Former Republic of Ireland midfielder Keith Andrews is the heavy favourite to become the next Brentford manager.
The Premier League side are looking for a new boss after Thomas Frank left to join Tottenham.
Andrews, who has 35 caps for his country, is the current set-piece coach with the Bees and has been a part of Frank’s coaching staff since last year.
Some bookies have him at odds as short as 1/10, suggesting it’s just a matter of time before his appointment is confirmed.
Andrews looks set to be offered the gig ahead of the second favourite in the betting market, Kieran McKenna.
The Ipswich manager and Northern Irishman had been linked with an immediate return to the Premier League following Ipswich’s relegation.
Former Ajax manager Francesco Farioli is the third favourite at around 8/1 ahead of Kjetil Knutsen.
Keith Andrews the next Brentford manager?
The 44-year-old is highly regarded as a coach, having built up his reputation since retiring as a player.
After the end of his playing days, Andrews became the assistant manager to Mark Robinson and MK Dons.
He also worked as an assistant for the Republic of Ireland U21 and senior sides before joining the backroom staff under Chris Wilder and Sheffield United.
Andrews has spent the last 12 months with Brentford, but it will be his first gig in the dugout if he is handed the reins.
He enjoyed a varied playing career, having kick-started his career with Wolves. He also represented Blackburn, Ipswich, Hull City and Bolton among others.
Promoting from within
It appears that Brentford will continue to reward staff members by promoting from within.
When he first moved to Brentford in 2016, he was appointed assistant to Dean Smith. Just under two years later, Frank was handed the manager’s job, and he more than grasped his opportunity.
Andrews will have big boots to fill. Frank won 41% of his games in charge of Brentford and stabilised them as a Premier League side.
If he is appointed, he’ll have a couple of challenges to deal with immediately. One of those is resolving the future of Bryan Mbeumo, who has been linked with Manchester United and Spurs.
Brentford have bolstered their goalkeeper department with the arrival of Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool.
They moved for the Ireland international after allowing Mark Flekken to join Bayer Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, another Irishman looks set to be offered a managerial gig in Brian Barry-Murphy.
The Leicester City first-team coach looks set to take over the vacant position at Cardiff.