Why Brentford Appointing Keith Andrews Would Be a Huge Mistake
Brentford Football Club are one of the best-run teams in the whole of England. They picked up hidden gems in the transfer market and made the correct decision to promote Thomas Frank from assistant to manager, a move many would have seen as idiotic at the time. Now it seems that the club are hoping the same decision is correct again, as Brentford set-piece coach Keith Andrews is one of the leading names to take over.
Thomas Frank has done a remarkable job at the club since then. He got them promoted and made them a regular fixture in England’s top flight. Each season, they are a long way out of everyone’s minds when it comes to potential relegation candidates and this is a true testament to the job he has done.
Brentford have become essentially mavericks, akin to Brighton. They don’t make the flashy transfers; they make the calculated, financially smart moves. Not because they want to, but because they have to. They do not have the financial strength of many of the teams who finished above them, yet they consistently make some of the best transfers in the league. The signing of Caoimhín Kelleher for just a base fee of £12.5 million is one of the greatest and most recent examples.
However, the potential appointment of Keith Andrews seems like a step too far and an incredibly risky move for one of the smartest organisations in English football and one that seems incredibly out of character.
The Idea of Continuity & Appeal
Of course from a boardroom perspective, there is a lot of appeal for promoting Keith Andrews from set-piece coach to head coach. It creates a sense of continuity, and it builds a culture within the club. It tells potential future backroom staff, “Come to our club, and there is a chance to progress your career even further.”
There is also a lot of similarity between the situation now and when Dean Smith left in 2018 for Aston Villa. The club’s manager has just left for another team, and making an in-house appointment provides that aforementioned sense of continuity and avoids the chaos of a managerial search. Andrews knows the club; the players know him.
Keith Andrews will be able to maintain the dressing room harmony Frank has created. He could continue the project that has been started. The culture of the club would be protected. It all makes sense based on the previous Thomas Frank decision back in 2018. But Keith Andrews is not Thomas Frank.
Lightning never strikes twice, and this situation presents itself as chaos in a bottle. Thomas Frank had previous experience for the club to lean on. He had done a fairly respectable job at Brondby, and there was something tangible to analyse before making the decision.
There is nothing to analyse for Andrews.
Keith Andrews Is Not the Man for Brentford
Keith Andrews has zero experience as a manager. Throughout his post-playing career, he has only ever worked as part of the backroom staff or as an assistant. Nobody has any idea of how he would be as the head coach or manager of a club, not at least at a Premier League one.
All managers have to start somewhere, but Brentford providing Andrews with his first serious managerial role seems reckless and emotional. There is a major difference between being the manager’s right-hand man and being the manager yourself. There are more expectations and more responsibilities. At the highest level of football, inexperience can completely swallow the man in the dugout. Think back to Gary Neville and Valencia. Think Thierry Henry at AS Monaco.
Keith Andrews has no tactical blueprint that can be analysed. He might have many ideas, but we have yet to see those ideas in practice. And having good thoughts is a separate entity from actually applying them. Jamie Carragher is renowned as an excellent analyst and pundit, but just because he has an idea about football and can break it down doesn’t mean he can put it into practice.
Would any other team appoint a man with such a thin CV and no previous examples to hold up against him? It seems ludicrous that a team run as well as Brentford would take such a risk with no data to back it up.
European Tour Ambitions
After the last few seasons, Brentford should have their sights set on making Europe. While they have lost Frank, and it seems Mbuemo is on his way out, their ambitions should not falter.
When choosing their next manager, Brentford should aim a lot higher than Keith Andrews. Names such as Edin Terzić have emerged and that seems like much more of an idealistic choice by the Bees.
Terzić is proven at the top level. He brought Borussia Dortmund to a Champions League final. There is also a tangible philosophy to not only hear about but to see in action.
Brentford got to this place by taking a risk on Thomas Frank, but now is not the time to risk their project. Now is the time to keep it progressing. Appointing Keith Andrews seems like comfort and not the bold, educated, data-backed decisions the Bees have become known for.
Keith Andrews may well be a very good coach, but Brentford need a proven leader who can match their ambitions in the present. Putting the former Ireland international in the dugout just feels like a catastrophe and it hasn’t even happened yet. It could be a decision that completely sets back the project they are currently building.
In a league this ruthless, one wrong appointment can undo years of progress. Brentford should think very carefully before rolling the dice on Andrews.
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