70 Thursday February 3 2022 | the timesSportFootball
assistant coach but the idea grew on
me,” he says. “It’s probably one of the
best decisions I have ever taken but
nothing was promised to me.”
He has a “no dickheads policy” but
argues this was not broken by Ivan
Toney when the striker was seen in a
recent video being disrespectful about
the club.
“That, I think, I need to know more
about, though I would say no,” he
says. “When I say the ‘no dickhead
rule’ it’s about the training ground
and in the team. Of course, we would
love the players to represent the club
very well outside the club but with
social media it is difficult to navigate
that environment. At the training
ground and in the dressing room and
the team Ivan is a top pro and
character, one the players who drive
the team with energy and smiles.”
Did Frank break his own rule after
being sent off in his most recent
match against Wolverhampton
Wanderers? “I apologised to the
players straight after the game
because I want them to control their
emotions and not let it harm the team“Yes, that’s true,” he says. “That’s the
first test I do to all my owners. I try to
lose as many games as possible!”
When in charge at Brondby, Frank
failed to win his first eight games. “I
don’t know what it is with me at a new
club,” he says with a smile.
Frank almost turned his back on
football when in 2004 he found
himself studying for a masters in
sport psychology while coaching a
youth team for 30 to 40 hours a week
and earning £5,000 a year. He was
married with children aged two and
three. Nanna, his wife, who supported
the family in her career as a social
worker, “played the veto card and she
was right, I had to stop coaching.”
However, a friend intervened and
told him to accept an offer to be the
coach of the small Danish club, B93.
Various coaching roles at youth level
with Denmark led to the job at
Brondby and after resigning from the
club, Frank spent nine months
travelling with his family and being a
pundit before being offered a role on
Smith’s team in west London.
“It was not the plan to be anO
n Saturday June 12, 2021,
Thomas Frank was sitting
in his mother-in-law’s
summer house in
Denmark. The Brentford
manager had considered travelling to
the Parken Stadium to watch his
country’s opening European
Championship game against Finland
but his daughter was not keen, so the
family settled down to watch it on
television.
Like millions of viewers, he was
aghast to see Christian Eriksen, the
star of the Denmark team, slump to
the ground having suffered a cardiac
arrest.
“We had a nice dinner and
prepared everything for this big game
for Denmark,” Frank says. “I clearly
remember, when I saw the situation,
that something was wrong. I could see
from the way he fell over. I get
goosebumps now speaking about it. It
was very dramatic and sitting there
with two children means you know
how it must feel to see your son
[collapse]. Half of the Denmark team
I have coached myself. I know all the
Danish players one way or another;
the head coach, Kasper Hjulmand, is
a personal friend, I have friends
among the staff, so it was very
emotional. I was shocked.”
In the days and weeks that followed
we learnt that the former Inter Milan
midfielder had survived thanks to the
quick reactions of his team-mates and
medics and would be fitted with a
mini-defibrillator. The notion that he
would play at the highest level once
more was far-fetched but Eriksen
wants to represent his country at this
year’s World Cup in Qatar. Unable to
continue in Serie A because its rules
forbid players competing with heart-
monitoring devices, Eriksen needed
to find a new club.
“In the middle of December, I gave
him a call,” Frank says. “I said,
‘What’s up Christian? Do you want to
come to Brentford?’ ”
It really was almost as simple as
that because of the relationship
forged between them when Eriksen
was 16, when Frank was the former
Spurs midfielder’s coach with
Denmark Under-17.
“In the [born in] ’92 year group
Christian stood out as [someone]
going to be a national team player, for
sure,” Frank says. “In the ’93 group
there was none. In ’94 there was
Viktor Fischer, a big talent who
because of injuries did not make it. In
’95 there was Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
[now at Spurs]. In ’96 there was
Andreas Christensen [at Chelsea].
“But Christian stood out. I
remember his first game against
Sweden, my first game in charge, he
turned and played a perfect diagonal‘I asked Christian:
What’s up? Want to
play for Brentford?’
with his right foot and ten minutes
later he turned and played a perfect
diagonal with his left foot. All the
academy directors knew he was a
good player because he had been
since 12 years old. I spoke to Morten
Olsen, who was the head coach for
the national team, about him and two
years later he got his debut [at] 18-
years-old.”
Frank utters a good-natured but
dismissive grunt when I ask if he
could take any credit for Eriksen’s
development. “It must be very, very
little,” he says. “It’s down to Christian.”
