Brentford are not your regular Premier League club with a rich Barclays heritage. The club ended a nearly 75-year hiatus from the top flight by returning to the Premier League. In that process, Thomas Frank became the best Brentford manager when he took over the helm as the first Brentford FC manager to guide them to the top-flight in the modern era. The club in its 100-year history has had very few Brentford managers who saw promotions and glorious days.
Harry Curtis was one of the best ever Brentford managers and the longest-serving Brentford FC manager who secured a promotion to the First Division in the 1940s. The Bees are yet to win a major trophy. As Frank left the club this summer, Brentford FC brought in Keith Andrews to replace him. The Irishman will step out as Brentford FC manager this season, and it is the first time in his career that he is managing a senior side. Can Andrews be the first Brentford football club manager to lead his side to a first major trophy?
Keith Joseph Andrews was a former Ireland international. He was a defensive midfielder who played in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Blackburn, and West Brom, scoring seven times. Andrews even appeared for Ireland at the 2012 Euros under Giovanni Trapattoni. He called it a day at 34 to focus on coaching.
Andrews also served as a pundit on the radio and television during 2018 and earned a positive name for himself. He joined Milton Keynes Dons as an assistant manager to Karl Robinson in 2014. He then worked as an assistant to Stephen Kenny for the Irish national team until 2023. Joining Chris Wilder’s coaching staff at Sheffield United in December 2023 was a huge learning experience for him. Andrews ultimately joined the Bees as a set-piece coach in 2024.
Keeping in line with Brentford manager history of promoting from within, they brought Andrews to the fore as a manager. Frank was promoted in 2018 as Brentford manager after Dean Smith left the club. He acted as Brentford assistant manager under Smith. His positive impact is well known at the club, and there will be an expectation that Andrews can repeat the same. After all, this is only the sixth time a first-time manager has been at the helm of a Premier League club since 2015.
Keith Andrews learnt a lot from Wilder, who made quite a name for himself for playing precise three-at-the-back and counter-attacking football. Wilder’s influence on him is only natural. He worked with Frank, too, as a setpiece coach. Under Andrews’ coaching, Brentford scored 14 of their 66 goals from set pieces. They were only three shy of the league’s best in that regard. They conceded only three goals from set pieces and led the table for the fewest conceded.
Andrews also played a key role in the club getting fast starts and scoring express goals from kickoff. It is said that he enjoys direct football, which is fast-paced with more emphasis on set pieces. The top brass at the Bees expect him to seamlessly take over from Frank and lead them. With a majority of the squad being taken away in the transfer market, the young manager has a lot of work to do.
From captaining Wolves at 20 to becoming a first-time manager at 44, Andrews has come a long way in a short time. This appointment got everyone in the league talking with a tone of surprise for picking a novice. But the numbers and Brentford’s smart hierarchy, which never get it wrong, gambled on it. He could be the contender for one of the best Brentford FC managers of all time if he can get his side to a flying start and win some silverware.
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