BRENTFORD feel they are following in the footsteps of Liverpool’s famous boot room with their Keith Andrews gamble.
The Bees have turned to set-piece coach Andrews to succeed Thomas Frank after his impressive seven-year tenure.
Few Premier League clubs would even consider appointing from within nowadays, but Liverpool did so over 39 years.
Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Evans all emerged from the inner sanctum to lead the Reds — and Brentford want to develop a similar reputation.
Ex-Ireland midfielder Andrews, 44, has no managerial experience but has been with the club for 12 months.
His first task is to deal with losing key players, with captain Christian Norgaard set to join Arsenal and top scorer Bryan Mbeumo in Manchester United talks.
While many predict Brentford’s fabled model will collapse under the pressure of a tumultuous summer, those in charge appear relaxed.
Director of football Phil Giles led the process to replace Frank, having promoted him from within to replace Dean Smith in 2018.
He said: “Liverpool used to do it for 30 years when they were the best team around and it worked for them.
“I’m not sure when it fell out of fashion. If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us.
“Thomas has a phrase, ‘If you take no risk, you also take a risk’, which is completely right.
“It’s more risky to go and get a coach we don’t know from a club where the environment may be different.”
Giles all but confirmed Norgaard’s £9.3million move to the Gunners but was more bullish on hitman Mbeumo’s future — challenging Manchester United to meet their demands.
The chief has seen key figures come and go in more than a decade in the role.
Giles added: “A lot of people say it’s more worrying when there’s not interest in your players. It’s good that there’s interest.
“We’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. We’ve only got a new head coach and a new keeper as it stands.
“It’s not like falling apart . . . There’s interest. Until that happens, it’s actually pretty stable.”
Andrews is just as relaxed as the top brass over departures.
But he said: “Ultimately, I want the best possible players in the building.
“We’ve got phenomenal players in the building that we will continue to improve and develop.”
