Brentford head coach Thomas Frank admits Newcastle’s change of manager is “terrible timing” for his side.
The Bees, on a run of four successive Premier League defeats, head to St James’ Park for Eddie Howe’s first match in charge.
With a sell-out crowd ready to roar on the new regime and under-performing players keen to impress their new boss Frank is wary of what might lie in store for his side with little useful analysis to fall back on.
“It’s impossible to predict. It’s terrible timing for us because normally when you are going to all the other games you played – maybe except for the first one against Arsenal – we can analyse their last games,” he said.
“Now there is a new manager coming in with a new style of play so we actually haven’t looked that much at Newcastle, more what Eddie did at Bournemouth.
“I think he is an extremely talented manager. He is one of the most interesting, young English managers and I’m very surprised he’s not had a job for 16 months.
“He stands for progressive football, front-foot pressing and wants to dominate on the ball and did a top job at Bournemouth, a job I admired a lot.
“I can’t be 100 per cent sure on (Newcastle’s) shape but I expect them to come flying out pressing us.”
The home side have yet to win a match this season and are next-bottom of the table so the pressure is on Howe immediately.
But Frank will impress on his players the need to remain calm in what could be a fevered atmosphere as Newcastle fans look to welcome a new manager following on from last month’s Saudi-backed takeover.
“We are aware if they get on top of their game it will get them flying so it is that fine balance between being cool and doing what we want to do,” he added.
“Then in the moments when we feel the pressure still be cool and try to defend well and not take risks in the wrong areas, especially in the beginning.
“All of these players have played much bigger games than this one: the two play-off finals and semi-finals there was much more at stake.
“This is three points and we badly want the three points but, like every other week, the other team want three points.”
