The mercury in the thermometers of TW8 was touching 31 degrees as Keith Andrews stepped out onto the pitch in the blazing sunshine at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Water cascaded from sprinklers in front of the North Stand as the Dubliner posed, smiling and arms crossed confidently, for photographs. His training top was emblazoned with the name of one the club’s new sponsors – appropriately enough, the job listings website, Indeed. Then it was a short walk to the thankfully air-conditioned surroundings of the Gtech’s press conference room for a first encounter with the media.
Over 45 minutes, flanked by Director of Football Phil Giles and Football Communications Director Chris Wickham, Brentford’s new head coach calmly and thoughtfully laid out the foundations of the Keith Andrews Way. He began by addressing the most obvious question: is he ready to step up from set-piece coach to leading a team in the toughest football league in the world?
“If someone had told you two or three years ago that you would be heading into this season as a Premier League head coach, how do you think you would have reacted?” Asked, TalkSport’s Olly Clink.
“Two or three years ago, I knew I was ready to be a head coach,” “Would I have foreseen it being this role at this level? Probably not, realistically.” “The path I’ve taken has been very deliberate to get to this stage. Three years ago, I was assistant manager for the Republic of Ireland. Five years with the under-21s and then the senior team that I was very, very passionate about.”
“Then subsequently I left to get back into the club rhythm (at Sheffield United). So, the path has been long to get to this point but to answer your question, no, probably not.”
How did Keith come to be appointed?
The club had “a little bit of an advance warning that Thomas going to Tottenham was probably going to happen, so that gave us some time to have a think about the process,” explained Phil Giles. “Clearly, we wanted to discuss with internal people first – it’s always been our way. First question: can we appoint from within?” Andrews made a strong impression early on, Giles said, setting “a very high bar.” “He knows the players, he knows how we play and has strong ideas on how we want to develop that – and the staff like and respect him.” With owner Matthew Benham sitting in on Andrews’ interview presentation, the decision to elevate him to the top job was “a relatively straightforward decision in the end,” said Giles.
Accurately assessing risk versus reward has been central to Matthew Benham and Brentford’s success.
Phil Giles argued that appointing Keith Andrews – an untested figure at the highest level – wasn’t as risky as it may first seem.
“We can make a seamless transition to pre-season,” he said.
“We’re not starting to get to know each other. We can just go straight in and build.
“Thomas has a phrase which is, ‘If you take no risk, you also take a risk,’ which is completely right.
“Keith will bring his own evolution but isn’t starting from scratch, so hopefully we can make some quick progress.
“I think this is actually quite a low-risk appointment because I know how good Keith is,” Phil Giles said
Andrews insisted the down-to-earth, “confident but humble” culture fostered by Thomas Frank would continue. There’ll be no airs and graces under his leadership
“I’ll be me. I’ll be authentic,” he said.
“Me being me and being very authentic is doing my due diligence. Really understanding all the individuals in the building.
“I won’t try and emulate anybody. I’ve taken a lot from people on the journey I’ve been on, but I’ll be me.
“It’s very simple for me. It’s just how you behave on a day-to-day basis.
“You can have all the slogans on the wall that you like. Unless you actually live them, they’re nonsense – and I think we live them.”
Setting out one’s stall in the controlled surroundings of a press conference is one thing. The real test for Keith Andrews, of course, will begin on 17th August, when the new Premier League season gets underway.
As Andrews shook hands with members of the media before heading off to plan the campaign ahead, journalists were impressed by his initial performance.
Paul Williams from the Hounslow Herald told me he thought Andrews had presented himself “very well.”
“He’s obviously very relaxed. He’s used to the environment.
“He made it very clear he loves the club. Onwards and upwards and I think Brenford will have a great season,” Williams said.
For a more partisan perspective, I turned to passionate Brentford supporter and BBC London reporter, Billy Reeves. He said he’d been reassured that our club is in safe hands.
“I think that possibly a lot of fans, me included, thought of this as an opportunity to step the club up when it came to celebrity managers,” Reeves admitted.
“I was one of those people saying Keith Andrews has not got enough experience. Now, we accept it and we get behind him. The reason we get behind him is that we know due diligence was done.
“Keith Andrews is a young coach and he’s an inexperienced coach, but the people around him and the owner are very experienced when it comes to running a Premier League club and he will be close to those people.
“He’s clearly the dude for the gig.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF KEITH GREETING THE MEDIA AT THE GTECH – HERE:
By Stuart Hughes
Stuart began his career at BBC Wales in his hometown of Cardiff. For more than two decades he has covered hundreds of historic news events around the world.
He has worked alongside many of the best-known names in broadcast journalism.
His assignments have included the 9/11 attacks, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Arab Uprisings, the death of Nelson Mandela, the Syrian civil war, the migrant crisis.
He has covered, Putin’s Russia, the Trump presidency and the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://stuarthughesnews.co.uk/