Thomas Frank in the Brentford dressing room after beating Newcastle United
Thomas Frank in the Brentford dressing room after beating Newcastle United
In the moments after Brentford extended their impressive run on home soil, Thomas Frank shouted "Let's get that music going, boys" to his delighted crop of players. There was indeed a party atmosphere in the Dane's dressing room after a hard-fought 4-2 win over Eddie Howe's Newcastle United.
Frank spent his pre-match press conference waxing lyrical over the Magpies, insisting the north east outfit were on their way back to their best, despite an inconsistent season and a spot in the Premier League's bottom half. That praise for Howe's men continued after the final whistle, as cameras showed the emotional Brentford boss expressing his delight at a big win at the Gtech Stadium.
“Just f*****g wow,” Frank said. “Honestly f*****g wow. It’s a good team, they are a f*****g good team with good players and you, totally fair, honestly got a completely well deserved win. Well f*****g done.”
In the opposition dressing room there was a different feeling entirely. Newcastle may be a 'good' team but they are failing to show that on a consistent basis this season. This, despite a handful of injuries and no European distractions to pull focus elsewhere.
Saturday's defeat was Newcastle's fifth in 15 Premier League outings this term and the club are now seven points adrift of the top four. To add, Howe has now overseen just one win in his last five top flight outings.
“A strange sequence for us, we had three consecutive wins against really good opponents [Chelsea, Arsenal and Forest], then we have had mixed performances [in the next four – West Ham, Palace, Liverpool and Brentford]," Howe said of his side's up and down performances. "We have to get it over the line.”
Newcastle welcome Leicester City to St James' Park on the weekend before a crucial game with Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.