logo
'Not a normal club' - Why Keith Andrews' extraordinary elevation makes sense at Brentford

'Not a normal club' - Why Keith Andrews' extraordinary elevation makes sense at Brentford

The 42a day ago
IN THEIR PLAYING days, Keith Andrews and Damien Duff would while away the long hours of international windows by playing chess. Few grandmasters could have anticipated the pair's most recent moves.
First Duff abruptly walked out of Shelbourne, and then Andrews was handed his first head coach's job with Brentford. In the Premier League with Brentford, no less.
The latter was a checkmate to conventional wisdom.
Since Les Reed's infamous elevation to the Charlton manager's job in 2006, only four men have been given their first manager or head coach's role in the Premier League without any previous experience as a caretaker either at that club or elsewhere: Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough in 2006; Gianfranco Zola at West Ham in 2008; Mikel Arteta at Arsenal in 2019; and now Andrews at Brentford.
Southgate and Arteta could benefit from playing careers at their respective clubs, while Zola also traded off legendary Premier League playing days. Andrews, by contrast, played 84 times in the Premier League for Blackburn and West Brom.
'It's not the done thing in normal football clubs, but I don't think we are a normal football club,' said Andrews upon being announced as Brentford's head coach.
Not half. Brentford did speak to external candidates – including USA manager Mauricio Pochettino, as my colleague David Sneyd revealed – but elected to promote Andrews from his role as set piece coach. It's in keeping with Brentford's means of doing business at least: Thomas Frank had previously been Dean Smith's assistant prior to his promotion.
When Andrews says that Brentford are not a 'normal' club, he's referring not just to their use of data, but their belief in it.
As Liverpool's former director of research Ian Graham explains in his book, How to win the Premier League, Brentford, Brighton and Liverpool are the only clubs in the Premier League to truly believe in the data. While they don't make any decisions based solely on data, they don't make any decisions without the data, either.
That data is provided by owner Matthew Benham, whose insights plotted their improbable rise to the Premier League. The intelligence of their recruitment allowed them continually sell their best goalscorer without stalling collective progress: Scott Hogan, Neal Maupay, Ollie Watkins, and Ivan Toney all came and went without halting the club's upward trajectory.
Given the club are going to lose their captain Christian Norgaard along with their best goalscorer in Bryan Mbeumo, Andrews needs the club's recruitment success rate to remain high.
Advertisement
Among Brentford's other innovations under Benham has been to pilot the role of the set piece coach – to which Andrews was appointed last season – realising there was an edge to be gained on corners and free kicks.
Benham also looked at the balance of rewards in leagues which offered three points for a win and told every one of his head coaches that they were not attacking enough.
'In minute one, Brentford must attack. In minute 90, 1-0 up and down to 10 men, Brentford must attack', writes Graham, recalling a past conversation with Benham.
Brentford moderated that approach once they reached the Premier League, and Frank showed an outstanding ability to be flexible and improvise. His teams could swap between a back three and a back four; they could defend in a low block and counter; and they could play a higher line and attack the opposition. (This is the quality identified by Spurs as a necessary corrective to Ange Postecoglou's dogma.)
Andrews' task will be to remain as adaptable as his predecessor.
Andrews, Stephen Kenny and Ruaidhrí Higgins at an Ireland training session in 2020. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO
Coleraine manager Ruaidhrí Higgins worked with Andrews when both were on Stephen Kenny's staff with Ireland, and is backing him to meet the challenge.
'I always had a feeling Keith would be a really good head coach or manager, because of what people can see in interviews: he is really well spoken and very articulate', says Higgins.
'On the inside, you see how he conducts himself with people. Not everyone sees it, but he is a really strong character.'
A staple of Sky's EFL coverage and a regular on Irish TV and radio, Andrews was cultivating an impressive media career before he joined Kenny on the Irish U21s staff in 2019. As Higgins explains, these communications skills are necessary in the modern game.
'Even 10 or 15 years ago there wasn't as much coaching in terms of the tactical side of things, but now players really want information, they crave it,' says Higgins. 'Keith is very articulate in giving that information.
'Players will find excuses, that's the way life is. The more excuses you can take away from them, the better. Keith is very good at taking away excuses, he is very good at covering every angle. Say you play a team floating between a back three and a back four: he will make sure the team is prepared to face both systems.
'Keith is very good at getting his point across, he presents really well, and he treats people with respect. His experience on TV has helped in that regard.'
Andrews showcased some of that attention to detail when working with Ireland, conjuring up the kick-off routines from which Brentford profited last season, and once running through a warm-up routine with a back four to disguise from the opposition the fact they were in fact playing a back three.
But what Andrews' Irish tenure will not have prepared him for is the scrutiny and attention coming his way. Martin O'Neill has already mischievously wished him well in the role, saying that one of his most vitriolic critics will now learn how tough the job really is, while Roy Keane – who went out of his way in a 2020 interview with a showbiz journalist to call Andrews a 'bullshitter' – is the highest-profile pundit in the game and sure to preside over some of Andrews' games for Sky.
The fact Brentford's head coach is just one cog in a larger collective will not be acknowledged by the Premier League's wider media-industrial complex where perception, as Keane has previously told us, is reality.
Andrews has previously batted away Keane's criticisms and insists he will not be affected by the attention coming his way from a sceptical English public.
'That toughness is the bit that people might not see,' says Higgins of Andrews, 'he has that toughness and resilience, he will be very clear in his mind of what he wants, and how he is going to go about it, he won't deviate from his plan as he beliefs.
'He is a tough man, Keith's first cap was, what, when he was 28? That shows his level of resilience and determination. He had nothing handed to him in his career.'
Andrews went to Wolves as a youngster at the same as Robbie Keane, but where Keane flourished, Andrews faltered. Suffering from injuries and omitted from squads, Andrews fell into drinking too often, and flirted with quitting the game and moving to university in America. He ultimately dropped down the divisions and landed with a bump in League Two with MK Dons, where he found the break he needed in meeting manager Paul Ince.
Ince promised to take Andrews with him to his next job and was good to his word, taking him to Blackburn in the Premier League. Andrews outlasted Ince at Ewood Park but faced more adversity, become a target of fan abuse amid wider discontent at the ownership group. One newspaper described Andrews' treatment as a 'hate campaign'. Andrews always insisted he was not bothered by it all, until Steve Kean told him he was being dropped from the team for that very reason.
He therefore left for Ipswich to remain in the picture for Ireland, and he proved to be Ireland's best performer within the chasm that lay between them and their opponents at Euro 2012.
He was the first of the Irish players to try to meet the step up in quality at that tournament, and now Andrews is the first to stand among the elite in the Premier League, where the lessons of his playing career must stand to him.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

