Everton have no chance of luring Thomas Frank away from Premier League high-flyers Brentford following the sacking of Frank Lampard, former England international Darren Bent tells talkSPORT (January 23, 4.30pm).
Frank’s Brentford are, in many ways, what Everton used to be, before they lost their identity and became something of a shambling, Frankenstein’s monster of a football club.
Brentford; defying logic and defying expectations on a limited budget. A side far greater than the sum of it’s parts; bloodying the big boy’s noses with an aggressive, authentic style of play and no shortage of expert coaching.
This year alone, Brentford have beaten Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea by an aggregate score of 13-2. Ivan Toney, Christian Norgaard, David Raya, Ethan Pinnock, Rico Henry, Mathias Jensen, Ben Mee and Bryan Mbeumo, meanwhile, set the Bees back around £25 million.
Less than Everton paid for Yerry Mina, Michael Keane and Moise Kean alone.
Now eighth, Brentford are three points adrift of Tottenham Hotspur ahead of Monday’s London derby between Antonio Conte’s side and high-flying Fulham. 11 places and 15 points better off than an Everton side now level with Southampton at the bottom of the table.
Brentford coach Thomas Frank is a candidate to replace Frank Lampard at Everton
Alan Nixon claims 49-year-old Frank is one of the names in the frame to take Lampard’s place. But Bent cannot understand why the enigmatic Dane would swap a nice little runner for a battered old Subaru with a leaky engine and a couple of burst tyres.
“Why would he leave Brentford to go to second-bottom Everton? There is no way Thomas Frank is leaving Brentford to go to Everton now,” Bent argues.
“Everton are a bigger club. But what Brentford are doing this season… they could be level with Tottenham in fifth! Why leave somewhere that’s stable to go to chaos? And it might last six months (at Everton).
“I like Thomas Frank. And I think, unfortunately, he will go onto the next level. What he’s done with this football club is exceptional.”
Nuno Espirito Santo, Marcelino Garcia Toral and Wayne Rooney have all been linked with the Goodison Park post. Roberto Martinez is no longer in contention, however, after taking over at the Portuguese national team.
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