and calm head in a very, very stressful moment. You know when you’re called over to the monitor, it’s a very decisive decision for the game. "And we know, all of us in this room, nine times out of 10, most likely it will be a pen. But he stuck to his decision. "I think that says a lot about him. I’m not in doubt that’s not a pen. So I think that was very well done from him. "The only mistake he made was he was a little bit unclear whether he was giving a penalty or a goal-kick." He added: "It was definitely not a penalty. "The way I see it, he (Ajer) definitely touched the ball and then Zemura is falling over him." Quizzed on Cherries' second penalty claim, Frank said: "That was a penalty two years ago. Then we luckily changed the rules. "I hated that rule two years ago, because I think everyone is working so hard and then a randomness that would’ve given a penalty two years ago. "So I’m so glad we got that out of the game, because I think that’s the most fair thing. So definitely not a penalty."
Thomas Frank
Posted in2022-2023-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank outlines three important Cherries players ahead of clash with Bournemouth #BRENTFORDFC #AFCB

October 1, 2022
THOMAS Frank pinpointed three Cherries players his Brentford side will need to be wary of this weekend. Frank brings the Bees to Vitality Stadium on Saturday, for the first meeting of the two clubs at Premier League level. The last time the pair battled came in the Championship play-offs in May 2021, where Brentford prevailed over Jonathan Woodgate's side 3-2 on aggregate. They went on to defeat Swansea City in the Wembley final, with Cherries joining them in the top flight with promotion last season. Looking ahead to the challenge on the south coast, boss Frank said: "It will be another big challenge. I think Gary (O'Neil) and his staff and players have done a very good job. "On the results side they’ve had two draws and a win, but also the performances have been very solid. They’re difficult to play against. They look good. “I remember us playing them in the Championship two years ago and they have many of the same players. "They were two very, very even games in the Championship, two very even games in the play-offs and I expect a very even game (on Saturday). Hopefully we’ll come out on top. "We’ll go down and attack and do what we can to get three points. “We know they have players that can hurt us. Especially (Dominic) Solanke I think is a very good striker. I think (Ryan) Christie has done well as well and (Marcus) Tavernier." O'Neil is set to take charge of his fourth game as interim boss, following the sacking of Scott Parker after Cherries' were embarrassed 9-0 by Liverpool. Asked how impressed he is by the way Cherries have bounced back from the humiliation at Anfield, Frank said: "It’s very impressive. "Either you fall apart after a game like that, or you stick together and show that you're stronger. "We know Bournemouth is a club with a lot of experience still. "It's only two or three years ago they were in the Premier League. A lot of these players that are playing now also played in the Premier League back then. "So it's an experienced squad with good players. "In this league, besides the top six, that are from another galaxy, the rest of us are more humans and we need to fight for every point. "All 14 of these teams can end in a situation where it is getting tricky. Bournemouth is a good side." Cherries currently sit 12th in the Premier League, one point and three places behind Brentford after seven matches.
Sean Dyche Burnley
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- What Premier League managers said after Sean Dyche’s Burnley exit #BURNLEYFC #BHAFC #ARSENALFC #WATFORDFC #WHUFC

