Thomas Frank never played football professionally but has ended up in the Premier League after starting his coaching journey with the under-8s of his hometown club Frederiksvaerk.

He progressed to become coach of Denmark at various youth levels until 2013, when he was offered a first-team coaching role at Danish Superliga giants Brondby.

Former striker Lee Rochester Sorensen, who was part of that Denmark U17 side, said: "He was always looking to improve and had a plan for every step of the way.

"Thomas always had a plan A, B and C, making it clear what was needed through the four phases of play, from our goalkeeper to our attackers - he'd tell us how to press our opponents and the reasons why."

Former Brondby midfielder Martin Ornskov enjoyed Frank's collaborative approach during their time together at the club.

"There were times when he'd discuss solutions with us during games," he said. "Far from seeing it as a weakness, I saw that as a strength.

"I knew he'd be liked as a person and could evolve as a coach, but to work in the Premier League without having the experience or being a big name is a huge test.

"But the thing about Thomas was he was always so curious about football - he lived for the game. I saw a different coach at the end of my three years with him."

Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

Tottenham have approached Brentford as they move towards appointing Thomas Frank as their new head coach following the sacking of Ange Postecoglou.

Club-to-club talks are now underway, though sources are indicating there is still some work to before a full agreement is reached.

But Spurs move to appoint Frank is now in full swing with a resolution expected this week.

It hasn't gone unnoticed that Ange Postecoglou is a respected manager and had built a rapport with the players at Tottenham, with many sharing thoughtful messages for Postecoglou after his sacking.

Spurs midfielder Yves Bissouma, shared an image on social media of messages with former boss after the news of Postecoglou's sacking was announced.

The messages followed a missed call from Bissouma to Postecoglou and went like this:

Big Ange [Bissouma's name for the boss in his s]:

"Hi Biss. Sorry I missed your call. I am very proud of you. It was an honour to share a dressing room with you and I appreciate how much you believed in what we were trying to achieve.

"I wish you only the best for the future. I will always be following.

"Much love from my family to yours."

The midfielder replied:

"Thank you gaffer ad thank you really for everything you did for me on and off the pitch, I'll always be grateful.

"The way you believed me and trusted me was incredible, I am going to miss you...

"You know I am thinking about you already so I am wishing you all the best for the future and may God protect you and your family #bugboss love."

With Postecoglou building such rapport with his players, talks have already turned to how will the next manager fill those boots to create the same energy around the club?

Image source, Getty Images

Alex Keble
Football tactics writer

Thomas Frank is a really flexible manager. He will automatically adapt his tactics to whoever the opposition is, a bit like Unai Emery at Aston Villa.

In many ways he's the opposite of Ange Postecoglou, who is famously wedded to one idea.

There's a statistic - what Opta call 10+ - referring to the number of es and sequences [in one move]. In 2023-24 Brentford ed 245. In 2024-25 that figure was 325.

That tells you as time has gone on, Frank has wanted to play a more possession-based game. There's certainly plenty of counter-attacks, fast transitions and plenty of highly choreographed long balls forward, direct football.

You can certainly imagine Dominic Solanke linking with Wilson Odobert in a way Wissa and Mbeumo interact," added Keble.

Defensively, Tottenham are least-like Brentford. Would Frank look at the Spurs squad and think: 'I can't play Brentford football here">Image source, Getty Images

It's worth reminding ourselves: Why exactly was Ange Postecoglou sacked 16 days after leading Tottenham to a first piece of major silverware in 17 years?

The main factor behind club chairman Daniel Levy's decision to sack the manager was Tottenham's dismal league campaign.

Spurs lost 22 of their 38 Premier League games, resulting in a 17th place finish and their worst ever Premier League campaign.

Though many of Tottenham's players posted heart-felt farewell messages on social media following Postecoglou's dismisal, things weren't always rosey behind the scenes.

There were internal tensions regarding Spurs' awful injury record this term, no doubt a contributing factor to poor performances.

"It's been the blame game," one well-placed source told BBC Sport.