John Aldridge: Liverpool's academy teaching others a lesson
John Aldridge: Liverpool's academy teaching others a lesson

Sunday World

timean hour ago

  • Sunday World

John Aldridge: Liverpool's academy teaching others a lesson

Owners FSG have ticked so many boxes and have the club structured to succeed The huge money behind clubs like Chelsea and Manchester City ensures they are doing everything they can to get young players signed up at a ridiculously young age. And when I say they will do anything to get a young player, I mean anything. You hear rumours of some clubs making lavish offers to kids and their parents to make sure they get them on board, but when they get to a club that has more players than they will ever need, their hopes of getting into the first team are remote. Chelsea's first team has too many players for manager Enzo Maresca to pick from, so what hope does a young kid in their academy have unless he is an absolute genius? It's not easy to break into the first team at Liverpool in a summer when they have spent more than ever before on new signings, but you don't have to go back too far to remember when the kids were winning the club a trophy. Last year's League Cup final win over Chelsea was a triumph for the academy set-up, with Jurgen Klopp's side finishing the match with five players aged 21 or under on the pitch in Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah. The photo with those lads and academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold at the end of the match was a special moment, and while there is never any guarantee those kids will go on to become great Liverpool players, they did have a Wembley moment that will live with them forever. When you are a local lad and come through the club's ranks, that winning moment means so much more, and we saw that with Steven Gerrard after he came through the academy set-up at the club. Elliott is a great example of a player who has shown his class in the Liverpool first team on the international stage in recent weeks as England's star performer as Lee Carsley's side retained their Euro Under-21 crown. Harvey didn't come through the academy as he was signed from Fulham, but his dad is a passionate Liverpool fan and you can see how much it has meant to him to play for the club. There are some good players coming through at Liverpool now, with Conor Bradley the latest academy product likely to be given plenty of first-team action this season following Alexander-Arnold's move to Real Madrid. The challenge for players coming through an academy set-up is making that step up to the next level and Bradley did that superbly last year, just as Trent did when he first came into the Liverpool team. I've been promoting the qualities of young Ben Doak on the pages of the Sunday World in recent years – and he is another one to watch as he is so quick over five yards. I'm also hearing great things about teenager Rio Ngumoha, who was signed from Chelsea and had loads of quality, but senior football is a very different beast and only the best make it when their chance comes in the Premier League. One factor the Liverpool academy have going for them is that they have the most incredible facilities to work in, and the lads lucky enough to be part of the set-up have every chance to have a great career, whether at Liverpool or elsewhere. The club's owners in the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) deserve so much credit for giving the academy the funding and attention it requires, and they have not stopped there. So many top clubs have splashed out on new stadiums in recent years, but Liverpool decided to rebuild Anfield. Some Liverpool supporters have their ashes buried under that stadium and the soul of the club will always be there. As we have seen with clubs like Arsenal and Man City, so much of that history is lost when a clubs moves to a glossy new stadium. Add to that the investment in the magnificent new training centre that was opened back in 2020 and they have managed to do all of that while running the club sensibly without having the crazy finances of most of their rivals. Investment in the transfer market has been diluted while the stadium development and training ground were being built, but now we are seeing another side to FSG's ambition as they have spent big in the transfer market this summer. I wasn't sure if they would give Arne Slot the kind of backing he needed to reshape his squad this summer, but paying more than £100m for the first time to sign Florian Wirtz was a massive statement, and they have spent the same again to sign some top-quality players that should push Liverpool forward next season. Fans are always quick to turn on owners when things go wrong and they can't just be judged on results with the first team, but FSG have ticked so many boxes in their time at Liverpool. We're lucky to have them. It's easy to say you want your club to acquire a sugar daddy owner to come in and buy their way to success, but there is something so much more rewarding in seeing the way Liverpool have achieved success. The owners have been fortunate to have had a sensational manager in Jurgen Klopp, who fired them to glory on a very limited budget, and Slot did a great job too with the tools he was left with to achieve success at Anfield. Now Liverpool are kicking on by entering the big-spending league at last in the transfer market, and I can't wait to see how they look when the new season gets underway in a little over a month. It's hard to know how to react when you wake up to the awful news we all woke up to on Thursday morning that Diogo Jota and his brother Andre had been tragically killed in a car crash in Spain. His death will have a much bigger impact on his family and friends than any of us and it's heartbreaking when a young man's life ends in this manner. Jota had three kids and got married to his childhood sweetheart only last month, but in the blink of an eye his wife and children have been robbed of the most important person in their world. We often moan about little things that really don't matter that much. So, when you are hit by a story like this, it reminds you that you have to live for the moment and make the most of life. It can be very fleeting. Jota will always be fondly remembered by Liverpool fans and the song they sing about him will be sung forever more now. All I can do at this terribly sad time is to send my condolences to his family and friends. RIP Diogo and Andre.

