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Brentford: Rasmus Ankersen hails "open-minded" Marinus Dijkhuizen

Rasmus Ankersen lauds the "innovative" nature of Brentford head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen and insists that he won't be hastily sacked if things go wrong.

Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen has praised the "open-minded" and "innovative" nature of new Bees head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen.

Former SBV Excelsior manager Dijkhuizen was presented at the club's Jersey Road training ground this afternoon and Ankersen feels that he will be able to help the team outthink the competition.

Ankersen is one of two new co-directors of football who will oversee the Championship club's revolutionary 'moneyball' approach to football that relies on a huge range of statistics to help both recruitment of players and in-game decision-making.

Speaking to reporters, Ankersen said: "Brentford is not a football club that has to win by spending more money than competition, we need to win by outthinking competition.

"When we met [Dijkhuizen], we felt he was an innovative and open-minded person. He was a great character in terms of combining the openness to new things with experience and shown he can create results.

"The job he did in Excelsior was magnificent and we think giving him the opportunity he can do really well."

Ankersen also insisted that Dijkhuizen would not be axed if Brentford endured a poor run of form during the season.

"He definitely has our support," Ankersen added. "Football is very black and white, but one of its biggest problems is when you make decisions on a temporary variation in results.

"This short-termism is causing a lot of bad decisions. We want to look at our performances in a wider expectation, and look beyond what is obvious, in terms of if you have won or lost."

Dijkhuizen said that he was "fully behind" the statistical model that Brentford are trying to employ.

"The owners have a clear vision, a new one, with original thinking," the Dutchman said. "They want to get better as a club.

"We've talked a lot about it. It's an interesting story, especially for me, because part of modern football is to use all sorts of stuff to get better. I'm fully behind the policy."

Dijkhuizen, 43, managed to keep Excelsior in the Dutch top flight last season.

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Jota of Brentford celebrates scoring his goal with Andre Gray during the Sky Bet Championship match between Brentford and Wigan Athletic at Griffin Park on May 2, 2015
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