IF YOU SAID at the start of this Premier League season that Brentford would still have something to play for on the final day, most would have assumed a relegation battle had gone to the wire.

Instead of waving the white flag with the appointment of Keith Andrews last summer, promoting him from set-piece coach to head coach, the west London club are instead holding out hope of qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history.

Vindication of trusting the Dubliner came quickly into the season with rival clubs not just impressed by the manner of how quickly they attack, but also with a relentless work rate that was even more effective because of the tactical work on the training ground underpinning it all.

That is why Europe is just about visible over the horizon for Andrews and his players.

Brentford must win against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday to have any chance. It’s a tough task given Arne Slot’s side have not yet confirmed their own place in the Champions League after a winless run in May.

Two defeats and a draw have left the door slightly ajar for Bournemouth, although they need Liverpool to lose and for a six-goal difference to be overturned along with it.

Brentford are ninth in the table and also outside the European places due to goal difference.

The Europa League and Uefa Conference League both remain possibilities.

Quite simply, if Brentford beat Liverpool, and Chelsea and Brighton both drop points against Sunderland and Manchester United respectively, they will qualify for the Europa League with a seventh-place finish.

However, should Brighton triumph at home to United and Chelsea lose or draw away in the north-east, Brentford would leapfrog their west London neighbours into the Uefa Conference League.

The techno music Andrews has encouraged the players to play on the side of the pitch at the start of training each day will be deafening in the away dressing room at Anfield if they can pull off a final-day raid.

Brentford boss Keith Andrews. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

These permutations are a far cry from what anyone outside the club envisioned when there was an exodus of around €150 million worth of talent by the end of last summer’s transfer window.

Their head coach, Thomas Frank, also departed for Tottenham Hotspur. He had become synonymous with their smart, data-driven approach, a diligence to his work that was understated and hinted at the ideal temperament in north London.

He didn’t last long there but at Brentford it was as if things were unravelling with Andrews’ appointment.

There is only so much of a talent drain you can cope with, unless of course you have more waiting in the wings to take flight.

Brentford are not a club to get caught on the hop, though, so when they turned to Andrews to replace the Dane they did so because the numbers and their gut instinct aligned.

The 42 detailed before the new season how one of the names in the mix for the head coach’s job was Mauricio Pochetinno.

That caused a stir across the Atlantic given the Argentine was building towards this summer’s World Cup, even if plans seemed fractured and the squad is not quite harmonious.

The 42 also understands that those close to Pochetinno made no secret of his own frustrations in the job.

Steve Cooper, the former Nottingham Forest boss, was also spoken to, but Brentford’s hierarchy felt the man already in the building

Cooper was also sacked on Saturday by Brondby after eight months in charge when they missed out on a place in the Conference League through their play-off system.

This is Brentford’s fifth season in a row in the Premier League and if results go their way on Sunday they will enjoy their highest finish.

They finished 13th in their debut campaign, then ninth, 16th and 10th. It’s why, when The 42 visited the club’s training centre just a few miles from Heathrow Airport – the flight path is above the pitches – some scoffed when director of football Phil Giles was looking up the table rather than over his shoulder.

“Are we a top side who are going to challenge at the top of the table? Probably not. I don’t see any reason why we would be anywhere near the bottom, and again, if we can get it right, two of the four seasons we’ve been in the Premier League we’ve kind of nibbled on the European places,” Giles said in an exclusive interview back in October.

“And not quite got there. If we could be in that mix again that would be nice. But I try not to set targets in terms of league position, it’s more setting targets for performances and then doing what we said we’d do in terms of improving the team, whether that be by coaching or recruitment, and then letting the performances come and results even out over a period of time.”

Andrews was the one who gave Caoimhín Kelleher the tour of the club’s facilities when he joined from Liverpool. He was still set-piece coach at that stage and their bond from Ireland set-ups was a bonus.

Nathan Collins was made captain after Christian Norgaard joined Arsenal, but he also had to work his way back into the starting XI in March after he found himself on the bench in February.

The emergence of striker Igor Thiago has also been pivotal, and the relationship he shares with Andrews can be traced back to their first season at the club together in 2024/25.

Thiago was a club record signing for €35 million but suffered an ACL injury at the end of July. It was during his recovery that he and Andrews forged a bond that also hints at the head coach’s ability not just to gain respect through the manner of his work, but also that personal touch required to eke out even more from a group of players.

They are methods even detractors like Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane could appreciate, maybe even relate to.

Thiago scored 22 Premier League goals so far and has secured a place in the Brazil squad for this summer’s World Cup.

If Europe is over the horizon when he returns, that might just be enough to keep him at the club. If it’s not, Brentford will find a way to keep the show on the road.

No one is doubting Andrews’s abilities now.