There’s always a moment in a game of Jenga when you step away from the creaking tower of blocks and put your faith in the remaining structure while everyone expects it to fall.
That is where Brentford find themselves after a summer in which they have lost many crucial blocks.
The manager, Thomas Frank, to Tottenham. The captain, Christian Norgaard, to Arsenal. The goalkeeper, Mark Flekken, to Bayer Leverkusen. The top scorer, Bryan Mbeumo, to Manchester United, and soon their star striker, Yoane Wissa, to Newcastle.
Now is when we see if one of the Premier League clubs most heralded for their foundations and decision-making, led by owner Matthew Benham, will stay standing or topple to the ground. For once, Brentford are an unknown quantity.
Brighton, another club run by a gambling tycoon, have proven time and again they can replace and replenish. Lose Graham Potter or Roberto De Zerbi? No bother, here’s Fabian Hurzeler. Sell Moises Caicedo? Don’t worry, here’s Carlos Baleba.
Brentford have lost key players before, like Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney, but never this many, not all at once, and never when entering a season without the talismanic, charismatic figure of Frank at the helm.
Brentford appointed Keith Andrews in his first managerial role to replace Thomas Frank
Jordan Henderson has helped fill the leadership void left behind by Christian Norgaard
Bryan Mbeumo also departed for Manchester United but Brentford are refusing to panic
In his place, set-piece coach Keith Andrews, a former Republic of Ireland international, embarks on his first managerial role. So, it comes as little surprise that, outside of the promoted clubs, Brentford are the bookies’ favourites to be relegated alongside Wolves. Andrews is favourite to be the first manager sacked.
However, insiders told Daily Mail Sport that Benham will have done the maths and knows the cost of losing all those star names. If or when Wissa goes, he won’t panic. He may be in the gambling industry but he doesn’t roll the dice.
He’ll have factored in the risk of the unproven coach. He will have crunched the numbers and assessed all the probabilities and decided it’s all worth it.
One source added: ‘If they finish 16th and it turns out to be a season of rebuilding, they won’t care.’
Andrews understands the scepticism. He says he’s comfortable with it, having done things the hard way all his career, leaving Dublin aged 15 to join Wolves’ academy, becoming captain, then dropping down the divisions before establishing himself as a Premier League player at Blackburn.
He started coaching at Ewood Park, taking charge of the Under 14s when he was 29. After retiring, he became assistant to Karl Robinson at MK Dons, who were relegated to League One. He worked under Stephen Kenny with the national side.
Andrews joined Chris Wilder’s staff at Sheffield United in 2023, another relegation season, before becoming Brentford’s set-piece coach last summer, a role in which he excelled. No side conceded fewer goals from set-pieces than Brentford and only three teams scored more.
He masterminded the kick-off routines, often using 6ft 5in right back Kristoffer Ajer as a target man with team-mates buzzing around him. Brentford scored in the opening 40 seconds of three consecutive matches.
Norgaard left for Arsenal in a summer in which Brentford lost so many crucial building blocks
Owner Matthew Benham knows the cost of losing his big names and factored in the risks
Brentford interviewed external candidates before promoting Andrews from within
Now 44, Andrews has finally earned his first shot in the hot seat. Brentford interviewed outside candidates, with Kieran McKenna heavily linked and the man Frank replaced at Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou, also contacted but, in the end, Benham promoted from within – as he had done with Frank in 2018, and Mark Warburton in 2013.
Andrews always called himself a football obsessive but, with the top job in his hands, it’s gone to another level. He tuned out over dinner while eating his wife’s fajitas. He was too busy thinking about the next day’s training.
Those who have watched sessions have noted how tactile Andrews is with his players. Lots of hugs, high fives and pats on the head. If players are unsure of something, he’ll get his staff to show them videos.
During pre-season training in Portugal, Andrews asked Brentford ambassador Peter Gilham, stadium announcer for more than 50 years, to make his presentation.
‘It’s important to understand the history and values of a club,’ says Andrews. ‘You need to identify with the club. I’ve been at clubs when players come in and they don’t realise what it means to the local community and fans.’
Andrews spent time around Gaelic football teams to see how they prepared players. He had ‘deep discussions’ with Lions head coach Andy Farrell and consulted with NFL coaches, South Africa rugby coaches and directors at Google, who he sees as mentors.
He’s turned to those businessmen over the past few weeks and a familiar face, too, in Frank. The pair have enjoyed a few phone calls, including on the day Tottenham lost to Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup.
In his press conference ahead of Sunday’s game at Nottingham Forest, he referred to Keane Lewis-Potter as a ‘Swiss army knife’ and lamented how younger coaches can ‘get lost in the beautiful game’. Yet for someone so inexperienced, he spoke with the confidence of a man who feels he’s ready.
Andrews held deep discussions with Andy Farrell, the British & Irish Lions head coach
He has also enjoyed several chats with Frank, including before Spurs’ Super Cup defeat
Andrews feels the gaps have been plugged and wants his side to ‘play with an edge’
He wants Brentford to ‘play with an edge’. He talked about the impact of managers he’s played under – Roy Hodgson and his understanding of the positional side of the game, Sam Allardyce and how he would use data, Giovanni Trapattoni and the relentless drilling down into basics.
He remembers, too, a manager who wouldn’t look him in the eye when he wasn’t in the team, which is why he kept talking to Brentford players out of the side.
Last season, that was striker Igor Thiago and playmaker Fabio Carvalho. In the absence of Mbeumo and Wissa, who won’t feature on Sunday, those two will be key figures this season.
Andrews feels they have plugged the gaps well. Jordan Henderson has helped fill the leadership void of losing their captain, Caoimhin Kelleher is a keeper he knows well. Bournemouth forward Dango Ouattara has joined for a club-record £42.5million. So, write them off as much as you want for all Andrews cares.
‘People are entitled to their opinions,’ he says. ‘I understand the nature of the business, certain people leaving and the void people think that leaves… it’s a football club that knows what it’s doing.’
If he’s right, maybe the tower won’t fall after all.
