Manager Thomas Frank

[AberdeenYid]

I'm not particularly Frank in or out because I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way.

But for those that do want him out. Can you answer me one question.

How do you coach mentality into a team? Vic came out and said that we didn't fight in a NLD. And everyone we downed tools and didn't give a fuck in the league from like probably Feb onwards last season.
So how does any manager get these players to knuckle down and leave everything on the pitch?

We tried Conte, We tried Mourinho. Two of the sternest task masters in English football.

So please tell me how you turn a bunch of dossers into a bunch of winners, I'm all ears.

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Conte had his own demons to deal with at the time and Mourinho had COVID to deal with, I also believe he was sacked too early. I’d say both would have went on to be more successful had the stars aligned slightly differently.

There are managers out there that players will borderline die for. Just depends if we’d be willing to part with the cash. Simeone is, I think, the highest paid manager out there. But he has that character. Di Zerbi seems to be that kind of guy too and is doing fine work in France. Maybe someone like those guys would get the point across?

Pipe dreams they may be though.

 

[Shadydan]

I'm not particularly Frank in or out because I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way.

But for those that do want him out. Can you answer me one question.

How do you coach mentality into a team? Vic came out and said that we didn't fight in a NLD. And everyone knows we downed tools and didn't give a fuck in the league from probably Feb onwards last season.
So how does any manager get these players to knuckle down and leave everything on the pitch?

We tried Conte, We tried Mourinho. Two of the sternest task masters in English football.

So please tell me how you turn a bunch of dossers into a bunch of winners, I'm all ears.

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Coach Carter did exactly that!

 

[Fattynomates]

We haven't got a single player who inspires us. Not even close.

You could not categorically say any of our players will have a stand out game.

Some of that is confidence., but it's also on Frank and team to get players developed. No real sign of that as yet but in that regard it's early days.

What we can't have are too many days like yesterday. That only leads to one outcome. Time for Frank to get the team playing.

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I think the system is killing any kind of creative spark though , its alright if your going to play defensive but you need to have someone who can hurt them on the break, and at least try and attack them, yesterday it just looked like the plan was to sit deep and defend , was like a training game for the Scum , they didn't have to think about defending , also how can you sit so deep and defensive but give Eze so much fucking Space!!
I get its early days but I feel we are getting into do or die territory for Frank - I'd say he needs to get the bare minimum of 6 points from our next 4 PL games or he is toast here.
The trouble is who do you get in now? I'd be making calls to Glasner see if he wants to come here in the summer , I hate the chopping and changing of managers and think you need to give them time , however I'm just not seeing anything from Frank at present that makes me think he could be successful here.

 

[ElTel]

This guy was a Levy pick all day long.

Cheap and nasty.

ENIC need to sack him before the window.

He isn't good enough for Spurs.

Daniel Levy did not make a good football decision after appointing Poch and Paul Mitchell in 2014.

What we are now watching is the culmination of 11 years worth of shit decisions by Daniel Levy.

Anyone who trys to defend Levy on here after today should be sin binned for being a cunt.

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Looking nasty yes, but it certainly wasn't cheap. Big compensation was to paid to Brentford to release Frank and his coaches from their contracts. He will be on a very decent salary......Ange also had to be paid off

All in all a lot of money had been wasted to get to a point now where we don't seem to be in a better position

 

[Gatsby]

I don’t get the point in sacking yet another manager and hoping the next will be the one, or if not just repeat the same cycle.

Arteta took 7 years and £1B of his own signings to get to where he is now. Others have done the same.

Constantly sacking managers because it’s a tough period is both stupid and naive. You either stick with a manager and give him the time to build something or you just become Watford and hope for the best.

 

[Harrier]

Bentancur extension is a tragic mistake by the club.

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I don’t know why some are getting so hung up on the contract extension.

It’s a means to preserve his value. It doesn’t mean he can’t still be upgraded upon and sold on or kept as a squad option only.

