Spread the love

 

Brentford have started their new manager search. Reports in various newspapers have suggest that Gillingham manager Justin Edinburgh, Walsall manager Dean Smith and an ‘English-based foreign manager’ are all in the loop.

Lee Carsley stated very early on in his caretaker career that he was not interested in the vacant Brentford post. That drew some initial criticism from a section of the fans frustrated that Brentford had employed a person into a job that clearly didn’t want full time.

However, 13 points out of a possible 24 including a run of four wins on the bounce quickly has got the fans on board – many shouting for him to reverse his decision and take the vacant managers post.

But Carsley is insistent.

Despite the Bees’ good form and the players begging him to become the full time gaffer, he claims the job is best suited for a more experienced manager.

“I’ve never had that burning ambition to be a manager. I want to be a coach and bring on the young players. It is a big job and a great job for an experienced manager to come in and really take the club into the Premier League”.

You have to respect Carsley for standing by his principals. No-one knows the real reasons why people respond to certain situations and it’s always easy to draw simple conclusions.

In Lee’s case, it has come to my notice that he has a disabled child. Having a young kid with a disability myself, I know how this can take a lot out of you both physically and emotionally and you have to quickly change your life-style around the child – adapting the way you work to minimise any mental pressures and get some sort of routine into your working week.

If this were one of the the reasons why Carsley decided not to take the role, I understand perfectly. He enjoys developing young football players and particularly likes coaching. It’s a role that means you don’t have to deal with the head-f@ck and politics of everyday management as that may not be conducive with him also getting the best out of his family life.

And fair play to him.

So back to the manager search. Brentford are now in ‘due diligence’ mode as the club needs to get a permanent manager (sorry head coach) in place pronto so that the Bees promotion train can get back on track.

Dean Smith

Apparently Dean Smith has put his foot forward. Good manager to be fair. He has produced some amazing results with a Brentford-like Walsall in Division 1. His team plays attractive football. And he has been in the job for 4 years where he has Walsall sitting in prime position at the top of Division 1.

Is he really in the frame? Only time will tell. There’s no smoke without fire as they say. Ironically, Smith did have a wee moan (probably fair enough) when Brentford poached Will Grigg from Walsall stating that he felt that Grigg would have gone to a ‘bigger club’ (probably a trifle unfair).

That move must have led Smith to have done his research as to the ‘big-ness’ of Brentford. Whatever he came up with quickly changed his mind as he obviously wants to be part of the ride … word on the street has it he put himself forward for at a couple of vacant Brentford manager vacancies (post-Uwe Rosler and post-Mark Warburton).

And who in the football world wouldn’t? There was a short-list of no less than 27 candidates for the role Uwe Rosler vacated – with a lot of ‘heavy hitters’ on that list before, surprisingly, Mark Warburton (who like Carsley was assisting in finding the new gaffer) put himself forward for the role.

In the summer, the Bees had hundreds of candidates apply for the vacant Warburton post with yet again some very big names and a few ‘footballing characters’ (you will have to use your imagination as to who that could be) putting themselves forward.

Despite the newspapers constantly putting Brentford down as some sort of ‘cuckoo hoodoo-voodoo’ outfit, it’s obvious that there are hundreds of decent coaches out there with good reputations who are happy to be part of a relatively new and exciting movement in the football world.

I say relatively new. Because a team with a head coach and a director of football isn’t exactly new now it it?

Not even in England.

Some English teams have been doing that for years.

And the idea of using technology to identity a proportion (not all) of potential new players isn’t exactly new either is it now? Arsenal were doing that in a much more simplistic way back in the mid-90s when they surprisingly signed players like Patrick Viera.

More recently, they have upped the game in the stats department having bought a dedicated stats company – StatDNA – to assist in identifying players (they haven’t started to use it yet mind you).

Maybe one day, when the papers catch up, they may actually quote Arsenal and Brentford as being innovators – being the first two clubs in the country (no doubt others will follow) to have their own wholly owned dedicated information-gathering companies (as opposed to buying it in like most the other clubs do).

Justin Edinburgh

Edinburgh doesn’t quite fit the bill in our books. He comes with an excellent rep and apparently his man management skills are second to none. And yes he had a good run with Newport County, taking them into the league, and is doing well with Gillingham currently. But he is still fairly fresh to league football. Neither was Warburton when he took over the role you would argue. That is true. But having spent three years at the club previously, Warburton knew the club and the club knew him inplicitly.

The ‘English-based Foreign Manager’

As for the ‘EF’ manager as we have re-christened it. The English-Based Foreign manager. The manager from abroad but based in England. A manager who understands the English game implicitly. As, to be fair, Uwe Rosler did.

A number of names have been flying around the social-sphere. From Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (who also put himself forward for at least two previous Bees jobs). Zola. Alex Ferguson (ho ho). Jose Mourhino (when Chelsea sack him) and Slavisa Jokanovic & Óscar García Junyent (two of the four Watford managers hired during their 2014/15 promotion season).

However knowing how Brentford likes a bit of left-field, at Beesotted we think if the club doe go for an EF manager, they will pull a whopper out of the bag here that no-one is expecting. The Swansea No 2 Pep Clotet is once such left-field name being banded about. Is he the chosen one?  Watch this space.

If the smoke tells a true tale, Brentford have learned massively
from the mistakes they made in transitioning from Warburton to Carsley to new man. After the Warburton debacle, the club was possibly trying to be a bit too clever.

Now it’s time to take two steps back and get back to basics.

Yes it’s fantastic to get someone who seems to fit the bill on paper. But at the same time it’s also important a get a coach who knows Brentford’s game. Who understands the club. Who understands the players. Who the players respect. And most importantly does things ‘the Brentford way’.

‘The Brentford way’ … what the hell does that mean?

It means not reinventing the wheel but taking what Brentford currently do as a template and then adapting it – adding his own personal input and experience to the mix.

It’s all about getting the balance right.

Brentford have also learned a huge lesson from employing Carsley in the head coach role. A manager with no previous management experience (never mind Championship management experience) has successfully steadied the ship and got Brentford back playing like a team again.

It shows that we still don’t have to do things like everyone else. In fact despite the set-backs over the past few months, I still take great pleasure in the fact that we have a slightly left-field in the way we approach things.

However, there are certain key factors that Brentford has to adhere to whilst still being left-field. And maintaining a healthy balance between innovation and traditionalism is key.

So where will Carsley fit it?

He is obviously a great asset to the club. And the players like him.

It would be great to see him working under the new head coach – a role that he should have played as part of Marinus Dijkhuizen’s coaching team. That unfortunately never happened as Marinus wanted to stick with his own crew.

In that role, he would still have the ability to coach players. But he wouldn’t have the pressure of being the man at the helm. And he can balance family life with work.

What’s more he knows the team. He knows the club. And he buys into the whole ethos of how Brentford want to move forward.

Also importantly, he also speaks his mind. Someone in the mixer who can add a balanced opinion as to how the club should continue to evolve in the playing area.

But maybe Carsley slotting into the new coaching set up is all too wishful thinking.

The problem if he doesn’t … with Kev O’Connor taking Carsley’s previous U21 role, an immediate return to coaching in the youth set-up doesn’t seem immediately obvious. So if Carsley doesn’t work with the new coach, what next?

With the wheels turning fast on the new manager appointment, no doubt we will hear something sooner rather than later.

We very much hope, whoever takes the role, that Lee Carsley has an important part to play in the new set-up.

However, ironically for a club so embroiled in stat culture …. it’s becoming increasing impossible to predict anything revolving around Brentford anymore.

So lets just wait and see

Billy Grant
@BillyTheBee99