Who needs Old Trafford when you've got Wednesday on Tuesday? Thomas Frank only looking to the cup
Today at 03:39 PM
They finally did it. FA Cup holders Manchester United completed the season’s most anticipated piece of non-transfer window business by sacking Erik Ten Hag on Monday. At a time when Brentford fans should be focussing on the League Cup tie at home to Sheffield Wednesday, Tuesday, instead the glare will once again be directed at our own manager. The summer was set dodging click bait linking him to Chelsea and now, it seems, we are set for more of the same.
Fear not, Brentford fans. It'll never happen. We all know Thomas's credentials. What he has achieved at a fraction of the cost of what Ten Hag has spent on players. How he has thrived on utilising a squad, and tactics, rather than throwing money and excuses at a problem.
We all know that, in part, it was Thomas himself who started the rot. Ten Hag's first league game on the road being the 4-0 trashing handed out to the Red Devils back in August 2022. The manager and his squad looking as confused then, with four goals shipped in the opening 35 minutes, as they do now. The sight of yet another Cristiano Ronaldo hissy fit a thing of beauty to behold.
Fast Forward two season and the most telling stat has been the spending of £564m on transfers yet the team with minimal returns, currently held together by Christian Eriksen and the returning Jonny Evans. Somebody who made his United debut in 2007.
Whatever the temptations. Whatever the history. Whatever the potential. Whatever…
It's a minefield that nobody in their right mind would want to set foot inside. Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Louis van Gaal , David Moyes and Ralf Rangnick are amongst those to have given it a go since the other chap moved upstairs. Even he's finally being booted out at the end of the current campaign.
Now, somebody else is to give it a go. Graham Potter, Jurgen Klopp, Gareth Southgate(about whom I saw one Twitter wag opine that 'It's like changing your t-shirt after you've soiled your pants‘) and Thomas are in the mix.
It won't be Thomas. Putting to one side the fact he's simply not high profile enough for what is still a Neanderthal set up, we can see how settled he is in Brentford. How much he is relishing the job at hand.
The press conference for the Sheffield Wednesday game saw him dropping the most unsubtle of messages surrounding his future in West London, saying: “I‘ve got a big responsibility to Brentford Football Club, the fans, the leadership, players and staff….
Right now I'm just here and enjoying life here. I always try to be as transparent as possible, I am very happy here and I can see myself being here for a long, long time in the future. I just want to focus on Sheffield Wednesday, get on with the game, try to win.”
Instead, all focus is on making it past Sheffield Wednesday and into the League Cup quarter-finals. Thomas used his press conference (the bit that wasn't about Manchester United) to promise a strong team with everybody who faced Ipswich Town on Saturday to be available.
"The approach we’ll take for this game is that we will go very strong and we will take this very seriously – I have said that from the beginning of the tournament…..I don't know if you'll be surprised, but maybe you will when you see the line-up we put out there tomorrow. It will be a very strong team."
That Ipswich game is one we won't forget in a hurry (and the post-match debrief / top five from that one is here). Legs may be tired but the fact that our next game isn't until Monday evening rather than Saturday afternoon – and then it's the short hop to Fulham – gives a lot more recovery time than normal.
Perhaps sufficient to go as close to 'full strength' as possible. Presumably Hákon Valdimarsson and Ben Mee will get a run out with Kevin Schade, Fabio Carvalho and Mathias Jensen switching to starting XI from those that ended the Ipswich game. Beyond that, let's see how true to his word Thomas is.
Let's not pretend a cup run wouldn't be a marvellous thing. Wembley is getting closer and with Tuesday night's victors going in to the round of eight teams remaining, dreams of silverware might just get that little bit stronger.
Who needs an Old Trafford sideshow when you've got the Gtech under lights? Bring it on and see you there.