Would you rather he walked on a free or we recovered at least £10m/£15m to reinvest?!

 

[Distaste for scouse]

Coach Carter did exactly that!

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So did Emilio Estevez in the Mighty Ducks, and John Candy in Cool runnings, Vinny Jones in Mean Machine, James Gammon in Major League. Those are a few of my favourite losers and misfits to winners movies.

Not sure Hollywood is the answer though.

Though I would pay money to watch this mob get a dressing down from Samuel L.

 

[El Capitan]

Comparisons with Nuno cannot be avoided - Whatever the guff about things he's said before, or what Brentford looked like in the Championship, he is clearly most comfortable with a certain style of play but coming into a bigger club with expectations for more than that is just leading to a mish-mash.

As much as I don't like it, he may as well play his football and be damned. Getting stuck between styles will just end in tears anyway.

Take yesterday, more logical that he went eg. 5-3-2 with Sarr in the midfield and Johnson playing off the striker. Now I make clear, I don't like either of those players, but they fit the managers ethos of direct/counter attacks and having legs to transition forward off the back foot. He needs to select his most direct players who can break forward. If/when Solanke is back he can go direct hoofs and play off that.

Diminutive possession-orientated technicians like Xavi, or raw tricky wingers like Odobert, have nothing to offer him and vice versa.

But if the insistence from fans, and more importantly the club, is to play more with possession and breaking teams down then may as well get rid now as he is never bringing that to the table.

 

[BJK]

It's an open question whether or not he, under ideal circumstances, could coach anything beyond Wimbledonball. I don't know, and in the context of this post I don't really care. The bigger issue is that he's not even fully utilizing the potential of that kind of an approach right now.

The main idea behind getting it in the mixer is to maximize the amount of second balls you win further up the pitch so that you can get the ball to a highly dangerous area with a few passes in no time. A very simple and effective idea, one that allowed multiple technically limited teams to punch above their weight in the past actually. It seems like we could do with some alteration of this as an emergency measure for the time being.

Highly dynamic players like Bergvall and Sarr would be very conducive to this, and both had at least a few games in their careers where they looked very good in that kind of a disruptor role. Sounds like a plan.

Frank instead has been regularly picking arguably the most unathletic midfield duo in the entire league in Palhinha and Bentancur: One that doesn't even help us defensively since we're among the worst in chances allowed, with goals conceded slowly catching up as well.

He's committed to nothing right now: Not route one, not possession based football,not counter attacking. Nothing.Just a haphazard combination of various pieces.

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To add to this,

You'd never expect a proper hoofball merchant to even entertain the idea of fooling around at the back the way we've been doing to no avail for example. In each goal kick would he;

• Position all his outfield players somewhere around the halfway line
• Tell his keeper to get it in the mixer by kicking it as hard as he can
• Try to recover the second ball in the ensuing chaos to kickstart an attack
• Rinse and repeat

Frank instead has been sitting there and watching this unfold where ;

• Vicario waits until the very last second to release the ball to a defender next to him, presumably to invite the press to the fullest
• The recipient, under heavy pressure, tries to thread the needle with a medium to long range pass towards the halfway line
• It gets intercepted since we don't really have an attacking outlet up front
• Rinse and repeat

Just one example to illustrate a more general point regarding Frank's indecisiveness and the totally disjointed end product that follows it.

He looks as much in pain as Nuno did due to being cajoled into implementing a style of play, high block possession based football to be more specific, that doesn't come natural to him. Looks like it doesn't come natural to these group of players either. Square pegs in round holes at its finest.

Well he's going to lose his job if this carries on, might as well go back to the basics to be a proper hoofball or counter attacking team to reap the rewards of those approaches at least. What we're watching right now is a nothing football.

 

[Distaste for scouse]

Conte had his own demons to deal with at the time and Mourinho had COVID to deal with, I also believe he was sacked too early. I’d say both would have went on to be more successful had the stars aligned slightly differently.

