Phil Giles has been delighted with how Brentford’s players have developed over the season, in particularly Konstantin Kerschbaumer.
The co-director of football said last month that a highlight on the pitch had been the 1-0 win over QPR in October.
But, ignoring individual games, the way individuals have improved their game over the campaign has most impressed Giles.
He said: “Seeing some of the players develop over the season. Some of the players have got better and better.
“The most prominent example has been Kerschbaumer. He’s played in his strongest position and he’s benefitted from more balance in the team.
“He’s played those through balls to Hogan. You’ve got to have people to make runs as well and Hogan and Vibe have been doing that.
“Maybe we’ve played in a way that helps him out and you see him stepping up to the player we hope he can be and we think he’ll get better next season as well.”
Giles admitted that the club made a mistake in bringing in too many players, which impacted performances at the start of the season.
And he cited the example of Yoann Barbet, who came into the team after James Tarkowski’s controversial departure to Burnley.
He added: “It was always the case that they’d need time to bed in. The mistake we made wasn’t so much buying players and not giving them time to bed in.
“It was so many at the same time and it was unfair on them to expect them to hit the ground running.
“Coupled with injuries where they had to play. They had to adapt in the job so to speak rather than being given time.
James Tarkowski transfer saga
“(Yoann) Barbet was given more time, because we had Harlee (Dean) and Tarky (James Tarkowski), so he played in development squad games.
“He had more time to adjust and other players had to come in and do it straight away. We always said it would take time for players to adapt. It takes time and it always will.”
Tarkowski’s strike action for the game against Burnley in January was one of the many controversial incidents involving the club over the campaign.
After just two competitive games, and one friendly, the Griffin Park pitch had to be ripped up and relaid.
Just a month later, Marinus Dijkhuizen was sacked as manager with Lee Carsley taking over until Dean Smith’s appointment in December. Meanwhile, the Bees also suffered numerous injuries over the course of the season.
And Giles believes the distractions were unprecedented to all happen at the same time and hopes for a calmer year next season.
He explained: “There have been a lot of things going on. I had lunch with Mark Devlin about three weeks ago and I asked him whether he’d seen a season like this one with so many different things going on and he said he’d never known anything like it.
“You might expect one season with a lot of injuries, or a season when one player goes on strike or a season where the pitch isn’t what it should be or one where you have three managers.
“For all of that to happen in one season is unprecedented from Mark’s experience.”
On the pitch, Brentford went through peaks and troughs, notably in 2016 where they won two games between January and March.
However, they only failed to win two of their last nine games to end the season on a high.
Video: See Brentford fans enjoy the 3-0 win over Fulham
After the defeats to QPR and Blackburn, fans raised doubts about Smith’s ability to lead the side but this never emanated to board room level.
Giles confirmed: “I wouldn’t say we were concerned. Even if you believe you’ll start winning games as there’s never a terminal decline when you don’t win games.
“There were never any concerns in terms of the quality of people at the club. All Rasmus and I could do was encourage and support them and say it’ll all be good and it was.
The final table shows Brentford in ninth place, with 19 wins, 19 losses and eight draws, nine points behind sixth-placed side Sheffield Wednesday.
And Giles knows the way the season ended meant a positive outlook going into the off-season.
He said: “As we never beat any of the top sides it meant that, apart from the Fulham and QPR, there weren’t any feelings that we were beating a good team.
“Even if our performances deserved better, we never did that. We lacked one or two special moments.
“If we’d been great in January, February and then had the losing run. We’d have a negative feeling going into the summer.
“Exactly the same win-loss etc. If you switch the ordering it changes the emotions you have about the situation. We know that’s the case. We go into the summer really positive. It’s funny how that is the case.
“It is fine margins. We were four points off Ipswich in seventh and nine off Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a gap to make up.
“Our goal difference was plus five, the best of the sides outside the play-offs, and Sheffield Wednesday’s was +21. There’s a gap there. We know that’s the gap we need to make up.”
The co-director of football paid tribute to the fans, who stuck by their team during the campaign.
He added: “Thanks to the fans’ support. Griffin Park was full or nearly full every home game. It was a struggle through the season but we all got our rewards towards the end of the season.
“Hopefully everyone goes away, has a good summer and comes back for next season where we’ll look to do as well as we can.”
