Brentford face make-or-break summer in bid to regenerate again

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Evening Standard

·27 June 2025

Brentford face make-or-break summer in bid to regenerate again

Significant spend needed as Bryan Mbeumo and Christian Norgaard prepare to follow Thomas Frank out the door

QPR fans didn’t mean it as a compliment. When Hoops supporters began chanting “you’re just a bus stop in Hounslow” at their Brentford counterparts at a game a few years back, what they intended as a slight on the Bees’ modest history instead just gave them ammunition.

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Brentford reclaimed the phrase to boast how they’ve punched above their weight perhaps more so than any club in England of late, moneyballing their way to the Premier League and now preparing for their fifth straight top-flight campaign. Now, though, comes a defining moment for the club.

Doubts about Brentford’s direction of travel follow the departure of Thomas Frank who, since 2018, had been the friendly face of this superbly well-run club. But that big move (to Tottenham) could not be passed up, Frank the latest in a long line of key Brentford assets plucked by the mighty.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are edging closer to signing Brentford’s talisman, Bryan Mbeumo, and captain Christian Nørgaard is joining Arsenal.

In the background, the Bees have been appointing their own set-piece coach, Keith Andrews, as the new head coach.

Frank, himself, was promoted from within, but Andrews has never had a head coach role before and Standard Sport reported that in April he applied unsuccessfully for the role at MK Dons, nearly relegated to non-league. It is little wonder many fans are critical of such a risky appointment.

Brentford have finished 13th, 9th, 16th and 10th since reaching the big time, a remarkable achievement for a club whose wage bill registers in the bottom three.

They lost Ollie Watkins and Saïd Benrahma to Aston Villa and West Ham, waved goodbye to Arsenal-bound David Raya, and were powerless to prevent Ivan Toney’s exit to Al-Ahli. Each time, they reinvented themselves.

The worry is that Southampton serve as a cautionary tale for how it all can end for upwardly-mobile clubs repeatedly pillaged for their best players.

Saints came up in 2012 and hung around, but the pressure to replace lost talent such as Luke Shaw, Sadio Mané, Virgil van Dijk and manager Mauricio Pochettino eventually proved too great. Having resisted the slip for so long, their resolve ran out in 2023 after 11 years.

A big summer of spending is needed if Brentford are to avoid the same fate, given those already exiting and that Yoane Wissa is admired across the continent too. Frank has taken respected coach Justin Cochrane, performance director Chris Haslam and analyst Joe Newton with him to Spurs.

Added firepower in attack is needed whether or not Mbeumo or Wissa leave, and more quality in midfield.

Keith Andrews is a risky appointment, despite Brentford’s track record with internal promotions

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It must not be undersold quite how impressive it is what Brentford have achieved. Of the past 15 promoted teams, only five have stayed up.

Leeds suffered “second season syndrome”, and Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth both broke spending rules. That leaves Fulham and Brentford as the outliers — and the Bees have lasted longer and on a smaller budget.

Brentford have just reopened their academy, have a scouting network that tracks 85,500 players, and thanks to owner Matthew Benham’s past life as the founder of the formula-driven sports statistical research company Smartodds, boast some of the best player data in the Premier League.

Director of football, Phil Giles, and technical director, Lee Dykes, know their decisions this summer could make or break Brentford’s status as a sustainable Premier League club. We will soon learn just how enduring the Brentford model is. Can they regenerate again?