Thomas Frank issues response to missing out on Man Utd job that Brentford will love

Thomas Frank is not fazed by being the most wanted man in the .

The Brentford boss has been one of the favourites to succeed Erik ten Hag at for the past year. It was the same when were searching for a new manager - and also when announced that he was leaving .

Back in September, after the Bees had given a huge scare and was asked if Frank was destined for bigger and better things, he declared: “Thomas is one of the best. It’s just a question of time.”

Frank, a 51-year-old Dane whose hometown of Frederiksvaerk was once famous for building cannons, is honest enough to admit that he would like to take a shot at football’s biggest prizes.

But when we met at Brentford’s rapidly-developing training ground in Hounslow, he made it clear that he still has unfinished business at the Gtech Community Stadium.

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“Of course, it’s nice to get praise,” said Frank, who has beaten Guardiola, Klopp, , and Ten Hag during Brentford’s first three seasons in the Premier League. “It makes you feel good and it feeds the ego - and we all need to feed our egos.

“It’s good when you turn on the TV and people are saying nice things about you. I’m only human. So I might get a thought in my head if something sounds nice - but it only lasts for 10 seconds because I have to focus on the job I have and the things I can affect.

“If I wanted to leave, I’d be political and tell the I was happy while behind the scenes I would be working to get away. But that’s not happening. If someone knocks on my door, then I will decide. There have been offers in the past that I've turned down because of what I have here.

“So I keep myself focused by telling myself to be confident but humble. If you don’t have belief in yourself, and you don’t back that up with hard work, then life can become extremely difficult - and that’s the same whether you are a football coach or a journalist.

“I’m a big believer in talking the talk and walking the walk. That means being consistent in my messages to the players and my behaviour, but also working hard myself every single day.

“But you never know what’s going to happen in the future. Will there always be enough inspiration, development, whatever, for me here? Maybe there will come a time when I just don’t find it interesting any more.

“We all grow and develop and perhaps I would like another challenge in the future. I’m a transparent and honest guy. I will see what the world brings to me and take it from there.”

It is clear that Frank takes real job satisfaction from punching above his weight. His success in transforming Brentford from a mid-table Championship club into an established Premier League presence over the last six years has hinged on convincing his players they can do the same.

Ivan Toney, , Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, Said Benrahma and Neal Maupay all benefited from their time in West London before moving on for big-money.

Brentford’s net spend in the transfer market under Frank works out at around less than £100million - despite investing almost £80million in the summer to bring in record signing Igor Thiago, Sepp van den Berg, Fabio Carvalho and Gustavo Nunes.

Skipper Christian Norgaard cost £3million, Yoane Wissa £8million, Bryan Mbeumo £5.5million, Ethan Pinnock £2.75million and Vitaly Janelt £600,000.

Frank acknowledges the work done behind the scenes by director of football Phil Giles and technical director Lee Dykes, as well as the burden shared by his coaching staff.

He said: “I am biased - but I really believe that while we might not be THE best in the world at identifying players and making them better, we are definitely one of the best.

“I think that’s a huge factor when we are trying to convince people that joining Brentford will be good for them. When we talk to players we want to sign, we can back our sales pitch up with facts.

“Pound-for-pound I think we are showing that even in the Premier League you can be relatively successful without splashing money around. We haven’t had a lot of misses. We are very good at maximising the potential of players. You don’t know how good a player will be, but we do get the best out of the ones we buy.

“The thing is that the bar goes up. We are now looking at better players - and that makes it more difficult because we can’t pay as much money as other clubs.”

Frank added: “It has been a fantastic journey with Brentford - and it can go on. What’s next? Well it’s a fine line between being extremely ambitious and being unrealistic - but we understand who we are.

“We are one of the smaller clubs in the Premier League, with one of the smallest budgets. That impacts us because we can’t buy the best players in the world. So we create a culture, a way of playing and a togetherness that's unique. Maybe we could qualify for Europe one season, or even win a cup.

“It can never go up and up and up. We will never win the Premier League because the money means we can’t. It would be great to win a cup. But to do that you might need some luck in the draw.

“We start from the point that every year we stay in the Premier League is a massive success, but it can never be our only aim because that's when you are in danger of decline.”

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