Keith Andrews: Brentford's Bold Coaching Gamble
Keith Andrews arrived at Brentford as the set-piece guy. Now he looks like the man everyone else in the Premier League will soon be circling.
The former Blackburn and West Brom midfielder, capped 35 times by the Republic of Ireland, built his coaching career the hard way. He learned alongside Karl Robinson at MK Dons, stepped into international football with Stephen Kenny at U21 and senior level, then dipped into the Premier League environment under Chris Wilder at Sheffield United. When Brentford brought him in as set-piece coach in 2023, it felt like a smart specialist hire, not the first step to the top job.
Then came the summer of 2025.
Thomas Frank left for Tottenham, and Brentford turned inwards. Instead of chasing a big name, the club promoted Andrews. It was bold. It was unexpected. And it raised plenty of eyebrows across the division.
Those doubts did not last long.
Andrews silenced all the relegation talk almost immediately, steering Brentford to a ninth-place finish. Europe slipped away late on, agonisingly close, but the tone of the conversation around the club changed. Survival chat was replaced by something far more ambitious: could Brentford actually become a regular in the European spots?
That is the target again for 2026-27. And they are not hiding from it.
Andrews, described by those who know him as affable and meticulous, is tied to a long-term deal through to 2032. On current evidence, the real question is whether Brentford can keep him that long. If he keeps climbing at this rate, a heavyweight will come knocking.
One former Bee is convinced it is only a matter of time.
Ex-Brentford striker Clinton Morrison, speaking to GOAL on behalf of Freebets.com, did not hold back when asked to assess the job his close friend has done – or what might come next.
“Amazing, amazing, amazing,” Morrison said. “I think Brentford have a chance of, even this season, getting them outside spots of Europe. They missed out last season. And they could win a cup.”
Morrison had caught up with Andrews around the Birmingham-Brentford game and came away even more impressed by the depth and balance of the squad.
“I was speaking to him the other day. I was at the Birmingham-Brentford game and I just think Keith's done a fantastic job. He's got two players in every position,” he said.
The recruitment backs that up. Brentford beat elite competition to sign Mamadou Sangare, a player Morrison believes would not have looked out of place at any of the top four.
“The boy who they signed, [Mamadou] Sangare, he could have easily gone to any of the top four teams. I think he's a special talent. He went to Brentford. He likes their project and they’ve got a good signing.”
Across the pitch, Andrews has stacked competition. Callum Wilson’s arrival brings proven Premier League nous and turns up the heat on Thiago. Out wide, Jaidon Anthony, signed from Burnley and quick out of the blocks this season, pushes Dango Ouattara and Kevin Schade. No one can feel safe.
“They signed [El Hadji Malick] Diouf for 40 million from West Ham - can't get a game at the moment,” Morrison pointed out. “Keane Lewis-Potter has been outstanding. So they have a lot of good players there at Brentford.”
This is not a team scraping by. It is a squad built to attack the top half again.
“And yeah, I think Keith Andrews, he’s done a brilliant job,” Morrison added. “Considering last season, the players that they lost and losing Thomas Frank, everyone thought Brentford might get relegated.”
Instead, they surged. They reset. They climbed.
“He's done a great job. And this season, they started ever so well. Huge credit to Keith. And if he carries on going like that, there'll be a lot of other clubs higher up sniffing around him, for sure.”
Brentford took a gamble by backing their set-piece coach to replace a modern club icon. Right now, it looks like one of the smartest bets in the Premier League. The only looming problem for the Bees? How long they can keep hold of the man turning quiet doubts into loud ambition.
