David Weir said his first year at Brentford had been a great one.

The former Scotland international defender celebrated his first anniversary as Brentford Assistant Manager on Tuesday, December 16.

He arrived in West London soon after Mark Warburton started as Brentford Manager and, speaking to Bees Player, said he enjoyed being part of a successful time at Griffin Park and working with staff including Sporting Director Frank McParland, Player/Coach Kevin O’Connor and Goalkeeper Coach Simon Royce

The Bees won promotion from Sky Bet League One last term and sit fifth in the Championship after 21 games.

“It’s been a great year,” said David.

“It has been very enjoyable being a part of the Football Club and being part of the success over the last year.

“When Mark brought me in he made it clear he wanted Brentford to get promoted.

“To be part of that is great for me.

“I have genuinely enjoyed it.

“I work with some good people.

“I knew Frank McParland and Mark and working closely with those two has been great.

“I have also got to know the other guys, Kevin, Simon, the analysts, medical staff.

“There are good people throughout the Club.

“When you have good people you have a chance of being successful.

“We have good people here and that is very enjoyable.”

David said he had no regrets from his first year at Griffin Park and said winning promotion was the obvious highlight.

Brentford had been trying for 21 years to get back to the second tier, losing in the Play-Offs six times, most recently in 2013 when they finished third and then lost the Play-Off Final.

David said he hoped he was adding something in his role as Warburton’s assistant.

“Getting promoted was the highlight,” he said.

“You are judged as a player or a coach on your successes.

“For Brentford to go so close last year and with the relatively recent disappointment of the Play-Offs and missing out it was important to get up.

“That was the most pleasing thing, great credit to Mark for getting us over the line.

“There haven’t been any particular regrets.

“You make mistakes and there are some things you may do slightly different but on the whole it has been really positive.

“I hope I bring something to the party and that Mark and I complement each other and put a team on the pitch that Brentford are proud of.”

Brentford are just two points off the top of the Championship with the midway point of the season looming

David said no long term targets had been set but the staff were optimistic ahead of the season as they had a good base and had recruited well.

He said Brentford Owner Matthew Benham had told the staff the gap between League One and the Championship was not big and they players had the confidence of winning games.

David said he hoped that would continue.

“I don’t look too far ahead,” he said.

“We always look at short term targets, individual games and groups of games.

“We were optimistic and had expectations for the group because we genuinely feel we have a good group of players, as we did last year.

“We have recruited well in the summer.

“The Championship is new and there might have been a bit of trepidation.

“Now we are almost half way through and have played almost everyone the players have confidence.

“We have picked up points and got good results, hopefully there is more of the same and continued improvement.

“The players might have surprised themselves.

“They might have expected a bigger jump.

“Matthew told us there was not that big a gap between the top of League One and the Championship and that gave us confidence.

“Then getting confidence from results helped.”

David said Warburton is happy to listen to his staff and everyone worked together to produce a winning team.

“The strength of how we work is that we all have an opinion,” he said.

“We are open on all issues and bouncing ideas off each other.

“That is with regard to tactics, players, everything.

“Mark is the manager and he makes the ultimate decision but it is not about egos it is about putting a team on the pitch with a chance of winning.

“We are really happy with the players; we train with intensity because we want to play in that way.

“Training is very important; it is part of the process to putting a team on the pitch on a Saturday.”

Before arriving at Brentford, David had a short spell as manager at Sheffield United.

He said working at Griffin Park had restored his confidence.

“I have never needed to be the centre of attention, I just want to contribute to something that is successful,” he said.

“I enjoy working with Mark and Frank, and Matthew as well.

“That has been a great mix.

“I had a bad experience at Sheffield United and lost a bit of confidence from that but came here and got my confidence back.

“You realise that playing good football and doing the right things can lead to success.

“Part of my role is to pass on my experiences; Mark, Simon and Kevin have great experience too.

“The players can give us opinions too and the manager makes his decision based on all the information.”

Brentford face three games in eight days over the Christmas period but David said the next one, away to Cardiff City on Saturday, December 20, was all that was being thought of.

“The forefront of your mind is always on the next game,” he said.

“If you are not 100 per cent focussed in this league you get stung.

“The medical and analysis teams will prepare ahead with games in such close succession and we will manage players.

“We want to avoid getting hurt by looking too far ahead.”

Cardiff are currently 11th in the table and are under new management with Russell Slade taking over in early October.

“Cardiff have talented players, a new manager trying to impose his style,” said David.

“They are physical with height, power and strength, allied to some great players.

“We have to counter that by using our intensity and football.”

Bees Player subscribers can see a full video interview with David Weir here.