Every word from Keith Andrews' first Premier League press conference | OneFootball

Brentford head coach Keith Andrews spoke to reporters at Jersey Road ahead of his first game as Bees boss, when the west Londoners travel to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday (2pm kick-off BST).

Andrews was asked about the availability of Yoane Wissa, this weekend's opposition, and the fitness of Caoimhín Kelleher and Kevin Schade ahead of the visit to the City Ground.

Here's what he had to say...

Remaining calm

"My emotions are pretty calm, to be honest; I'm a pretty calm individual by nature, in terms of what I do on a day-to-day basis.

"We are ambitious as a football club and I'm ambitious as an individual. We started that on the first day of pre-season, setting the intent for the season.

"The intentions have to be perfect. Will the outcome always be perfect? Probably not, if we're being realistic. But I feel like we're in a good place."

Settling into his role as head coach

"[The head coach role] is different to the actual coaching. The coaching is the dream, it's my passion. It's working with the players on the grass; it's the detail around match preparation that I love.

"The other parts are the things you have to do as head coach, and I've been on a journey as an individual in different roles to prepare myself for that. I've worked with managers who have dealt with scenarios in different ways, and that's part of my learning.

"Has it been ideal? No. I was with a lot of managers a week or so ago, and I'm not sure whose pre-season has been absolutely perfect. There's a lot going on at every football club up and down the land, that's the nature of pre-season and the nature of the transfer window.

"We just need to control what we can control, and that's my focus."

Wissa's availability for Nottingham Forest

"I've made the decision that he's not [available]. It's been a very disruptive pre-season and everyone is aware of that.

"There's been interest in Yoane and I've been very clear on the situation. As a head coach, I want Yoane in the building and I want him to be a part of the first-team squad.

"I'm very understanding of his situation and I've got a very good relationship with him, but we have to focus on the players that are ready to play and perform on Sunday, and I don't think Yoane's in that place."

Andrews added: "I don't know [how the situation will play out], it's very hard to know.

"I know what I'd like to happen, I've said time and time again that I'd like Yoane to be in the first-team squad and in a position to affect games like he did so well last season."

Squad morale

"High-profile [departures] is probably right, when you look at big players in this club's history.

"Bryan [Mbeumo] is a success story for the football club, in terms of his journey, where he started as a young player here, and his development. It's a story we like to see and what we want to see in the future.

"The other player is Christian Nørgaard, a captain and a big part of this football club, but we've replaced him very, very well with Jordan Henderson.

"The goalkeeping situation happened before I came head coach, but I'm happy with who we got in for obvious reasons. Caoimhín [Kelleher] is a goalkeeper I rate very highly.

"The only one that perhaps disrupts an ideal preparation is the Yoane Wissa situation. Is it ideal? No, it's not. But it's something that hasn't affected the players."

Ambitions

"When you look around and feel the environment on a day-to-day basis, it's such a positive place to be. That's not a head-in-the-cloud scenario where we're being unrealistic.

"We know it's a very demanding football league, I'm very aware of that, I've been in the industry for a long, long time, I know what can happen if the feel isn't right around the place and the focus and concentration of the players isn't there.

"As a club, we are looking to continue to grow and we're ambitious, of course we are. Are we realistic about the league we're playing in and what it takes to be successful? Very much so."

Providing a platform

"You just have to look at the defensive options: I've already touched on the goalkeeper, and you've got two central defenders in Sepp van den Berg and Nathan Collins, who are a year further down the line and a year more mature, in Premier League terms. They're forging a very good relationship.

"The full-back positions: we didn't have Aaron Hickey or Rico Henry for large periods of last season, so they feel like new signings.

"Hendo's come in and has been amazing around the place, which I'm sure you can imagine. It's the influence he's having on the group and on the younger players, in particular.

"Antoni Milambo is a player I watched going back to February or March with the recruitment team, and he's a player we were very, very keen on bringing in because of how talented he is. He's settled in well and we need to be careful how we build him.

"Then you look at the top end of the pitch and there are two players that spring to mind who weren't able to play much last season: Igor Thiago and Fábio Carvalho. They're both so talented and so ready. They have had a good pre-season and are now building momentum, rhythm, and understanding with other players. I have no doubt that they'll make a huge impact.

"I said to the players before the Gladbach game last weekend: Mikkel Damsgaard didn't play in the showcase game against Wolfsburg last season on the Friday night, which is the one that everyone wants to play in. Mikkel was then our Player of the Year. So, 12 months ago, nobody was really speaking about him in the way we are now.

