THOMAS FRANK’S first big job ended when the club chairman was exposed for criticising him on an online fans’ forum.
Although some Tottenham supporters have a pretty low opinion of supremo Daniel Levy, it’s unlikely he would ever be caught doing the same.
Levy keeps a low profile and says very little about whether he is backing his manager — until the moment he doesn’t any more.
Which is not quite how Jans Bech Andersen handled things after becoming chairman of Danish club Brondby.
Frank had left his role with the Danish FA coaching the youth teams and working with senior boss Morten Olsen, to take over at the cash-strapped fallen giants in 2013.
But he resigned in March 2016 after just under three years in charge because of what became known as ‘Oscar-gate’.
‘Oscar’ was the name attached to a profile on a leading Brondby fan messageboard which had repeatedly hammered Frank and sporting director Per Rud.
And it turned out that ‘Oscar’ was Bech Andersen, a rich fan who had increased his investment and influence at the club a few months after Frank’s arrival.
Among ‘Oscar’s’ posts were rants criticising Frank for being a coach “who is inexperienced and stubbornly sticks to a system that doesn’t work” and his “inability to integrate new players that he himself has 100 per cent chosen”.
‘Oscar’ said Frank and Rud had made “crazy decisions together due to ignorance and lack of experience”, creating “a headache that needs to be cured as soon as possible”.
Frank understandably talked of a “breach of trust” in his resignation statement.
Nine months later, in December 2016, he joined Brentford as assistant boss to Dean Smith before taking the head coach role in October 2018.
It would be easy to say the rest is history but Frank did have a sticky start to his reign.
Without the strong backing of Bees owner Matthew Benham and co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen — a fellow Dane — he might not have survived.
Gambling guru Benham believed Frank was a good bet and has been proved right.
For all Frank’s incredible success in leading the club from the Championship to the top half of the Premier League, Levy and Spurs fans are entitled to ask how he would cope with the very different challenge at Tottenham?
The 51-year-old has never taken charge of a Champions League match nor won a major trophy, two things which were on former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou’s CV even before he led Spurs to Europa League glory in what turned out to be his final game.
Eddie Howe was similarly inexperienced when he joined Newcastle in November 2021.
Yes, Howe had taken Bournemouth through the divisions all the way to ninth place in the top flight but he had also been relegated in 2020 and never managed in Europe.
Yet Howe proved his doubters wrong — in 2023 he led the Magpies back into the Champions League, before lifting their first major domestic trophy for 70 years with March’s Carabao Cup victory over Liverpool.
Much has been made of Brentford’s use of data from Benham’s gambling business to give them the edge in recruitment.
But it is one thing to identify hidden gems with the potential to become stars — the art is making them realise that potential.
And Frank has a brilliant record, particularly with forward players.
Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa are the most high-profile examples of the ability of Frank and his coaches.
Levy will have also seen how players like Christian Norgaard — soon to become a free agent — have quietly become established Prem stars.
Frank has also proved tactically adaptable in a way Big Ange stubbornly refused to be until that backs-to-the-wall performance in the second half of the Europa League final against Manchester United.
Brentford were a free-scoring, attractive side in the Championship.
But after winning the play-off final in 2021, Frank knew he had to compromise a bit.
He made his side defensively sound and difficult to beat, using marginal gains like set-piece excellence to help preserve their top-flight status.
But last season the Bees were among the Prem’s great entertainers.
They were also one of the very few clubs in Europe to have three players with more than ten league goals – Mbeumo, Wissa and Kevin Schade.
If Frank gets the Spurs job, his personality will be quite a change from Postecoglou’s gruff Aussie charms.
The genial Dane is the most relatable and likeable Prem boss.
His image of a man who likes to visit his local pub on the Thames is not just for show.
Brentford know what an asset they have, which is why Frank has a £10million release clause.
Every managerial appointment is a gamble but for Levy that could be money well spent.
Bech Andersen remains at Brondby and is still posting on social media — albeit under his own name now.
At least Frank won’t have to cope with Levy doing that if he joins Spurs.
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