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Move from ‘perfect job’ at Brentford presents both an opportunity and a challenge for the Dane

Out with the old: Thomas Frank has agreed a three-year deal to replace Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham

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Matt Verri

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As Thomas Frank gets to work at Tottenham, neither party will need reminding of the risks.

Daniel Levy’s decision to sack Ange Postecoglou after leading the club to a first trophy in 17 years was a bold one, for all Spurs’ dismal Premier League form made it almost inevitable.

Postecoglou was hugely popular among the players and the Europa League triumph remains fresh in the minds of supporters.

Frank’s likeable personality should ensure similar dressing-room support and the opinion of fans will be shaped by matters on the pitch come August, but there are further questions for the 51-year-old to answer.

He has done a remarkable job across seven years in the Brentford dugout, operating with a wage bill that in most cases would have resulted in Premier League relegation.

At Spurs, Frank will have greater resources and a crack at the Champions League, but so too increased expectations and an immediate demand for results.

Frank enjoyed his best days at Brentford but now faces a new test

Adam Davy/PA Wire

Most crucial, perhaps, will be adapting to life outside the well-oiled Brentford machine.

“It’s in many ways the perfect job,” Frank said in January. “You can still be ambitious... you can build a club and have a chance to win something. And because the environment, the ownership and everything is so good, it means my day-to-day job is extremely good. That’s worth a lot.”

Recent Tottenham managers have not been queuing up to describe the Spurs job in the same way.

Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte did not make it beyond 18 months, while even a European trophy was not enough for Postecoglou to survive.

At Brentford, Frank has enjoyed a strong relationship with owner Matthew Benham and works closely with director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes.

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The club are one of the best run in the country and have maximised every penny, with Frank developing the likes of Ollie Watkins, Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbeumo into key assets.

He was interviewed for the Chelsea job last summer and was also linked with Manchester United, but has been coy about taking the next step.

Frank pondered last summer: “Do I like to try something in the future? Maybe, but it’s not like I need to try something bigger or better because what is better? Who knows?”

He has earned the chance to find out, as Frank prepares to work outside the Brentford bubble for the first time since 2016.

Thomas Frank has reportedly requested the signing of Bryan Mbeumo

John Walton/PA Wire

The Bees provide the ideal structure, but Frank must now prove he can contend with increased responsibility and deliver away from that slick operation.

The scaffolding is very much up at Tottenham as the club undergoes a boardroom overhaul.

Levy’s closest ally Donna Cullen has departed after almost 20 years, while former Arsenal director Vinai Venkatesham is now in place as chief executive.

Chief football officer Scott Munn’s future is also in doubt, and there is talk of a return for Fabio Paratici when his ban for alleged financial irregularities is lifted this month.

The upheaval is significant and it will surely take some time for this new set-up to agree on a shared vision on recruitment, for example.

Technical director Johan Lange, though, is a keen admirer of Frank, having previously worked with him at Danish club Lyngby in 2013.

Frank will also bring some of his coaching staff with him to Spurs, along with set-piece expert Andreas Georgson, who was at Brentford in 2020.

Familiar faces will be crucial for a manager renowned for his tactical flexibility, particularly with training sessions minimised by a packed fixture list. Spurs played 17 more matches than Brentford last season.

It is a job that presents both an opportunity and a challenge for Frank, one that will elevate him as a manager or emphasise just how “perfect” the Brentford environment is.

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Charisma, communication skills and good record of developing players could be key to Brentford boss being a hit in north London

Thomas Frank is closing in on the Tottenham job

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Dom Smith

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Mauricio Pochettino has ruled himself out of a return to Tottenham for now, but if Thomas Frank becomes the next Spurs manager then they would be hiring a very similar profile of head coach to when they first took a chance on the Argentine more than a decade ago.

Spurs are closing in on the appointment of Frank to replace Ange Postecoglou.

Pochettino spent only 18 months at Southampton before being snapped up by Spurs, whereas Frank has been at Brentford since 2016 and manager since 2018.

