New Brentford boss reflects on time at Excelsior

Marinus Dijkhuizen is prepared to be realistic in how he approaches his first season in the Championship with Brentford.

The Dutchman got Excelsior promoted to the Eredivisie when he first took over the club in 2014 and kept them in the division the following season.

Excelsior scored 70 goals in their promotion season but Dijkhuizen changed the club’s playing philosophy in the Eredivisie and concentrated on making his side harder to break down.

And the new Brentford head coach believes the decisions he made at Excelsior have made him more realistic in getting small budget teams to compete.

He said: “When I arrived in January they were seventh in the league and I made two decisions.

“Firstly, I moved the number ten 20 yards forward to attack more. That was the start of us getting good results.

“We had a good team with a good striker but they were a little bit defensive so he went forward and he made and scored a lot of goals for us and then our confidence got better and better.

“That's why we got promotion I think. Then, this year we were hardly the same team.

“We played a little bit defensively because I thought that was most realistic.

“We had maybe the lowest budget in the league so we had to get a good defensive organisation and be hard to beat.

“We got a lot of draws because we were defending in the zone and it was very hard for even Ajax and Feyenoord to score goals against us.

“I want to play forwards but I'm also realistic about what games ask.”