Kevin Palmer: Evolution of a football transfer has come full circle
Kevin Palmer: Evolution of a football transfer has come full circle

Sunday World

timean hour ago

  • Sunday World

Kevin Palmer: Evolution of a football transfer has come full circle

'It has turned into bandit country when you are trying to conclude a transfer. A deal is agreed and at the last moment, the agent will want it turned from Euros to sterling. The demands are getting more wild with each passing year.' – former Newcastle and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew The comment from experienced manager Pardew provides a snapshot of what will be taking place over the next few weeks, as tens of millions of Euros are set to change hands as Premier League clubs flex their financial muscle in what is set to be an extravagant summer of spending. Last year's summer transfer window was something of an anti-climax for those curious souls who spend too much time scrolling social media trying to get the first news on where the next big transfer will land. Social media users who label themselves as 'transfer experts' and claim to have the inside story on the big deals make bold predictions on an hourly basis on what used to be called Twitter in a bid to attract new followers. Most of these chancers are merely reporting stories that are already in the public domain, but that does not dilute their desire to build their social media accounts and if one of their transfer guesses hits the jackpot, they become the hero of the hour. Yet only a tiny number of genuinely well-connected 'transfer experts' have a source leaking them information at leading clubs these days, with the Premier League big hitters going out of their way to ensure transfer talks are kept under wraps until a deal is close to being completed. This story was very different before the Premier League era with reporters often given inside tips on transfers by managers who were friends as well as the occasional subjects of their poisoned pens. Players would also socialise with reporters and give them the inside track on what was happening inside the dressing room, but any employee of a top club that dared to leak information now may find themselves heading for the exit door very quickly. The best source for a transfer leak these days tends to be a player's agent, but that may not always be reliable. An agent negotiating a new contract with a club may believe it is in his client's interest to be linked with a big-money move elsewhere, so he will look to plant a story in a newspaper or website to try and help his own cause. The fallen giant that is Manchester United have been used time and again as a club 'reported' to be interested in a player in recent years before he signs a new deal with his current club or moves elsewhere. The reporter at the heart of that leak is then left to explain where it all went wrong, with the extra followers he added to social media platforms in the days when he claimed to be a transfer expert quickly deserting him as his credibility is lost for good. If the old format of breaking a transfer story has changed for the media, that is nothing compared to the tales that emerge from deals negotiated by agents from all over the world. Agents were viewed with suspicion by managers and club owners when they became more prevalent in football in the 1990s, but they are now a key part of every deal and the fees they command have become as extravagant as some of the transfer fees that are exchanged between clubs. Premier League clubs paid £263,368,860 in agent fees on transfers for the 12 months from February 2020, with that figure rising to £272.6m a year later. England's top-tier clubs spent a combined £409.1m on agent fees between the winter transfer window in 2024 and the close of the January 2025 window, with the fees paid out this summer likely to be huge as a record-breaking spending spree is expected. Liverpool have already spent £200m on new signings that include Florian Wirtz, while Manchester City have been splashing the cash in the last two transfer windows as they look to rebuild their squad. Chelsea are continuing to spend big as they find creative ways to navigate the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules, with Manchester United and Tottenham also expected to invest heavily this summer after their woeful form in the Premier League last season. The comment from Pardew at the top of this story highlights the kind of negotiations that will currently be taking