But the principle is the same: a charismatic head coach who has overperformed on a tight budget at an upwardly-mobile Premier League club constantly pillaged for its best players. For Pochettino and Southampton then, read Frank and Brentford now.

Frank has done an impressive job in seven years in charge at Brentford

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Frank, 51, has produced a remarkable body of work at Brentford, who he has hauled to new heights in leading them to and then establishing them in the Premier League.

Replacing Postecoglou will not be easy.

The Australian led Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years and had a strong bond with the players, with many said to be unhappy about his brutal sacking two weeks after winning the Europa League.

Postecoglou’s successor will face a huge task to repair the dressing-room damage and Frank’s charisma could be key in getting the players onside early.

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His demeanour at Brentford has shown him to be relaxed and well-humoured under the pressures of being a Premier League manager.

He is one of most emotionally intelligent head coaches around and has a demonstrated a track record of developing players, as Ollie Watkins, Said Benrahma, Ivan Toney and his two current stars Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa can attest.

Results will determine how quickly he wins over supporters but Frank has always got his message across well through the media at Brentford.

Frank’s track record at Brentford proves he deserves the chance to manage to a top club

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Frank, who was interviewed for the Chelsea job last summer, has previously worked with Tottenham sporting director Johan Lange.

He has shown he is tactically flexible, he is not wedded to one way of playing and takes a hands-on approach on the training pitch.

Brentford play high-energy, high-efficiency, data-driven football. In the metric of on-field performance relative to wages, Brentford have been top of the Premier League every single season since their 2021 promotion under Frank. He can turn little into a lot.

With more games per season and a new challenge of the Champions League to overcome, can Frank adapt to a grander stage? While he started slowly at both Brondby and Brentford, he has made a success of each and every career step so far.

The decision to make a fresh start under a new manager comes amid the biggest shake-up at Spurs in more than two decades under Enic ownership.

Major changes are being implemented behind the scenes, where a boardroom overhaul continued last week with the departure of Levy’s right-hand woman Donna Cullen.

Cullen had been on the Spurs board since 2006, had a prominent role at the stadium and at the training ground and was seen as Levy’s closest ally.

Yet she stepped down on Monday, the same day former Arsenal director Vinai Venkatesham started work as the club’s new chief executive.

Further changes are expected, with chief football officer Scott Munn’s future in doubt.

Former managing director of football Fabio Paratici has also been linked with a return to Spurs once his worldwide ban - for alleged financial irregularities dating back to his spell at Juventus - is lifted at the end of this month.

The boardroom shake-up is an attempt to place more football expertise closer to Levy, who has always been the club’s decision-maker on a day-to-day basis.

Levy will now have others alongside him with heavy involvement in football matters.

Such changes are with a view to greater success on the pitch amid the possibility of fresh investment, from Enic or elsewhere.

The most important determinant of which direction the club now heads in is who is appointed as head coach.

If hired and then properly backed, Frank could be a success story at Spurs.

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Spurs believe a change in approach is necessary to compete on multiple fronts next season after making “toughest decision”

Dismissed: Ange Postecoglou has been sacked by Tottenham despite winning their first major trophy for 17 years

Zac Goodwin/PA Wire

Dom Smith

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Tottenham have revealed that the board unanimously decided to sack Ange Postecoglou as manager after concluding that they could not “base the decision on emotions aligned to” winning the Europa League.

Confirmation arrived on Friday evening that Spurs have sacked Postecoglou after two years at the helm, with Brentford’s Thomas Frank the early front-runner to replace him.

The decision was largely taken due to the club’s unprecedented 22 defeats and worst-ever 17th-place finish in the Premier League this season.

It comes despite Postecoglou having delivered Spurs their first piece of major silverware in 17 years by guiding them to Europa League glory in Bilbao last month.

That trophy, secured with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the final, earned Spurs a return to the Champions League for next season, but Postecoglou has been informed that he will not be the man to lead them through that campaign.

Tottenham’s full statement published on their official website read: “Following a review of performances and after significant reflection, the Club can announce that Ange Postecoglou has been relieved of his duties.

