Keith Andrews: Style of play, playing career, background & more

With former boss Thomas Frank having taken the hot seat at Tottenham Hotspur, Brentford have recruited internally in the form of former set piece coach Keith Andrews

After an incredible seven years at the helm of the Bees, it's no doubt that Frank will be sorely missed, but the club's track record in recruiting replacements for key assets suggests that they will be able to push forward without him.

With former Brentford set piece coach Keith Andrews appointed to replace Frank, we take a look at his credentials, including his style of play, playing career, background and more.

Keith Andrews background

Previous roles

Following the end of his professional playing career, Keith Andrews was appointed as the assistant manager to Karl Robinson at MK Dons prior to the start of the 2015/16 season.

His stint at the Dons would come to a close at the end of that term, as the side recorded a 23rd place finish in the Championship and were consequently relegated to League One.

After just shy of three years out of management, Andrews took the role as assistant manager for Ireland. As Stephen Kenny made the step up from Ireland U21 manager to Ireland senior team manager, Andrews followed, present in the assistant manager role for the men's national team for over three years.

Departing in November 2023, Andrews was hired as assistant manager to Chris Wilder at Sheffield United less than a month later, serving the role for 26 games before leaving the club at the end of the 2023/24 campaign to join Thomas Frank's staff at Brentford.

Previously known as a set piece coach, he was also recognised as a technical coach, said to have worked intensely with players on a one-on-one basis since joining the Bees.

Professional playing career

• Wolves (1999-2005)
• Oxford United - loan (2000)
• Stoke City - loan (2003)
• Walsall - loan (2004)
• Hull City (2005-2006)
• MK Dons (2006-2008)
• Blackburn Rovers (2008-2012)
• Ipswich - loan (2011)
• West Brom (2012)
• Bolton (2012-2015)
• Brighton - loan (2013-14)
• Watford - loan (2014-15)
• MK Dons - loan (2015)

Philosophy and style of play

While it's hard to profile Andrews with an exact philosophy and style of play, the 44 year old allegedly pays very close attention to detail in order to exploit small advantages that can be gained.

The Bees had plenty of joy in the opening minute of games earlier on in the campaign, scoring inside 40 seconds in three consecutive contests.

Andrews was supposedly the man who instigated the idea to start fast from kick-offs, and Thomas Frank's reflection on the strategy may give an insight as to how Andrews will set his team up as a manager.

As a mindset and philosophy, we like to get straight on the front foot and be positive. There are some margins going our way of course, but I want to give credit to the coaching staff and the players.

- Thomas Frank

As a former set piece coach, Andrews knows more than anyone the importance of making the most out of them situations. In the 2024/25 term, Brentford were one of the most dominant teams from set pieces.

They scored a total of 13 goals from these situations, but the underlying numbers painted an even stronger picture with a tally of 16.71 expected goals created from set pieces, which ranks the third highest of any Premier League team.

Also acknowledged as a former technical coach, it's more than productive set pieces that Andrews could bring to Brentford.

We can expect his side to be direct. In transitions, expect his team to swiftly flood men forward in numbers, in order to gain a numerical advantage in the final third.

He may opt to follow in the footsteps of Frank in the form of a 3-5-2 formation, though the Dane has been known to choose a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 system, and Andrews may decide that one of the two may be more suitable for the players that he has at his disposal.