Brentford head coach Dean Smith has told Get West London that he believes he brings stability to the club.
In a time where managers are sacked as quickly as they are hired, Smith and his assistant manager Richard O’Kelly will have been very happy to have been handed one-year contract extensions, securing their future at Griffin Park until 2018.
It was seen as a bit of surprise as while Smith hasn’t done a bad job with the Bees, he is yet to do anything spectacular. After a disappointing start to last season under previous head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen, the club were happy when Smith could turn things around and get them to challenge for the Sky Bet Championship play-off spots, though many would say he had a bit of help from the groundwork laid down by interim head coach Lee Carsley.
This year though Brentford have been stuck in mid-table and haven’t challenged for a place in the play-offs and they have suffered a bit of criticism for this.
But Smith believes his new contract is good for the club as well as him, saying it gives them more stability. He said: “I walked into the job in late November and the first month was getting through the games. We had the transfer window with Toums (Toumani Diagouraga) and Tarks (James Tarkowski) leaving.”
“There was always going to be a lot of change. Mark left the season before and Marinus came in with Cars stepping in. The club needed some stability and I think I’ve brought that.”
“We do regular appraisals at the football club and I was doing mine with the directors of football and they said they wanted to offer a new contract.
“I really enjoy the job here. It’s an interesting place to work and I like the people here. There’s a strategy in place which you don’t get at other clubs.”
