Andrews offers slight tweak to Frank's home design
- Published
The presence of supermodel Claudia Schiffer in the stands, with her Brentford investor and filmmaker husband Matthew Vaughn, brought a touch of stardust to the west London club for this contest.
On the pitch against Villa, the Bees were more than happy to win without razzmatazz.
Much of the success former boss Thomas Frank engineered at Brentford was built on the diligence, energy and aggression of their home performances.
Based on this display, Keith Andrews looks primed to follow much of the template laid down by Frank.
They snarled at Villa – baring their teeth in every 50-50 – and chased plenty of lost causes.
Last season the Bees won nine and drew six of their 19 home matches.
Their tally of 40 goals scored at the Gtech Community Stadium was bettered only for a home-ground haul by Liverpool (42) and Manchester City (43).
Yet Brentford also conceded a hefty 35 goals at the stadium – only relegated Southampton and Ipswich leaked more on their home turf.
The manner in which they largely controlled the game to bank the points here hinted at a slight tweak from last term.
These are the gains which Andrews will have identified when he replaced Frank, who left to become Tottenham boss.
After a 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest in their opener, this display will have given cause for optimism.