April 18, 2022
BURNLEY’S decision to part company with Sean Dyche shocked the footballing world, but what have his managerial counterparts had to say? "I am massively surprised. I don't know what happened behind the scenes but looking from the outside and as a Brentford head coach, there are a lot of things we can learn from a club like Burnley. “They were promoted, relegated and then promoted again and they have been here six or seven years in the Premier League. It is remarkable what they have done. “I think Sean Dyche deserves a lot of credit and they should build a statue of him outside Turf Moor because what he has done is incredible. “Every season, going into the Premier League with probably bottom three or bottom four budget and then still being able to compete and not just survive, but get at least a couple of top ten places is a fantastic, remarkable job. "Looking from the outside, I think they would have had a better chance keeping him to survive because he knows everything. But of course, I don’t know everything." Graham Potter, Brighton "I feel for a colleague, someone who I have a lot of respect for. It is never nice when someone loses their job of course, but we know these things happen in football. “I don't think he'll be out of work for long because the job he did at Burnley was fantastic. I think it is part of life. Sean is a big guy, he knows how it is. "The reality is there are more people to feel sorry for than Premier League managers but there is a pressure, an expectation. Sometimes it is fair, sometimes it is unfair - it goes with the territory. We know that when we go into it. “We know when results don't go well you are under pressure, you have got scrutiny. But it is part of the thing you sign up for and you have to deal with it." Roy Hodgson, Watford "Of all the people in the league, he would have been one of the ones I would have thought most likely to survive anything like this, so I have no idea what has happened. “Something must have happened because you don't part company with a manager like Sean Dyche after all the fantastic things he has done for that club over the last 10 years - he has built the club. "So I was surprised, shocked and disappointed too because I know Sean quite well and I admire him as coach and a manager. I didn't think that something like this would happen to him." Mikel Arteta, Arsenal "I only have words of praise because what he has done at the club over the last 10 years is phenomenal. "He gave the club a really clear identity, he has managed to keep the team, with one of the smallest budgets, consistently in the league. I wish him the best of luck and as always with colleagues, it is sad when you see those decisions." David Moyes, West Ham "I am shocked and a little bit surprised as well. I think Sean has done such a great job and established Burnley in the Premier League over many years. “Over recent times, Burnley have been a very difficult team to play against and most of that has been done by Sean." Patrick Vieira, Crystal Palace "It was quite surprising. There is no doubt about the work he has been doing at Burnley in the last 10 years, but this is the industry we are living in. “It is difficult to see a manager losing his position, but this is the world that we are in and as difficult as it is, that is the way it is."
Thomas Frank
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank thinks Sport Republic founder Ankersen will make Southampton a better club #SAINTSFC #BRENTFORDFC

January 7, 2022
BRENTFORD manager Thomas Frank has admitted that he is worried Rasmus Ankersen will make Saints more successful and added: “We will miss him.” Co-founder of Sport Republic, who have purchased Gao Jisheng’s controlling stake to become the new owners of Saints, Ankersen already has an esteemed career in football. He only departed his most recent job as co-director of football at Brentford at the end of 2021, after helping mastermind their promotion to the Premier League. Bees boss Frank was asked about the fellow Dane, ahead of their FA Cup clash with Port Vale. “First and foremost Rasmus has done a fantastic job for us,” he said, as reported by The Athletic. “I’ve known him for 15 years and I’ve loved to work with him in five years at Brentford so I will miss him. [embedded content] "We will miss him. He did a top job in terms of being part of getting Brentford to be a Premier League club and being a well-established club in terms of recruiting and selling players. "I don’t know too much about the Southampton thing to be fair. I would love it if he was here but he’s not. I’m confident that me, Phil Giles, Lee Dykes and Matthew (Benham) will find a way to do as well as we have done the whole time.” Asked if he is worried that Ankersen’s involvement will make Saints, and a direct Premier League rival of the London outfit, stronger, he responded: "Yeah. "Because Rasmus is very intelligent and very good at his job in terms of building a club and making them better. “He’s been a part of that at both Midtjylland and Brentford. "But one thing I know in football you can’t do things overnight. I think Southampton are doing a good job but to do a big turnaround it will take time.”
Thomas Frank
Posted in2021-2022-Season Daily News

#PLStories- Thomas Frank reveals Brentford are Covid-free as they close in on Brighton trip #BRENTFORDFC

December 22, 2021
Brentford have reported their squad is now Covid-free, five days from their trip to the Amex. Their recent league games versus Manchester United and Southampton were both called off due to Covid in the camp and boss Thomas Frank says the break has paid off. He said: “It helped us massively to break the circuit of transmission of the virus. “So from six or seven cases on Thursday, to Saturday we only had one, zero on Monday and zero today. So we are definitely in a fine place.” Frank says he was not surprised that the decision was taken to carry on playing, despite the rise in cases. He added: “No, because what I suggested was just one round, to break that circuit, clean the training ground, limit the contact between players and staff. BRIGHTON HAPPY TO PLAY ON IN PREMIER LEAGUE “I think we all want to carry on the with football.” Star striker Ivan Toney is set to return to the Brentford squad for the Carabao Cup quarter-final visit of Chelsea tomorrow.