Inside Thomas Frank's circle at Brentford & Spurs — Joe Newton | TGG Podcast

Joe Newton was part of Thomas Frank's inner circle at both Brentford and Tottenham — until his Spurs spell ended in the sack in February 2026. He joins the TGG Podcast to talk Frank, Brentford's edge, and what really went wrong in north London. A youth player at Tranmere and Wrexham, Joe took a different route into the game — a degree and Masters in performance analysis, a first job at The New Saints, then the break that took him to Brentford and the Premier League. He tells TGG about his progression, his close relationship with Thomas Frank, what makes Brentford special, and why things unravelled at Tottenham. Also in this episode: Adam Ridgewell, formerly of Southampton and now Account Manager at Genius Sports, on how clubs like Brentford use Genius Sports' tracking data and Performance Studio to gain an edge. 🎧 Also available wherever you get your podcasts. 🔗 Become a TGG member: https://trainingground.guru/benefits/ ⏱️ Chapters: 00:00 — Intro 00:25 — Life since leaving Tottenham 01:24 — How intense is life inside a football club? 02:43 — Starting out: from Tranmere youth player to analysis 03:15 — The Wrexham degree-and-football scheme 08:18 — Giving up playing for analysis, and the TNS years 09:26 — Does playing background help your analysis? 10:40 — The move to Brentford and the interview process 13:01 — Inside Brentford: culture and staff development 16:59 — Alignment from the top: Matthew Benham 17:57 — When the owner walked into his meeting 21:47 — Progression at Brentford and the jump to the Premier League 23:25 — Tracking data and the Genius Sports Performance Studio 25:56 — How Thomas Frank and the coaches used the data 27:11 — A week in the life of a first-team analyst 32:32 — The viral Sky Sports meeting and going in front of the camera 36:15 — Performance vs results, and the Bielsa "genius or idiot" line 37:26 — The move to Tottenham with Thomas Frank 39:17 — The coach-analyst role explained 43:20 — Stepping up to a club Tottenham's size 44:34 — Where it went wrong at Spurs 52:04 — Did the style of play change from Brentford? 53:56 — What Thomas Frank is really like to work with 56:52 — Joe's ambitions and the sporting-director path 57:58 — Speaking at the TGG conference, Sept 30 at Old Trafford #footballanalytics #performanceanalysis #ThomasFrank #Brentford #Tottenham #GeniusSports