Bees Overcome Elitism as Awkward, High-Energy Opponents
The Bees present a fascinating case study of what happens when a well-run club parts ways with its long-term leader and star players. Will the systems that propelled the club to success weather such change? Can a much-admired analytics-based scouting system find suitable new talent? Appointing a manager with limited top-level experience, Keith Andrews, additionally challenges the strength of the framework.
Varied Signals but Encouraging Trends
The signs so far are varied but positive overall. As sainted as Thomas Frank is in the club's history, his exit to join another club showed that development was never straightforward or a fully upward trajectory. A club with a stated salary expenditure of £50m a season, one of the lowest in the Premier League, has heavy tides to overcome. That last season’s tenth position came accompanied by frustration in missing out on continental competition indicates how far hopes had climbed.
Challenging Periods and Significant Wins
On Sunday, Manchester City visit a side starting in the relative safety of thirteenth position, despite oscillations from losing three-one at Fulham a two weeks ago to a deserved three-one home defeat of the Red Devils recently. Bearing in mind that many consider them a vulnerable opponent, and among the previous manager's last games was a 4-3 defeat of the Portuguese manager's team, defeating them still held significance for the new head coach. Not a single team have defeated United and City in back-to-back league matches since Tottenham in January 1996.
Familiar Figure in a New Role
Andrews was well-acquainted to the club. In the previous campaign, he patrolled the technical area as Frank’s set-piece specialist. The Tractor Boys' their manager, the Norwegian side's Kjetil Knutsen and the Sheffield Wednesday boss were linked. The likeliest in-house option was number two the former coach, but he followed Frank to Tottenham.
Changes Both On and Off the Field
The off-season was a period of change both on and off the field. Matthew Benham, whose analytics approach follows his success in the gambling industry, sold a stake to ex- Autoglass CEO and Labour party supporter an investor and the film-maker Sir Matthew Vaughn, with his wife, Claudia Schiffer, has been attracting media attention to the directors’ box.
Continuity and Leadership
The continuity at the club is provided by the chief executive, and the sporting director. The director, who has been at the team for a ten years, gave an interview recently, stating Brentford can not become complacent with the management patting itself on the back for jobs well done. “You can never say we are established,” he said. “That term doesn't really apply in football. When are we established? Almost certainly never. Not a club our size, I don’t think you can truly take it for granted.”
Rebuilding and Fresh Players
Brentford started versus Manchester United in 17th place, the safety spot. Parting with Frank, and leading players such as the forwards Bryan Mbeumo and the forward, the engine-room and skipper Christian Nørgaard along with shot-stopper Mark Flekken, seemed as if a team’s heart was being torn away. The owner, Varney and the sporting director had a strategy; the new boss inherited talent to utilize. Igor Thiago was at the team, the previous summer’s major acquisition unavailable to the former coach through fitness issues. His four goals from ten attempts have come at the highest conversion rate of every Premier League player this season.
Team Assets and Tools
The speedy Kevin Schade was entrenched in the attack; he joined Wissa and Mbeumo in netting double figures in the previous campaign. Jordan Henderson adds top-level know-how in midfield where stats show the Ukrainian, 21, as one of the top defensive workers in the Premier League. Yarmolyuk can pick a pass, too. The Danish playmaker's unorthodox style masks real creativity and the full-back is a marauding back who delivers the set-pieces that are key components of the weaponry. The goalkeeper, who made a penalty save from United’s Bruno Fernandes, is relishing being a first-choice goalkeeper and the winger, Mbeumo’s replacement on the right, scored the winner against the Midlands club in August that secured the manager's first victory at their stadium.
Style and Philosophy
Under Andrews, Brentford remain high-tempo, resilient, awkward to play against. Though a slightly reserved publicly than his preceding manager, the head coach – a former broadcaster on Ireland’s Newstalk station who previously held a lengthy role as among Sky’s Championship analysts – plays the media game well. Following his team snatched a point from the Blues following a the forward's set-piece that raised havoc, he considered the dead-ball expertise, and the “disruption” it creates, that is currently part of most sides' makeup. “I felt there is a degree of elitism in the game regarding situations such as that, but when the big boys do it then it appears tolerated,” the coach said.
Inspirational Figures and Criticism
Andrews has sought to reinvigorate the squad by bringing in a pair of from Ireland sporting icons, the rugby union star the former captain and Ryder Cup-winning captain the golfer, to speak to his team. However, not all in his homeland is willing on Ireland’s initial top-flight manager since the ex-boss. The head coach questioned the national team management of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane during his punditry work. The former boss has been scathing; Keane a somewhat conciliatory towards a person he confronted aggressively in recent years. “I’ve heard a lot of unreliable talkers in the past decade and the coach is among them with the top ones,” were Keane’s words. Andrews accepting the club's challenge is the truest test of that and the robustness of his club’s structures.
