THE WISDOM KEITH MUST BEE QUICKLY EXTRACTED

Brentford have backed Andrews to bring his coaching nous to bear but sparring partners O'Neill and Keane will be watching closely

- BY PAUL O'HEHIR

IT'S a scheduling quirk that Brentford will start their Premier League campaign on the same day as Manchester United.

Roy Keane will be on punditry duty at his old stomping ground Old Trafford, for United's Super Sunday showdown with Arsenal on August 17.

But his view on what unfolds at the City Ground a little earlier should still be box office.

Had Brentford’s game away to Nottingham Forest been the day before, he might have been tempted to invite Martin O'Neill around to the house for a leisurely day on the couch.

Kettle on, popcorn open and tongues sharpened, Ireland's former management duo may have enjoyed weighing into Keith Andrews on his managerial bow with the Bees.

It’s safe to say the trio do not form a love triangle, with Andrews a vocal critic of O'Neill and Keane in the latter stages of their time in charge of Ireland.

And lest we forget Keane’s brutal jibe in a 2020 interview when discussing how much he missed the Ireland gig, at a time when the Stephen Kenny (inset) era was in its fledgling stage.

"I miss the Irish job, honestly. I really enjoyed that,” said the former Ireland captain and assistant manager.

“People like Seamus Coleman, Seamus McDonagh, Steve Guppy. Ah listen, I loved it.

“But if I can make one point about the new Irish staff. I've heard a lot of bulls***ters over the last 10 years and Keith Andrews is up there with the best of them.”

Andrews, to be fair, just brushed it off.

“In terms of how it affected me it didn’t affect me in the slightest,” he said. “When you go into a new job, players pretty quickly suss you out, if you're not up to the level.”

Andrews was the MK Dons assistant boss and a media pundit during that O'Neill and Keane era and didn't pull his punches towards the tail end of their time.

Not least because everything was starting to unravel behind the scenes.