How Keith Andrews Turned Doubters into Believers
When Thomas Frank finally cleared his desk at the Robert Rowan Performance Centre last summer to take the poisoned chalice at Tottenham Hotspur, the mood in TW8 wasn’t just somber; it was fearful. And rightfully so. Frank wasn’t just a manager to the Brentford faithful; he was the architect of the modern identity. He was the man who took the “Bus Stop in Hounslow” to the Premier League and kept them there with a brand of football that was as intelligent as it was intense.
Replacing a legend is difficult. Replacing a legend with his set-piece coach – a man with zero senior managerial experience – felt to many like a suicide note.
When Matthew Benham announced Keith Andrews as the new head coach in June 2025, the reaction on social media ranged from confused to apocalyptic. It was viewed as the cheap option. The easy option. A club resting on its laurels and accepting the inevitable slide back to the Championship.
Six months later, with the Bees sitting comfortably in the top half and Igor Thiago chasing the Golden Boot, it looks like something else entirely: it looks like another winning ticket from the smartest gambler in football.
The “Smartodds” of Hiring a Rookie
To understand the Keith Andrews appointment, you have to understand the man signing the cheques. Matthew Benham didn’t build his fortune by betting on favourites. He built it by finding value where others saw risk.
In the casinos of the professional gambling world, the “favourite” is often overvalued. The crowd drives the price down, destroying the margin. The true value lies in the outlier – the variable that the market has underestimated because of bias or lack of data. There are places to find that data, and sister site websites reckon that Smartodds itself is among the best of them, but even players who have that data will still find these opportunities hard to spot or daunting to chase.
Hiring an established name like Graham Potter or Marco Silva would have been the “safe” bet last summer. It would have been the bet that keeps the fans happy in the short term and placates the pundits on TalkSport. But Benham’s algorithm doesn’t care about fan sentiment. It cares about data points and continuity.
The internal data evidently showed that Andrews was more than just the guy designing corner routines. It showed a tactical continuity that would prevent the squad from needing a £100m overhaul. It was a high-stakes wager – handing the keys of a Premier League club to a rookie is the kind of move that gets owners chased out of town if it fails. But Benham calculated the odds, placed his chips, and held his nerve.
Tactical Evolution: Less Possession, More Venom
So, how has Andrews done it? By refusing to be a Thomas Frank tribute act.
Under Frank, Brentford were capable of dominating possession when needed, often playing a patient game of chess. Under Andrews, they have become arguably the most lethal counter-attacking unit in the division. The stats from the first half of the 2025/26 campaign paint a clear picture: Brentford’s possession numbers are down (averaging just 40%), but their “Direct Speed” and “Big Chances Created” are up significantly.
They are playing chaos football, but it’s organised chaos. The 3-1 win over Liverpool at the Gtech in October was the blueprint. They surrendered the ball, invited the press, and then used the blistering pace of Kevin Schade and the physical dominance of Thiago to destroy the high line.
It’s reminiscent of the “Gegenpressing” era, but with a West London twist. Andrews has turned Brentford into a team that doesn’t need the ball to hurt you. They just need you to make one mistake.
The Set-Piece Renaissance
It should come as no surprise that a former set-piece coach has doubled down on dead-ball situations, but the variety we’re seeing this season is staggering.
In the latter years of the Frank era, Brentford’s set-piece threat had become slightly predictable – teams had “figured out” the near-post flick. Andrews has reinvented the playbook. We’re seeing more intricate blocking routines, more variation in delivery, and a ruthless efficiency in second-phase play.
The winning goal against West Ham – a training ground routine involving three dummy runs and a cut-back to the edge of the box – was pure Andrews. It’s a reminder that in a league of fine margins, having a manager who treats a throw-in like a penalty kick is a massive competitive advantage.
The Thiago Factor
Of course, every manager looks like a genius when their number nine can’t stop scoring.
Igor Thiago’s second season in England has been nothing short of revelatory. If his debut year was about adaptation, this year has been about domination. Andrews has simplified Thiago’s role. He isn’t asking him to drop deep and link play like Ivan Toney used to. He is asking him to stay between the width of the posts and bully centre-backs.
The result is a striker who is currently outscoring Haaland since Christmas. The service has been different, too. The shock arrival of Jordan Henderson on a free transfer raised eyebrows in the summer – many thought he was past it – but his experience and ability to hit that first-time ball over the top has unlocked a new dimension in Brentford’s transition game. That pass for Thiago’s winner against Chelsea was worth the signing fee alone.
The Frank Contrast
The narrative is made even sweeter for Bees fans by looking across London. While Andrews has Brentford punching above their weight, Thomas Frank is finding life at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium far more complicated.
Seeing their former hero struggle to implement his philosophy on a disjointed Spurs squad serves as a harsh reminder that the grass isn’t always greener. It also highlights that Brentford’s success was never just about one man. It was about a structure, a culture, and a recruitment policy that works regardless of who is wearing the gilet in the dugout.
There is a certain irony that the very traits Frank instilled in Brentford – hard work, humility, togetherness – are the ones currently keeping his former assistant in a job, while Frank struggles to instill them in a squad of superstars.
Cashing In
We are only halfway through the season. There will be bumps in the road. The squad depth will be tested when the FA Cup fixtures pile up in February, and an injury to Thiago could change the picture rapidly.
But for now, the jury has returned its verdict on the Keith Andrews experiment: guilty of success.
The Premier League is a ruthless casino where clubs burn through money trying to buy success. Brentford, as always, are playing a different game. They are counting cards. They’re looking for the edge.
Matthew Benham has spent his life beating the bookies, finding the value that no one else can see. Appointing Keith Andrews might have looked like a blind punt to the outside world – a desperate roll of the dice after losing a talismanic leader. But inside the data room, it was always a calculated risk. And as the Bees continue to sting the league’s giants, it’s becoming clear that the owner has cashed in yet again.
