The interview is over. Now that he has answered all my questions, Thomas Frank has a question for me.
‘Are you competitive?’ he says. I hesitate, so he smiles, a little thinly for my liking. ‘Because we are competitive,’ he says.
We have arranged a game of padel on the court they have had built at the Brentford training ground. Me and my mate, John, against Frank and his highly rated assistant first-team coach Kevin O’Connor, who is a youthful 43 and has the small matter of more than 500 appearances for the Bees in his locker.