place over big-money transfers, which the dark-arts agents use effectively when those clubs are desperate to do a deal. Back in 2016, Pardew's Crystal Palace were keen to seal a deal to sign Liverpool forward Christian Benteke, but that was conditional on another transfer being agreed. It was no coincidence that the lesser talented Jonathan Benteke also signed for Palace that summer, as that appeared to be the only way the Eagles could get the player they really wanted. Jonathan made just one brief appearance for Palace, but he and his agent would have got a hefty signing-on fee and everyone in the deal was a winner… apart from the club who were left with a player they didn't want or need, or even originally want. Stories of parents demanding houses, cars and even signing-on fees for themselves are not unusual, while family-run businesses are also common place when big-money deals are being negotiated. Charlie Kane is the proud owner of CK66 Player Management, but his roster of players is limited to just one name. It will come as no surprise that the name on his list of clients is his brother Harry, so Charlie will have reaped the rewards of the £100m move from Tottenham to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2023. Kylian Mbappe is represented by his mother, Fayza Lamari, while Lionel Messi's father Jorge is his son's long-term agent and Trent Alexander-Arnold's brother Tyler negotiated his mega-money transfer to Real Madrid while taking a huge slice for his role in the negotiations. Having family members representing your interests ensures that trust and loyalty are assured, while also keeping profits from transfers and sponsorship deals within a tight family unit. It also highlights how modern footballers are not just athletes but one-man businesses that are looking to extract every last ounce from their brief reign at the top of a sport that has long since had more money than sense. AGENT FEES PAID DURING THE 12 MONTHS FROM FEBRUARY 2024 1. Chelsea – £60.3m 2. Manchester City – £52.1m 3. Manchester United -£33m 4. Aston Villa – £25.1m 5. Newcastle – £24.4m 6. Arsenal – £22.8m 7. Liverpool – £20.8m 8. West Ham United – £19m 9. Tottenham Hotspur – £18.4m 10. Brighton – £16.6m 11. Bournemouth – £16.4m 12. Brentford – £14.8m 13. Wolves – £13.5m 14. Nottingham Forest – £13m 15. Fulham – £12.8m 16. Crystal Palace – £12m 17. Leicester – £9.8m 18. Everton – £9.2m 19. Southampton – £8.9m 20. Ipswich Town – £6.3m

Man City ‘set surprising asking price for Jack Grealish' with club set to make eye-watering loss on unwanted star
Man City ‘set surprising asking price for Jack Grealish' with club set to make eye-watering loss on unwanted star

The Irish Sun

timean hour ago

  • The Irish Sun

Man City ‘set surprising asking price for Jack Grealish' with club set to make eye-watering loss on unwanted star

MANCHESTER CITY are ready to take huge loss on England international Jack Grealish. The former Premier League champions have slapped a shock £40million price tag on the England winger, just three years after they shelled out a British record £100m to bring him in from Aston Villa. 1 Man City are ready to let Jack Grealish leave the club. Credit: AFP With Grealish being firmly out of Pep Guardiola's plans, City chiefs are preparing to cut their losses - a staggering £60m loss on a player who arrived with high expectations. After having such an impressive season in Injuries have played a part in hindering his game. READ MORE FOOTBALL The 29-year-old was left out of City's squad for the Club World Cup — but Guardiola was quick to insist it wasn't because of any off-field antics. Back in June Guardiola said: "The only reason he (Grealish) didn't play minutes was me, not because he was incorrect or whatever, "I want the best for Jack, his partner, his kids, his family. "I don't know what's going to happen right now. have any doubts about the qualities of Jack. The quality has always been there, the year of the treble would have been impossible." Most read in Football JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET £50 BONUS Despite his lack of game time last season, there is understood to be strong interest in signing Grealish - especially at such a low asking price. A return to his beloved Aston Villa could also be on the cards for Grealish. SunSport reported that With a contract at Man City until 2027, the 39-cap ace is ready to play the waiting game for as long as possible.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store