Lee Carsley believes his first five months as Brentford Development Squad Manager have prepared him for what is to come.
The former Republic of Ireland international arrived in TW8 late in 2014, taking control of the Under-21 group.
Lee, speaking to Bees Player at the end of the 2014/15 season, said his first months in the role have been a good learning curve.
He said he knew all the staff and players in the Academy system, both the full-time ones and the younger players, many of whom are based at Uxbridge High School in the Club’s indoor facility.
Lee told Bees Player he can’t wait for 2015/16 to get going.
“It has been a good learning curve,” said the former Everton midfield player.
“I have been here about five months.
“I have got to know everyone, the players and staff in the system.
“I am ready for next season.
“I wish it was starting next week.”
Lee arrived at Brentford in late October. The Bees had won one of their first seven Under-21 Professional Development League games and Lee said the players were low in confidence.
He said there was a process of improving the self-belief of the players and that in turn produced better performances.
Lee admitted it was a slow process but Brentford improved as the season went on.
“We were low on confidence, we had not won a game,” he said.
“Winning is not the be all and end all but it was noticeable that there was a habit of losing.
“It is difficult to break that habit.
“Better performances produce better results.
“I had to get the lads to have better self-belief and confidence in what they were doing.
“They needed more pride in their work in terms of training and their standards on and off the pitch.
“Once we got that, the performances and results improved.
“It was a slow process, we do a lot of work tactically and technically but the mental side of the game is something we don’t spend enough time on.
“Confidence plays a massive part.
“We had to address some basic issues.”
Lee had been working for the Premier League before arriving at Griffin Park.
He worked as a Club Support Manager and said he had gathered many ideas during his months visiting other academies.
Lee had been at Sheffield United after leaving Coventry City, where he had worked with the Under-21 and Under-18 groups.
“I was waiting for the right opportunity,” he said
“You get a lot of opportunities when you are out and about visiting clubs.
“I saw what clubs were doing, I was there for eight months and it was a gap experience.
“I used it to get as many ideas from as many coaches and managers as I could.
“I wanted to put that back in to a team, I was waiting for the opportunity.”
Lee said he identified early on that many players in Brentford’s Development Squad were not going to make the grade.
“I could see after two or three weeks here that the standard wasn’t very high and we had players that weren’t going to get in to the First Team,” he explained.
“The main thing was to make sure the players that wouldn’t make it here were given opportunities elsewhere.
“We gave them a fair crack of the whip and then had a responsibility to help them elsewhere.
“It was then a case of looking at the Under-18s and elsewhere to recruit.
“You have to be honest with players, they need to know where they stand.
“You try to do the best thing for them.”
Lee said his summer will be spent recruiting and planning for the new campaign.
“I will be planning, there are lots of meetings,” he said.
“Hopefully we will get a few players in to inject more quality.
“These are exciting times.”