"There are some stories that are ready to erupt. Players who have the platform, the confidence, and the belief to go and show what talented players they are."

Building relationships

"'Relationship' is a word I use a lot in general with the players, the understanding. You would have seen that a lot with the front three last season, and the relationship Damsgaard had with them.

"It's hard to flip a switch and get that relationship going, but it's something we work a lot on in training. It's the understanding, the timing of movements, when and how you deliver the ball, the passes and the speed.

"There are relationships that I hope will be very fruitful this season."

Injury update

"There are a couple of players who definitely won't be available: Gustavo Nunes, Vitaly Janelt is still making his way back, Paris Maghoma.

"From the ones that missed last Friday, Caoimhín and Kevin Schade are back on the grass; whether they'll be ready, we'll see over the next day or so and make that decision.

"But, overall, we're in a pretty good place on that front."

Preparations

"I haven't changed much from last season, why would I? It was a team that finished 10th in the Premier League and I was really proud of that.

"I've said this before about Thomas [Frank] and the club in general, it has been a very successful period in the club's history, and you don't get to that point without doing things really, really well behind the scenes.

"I've seen it up close and personal last year, I had a really good view of what went on. Have I changed a lot? No.

"I've tweaked a few things here and there, on the pitch and some things behind the scenes, but, in the main, it's been a steady ship here and I certainly don't want to navigate in a different direction."

Team talk

“I don’t think it will be Any Given Sunday type speech; it’ll be very much continuing what we’ve already been building, day to day, week to week, throughout pre-season.

“We spoke to the group today [Thursday], players and staff on the pitch at the end of a really good training session.

“We feel like they’re primed, they’re ready, they’re in a good space, so it’ll just be little reminders.

“It’s always about the collective, it’s always about the team and how we can achieve things.

“What I said to the players this morning [Thursday] is that if you don’t start on Sunday at two o’clock, that’s just the nature of it.

“It’s not an individual sport, you’re not playing tennis or golf, but to achieve anything, you need everybody on board. That’s all players and all staff.

“I think that’s something we have already at this club and that needs to be maintained.”

Pre-season

“I’ve absolutely loved it. I’ve been through quite a few as a player and as a coach. The pre-season structure was already in place in terms of logistics and games, etc.

“It was a training camp in Portugal, and I was there last year so that didn’t really change. Working with the players, already having a very good relationship and rapport with them on a certain front last season, and again just trying to build on that from a different role with more responsibility.

“From the style of the team and the way the team players, I think it’s been set a certain way for a number of years and it’s proven to be effective. The way I see the game playing in general is that you have to get the best out of the players. That’s the key to it.

“I’ve loved it and enjoyed it, the progression throughout pre-season, whether that’s physically, tactically or where we’re at as a team. To answer your question, I’ve loved every minute.”

Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey and Igor Thiago

“They’ve been really good, they’ve progressed.

“We’ve obviously been mindful of pushing them at certain times throughout pre-season but all three players that you just mentioned there, pretty much have all taken part in all training sessions, barring one or two double sessions we had in Portugal, and they’ve looked really strong.

“They’ve felt like new signings, really. Last season, obviously, different players played full-back positions that weren’t necessarily full-backs.

“To have Aaron and Rico available is obviously a huge bonus for us and gives us different options, different dimensions, different dynamics in that position and what we’re able to do with and without the ball; they’re two outstanding players.

“Thiago is someone I spent a lot of time with last year. I really felt for him and the journey he was on. He played a pre-season friendly against Wimbledon [on 20 July 2024] and was outrageous with the way he played in that first 45 minutes.

“He was exactly as he was portrayed to be. He led the line and scored two goals. Throughout the journey last year of being injured and that disappointment, to say he was a beacon of positivity would be an understatement.

“He’s such an amazing young man who feels more mature than his years. He’s been through a lot. I think we supported him really well as a football club last year, so to see him back leading the line is really nice.”

Lewis-Potter and Carvalho

“I will be versatile, but I think it’s probably a knock-on effect of what I’ve just described about the full-backs.

“Keano is like a Swiss army knife, he’s quite versatile in terms of where he can play and how he can play.

“He’s brilliant to work with, he gets things pretty quickly in terms of what you ask of him from game to game.

