Why Brentford are so sure 'low-risk' Keith Andrews can build on Thomas Frank's legacy | OneFootball

Bees are convinced promotion of set-piece coach is a calculated gamble worth taking

But despite the suffocatingly sweaty surroundings, there were no signs Andrews was feeling the heat of being a Premier League boss for the first time.

Brentford have taken a calculated risk, perhaps the biggest since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021, by bringing in a head coach with no previous experience.

There were, however, no concerns at the Gtech Community Stadium, where Andrews and director of football Phil Giles cut relaxed figures as they fielded questions from the media at a time when Brentford are being raided for their best assets.

"If he ended up here next season, I wouldn't be massively surprised,” said Giles when asked about the future of Bryan Mbeumo, who has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United. “It would be welcome. We'd be delighted. It would save me a massive headache, frankly.”

Brentford director of football Phil Giles and new head coach Keith Andrews

Nigel Keene/Brentford FC Official Photography via SmartFrame

Continuity is at the heart of why Andrews has been promoted from within after just one year at the club.

In his role as Brentford's set-piece coach, which he started last summer, the former Ireland international worked closely with Thomas Frank and the squad, developing relationships, understanding the culture and showing an appreciation for the processes undertaken by the club.

As Andrews put it in his first official interview as head coach last Friday, what makes Brentford stand out is that they live by what they say.

Positive, punchy slogans are all well and good, but you have to practice what you preach, and the fact that Andrews understands this makes him a good fit.

"Personal values are really important to me in terms of how you carry yourself, again, aligned to the football club,” Andrews said when asked what he’d look for from his backroom staff, with Brentford hoping to make two backroom appointments this week.

Brentford interviewed internal and external options before landing on Andrews, with the 44-year-old impressing Giles, technical director Lee Dykes and even owner Matthew Benham in his interview presentation.

Owner and founder of Smartodds, Benham is a man who has gambled his whole career without perhaps ever taking a risk as great as appointing Andrews. Benham doesn’t typically sit in on these meetings but made an exception to hear what Andrews had to say.

Benham was suitably impressed by what he heard from Andrews, a concise communicator and deeply principled coach. His pitch was not just about consolidating the legacy Frank has left behind but building on and evolving it.

Brentford owner Matthew Benham and former boss Thomas Frank, pictured in 2023

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"Yes, so obviously, we had a little bit of an advance warning that you know Thomas to Tottenham was probably going to happen, or that was the direction of travel,” said Giles.

"So that gave us a bit of time to have a little think and decide how we'd run a process.

“Clearly, we wanted to speak to internal people first. It's always been the way of the club. First question, can we appoint from within?

"We spoke with Keith pretty early in that process, and he made a very strong impression, but we wanted a complete process and have other conversations with external candidates as well.

"So, once we got to the end of that process, Keith set a very high bar.”

Despite having never held a head coach role, Andrews was quick to say that he’d been eyeing up the No1 position for several years and was 15 years into a coaching career that started during his playing days at Blackburn Rovers.

Andrews’s propensity to learn, taking a job as a set-piece coach at Brentford last season despite having held more senior backroom roles at MK Dons, Ireland and Sheffield United, struck Giles, who says it was an easy decision to appoint him.

“Keith just saw an opportunity to come in, learn that (set-piece coach role) to even more detail than he'd done it before and come into a good environment and be part of Thomas's staff,” he said. “I think that was certainly impressive because not everyone necessarily would have made that step.

Brentford have had success promoting from within, doing so when appointing Frank as head coach in 2018. Brentford feel that a continuation of that culture presents less of a risk than looking externally for answers.

Andrews speaks with confidence and clarity not only about how he can benefit Brentford but also how the club's culture can benefit him.

The Bees have always been mindful not to listen to outside noise and, with Andrews at the helm, there appears to be no misgivings about where the club is heading.