Brentford FC Will Implode If This Move Goes Wrong

Forbes

2 days ago

Brentford manager Thomas Frank with Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa after the final whistle of the ... More Premier League match at the King Power Stadium, Leicester. Picture date: Friday February 21, 2025. (Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)
At Brentford, there was always an acceptance that good things don't last.
The club's secret weapon has been its willingness to sell its best players and successfully reinvest the earned sum.
Over the past decade, this strategy has slowly transformed the West London side from an average League 1 outfit to an established Premier League team.
Along the way, there have been many moments when the method of steady renewal might falter, especially when a seemingly irreplaceable part of the machine was lost.
In the dugout, the exits of Mark Warburton and Dean Smith felt like knockout blows, but on each occasion, the Bees steadied themselves and hit new heights.
Likewise, when Neal Maupay or Ollie Watkins were sold, it seemed unlikely that the club would uncover another prolific goalscorer.
Yet every time a talisman departed, a player whom the Bees had steadily developed would come to the fore and replace them.
This type of long-term strategic vision starkly contrasts with rivals, whose boom and bust investment in short-term fixes has not delivered the sustainable achievements that Matthew Benham's leadership has.
But it's hard to imagine a summer of disruption to the Brentford model greater than this one.
It began with the departure of coach Thomas Frank, the man who took Brentford to the promised land of the Premier League and established them as a force. It was only a matter of time before he'd be offered a more prestigious position, and this year, Tottenham Hotspur swooped in for the Dane.
If he were the only major exit, that would be one thing, but he's part of a major exodus of talent from West London.
Influential midfielder Christian Norgaard has gone to Arsenal and is set to be followed out the door by top scorer Bryan Mbeumo, who is Manchester United-bound.
But that's not all, its next highest scorer, Yoane Wissa, is being pursued by a host of top-flight rivals and goalkeeper Mark Flekken is wanted by Bayer Leverkusen.
As has been the Brentford way so successfully, Frank's replacement is a man without experience.
Keith Andrews is far better known for pontificating from the analyst's chair as a TV pundit, but after a successful spell as the team's set-piece coach, he finds himself as the new coach.
Thankfully, for a man losing the core of a very successful team, he is under no illusions about what's in store.
'[I've been given] no assurances. I think the reality is that it's a football club that has been built in a certain way and we have ways to do things which aren't the norm," said the former Ireland international.
'The support Thomas had throughout his tenure was impeccable. The relations he built were very connected and aligned and I don't see that being any different.'
Set-Piece Genius Or Armchair Expert?
New Brentford manager Keith Andrews at the Gtech Community Stadium, London. Picture date: Monday ... More June 30, 2025. (Photo by Maja Smiejkowska/PA Images via Getty Images)
Andrews comes to the role having overseen one of the most effective aspects of Brentford's game last season.
Set-piece goals provided the platform for many victories and the side even managed the astonishing record of scoring from kick-off in four consecutive Premier League games.
According to former Brentford set-piece analyst Marc Orti Esteban, this is evidence of Andrews' talent.
"He deserves big credit for it," Esteban, who previously worked on routines and provided reports to the Irishman, told Sky Sports.
"He knew it was an opportunity every game, maybe not to score a goal but to start on the front foot, and it's paid out really well.
'I don't think this is normal to score four or five goals from kick-offs. It's not easy to repeat, but there was a game plan for sure.'
However, not everyone is so enthusiastic about the former pundit's prospects in West London.
Andrews' former manager at the Republic of Ireland, Martin O'Neill, wished him well while simultaneously taking a dig at the man he managed.
"Good luck to him. I hope he does get the job because he'll then realise what management is all about. It's not as easy to be just sitting in a pundit's chair and just criticising someone who, in all honesty, had a much better career than he had. He was dealing with the bottom end of it when I was winning the European Cup," O'Neill told Talksport.
Everton's former CEO turned soccer consultant, Keith Wyness, was even more scathing on a Football Insider's Inside Track podcast episode.
"I've just got concerns that the pressure could tell on him quickly and it won't be handled in quite the same way as Thomas Frank did," he said.
"If you remember when Frank started, he lost eight out of his first 10 games. Frank fought through that early adversity, carried on persevering, and doing it but I think if that was to happen to Andrews, we'd see a different situation.
"I just don't see him having the experience of managing, and I think that experience is so crucial in a smaller club like Brentford, where you're part of a much smaller group of decision makers and there's just no room for egos, volatility.
"I hope I'm wrong and I do have a lot of trust in Matthew Benham and John Varney to make the right decision but I'm just saying that's the red flag in my mind and if I were a chief executive again, I would have been thinking differently about appointing him as the manager.
'He's part of the family at Brentford, I understand that. He knows everybody and they've had a chance to review much more than I have, so I take that point on board. However, it's just something in my gut feeling and my experience of having been in football and hired managers.'
At this stage, few would bet against the long body of evidence favoring Brentford's strategy.
But Andrews faces a task far harder than any of his predecessors. The club's faith in him will surely be tested, and it will be fascinating to see how it all plays out.