Director of football Phil Giles has discussed the process that led to Keith Andrews’ appointment as Brentford head coach.

Andrews, who joined the Bees as set-piece coach in July 2024, will succeed Thomas Frank in the Gtech Community Stadium dugout following the Dane’s switch to Tottenham Hotspur earlier this month.

“With Keith being an internal appointment and promotion, the thought process about how to replace Thomas started many years ago,” Giles revealed.

“When we replaced Dean Smith, we had Thomas lined up. While we never promised him the job, we had the idea that Thomas could potentially take over from Dean.

“It’s the same principle here. When we appoint coaches, we always have an idea about whether they could potentially step up.

“When we became aware that Tottenham were interested in Thomas, we had a more detailed process, speaking to our staff but also arranging to speak with some people externally.

“That process started before Thomas had even formally left because we knew the direction of travel.”

Andrews departed Sheffield United last summer, where he had been part of the coaching set-up under Chris Wilder, to join the Bees’ first-team staff.

Prior to that, the 44-year-old was assistant manager to Stephen Kenny during the Dubliner’s three-year spell as Republic of Ireland boss (2020-2023) and served as MK Dons’ assistant manager for the 2015/16 Championship campaign.

Asked about the qualities Andrews will bring to the role, Giles responded: “Keith is a very, very good person. He has good values and fits our culture well. He gets on with everyone, he’s very open and he’s a learner.

“He joined us a year ago as set-piece coach because he wanted a new experience. He wanted to be at our club and to learn. That says a lot about him.

“He’s also covered many other parts of the game so he’s well qualified to do the job.”

Giles continued: “Keith is a very good coach. He’s done very well with our set-pieces this year. The defensive side, particularly, was very good for us.

“He’s got very clear ideas about how he wants the team to improve. As a leader, he’s a very good communicator. He’s very clear in what he wants, he’s detailed, and the players and staff like and respect him. He’s a perfect fit for what we were looking for.

“He understands the players in the building: what motivates them, what they like and don’t like, what they can and can’t do.

“He understands the principles and the way we’ve played and trained under Thomas. He will bring his own evolution but it’s not starting from scratch, so hopefully we can make some quick progress. We’re not trying to change everything and go in a totally different direction.

“It’s all about the details - we’re not looking to revolutionise. Small detailed changes. That can be aligned to changes in personnel, which happens every summer. That provides another opportunity in terms of changing the way we want to play.”

Assistant first-team coach Justin Cochrane, head of athletic performance Chris Haslam and first-team analyst Joe Newton joined Frank at Tottenham.

On these vacancies, Giles said: “There’s been a lot of work going into what that team around Keith looks like. How do we take what we had last year and get better?

"That process is ongoing. We have to look at the blend of skills and experience. It’s an exciting project to have four roles open together.

“I’m not sure we’ll hire four people on one day; we’ll build it over time and learn about strengths and weaknesses. We’ll build it step by step and get the right balance.”