Tottenham Hotspur are set to seal the appointment of Thomas Frank as head coach after managing to secure the highly-rated Justin Cochrane as his assistant.
Spurs agreed terms with Frank following the departure of Ange Postecoglou and contacted Brentford earlier this week to hold talks relating to compensation and staff.
The deal was held up by the situation of Cochrane, who Brentford wanted to keep and had admiration from elsewhere — but he decided to join Tottenham.
Cochrane is regarded among the most promising coaches in the English game and will stay part of the national team set-up on a part-time basis under Thomas Tuchel, after being appointed in February.
The 43-year-old spent almost a decade as a youth coach at Spurs earlier in his career and has worked for the past three seasons with Frank. He saw the Englishman as a vital part on his new team.
They will be joined by coach Chris Haslam and analyst Joe Newton.
Haslam is Brentford’s head of athletic performance and has worked for the club for more than a decade across two spells. Newton, the first team analyst, has been with the club since 2019.
Three members of Postecoglou’s backroom staff, Mile Jedinak, Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo, left Spurs with the Australian but his former assistant, Matt Wells, and goalkeeping coach Rob Burch remained at the club.
Ryan Mason, who was also part of Postecoglou’s team, joined West Bromwich Albion as head coach before the 59-year-old’s dismissal.
Cochrane began his professional coaching career at Spurs, first joining the club in 2009 when he was still a player in the National League and spending the next nine years in their academy.
On leaving Tottenham, he worked for three years in England’s youth set-up, coaching the national team’s Under-15, U-16 and U-17 sides, and also spent a year working in Manchester United’s academy before joining the Bees.
Meet Frank’s backroom staff
Justin Cochrane
Cochrane represented a number of clubs in the lower divisions of English football during his playing career, including Queens Park Rangers, Crewe Alexandra and Millwall. He was born in London but made over 10 appearances for the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
He first started coaching when he was still a teenager in QPR’s academy and set up a grassroots team for local children under the age of 10. Before he retired, Cochrane started volunteering with Tottenham’s youth teams. He worked in their academy alongside Matt Wells, who has spent the last two years on Ange Postecoglou’s backroom staff.
During his initial spell with Spurs, Cochrane helped to develop future England internationals Noni Madueke and Kyle Walker-Peters, as well as Oliver Skipp, Josh Onomah and Japhet Tanganga.
Cochrane then became England Under-15s head coach. In 2019, he completed his UEFA Pro Licence and was promoted to Under-16s before eventually taking over the Under-17s.
In June 2021, he left England to become Manchester United’s head of player development and coaching. He only spent 12 months with United before he was appointed as an assistant to Frank at Brentford. Over the last three years, Cochrane has taken on more responsibility. He coached the forwards with Frank, and helped Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa to become elite strikers. Cochrane was heavily involved in the planning of training sessions too.
He was highly-rated internally at Brentford and it will be a blow to lose him.
Chris Haslam
Haslam has worked for Brentford for over 10 years across two different spells, either side of a short stint at Wigan Athletic. Brentford were in League One when Haslam first joined the club and he has played a major role in their journey up the divisions.
He initially joined the Bees in 2010 and became their head of conditioning from 2011, joining the Latics three years later. Haslam returned after 12 months to work with the under-21s before he was promoted to head of athletic performance across the first-team and B team. Haslam’s role covers physical performance and sports science.
He is in constant communication with Frank on a matchday, and often acts as a liaison between the head coach and the fourth official.
Haslam has worked with the Danish men’s national team too, and was part of their backroom staff at last summer’s European Championship.
Joe Newton
Newton was in Tranmere Rovers’ academy before he was released in 2014 and enrolled on a sports science degree at Wrexham University. During his time at university, he was registered in Wrexham’s squad but spent time out on loan with non-League sides Colwyn Bay, Witton Albion and Newtown AFC.
He completed a masters in performance analysis at the University of Chester and worked for Welsh top-flight side The New Saints (TNS).
He joined Brentford as a first-team performance analyst in September 2019. He is responsible for producing reports and post-match analysis on how the team has performed. Newton has forged a strong bond with Frank over the past six years.
He has played a role in helping Brentford earn promotion to the Premier League and then flourish in the top-flight.
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