Sports Gazette

The sports magazine brought to you by the next generation of sport writers

Brentford Head Coach Thomas Frank talks about the aftermath of Robert Rowan’s death

Saturday sees Brentford take on Middlesbrough in their first game since the sudden and tragic death of Technical Director Robert Rowan, aged just 28.

Thomas Frank the Head Coach reflected on what has been a very tough few weeks for everyone connected with Brentford FC: “Very tough first on a personal level because it was so cruel and unfair the way Rob had to leave us. You don’t have the chance to say goodbye, that is the toughest thing to cope with because not only was he a lovely person but also a close and good friend.”

He continued “If I finished at Brentford tomorrow I knew that Rob would have been one of the guys that I stayed in contact with. So for me personally he is a big loss, as well as for Brentford and his friends and family. It’s been a tough few weeks I would say.”

“Somebody is leaving us but you can’t sit still the world moves forward and the best thing we can do is to get on with normal life but make sure we remember him in the right way.”

The focus then switched to two huge home games for Brentford, first with Middlesbrough on Saturday and then Sheffield United on Tuesday.

“We played a match against West Ham which has given us some important minutes against a strong side, and this week training has been excellent and we are look forwarding to taking on Middlesbrough, the best defensive side in the Championship.”

Frank has great respect for Tony Pulis and he lavished praise upon the Welshman. “He has again done a top job, they defend extremely well and get men very quickly behind the ball and have only conceded eight goals in 17 matches which is incredible.

“I massively admire Tony, he is one of the greatest managers in the UK and he proved that in the Premier League, how many British managers have a record like his? Not many. If you want to achieve anything in football then you need a solid defence. Man City and Liverpool concede very few goals so Middlesbrough are a team we can learn from.”

Despite their solid defence Frank was adamant that his team could score against them: “We believe that we have the tools to open them up and create chances, we need to do this in the right situations because if they get 11 players behind the ball then it is going to be difficult, not impossible but difficult. Every time we have an opportunity we need to play forward and open the game up.”

A key figure against Middlesbrough will be returning Championship top goal-scorer Neal Maupay, who is coming back from a concussion suffered in the last game against QPR.

Frank believes that a win against either Middlesbrough or Sheffield United will kickstart the Bees’ season.

“You can feel the energy and the hope, it doesn’t matter what kind of spell we have being through every game is a new opportunity, but we know at Griffin Park we are a really strong side and it is very difficult to play against us there.”

Frank believes that home advantage could be the deciding factor on Saturday: “I believe teams fear coming to Griffin Park because our amazing supporters are always behind the team, it is also a Sky game, under the floodlights and we know when we are on it we are really difficult to handle. It’s going to be interesting as we need to find the small spaces to breakthrough.”

He believes a win would be a much-needed boost and wants his team to match their performance vs Millwall a few weeks ago. “We totally controlled and dominated that match for 90 minutes, and for 50 minutes vs QPR we were in control and one-nil up, but a ten-minute spell cost us.

If we can aim for the Millwall performance and add a little bit more then I am confident we will get three points on Saturday.”

Finally reflecting on how to honour Rob Rowan, he said: “We have a minute’s applause then we need to put in a top performance and claim three points. The world is not perfect otherwise he would have been here, but let’s honour him the right way on Saturday.”

Author

  • Jack Cunningham

    Jack was born in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear on the 16th of November 1996. He lived in Gateshead for 4 years before moving to the nearby town of Washington, where he has lived since then. Jack fell in love with sport during the 2006 World Cup and is an avid follower of Football and Cricket but also has a strong interest in Rugby and Athletics. His football team is Newcastle United and he has held a season ticket there since 2011. Jack graduated from Northumbria University with a 2:1 in History and has just recently started at St Mary's and is looking forward to the course. In terms of past experience, Jack has mainly wrote for the Newcastle United fanzines and is currently working for the Hampton and Richmond FC media team but is keen to take any opportunities which St Mary's throws his way.