Did Thomas Frank’s mind games against Leeds backfire on him?

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You have to go back to the 8th of February to find the last time Brentford won in the Championship. On that day, it was at home to Jonathan Woodgate’s Middlesbrough side in a 3-2 win at Griffin Park. It may have taken an 87th-minute strike from Ollie Watkins to secure all three points but it allowed the Bees to close the gap to Leeds in second place.

The next game that the Bees had was against Leeds and that prompted Thomas Frank to say that Leeds couldn’t have picked a worse place to go and that they feared Brentford. Frank’s comments weren’t without merit given that the last time Leeds won at Griffin Park was in the 1950s but in the defence of the West Yorkshire side, they were very seldom in the same league for most of that time.

Nonetheless, Brentford administered a promotion-ending defeat to Leeds just after Easter last year and it looked like they could do so again as a win against the Whites would have sent Brentford above them into second. It wasn’t to be on the night as Marcelo Bielsa’s men came away with a 1-1 draw and in truth, dominated the game from the first minute.

So, whilst Frank wasn’t necessarily wrong, his comments did serve to fire up a side that had just suffered four defeats in five games. You can’t help but wonder if the 46-year-old should have just kept his thoughts to himself as Leeds arrived at Griffin Park with Frank already having done the team talk for Bielsa.

Fast forward a month and Brentford are without a win since that game and were recently beaten by bottom of the table Luton. Leeds on the other hand, have won all of their following four games and have moved 11 points clear of Brentford. It certainly has been some turn around given that Brentford looked ready to overtake the Whites only a month before. To say Leeds’ lead over the Bees is unassailable isn’t quite true but Frank’s men are on the ropes, and any more dropped points should see Leeds knock them out of the automatic promotion race.

On that note, it has to be said that it looks for all the money that Leeds have now got the momentum needed to achieve promotion, and even an impending stadium ban for the supporters due to the spread of COVID-19 could indeed aid the West Yorkshire club. So often, when it gets tense at Elland Road, the crowd’s anxiety can leave the players like deer in the headlights. An empty Elland Road may be eerie but it could be the surprising break Leeds needs to finally get promoted.

There is, of course, a real chance of this happening and we have already seen multiple sporting codes disrupted. Every football game in Italy will be played behind closed doors until the 3rd of April. In fact, every sporting fixture in Italy will be played behind closed doors which includes England’s crucial rugby match in Rome. Interestingly enough, If you were to have a look at the betting odds on the Six Nations, you’ll see that this disruption hasn’t actually affected the likely winner of the tournament which is good news for France, and of course, those teams in the Championship who sit in the pound seats for promotion as they face an almost certain ban on public gatherings.

Brentford would fall under that category given that they are probably the best team outside of Leeds and West Brom.

It looks set to be the play-offs for the West London side and Thomas Frank would do well to learn from his previous mistakes by not antagonizing the opposition. Should he bite his tongue then the Bees should swarm all over the opposition on their way to Wembley.

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