Brentford were still basking in the glow of a famous 2-0 victory over Arsenal when TEAMtalk reported, on September 10th, that Thomas Frank had been lined up as a potential successor for Mikel Arteta in the Gunners hotseat.
In fact, when that report emerged six months ago, Arsenal found themselves nailed to bottom of the Premier League table. That opening day defeat to their newly-promoted London neighbours preceded a 2-0 home reverse to a Romelu Lukaku-inspired Chelsea and a 5-0 drubbing at an irrepressible Manchester City.
It was Arsenal’s worst start to a season in 67 years.
So regardless of whether there was any truth in reports suggesting the Gunners were eyeing potential replacements for the under-pressure Arteta – Arsenal have always backed their manager to the hilt, publicly at least – speculation over the Spaniard’s future was inevitable.
Frank, meanwhile, had Brentford flying high in the top half, taking to their first Premier League season like the proverbial duck to water.
“(Links with) Arsenal and Manchester United? I think I read that at some point,” Frank told Danish publication Bold a few weeks later.
“It’s very nice. But one thing is rumours. The other is if they really want to contact me. Then we have to take it from there.
“I have a contact until 2023. I’m insanely happy at Brentford. It’s club that means a lot to me and where I have had great times. I enjoy working with our director of football, owners, players, staff and fans.
“It’s the club who must come to me, but now we must see what the future brings.”
Will Brentford survive?
What the future brought, in Brentford at least, is plenty of concern, plenty of nibbled nails and growing dissatisfaction over the team’s performances.
A lot can change in six months. Particularly in football. But few would have expected, all the way back on September 10th, that the picture would change quite so dramatically for a pair of London neighbours.
Arsenal are now sitting pretty in fourth, their patience in Arteta rewarded. As it stands, Arsenal have their destiny in their own hands, just ten games away from a long-awaited return to the Champions League group-stages.
As for Brentford, well, it’s all about the Championship rather than the Champions League. Specifically, avoiding it.
A dreadful run of 15 defeats in 23 games, including Sunday’s 2-1 reverse at Leicester City, means no one is talking about Brentford as a potential second coming of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United these days. Instead, they’ve got an air of Phil Brown’s Hull City about them.
A side who stormed into the Premier League full of style and swagger, only to find themselves locked in a spiral of despair and sleepwalking towards relegation.
Whatever the future holds for Frank and Brentford, Arteta’s job is certainly safe for now.
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