There are managers out there that players will borderline die for. Just depends if we’d be willing to part with the cash. Simeone is, I think, the highest paid manager out there. But he has that character. Di Zerbi seems to be that kind of guy too and is doing fine work in France. Maybe someone like those guys would get the point across?

Pipe dreams they may be though.

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Yeah but Simeone would get to game week 10 and our fanbase would be calling for his head for playing negative football.

 

[Notabadsquad]

I think the system is killing any kind of creative spark though , its alright if your going to play defensive but you need to have someone who can hurt them on the break, and at least try and attack them, yesterday it just looked like the plan was to sit deep and defend , was like a training game for the Scum , they didn't have to think about defending , also how can you sit so deep and defensive but give Eze so much fucking Space!!
I get its early days but I feel we are getting into do or die territory for Frank - I'd say he needs to get the bare minimum of 6 points from our next 4 PL games or he is toast here.
The trouble is who do you get in now? I'd be making calls to Glasner see if he wants to come here in the summer , I hate the chopping and changing of managers and think you need to give them time , however I'm just not seeing anything from Frank at present that makes me think he could be successful here.

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Frank's not stupid and he has deserved his chance.

He is also not naive but with respect to Brentford we are Tottenham.

He needs to preside over better than what we are seeing even though yesterday and Wednesday were not the two matches to make that assessment in my opinion.

 

[Brian Fantana]

I am not in the world of being fooled. That should be apparent to all and sundry.

Today had all the hallmarks of a loss, especially after yesterday.

Those who live in a fantasy world saw a mirror that was lying to them, or they refused to believe the reflection.

We move on.

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I wasn’t talking about you directly. Just warning the fanbase of what is likely to happen.

At the moment I’m more fucked off about the thought of having to go watch them at 8pm on a Saturday night. Terrible scheduling to watch a terrible team.

 

[Distaste for scouse]

Comparisons with Nuno cannot be avoided - Whatever the guff about things he's said before, or what Brentford looked like in the Championship, he is clearly most comfortable with a certain style of play but coming into a bigger club with expectations for more than that is just leading to a mish-mash.

As much as I don't like it, he may as well play his football and be damned. Getting stuck between styles will just end in tears anyway.

Take yesterday, more logical that he went eg. 5-3-2 with Sarr in the midfield and Johnson playing off the striker. Now I make clear, I don't like either of those players, but they fit the managers ethos of direct/counter attacks and having legs to transition forward off the back foot. He needs to select his most direct players who can break forward. If/when Solanke is back he can go direct hoofs and play off that.

Diminutive possession-orientated technicians like Xavi, or raw tricky wingers like Odobert, have nothing to offer him and vice versa.

But if the insistence from fans, and more importantly the club, is to play more with possession and breaking teams down then may as well get rid now as he is never bringing that to the table.

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Great point. He needs Thomas Frank style players. We did try for Mbeumo. But Xavi doesn't fit the mould at all.

 

[Harrier]

I don’t get the point in sacking yet another manager and hoping the next will be the one, or if not just repeat the same cycle.

Arteta took 7 years and £1B of his own signings to get to where he is now. Others have done the same.

Constantly sacking managers because it’s a tough period is both stupid and naive. You either stick with a manager and give him the time to build something or you just become Watford and hope for the best.

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Yep sacking Frank doesn’t suddenly turn Richy into prime Kane or Odobert into Sonny or make Bentancur a progressive passer or infuse some guts and determination into these spineless players.

There’s a far bigger problem here than the manager.

 

[Papafeels]

I'm not particularly Frank in or out because I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way.

But for those that do want him out. Can you answer me one question.

How do you coach mentality into a team? Vic came out and said that we didn't fight in a NLD. And everyone knows we downed tools and didn't give a fuck in the league from probably Feb onwards last season.
So how does any manager get these players to knuckle down and leave everything on the pitch?

We tried Conte, We tried Mourinho. Two of the sternest task masters in English football.

So please tell me how you turn a bunch of dossers into a bunch of winners, I'm all ears.

