Brentford Head Coach, Thomas Frank is “excited about the future” for his Bees after a difficult 2023-24 season.
In a campaign where Frank had to deal with Ivan Toney’s suspension in the first half of the season on top of various injuries, the Bees eventually finished 16th in the table after a 4-2 final-day loss at home to Newcastle United.
First-half goals from Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy and Alexander Isak plus Bruno Guimaraes’ late goal saw the Magpies beat Frank’s Bees after Vitaly Janelt and Yoane Wissa had offered the hosts hope of a late comeback.
“It’s very rare to have 90 perfect minutes, but the theme of the season is that we’ve given too many soft goals away. Before the last six games it has been less, but we had a little setback,” commented Frank.
The Dane nevertheless described the season as “a success” in having avoided relegation and finished 13 points clear of the drop, having taken 10 points in their last six matches.
Aware that fans expected more after a ninth-placed finish last season, Frank iterated: “We are ambitious, we want more and we are dreaming of more, but the foundation we are standing on is good. I am excited about the future.”
Turning to the final day result, Frank was pleased at how “entertaining” the game was despite not tasting victory, as he believed that his team were “better” until Barnes’ header swung “momentum” to Newcastle who then benefitted from “two mistakes” for Murphy and Isak’s goals.
Frank though was pleased with his team’s second-half response as he added: “During the second half the players showed a character and mentality that was impressive in many ways.
“We managed to come back into the game, and we were very close to getting something out of it.”