Dean Smith aims to prove more British managers deserve a chance by leading Brentford to promotion

Ambitious: Smith wants to lead the Bees into the top-flight of English football
Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
Julian Bennetts3 December 2015

Dean Smith has set his sights on emulating Eddie Howe and Brendan Rodgers by getting promoted to the Premier League - because he believes young British coaches will never get a chance in the top flight unless they take a club up from the Championship.

Smith succeeded Marinus Dijkhuizen as Brentford manager yesterday as the club look to rectify a summer recruitment strategy of both players and coaches that co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen described as “like playing darts in the dark”.

And on the day that Gary Neville was appointed Valencia head coach until the end of the season, former Walsall boss Smith admits there is a feeling among British managers that promotion is the only way to establish yourself in the Premier League.

Only eight of the 20 Premier League managers are British and Smith feels foreign owners are keen to bring in big-name managerial imports rather than trust talent from the lower leagues.

So he has set himself the target of achieving an “improbable dream” by leading Brentford, and their statistics-based recruitment model, into the Premier League for the first time.

“You have to take a team into the Premier League now,” said Smith when asked about job prospects for young British managers. “Most of the Premier League clubs are owned by foreign owners and there are a lot of big-name managers in the League.

“You only have to look at Brendan Rodgers, Sean Dyche and Eddie Howe [and what they have done], though. I was managing against Eddie two years ago and you see the job he has done at Bournemouth and it would be fantastic if I could emulate those people.

“It gives a lot of managers in the lower leagues great belief to see people like that do it. Those three have done so well - there are a lot more that can go through the leagues.”

Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

And with Brentford just three points off the play-off places, Smith - who will have the final say on recruitment - believes it could be this season.

“I’ve always said to get to the Championship with Walsall is an improbable dream,” said Smith. “To get to the Premier League with Walsall is an impossible dream.

"Well, I’ve moved improbable to Brentford but it is possible. We will use old-fashioned methods and new methods to get better.

“If someone asks me what I’m looking for in a right-back I can tell you. Then we use new methods and statistics like you do at any club, sit down and discuss things.”

And co-director of football Ankersen believes Smith has a far better chance of success than Dijkhuizen after admitting the club’s summer recruitment policy was imprecise at best.

Brentford brought in 12 players as well as unveiling a new coaching set-up and Ankersen, who was appointed in May, says they are in a stronger position now.

“When we were putting together the playing and coaching staff in the summer sometimes it was like playing darts in the dark,” said Ankersen, who is also chairman of FC Midtjylland, the Danish side controlled by Bees owner Matthew Benham.

“We needed to rebuild the club from a distance. Now, four months into the season, we have a much more precise idea about what is good and what needs to be improved.”

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