The pair kept in touch when
Eriksen joined Ajax but contact then
became less frequent until they
caught up again after Frank came to
London six years ago to join the
Brentford coaching staff.
“If something were to happen it
needed Christian to think it’s a good
idea, the club needs to think it’s a
good idea,” Frank explains. “We spoke
internally about him and, of course, I
had this relationship with him as a
player I had coached. Just as at
Wolves, where there is a Portuguese
connection, here we have a Danish
connection which always helps. So in
the middle of December, I called him.
“We had a good chat about things,he sounded interested, he could see
the project and a way to come back
and play football at a good club, in a
good environment with a coach he
knows, and hopefully we can help
him to come back to his highest level.
“I explained about the club, our
culture, our style of play, my ideas for
him, where to live, whether Ealing or
Barnes or Notting Hill or
Richmond. I’ve been speaking to
him a lot but I’m looking
forward to seeing
him in person.
“We need to see
him on the training
pitch but the day he
steps out there and he
plays minutes for us will
be a big day for all
football because he’s
such a big player, a
big name across
the world. If
you’re
interested in
football,
you know
Christian
Eriksen.
And
everyone knows what
happened in June, so
the day he steps out
there it will be a big
moment for a lot of
people but even more,it will be a big moment for Christian
and his family and his closest friends.”
Frank is sanguine about the fact
that the 29-year-old’s return to the
game, probably against Crystal Palace
a week on Saturday, will in effect
become The Christian Eriksen Show.
“I think it’s natural,” he says. “First
and foremost he was, and hopefully
can be again, one of the best
midfielders who ever played in the
Premier League. I read some stats, it’s
crazy the assists and goals —
especially from outside the box —
that he has made so he definitely put
his stamp on the Premier League as
one of the greatest midfielders ever.
“Of course, it’s by miles the biggest
player we have ever signed for
Brentford. It’s a big day for a lot of
people so there will be a lot of focus
about Christian, especially over the
next two weeks, but hopefully it can
soon calm down to be about the
football and his performance and the
team’s performance.”
It is being billed as the fairytale
story of the season but some pundits
and players have expressed concern
that watching Eriksen will make them
feel uncomfortable. Frank says it is
understandable that anyone who has
suffered a cardiac arrest may have a
different viewpoint, but he has no
worries at all.
“He has been tested left, right and
centre,” Frank says. “He told me he’s
never worked as hard, he’s never been
in better shape physically, so I think
the most important thing is he’s fine
and his family are fine with it and
that he is committed. When you are
committed and set a target — that he
really wants to play in the World Cup
— then it helps.”
Last week Frank signed a contract
extension until 2025, which I suggest
must be one of the easiest decisions of
his career.
“Yeah, one of them definitely,” he
says. “I feel very privileged to be in a
club that is so well run. I also called
Matthew [Benham, the Brentford
owner] after to say ‘thank
you’. He must be in the
top three of football
owners. He is very
calm, he trusts the
people around him.”
They phone each
other, sometimes once
a week, more usually
every third week, and
text about the team. It did
not start out
quite so
harmoniously.
After being
appointed
manager
when Dean
Smith left for
Aston Villa, Frank
lost eight out of
his first ten
matches. At least it
has reassured him
that Benham is not
trigger happy, which
gives him an
advantage over rival
managers.Eriksen’s return has
caused alarm but his
new manager Thomas
Frank has no concerns,
he tells Alyson Rudd
Brentford’s Danish connections
Thomas Frank, below
Joined in 2016 as
assistant head coach
and succeeded Dean
Smith as head coach in
October 2018Brian Riemer Assistant
coach, joined in 2018
from CopenhagenJonas Lossl Goalkeeper,
signed on loan from
Midtjylland this monthMads Bech Sorensen
Under-21 centre back
signed in 2017, who
started his sporting life
as a handball playerMads Roerslev Under-
21 right back signed in
2019 from CopenhagenZanka Nickname of
centre back, whose real
name is Mathias
Jorgensen. Born inDenmark and of
Gambian descentChristian Norgaard
Defensive midfielder,
member of Denmark
squad who reached
semi-finals of Euro 2020Mathias Jensen
Midfielder who
appeared as a sub
in each of Denmark’s
Euro 2020 matches“
The most important
thing is he’s fine and his
family are fine with it and
that he is committed