Brentford: Size of task facing Keith Andrews laid bare in nightmare start on managerial debut | OneFootball

Not time to panic but manner of defeat to Nottingham Forest is a concern

There was a moment in the first half of Brentford’s 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest where, for Keith Andrews, it felt like the enormity of the task on his hands really hit home.

There he stood on the touchline - at this point still just one goal down with the worst yet to come - motionless, as his assistant Martin Drury rushed around him barking instructions.

Chaos was unfolding at an alarming rate, the naivety of his young side on full display, as Andrews would admit post-match.

They had lost the midfield battle inside five minutes, and most damningly, they had lost the mental battle by half-time, letting Forest score two quick-fire goals just before the break to all-but seal victory.

Brentford went 1-0 down after five minutes and conceded three goals in the first half against Forest

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It was a nightmare start to life as a Premier League manager for Andrews, who had spoken with such conviction in the build-up, yet looked helpless to combat Forest’s onslaught.

Matters out of Andrews’ control, such as Mikkel Damsgaard’s wife giving birth on the eve of the game, made an uphill task that bit steeper, and Brentford’s midfield unsurprisingly looked devoid of any creativity in his absence.

Damsgaard will be back this weekend when Brentford host Aston Villa, and so too should Kevin Schade, fit enough only to play 45 minutes off the bench against Forest. The German forward’s runs in behind helped stretch Forest and give Brentford some agency in attack.

This was the youngest starting line-up Brentford had named since promotion to the Premier League, and Andrews will be glad to fill out his team with more experience this weekend.

He will also come to call on the experience of his assistants over the course of the season.

Against Forest, it felt like they were all finding their feet.

It was a horror start for the Bees in their first game of the post-Thomas Frank era

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Getting that combination right will be key to building the sort of cohesive unit that has been ripped away from them this summer.

Drury painted a rather exasperated but vocal figure on the touchline, while Neil MacFarlane took his place in the stands with the analysts, a rather alien position for a man whose voice used to instil the fear of God into Brentford’s B team players. Mehmet Ali, highly regarded from his time at Arsenal, kept to the dugout.

There are a lot of square pegs in round holes in the team at the moment.

Keane Lewis-Potter and Fabio Carvalho awkwardly drifted around the pitch, both of them struggling to operate as wingers in Andrews’ system.

Young Antoni Milambo looked lost in the middle of the park, unsure of his role, while fellow debutant Caoimhin Kelleher hacked away a number of clearances into touch, the Irish goalkeeper adding to the frenzied panic in the Brentford team.

There was a marked improvement in the second half, spearheaded by Schade, who Andrews desperately needs to stay fit and step up. Though how much of that was down to Forest taking their foot off the gas?

Managers do not come to be defined by their first game, and Brentford are man-to-man a wholly better team than they showed against Forest.

What will frustrate Andrews the most is the manner of the performance, as his young side shrank under the spotlight on the opening weekend.