Chelsea welcome Brentford to Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the race for a place in the Champions League, but it is the Bees who are thriving under manager Keith Andrews.
Brentford are fifth in the Premier League (Image: Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Keith Andrews has admitted he was too busy in the summer to realize that the doomsayers had sacked him from Brentford. The Bees lost manager Thomas Frank, captain Christian Norgaard, leading scorers Brian Mbeumo and Ioan Wissa, and No. 1 keeper Mark Frecken.
It seemed quite a challenge for Andrews to step up from set-piece coach to succeed Frank as Brentford manager, but they have been one of the best stories in the Premier League this season. Andrews, 45, has been a hugely impressive figure, overturning most pre-season predictions that Brentford would be one of three relegated clubs.
They have a good 5th place heading into this weekend and are looking up. Brentford are a very smart club and have designed their succession plan with the expectation that Frank might leave (as he did at Tottenham), so keeping Andrews in the building was key.
“As you can imagine, I didn’t have a lot of time to read a lot this summer,” Andrews said. “I just really focused on doing what I could control each day and prioritizing what I needed to do that day and week.”
“I was very positive and optimistic about the team because I knew the characters really well. Did I expect us to finish fifth in the league? No.
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“I’d be lying if I said it happened because of all the turmoil. The doors might come off the hinges in the summer because of all the changes, but it’s a testament to the key players at the club who kept things moving.”
“When Thomas left, I wanted to say there would be big changes, but I was very aware of the values of the club, the humility, the way we approach. I really believe that if we do that and we all work hard, there can only be one result.”
The results were quite impressive. This season they have defeated the likes of Aston Villa, Manchester United and Liverpool at home.
Recruitment activities went very well. Jordan Henderson made a very smart signing. Keeper Caoihin Kelleher has been excellent, while 17-goal Igor Thiago has returned to form in the year since joining for £30 million, having missed much of his first season through injury.
Andrews is so based at Gtech Community Stadium that he credits his “trusted lieutenants” in the locker room a lot. They also know how important the fan base is. “The results we’ve gotten over the last few weeks don’t just come from the hard work of the last few weeks, they come from the effort of the last few months,” Andrews said.
Where will Brentford finish this season? Let us know your predictions in the comments section.
Igor Thiago has made up for lost time, scoring 16 league goals (Image: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)
“Those are the values that underpin this season. The dressing room is really strong. It wasn’t an easy summer and when the window closed I was with one of the happiest men in the world, because then I knew what was left of me and who was in and who was not.”
“It’s probably the combination of the vice-caps that I love working with and have been here for years and trust and they’re the people that are really important to me – the players and the staff.
“Then there’s a momentum where new players come in and shake things up. Obviously, we lost a lot of talent in the summer. We lost our captain, so we had to fill in some of that to be a competitive team. I think we did that really well.”
“We didn’t panic towards the end of the window. We were very happy with what we had and there were also some individual stories that were very successful within the collective.”
Keith Andrews silenced his critics at Brentford (Image: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)
Andrews, a former Republic of Ireland international, began his career as a player under Carl Robinson at MK Dons, following a highly toured playing career. His path took him to Brentford as a set-piece coach, but he is also a very familiar face as he is also a pundit for Sky Sports and has worked with new Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior in the TV studio on a number of occasions.
Andrews added: “We worked together and we played some games together. I don’t like the traditional way of doing things because I don’t think there’s a set way of running a business.”
And whatever path Andrews chose, it was very beneficial to him.
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