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You were staunch in like 2 weeks ago, and got very hurt feelings with me for saying otherwise.

So your argument for removing him is, well, we've tried everything else, so let's just give up? Ange was kamikaze and gung ho, players liked him though. The club then went and did a complete 180 and hired the opposite, and the players are very evidently not bought in.

So that huge middle ground is where we should go. Someone that like Poch back in the day was a mix of enterprising and cautious. Iraola, Glasner, Hoeneß, and I'm sure a massive other amount of managers fit that mould.

A squad overhaul is obviously needed, that much is obvious, but to suggest that no one else can get a tune out of them is ridiculous. We're set up not to lose, to be scared of the opposition, regardless of their level. It's a joke. Needs to end.

 

[Papafeels]

Yep sacking Frank doesn’t suddenly turn Richy into prime Kane or Odobert into Sonny or make Bentancur a progressive passer or infuse some guts and determination into these spineless players.

There’s a far bigger problem here than the manager.

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No, but a manager who doesn't play not to lose, to be afraid of everyone and take risks is going to motivate them more than the crap they're being asked to do now.

How anyone can defend this is mind boggling.

 

[Brian Fantana]

I think the system is killing any kind of creative spark though , its alright if your going to play defensive but you need to have someone who can hurt them on the break, and at least try and attack them, yesterday it just looked like the plan was to sit deep and defend , was like a training game for the Scum , they didn't have to think about defending , also how can you sit so deep and defensive but give Eze so much fucking Space!!
I get its early days but I feel we are getting into do or die territory for Frank - I'd say he needs to get the bare minimum of 6 points from our next 4 PL games or he is toast here.
The trouble is who do you get in now? I'd be making calls to Glasner see if he wants to come here in the summer , I hate the chopping and changing of managers and think you need to give them time , however I'm just not seeing anything from Frank at present that makes me think he could be successful here.

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Whilst I agree with you, he didn’t get the players he wanted in the summer though did he. Had the club delivered him Mbuemo, MGW and Eze he’d have the attack to do that but we fudged it and fucked it like normal. It was the same the summer before when Ange wanted Neto, Eze and Gallagher and we got none of them.

The managers are all set up to fail. The players we bring in just aren’t good enough. Give Guardiola, Arteta, slot and maresca our midfield and attack over theirs and see them struggle too.

 

[Murphy]

I'm not particularly Frank in or out because I don't think it will make a blind bit of difference either way.

But for those that do want him out. Can you answer me one question.

How do you coach mentality into a team? Vic came out and said that we didn't fight in a NLD. And everyone knows we downed tools and didn't give a fuck in the league from probably Feb onwards last season.
So how does any manager get these players to knuckle down and leave everything on the pitch?

We tried Conte, We tried Mourinho. Two of the sternest task masters in English football.

So please tell me how you turn a bunch of dossers into a bunch of winners, I'm all ears.

Click to shrink...

Drop them.

Make them fear the consequences of poor performances.

Just play the eager, hungry kids.

Not playing loses them appearance fees, risks international places and possibly sponsorships and what have you.

People in workplaces tend to work hard because they either have that integrity within themselves or they fear the repercussions. If option 1 doesn’t work or isn’t there, you have to enforce option 2.

 

[Hrytn]

Naive.

 

[Murphy]

Whilst I agree with you, he didn’t get the players he wanted in the summer though did he. Had the club delivered him Mbuemo, MGW and Eze he’d have the attack to do that but we fudged it and fucked it like normal. It was the same the summer before when Ange wanted Neto, Eze and Gallagher and we got none of them.

The managers are all set up to fail. The players we bring in just aren’t good enough. Give Guardiola, Arteta, slot and maresca our midfield and attack over theirs and see them struggle too.

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None of those three players or the fault of the club. Countless players over the years, yes. ENIC and levy are cunts. Yes. But these three by all accounts we actively tried. One was curtailed by an owner. The other two didn’t want to come.