Next Brentford Manager Odds: After Thomas Frank

Kjetil Knutsen is not a name that gets linked with many Premier League jobs but Brentford does feel like a club that could be a good fit for the Bodo/Glimt manager, albeit not without risk on the side of the club.

Knutsen has never managed outside of Norway but, after a limited playing career, he's worked his way from youth coaching, into the lower leagues and, eventually, to Bodo/Glimt where he has excelled. It's not a dissimilar journey to Frank, who trod a similar path but isolated to Denmark rather than Norway. 

Knutsen has put Bodo/Glimt on the map as a club in wider European football during his tenure. Not only has he steered the club to four Eliteserien titles - the only titles in the club's 108-year history - but he's also shown his tactical nous in European football as well.

Combine that with the fact he shares an understanding with Frank in how the game should be played and he could provide a degree of continuity in changing times.

Brentford are considered a club that has massive Danish influence running through them, in no small part due to Frank's long tenure at the club. If they decide to speak to another Danish candidate then Jacob Neestrup is probably the best contender out there. It's not just his nationality that makes him an interesting name though. 

Neestrup is only 37-years-old but, after retiring due to injury in his early twenties, has plenty of hands-on coaching experience under his belt. He also has an impressive resume in his homeland. 

His first managerial job was at Viborg when just 31-years-old. 18 months later he had them sitting top of the table but he opted for a move to Copenhagen as a number two. It proved to be a smart choice with the former holding midfielder now Head Coach and having earned his first pieces of silverware as a manager courtesy of a league and cup double in 2022/23.

He's enjoyed some positives in European competition too making him an interesting candidate as next Brentford manager.

We're not convinced Lee Carsley will be the next Brentford manager but our expectation is that his name at least features in the running when a vacancy arises. 

Carsley has held the position previously having steered the Bees for a 10 game period in 2015 on an interim basis between Marinus Dijkhuizen and Dean Smith. Since then, both coach and club have been on quite the journey with Brentford now established in the Premier League and Carsley having led the England senior team. 

Carsley holds a front-footed philosophy, something he has honed with England's under 21s, and his ability to put an arm around players and encourage their development as a coach is something that's likely to appeal to most club hierarchies - particularly those like Brentford, who are a side that rely on recruitment and improvement to keep progressing.

When Frank first joined Brentford in 2016 it wasn't as manager. His role was a split-role with a focus on the B team and acting as a go-between for players and the manager. Kevin O'Connor, one of Frank's assistants at the moment, has served the club in a similar manner since retiring from playing. 

Having been with the Bees since a youth player, O'Connor isn't a staff member likely to go with Frank when he eventually leaves the club. That puts O'Conner in pole position for temporary control and, as we saw with Frank previously, turning that into a permanent role isn't impossible. Albeit, Brentford are a different proposition now compared to what they were then.