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“Ange joined us from Celtic in the summer of 2023 and oversaw a period of change on the pitch, returning us to the attacking brand of football that has traditionally been associated with the Club, while writing a new chapter in our history by leading us to UEFA Europa League glory in Bilbao last month — an achievement that will live with us all forever.

“We are extremely grateful to Ange for his commitment and contribution during his two years at the Club. Ange will always be remembered as only the third manager in our history to deliver a European trophy, alongside legendary figures Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw.

“However, the Board has unanimously concluded that it is in the best interests of the Club for a change to take place. Following a positive start in the 2023/24 Premier League (PL) season, we recorded 78 points from the last 66 PL games.

“This culminated in our worst-ever PL finish last season. At times there were extenuating circumstances — injuries and then a decision to prioritise our European campaign. Whilst winning the Europa League this season ranks as one of the Club’s greatest moments, we cannot base our decision on emotions aligned to this triumph.”

Spurs added: “It is crucial that we are able to compete on multiple fronts and believe a change of approach will give us the strongest chance for the coming season and beyond. This has been one of the toughest decisions we have had to make and is not a decision that we have taken lightly, nor one we have rushed to conclude.

“We have made what we believe is the right decision to give us the best chance of success going forward, not the easy decision.

“We have a talented, young squad and Ange has given us a great platform to build upon. We should like to express our gratitude to him. We wish him well for the future - he will always be welcome back at our home.

“News on the appointment of a new Head Coach will be announced in due course.”

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“This is making me wanna get assless chaps,” said the person next to me as Beyoncé sashayed onto stage in her fourth pair of the night (all variations of leather, tassled, and sparkly).

Taylor Swift may have nabbed the rights to the word, but Beyoncé is the true queen of eras. She was last at Tottenham Hotspur stadium exactly two years ago for her Renaissance tour, an ode to Black queer club culture which was all latex bodysuits and thumping dance anthems.

But the night club has become a honky tonk bar, and the Beyhive have switched out their cheap spandex for cowboy hats and denim cut-offs. The first night of Beyoncé’s six-date run at Spurs for the Cowboy Carter tour was an exercise in the singer’s ability to do whatever she wants, to an exceedingly high level.

Yet she has said that it is "a Beyoncé album, not a country album." It’s all contradictions, a love letter to America and a critique of it, full of genre-bending songs and rich references to the black music which inspired country.

The show plays with those contradictions. Not many singers could get away with belting out the national anthem in a jumpsuit sequinned with the US flag. But just as quickly, the star-spangled outfit is whipped off and replaced by papier-mâché newspapered armour emblazoned with the words “America has a problem”.

You wonder how different the mood of this tour would be if Kamala Harris had won the election. There’s hints of what could have been when Beyoncé sings Freedom, a song off Lemonade which was the anthem to Harris’s presidential campaign video.

The stage is set with the insignia of the American south, but Beyified: rodeo bulls in shiny gold, a neon bar sign which says “kntry”, and a light up horseshoe which Beyoncé mounts, before it bears her high in the air and careers off around the stadium at a rather alarming pace. At points, you might be in a saloon bar in rural Texas (if not for the 60,000-strong audience wearing light-up wrist bands) before the dazzling pyrotechnics kick in, or a red velvet car descends from space.

This is a family affair. The show’s emotional high point is during Protector, a song about motherhood, when Beyoncé’s 7-year-old daughter Rumi shyly totters onto the stage in a white fur coat and snuggles into the crook of her mother’s arm as she is serenaded.

But the Carter child who steals the show is Blue Ivy, who is giving nepo babies a good name. She joins the back-up dancers throughout the show and looks well beyond her 13 years as she tosses her hair and struts down the stage in a cowgirl outfit. Blue clearly got that uniquely American polish from her mother. At one point the heavens open, but it’s far from a dampener on the mood. 'This rain feels so good!' says Bey, flashing one of her beatific smiles.

