Bees Rise Above Snobbery as Awkward, All-Action Opponents

The Bees present a compelling example of what happens when a well-run club loses its long-serving manager and key personnel. Can the processes that propelled the club so far weather such change? Is it possible for their renowned data-driven scouting system identify suitable new talent? Appointing a head coach with no frontline experience, the new boss, further challenges the strength of the club's structure.

Mixed Signals but Positive Trends

Early indicators so far are mixed but optimistic overall. As sainted as the former manager is in Brentford legacy, his exit to join Tottenham highlighted that development was not straightforward or a consistently rising curve. A club with a reported salary expenditure of £50m a season, one of the smallest in the top flight, has heavy tides to swim against. That last season’s 10th place was coupled with disappointment in failing to secure continental competition indicates how far expectations had climbed.

Testing Times and Statement Victories

On Sunday, the reigning champions face a side starting in the moderate security of thirteenth position, though with fluctuations from defeat 3-1 at Fulham a two weeks ago to a deserved three-one at their ground victory over Manchester United last Saturday. Bearing in mind that several consider them a soft touch, and one of Frank’s final games was a 4-3 defeat of Ruben Amorim’s team, defeating them nonetheless held significance for Andrews. No club have beaten United and City in back-to-back league matches since Spurs in January 1996.

Known Face in a Fresh Role

Andrews was no stranger to Brentford. In the previous campaign, he occupied the technical area as Frank’s set-piece specialist. The Tractor Boys' Kieran McKenna, the Norwegian side's their coach and Danny Röhl were linked. The most probable internal candidate was number two Justin Cochrane, but he joined Frank to Tottenham.

Shifts Both On and Off the Pitch

The summer was a period of change on and off the field. The owner, with an data-focused strategy follows his achievements in the gambling industry, sold a minority share to former a company chief executive and political supporter Gary Lubner and the film-maker Sir Matthew Vaughn, whose wife, Claudia Schiffer, has been attracting photographers to the executive seats.

Stability and Leadership

The stability at the organization is provided by Jon Varney, and the sporting director. Giles, who has been at the club for a decade, gave an interview last week, where he admitted Brentford can not become complacent with the management congratulating itself for jobs well done. “There is no such thing as established,” he said. “It’s not even a football word. At what point are we established? Probably never. Not a club our size, I don’t think you can truly become comfortable.”

Rebuilding and Fresh Talent

Brentford started against United in seventeenth position, the safety spot. Losing the manager, and key players such as the forwards the Cameroonian winger and Yoane Wissa, the engine-room and captain the Danish international along with goalkeeper the Dutchman, seemed as if a team’s core was being torn away. The owner, the CEO and the sporting director had a strategy; the new boss took over ability to work with. The striker was at the club, the previous summer’s major acquisition unavailable to Frank through fitness issues. The forward's quartet of strikes from 10 shots have come at the highest efficiency of any top-flight player so far.

Team Assets and Tools

The speedy the German forward was entrenched in the attack; he combined with the forward and Mbeumo in scoring double figures last season. Jordan Henderson adds top-level know-how in the center of the park where stats indicate the Ukrainian, twenty-one, as one of the top defensive workers in the Premier League. The Ukrainian can pick a pass, too. The Danish playmaker's unorthodox style belies real inventiveness and Michael Kayode is a marauding back who delivers the set-pieces that are vital part of the arsenal. The goalkeeper, who made a spot-kick stop from the opponent's Bruno Fernandes, is enjoying being a first-choice goalkeeper and the winger, Mbeumo’s replacement on the right, scored the goal versus the Midlands club in August that earned Andrews’s first home win.

Style and Mindset

Under the new boss, Brentford remain high-tempo, resilient, difficult to play against. Although a little more guarded in interviews than his preceding manager, Andrews – a former broadcaster on the Irish radio station who previously held a longstanding role as among the broadcaster's EFL pundits – handles the media game well. Following his team snatched a point from Chelsea after a Schade's set-piece that created havoc, he reflected on the set-piece specialism, and the “disruption” it creates, that is now incorporated into most sides' makeup. “I believe there’s a degree of snobbery in the game around situations like that, but if the top teams do it then it seems to be accepted,” the coach said.

Inspirational Personalities and Criticism

The head coach has sought to refresh the group by inviting two Irish athletic heroes, the rugby union player the former captain and successful golf captain the golfer, to speak to his players. However, not all from back home is supportive on Ireland’s initial top-flight coach since the ex-boss. The head coach criticised the international regime of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane during his punditry work. O’Neill has been scathing; the pundit a little more diplomatic towards someone he confronted aggressively in recent years. “I’ve heard a lot of bullshitters in the past decade and the coach is among them with the top ones,” were the pundit's comments. Andrews accepting the Brentford challenge is the truest evaluation of those claims and the strength of his team's foundations.

Brittney Mcclain
Brittney Mcclain

A passionate historian and travel writer dedicated to preserving and sharing the unique heritage of the Amalfi region.