“At the start of last season, he took to left-back like a duck to water and played very well, consistently well.

“Fábio is one where he didn’t get the opportunities he would’ve liked last year for whatever reason and then he obviously picked up an injury towards the end of the season that cut short his season.

“He’s someone that I rate very, very highly. I think he’s such a talented young man. I speak to Fábio consistently around his game and how we can develop that. I think the word you used [versatile] is the word I use with our forwards. I want them to be versatile and adapt.”

Nottingham Forest’s threats

“They’re a good side, clearly. They had a very good season last year and have a very experienced coach [Nuno Espírito Santo]. They have got some outstandingly talented individuals who are knocking on the door of being in the England squad.

“A good side, full of good individuals that we are very aware of already. Obviously, the players are aware of having played them not so long ago. We came out on the right side of a result, a deserved win on the night, I thought.

“Their style hasn’t changed too much, I don’t think, from around that time. It’s just a game we’re really looking forward to.

“Pre-season runs its course, to be honest with you. It can go on to a point but then you just need to get into the grind of the season. The players have been ready for the last few days or the last week for that.”

Carvalho a ‘big part’ of the squad

“I do [see him as a big part of the squad]. I think it goes back to last season and my experiences, going back to being a player.

“I think it’s easy for head coaches just to speak to players who are playing. I think a lot of the focus should be going to the ones that aren’t playing at times.

“I think it’s important that coaching staff, as they have become bigger over the years, provide that support network for players.

“I think I did that last year with Fábio, I understood his situation. Careers aren’t easy, sometimes you need to fight through those times when you’re not getting the opportunities you would like.

“He kept persevering, he kept working hard on his game. I worked a lot on his set-piece delivery last year to add that to his armoury, so it probably stemmed from that.

“This season, obviously Bryan [Mbeumo] left the building. Going back to the conversations around, ‘Could you be versatile?’ Could you play different positions?’ – We’ve certainly looked at that, focused on that, studied that.

“We’ve worked on the timing of his runs, when he drops deep, when he runs in beyond, and I think he’s taken it on board really well.

“He looks really good at the moment, full of confidence and playing with real personality, which is what I want from all of the players.”

Asked about Carvalho being receptive to ideas, Andrews added: “Every player wants to play, don’t they?

“It might be different if I asked him to play left-back but he’s still in the attacking areas, he’s still in areas of the pitch where he can really impact the game.

“I think it’s just been his appetite to be a really good team player. You look at his work rate without the ball.

“Traditionally, Fábio has been more of a central player, a second striker, a no.10 if you like, whereas he’s been asked to play slightly to the right or slightly to the left at times. He’s been very, very receptive to that.”

Damsgaard and Carvalho's understanding

“I don’t see any reason why they can’t, they’ve proved it in pre-season; the understanding and the relationship between the two that if one comes short to get us playing and the other can’t be doing the same, they need to be penetrating or looking beyond to stretch us.

“It’s a big feature of how this team has been successful over recent seasons, and we have to have that threat of running in behind.

“Again, they’ve taken that on board really well in pre-season.”

Carvalho playing on the right wing

“Yes, and other positions. Being versatile is the key for any of our forwards.

“I don’t want us to be predictable in terms of how we play, but he’s certainly taken that position on board really well over the last few weeks.”

Set-pieces

“As important, more important, I don’t know but very important. They always are.

“You could see that last night in the Super Cup, how important set-pieces can be.

“Forest are a threat, a real threat. They created a lot of opportunities last season, I was well aware of it last season and I’m still aware of it now, clearly.

“It’s still a big part of our training week. The players treat it very, very seriously. It was part of the culture of this football club long before I arrived.

“I inherited a brilliant group with a real focus on that area of the game that again, I just looked to enhance and tweak, giving us some advantages where I thought we could.

“It’s going to be a big part of the season, I’m sure.”

Thomas Frank

“Thomas is a top person. The way we communicate with the players, I think he’s very authentic - with cameras or without cameras, it’s the same Thomas - just treating people with respect which I think is what this club is built on, which is part of why I wanted to come here.

“That’s on that side of it, and then also the way he set up the team and built the football side of the club over the last seven years or so. It’s been very, very impressive.

“Going back years ago to the Championship days, I still remember throw-ins when they were still playing 4-3-3 and I implemented that into a team I was with at the time.

“I have a lot of respect for Thomas and what he achieved, I’ve clearly learnt from him.”