Beyoncé’s pre-cowboy eras are sandwiched into the second half. Sasha Fierce and co rear their heads in a medley of greatest hits including Single Ladies, Love on Top and Irreplaceable. “Shall we do one more?” Beyoncé asks before singing a truncated If I Were a Boy, sending the audience of mainly millennial women into a tailspin of nostalgia.

While her solo career is only slightly longer than Taylor Swift’s, Bey hasn’t quite captured the attention of younger Gen Zs in a similar way. No matter, though – it saves your ears from the tinnitus-inducing screams of tweenagers. The only disappointment is a slowed-down version of Crazy in Love which features warbling trumpets and doesn’t pack the punch of the original.

This is a show which spans a dizzying array of emotions and epochs. It is angry and hopeful, ironic and earnest. There are moments of high camp and operatic stillness; whomping production value paired with kitschy outfits. The three-hour, 39-track spectacle is a riot, and a testament to the three-decade career of a powerhouse who appears to be capable of just about anything.

Spurs players quickly take to social media to offer their thanks and gratitude to Europa League-winning boss

Embrace: Dominic Solanke was among the Tottenham players to show his support for the sacked Ange Postecoglou

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George Flood

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Tottenham stars have continued to show their public support for Ange Postecoglou following his sacking by the club.

Postecoglou was relieved of his duties as manager by Spurs on Friday evening on the two-year anniversary of his appointment, just two weeks after ending the club’s 17-year major trophy drought with victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final in Bilbao.

The Australian’s fate was ultimately sealed by a dismal Premier League campaign that saw Tottenham slump to a worst-ever 17th-place finish, just one spot above the relegation zone, losing 22 of their 38 matches and amassing only 38 points in total.

Spurs’ first trophy since 2008 and first success in Europe for more than 40 years meant that Postecoglou remained a hugely popular figure among players and fans alike despite those woeful domestic struggles, making the decision to sack him very controversial and divisive indeed.

The esteem in which the former Celtic boss is still held in the Tottenham dressing room was made abundantly clear by Spanish right-back Pedro Porro, who wrote on social media soon after his sacking: “Thank you for everything, boss.

“For mentoring me early on, helping me settle into the club, and trusting me out on the pitch. I’ll always be grateful for the way you led us, defended us, and kept us going through all the highs and lows.

“Above everything, you gave us one of the greatest moments in the club’s history and for that, you’ll always be celebrated. Wishing you all the very best, boss.”

Porro has since been joined by several Tottenham team-mates in expressing their thanks and gratitude to Postecoglou on Instagram, with central defender Micky van de Ven writing: “Thank you for everything! Believed in me from the first day I arrived at the club.

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“Many ups and downs in the last two years but you kept believing in us and kept pushing us. Big part of the success from the club this year, and forever grateful that u made me part of it.”

Midfielder Lucas Bergvall wrote: “Thank you for everything you have done for me. Thank you for bringing this club a European trophy and memories to last a lifetime for us and every Spurs fan around the world. Wishing you all the best.”

Brazilian forward Richarlison wrote: “Mister, massive thanks for helping me out and believing in me during one of the trickiest periods of my career and my life.

“Everyone who loves the Spurs will remember that Big Ange always bags trophies in his second season. We’ve made history! Cheers and good luck on your journey! I’ll always be rooting for you.”

Striker Dominic Solanke said: “Thank you for bringing me to this wonderful club, thank you for bringing us a wonderful trophy.

“Won’t ever forget the convo we had before I signed and we achieved a dream! All the best in your next adventure.”

Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario wrote a lengthy tribute to Postecoglou, which read: “Boss, I just want to say a massive thank you for everything you have done for me and for all of us.

“From that very first call, right from the beginning, you always showed so much belief in me.

“Giving me the opportunity to be part of the leadership group… those moments, and many others, will stay with me forever.

“You are not only a top manager, you are an incredible person to work for, a real leader, a mentor, and someone I’ll always look up to.

“What we achieved TOGETHER will stay in the history books. Wishing you nothing but success as I know you will go on to achieve more and more. Thank you, Boss. Forever grateful, Vic.”

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