Bees confirm Dijkhuizen as head coach

Brentford have confirmed the appointment of Dutchman Marinus Dijkhuizen as their head coach.

The 43-year-old has been in charge of Excelsior Rotterdam – the club he spent a significant chunk of his playing career with – since January 2014.

He led them to promotion to the Dutch top flight later that year and more recently managed to keep them there despite budgetary constraints.

Dijkhuizen, who replaces Mark Warburton, has named Roy Hendriksen as his assistant and will work with co-directors of football Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles, who were recently appointed as part of a new structure at Griffin Park.

Hendriksen, 46, spent last season as assistant trainer at Dutch side NEC. Before that he spent three years as assistant coach at RKC Waalwijk.

A disagreement with Matthew Benham over the future direction of the club meant Warburton, who previously served Brentford as coach and sporting director, was shown the door at the end of his contract despite having guided them to promotion from League One and then the Championship play-offs during his spell as manager.

Dijkhuizen, a former striker whose playing career also included a loan spell in Scotland with Dunfermline, said he was “looking forward to working with everyone at Brentford for a bright future.”

Club owner Benham said: “The appointment of the new head coach was a very important part of the restructure of the football management we have been undertaking.

“We wanted someone who could share our vision for the future of Brentford FC. We want to be an innovative club in everything we do and having a head coach who thinks in that way was very important.

“There was a wide search and lots of candidates were considered but Marinus was the overwhelming choice of everyone involved in the selection process.”

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