Postecoglou was left frustrated by Spurs' failure to sign his main targets last summer, including Desire Doue, now a Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain.

Postecoglou likely would have been sacked shortly after the Europa League final had Spurs lost to Manchester United, but Levy wanted to put time between the emotional outpouring that came after the victory in Bilbao and making his final decision.

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Image source, Getty Images

We asked you early if you were in favour of Thomas Frank becoming the next Tottenham manager.

At the last count, thumbs down had it, with 1,408 compared to 1,271 thumbs up.

Maybe this was not the right question, though.

Rather than asking whether you are in favour of the move, maybe the question should be:

Do you believe Thomas Frank would be the right appointment for Tottenham?

Thumbs up for yes, down for no.

Image source, Getty Images

Craig Nelson
BBC Sport reporter

We have already had plenty of people citing Nuno Espirito Santo's short tenure at Spurs as a template for how they believe things would pan out for Thomas Frank, should he be appointed manager.

Nuno arrived following a solid few seasons as Wolves boss in the Premier League and has since shown that was not a flash in the pan by helping to guide Nottingham Forest into Europe.

Readers are now holding up former Brighton manager Graham Potter's unsuccessful time at Chelsea as another cautionary tale...

As mentioned, inevitably, Mauricio Pochettino has been linked with the vacant managerial position at Tottenham.

The former Spurs boss still holds a place in fans' hearts five-and-a-half years after he was sacked by Daniel Levy. After all, he did lead Spurs on a memorable run to the 2019 Champions League final.

However, Pochettino - who was appointed United States men's team manager in October 2024 - has ruled himself out of the running.

"Today it's not realistic," said Pochettino. "Look where I am. Look where we [his backroom staff] are. The answer is so clear.

"Since I left in 2019, my name has always been on the list [of rumours]. I've seen the rumours.

"If something happens [in the future], you for sure will see, but I am so happy in this moment and we cannot talk about this type of thing."

Image source, Getty Images

Dale, Chester: Re Gareth @ 14:39 I disagree. Frank may be treated similarly to Nuno... who knows what would have happened if he had been given an ounce of faith? Better opportunities await Thomas Frank than the comedy roadshow that is Spurs.

Chris Sutton
Former Premier League striker for BBC Sport

Thomas Frank has done a brilliant job at Brentford but this is a whole different kettle of fish.

Because of the expectation at Tottenham, Frank won't get time to get his feet under the table. He won't have a chance to put his slippers on and work things out about his squad, because he will be under pressure from the off.

Ange Postecoglou has just won them their first major European trophy for 41 years and has gone. So already you have to wonder what does Frank need to do this season to keep his job?

The aim for Frank will be to keep them in the Champions League, and whether that is by making the top four or five, that is not going to be easy.

We've seen how the demands of Champions League football has affected the league form of teams like Newcastle and Aston Villa in the past couple of years, especially now there are so many group games.

That is a big ask for this squad, to compete on both fronts.

We know this Tottenham team is better than 17th place, because they finished fifth in Postecoglou's first year, but other Premier League teams have improved since then.

Image source, Getty Images

Emma Smith
BBC Sport reporter

Thomas the Frank engine - as he has been christened in the BBC Sport offices - will need to make an express start if he does pull into White Hart Lane station as Spurs manager.

Spurs have two pre-season friendlies planned, and they are against blue riband opponents - Bayern Munich and London rivals Arsenal.

As for Spurs' first competitive match of the 2025-26 season? That comes on 13 August - against Champions League winners PSG in the Uefa Super Cup. A chance for very early silverware.

Choo choo.

Tottenham Hotspur

Image source, Getty Images

Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola, Crystal Palace's Oliver Glasner and Fulham's Marco Silva are among others understood to be in the frame for the top job at Tottenham.

And Tottenham have even given consideration to reappointing former manager Mauricio Pochettino, who is currently in charge of the United States.

There are several respected European coaches currently unattached such as Edin Terzic and sco Farioli, who recently left Borussia Dortmund and Ajax respectively.

Gareth Southgate, unemployed since leaving the role of senior England men's manager, was also an option.