New Delhi: For Keith Andrews, the journey to become a Premier League manager has been long and swift, both. Long because he had to wait for his first senior managerial role 10 years after retiring as a player, and swift because he finds himself as a Premier League manager after Brentford promoted him from a set-piece coach role to head coach following Thomas Frank’s departure to Tottenham.
Not that Andrews was not trying to land a managerial role. Around two months ago, he applied for the manager’s job at League Two MK Dons but was snubbed in favour of ex-Derby County boss Paul Warne.
The Northern Irishman captained Wolverhampton Wanderers at the age of 20 and, 24 years later, has his first senior managerial role at the age of 44.
Andrews’ unconventional path to the Premier League
He faces a daunting task of succeeding Frank, who led Brentford to promotion and established them in the Premier League during his seven-year spell.
Andrews’ playing career in the Premier League was limited to just 84 Premier League appearances for Wolves, Blackburn and West Brom between 2003-2012.
His first coaching gig was at MK Dons in 2015, while his second notable role was as an assistant to Stephen Kenny for both the under-21 and senior Republic of Ireland national teams until Kenny’s exit in November 2023.
One month later, Andrews joined the backroom staff at Sheffield United under Chris Wilder but left the role at the end of the season to take the set-piece coach role at Brentford.
It is believed that Andrews, despite his role in Brentford’s backroom team since last summer, had set his sights on a managerial career. For the same reason, he had applied for the MK Dons job.
Appointing a first-time manager is a risky move by Brentford, who open their 2025-26 Premier League campaign at Nottingham Forest on August 17.
But Brentford has decided to stick with their policy of appointing from within seven years after Frank was promoted from his role as an assistant to replace Dean Smith in 2018. Frank’s prior coaching experience before joining Brentford was with Brondby and the Denmark youth teams.
Former England defender Matthew Upson, who played with Andrews at Brighton in 2013-14 and under him at MK Dons in 2015, opened up on the appointment.
“It shows they have got faith in their structure, the same as they had when they appointed Frank”, Upson told BBC Sport.
“He’s a very personable guy, and is excellent working with the players – he has got really good people skills, and his communication was really good.
“He was a good talker on the pitch, and that links into his coaching as well.
Can Andrews succeed where others have failed?
It remains to be seen whether the move to appoint Andrews will work or not, as the stats of the permanent managers in the last decade in the Premier League do not give a good reading.
The Irishman is the 98th permanent (non-caretaker or interim) managerial appointment by an EPL club since June 2015. However, he is only the sixth first-time manager to be appointed in the Premier League during this period.
Mike Phelan (Hull, 2016), Craig Shakespeare (Leicester, 2017), Scott Parker (Fulham, 2019), Mikel Arteta (Arsenal, 2019) and Gary O’Neil (Bournemouth, 2022) are the other five first-time managers to take the top post in the last decade and barring Parker and Arteta no other manager lasted longer than seven months.
Brentford’s decision to appoint Andrews could have stemmed from his impact as the set-piece coach. According to Opta, since his appointment at the Gtech Community Stadium in July 2024, fourteen of Brentford’s 66 Premier League goals in 24-25 came from set-pieces only behinf Arsenal (17), Crystal Palace (17), Nottingham Forest (17), Aston Villa (16), Brighton (15) and Everton (15).
The Bees, meanwhile, finished top of the table in terms of fewest goals conceded from set-pieces (3) – above Manchester City, who conceded six.
Andrews has his work cut out for him in his first managerial role, especially since he has to follow in the footsteps of Frank, who guided the Bees to 13th, 9th, 16th and 10th since winning promotion to the Premier League in 2021.