Lee Carsley believes that, after a difficult start to life with the Development Squad, things are starting to turn around and there are plenty of reasons to be positive.
The former Coventry City Under-21 manager and ex-Everton and Republic of Ireland international failed to win any of his first four games in charge but December saw The Bees win two of their three league games.
Lee believes that it was only natural there was an adjustment period for both him and the players but thinks recent results and performances show that improvements are being made.
Speaking to Bees Player Lee said: “I have enjoyed my start here.
“The players have taken some time getting used to me and vice versa.
“I have a different way of working to what they are used to but it has been good.
“It was difficult because we talk about not worrying about results but when you are bottom of the league and losing most games the confidence does drop.
“I have just been trying to get some confidence and belief into the squad.
“A few good results in December helped and it also helps when you get a few of the senior players as it bulks the squad up.
“In general I have been really impressed with the lads and they have done well.
“The atmosphere around the training ground has been very good.
“It helped last year with the promotion and starting this season so well.
“There is a real feel good factor around the training ground.
“The manager is great with me and the players.
“Knowing David Weir helps as well and all in all it has been a great couple of months.”
Lee admits that the strides the first-team have been making under Mark Warburton have made it more difficult for his players to make an impression on the senior squad.
However with the Development Squad training with and alongside the first-team Lee hopes his players can draw inspiration from the achievements of the first-team.
“Ultimately we want to get them into the first-team but if we are being honest a few of them might be a bit short at the moment considering the standard the first team are playing at,” said Lee.
“They are playing really well and are at a high standard and that makes it harder to get the lads into the first-team.
“The fact that the first-team are doing so well makes the environment better because the confidence is there.
“We train on the pitch next to the first-team and hopefully the level that they see the first-team at inspires the players.
“It is good for the players to see the first-team players.
“The manager, Mark Warburton, getting manager of the month, Andre Gray getting player of the month and the sell outs at the ground are all inspirational.”
Before working at Brentford Lee was in charge of Coventry City’s Under-18s and then The Sky Blues Under-21s.
There he helped players such as Cyrus Christie and Callum Wilson break through into Coventry’s first-team, with both players subsequently going on to secure moves to Derby County and AFC Bournemouth respectively.
Lee believes that having helped nurture both Cyrus and Callum into professional football he is in a good position to recognise the positive traits in players that could help them to make a career in the Football League.
The former Derby County, Everton and Birmingham City midfielder believes that, although the situations at Brentford and Coventry City are vastly different, the knowledge he picked up with The Sky Blues will help bring the next generation through at Griffin Park.
“Coventry City and Brentford were in totally different situations financially,” said Lee.
“If we had this Under-21 squad at Coventry when I was there you would probably find four or five of them would be in the first-team and you would be looking at them a little bit differently.
“The Coventry lads were fortunate that the situation the club were in that they got their chance.
“Our lads are really having to prove that they are at the standard.
“Every day it is getting better in the first-team and we have to keep up with them.
“You recognise the signs from some of the players and you recognise some of the patterns that younger players take.
“I think it helps that I have come through a Youth System to be a player too.
“I have first-hand experience of some of the pitfalls and I have seen them in other players too.
“Hopefully I will be able to guide them a bit but ultimately it is about them getting themselves through themselves.”
Looking forward to 2015 Lee said he has two real aims for his Development Squad players, namely improved consistency in the league and to get some of the more experienced Under-21s out on loan to the Football League and non-league.
For Lee getting some of the Under-21s out on loan will help their development but will also allow him to blood some of the club’s Youth Team players in Development Squad football.
“We need to get a bit more consistency in our Under-21 league performances,” said Lee.
“We need to keep improving and if there is a chance we need to get players through.
“First and foremost we need to look at some of the Under-18s and see if we can get some of them up.
“We need to get the ones we feel can be professionals up and playing in the Under-21s to see if they can cope with it.
“We need to keep looking around as well because there are still those diamonds in the rough.
“If there is someone from the non-leagues or who has been released by a club, and is doing well, then we are always looking around.”
A number of the Development Squad including Alfie Mawson, Emmanuel Oyeleke, Josh Clarke, Kieran Morris, Charlie Adams and Mark Smith have been, or are currently, out on loan.
While getting players out on loan is the aim for Lee, he said it is not as simple as just finding a club in need of a player and doing a deal.
Lee said an awful lot of thought goes into finding the best club to suit each individual player’s needs and development especially with the pressure for results that Football League managers are under.
“It is difficult in terms of getting players out on loan because we have to make sure we send them to the right places that are trying to do the same things that we are trying to do, under the right manager who is going to give them a chance,” said Lee.
“We don’t want to send them to someone who is holding on to their job but someone who is going to follow the plan we give them to look after that player’s development.
“That is one thing that I have found tricky but it was the same at Coventry City.
“The shelf life of a manager in League Two and below is difficult as they are all about results and they have to be ready for that.
“99 per cent of our Under-21s need to go out on loan.
“The difference is that if I said to them now that they can all go out then the clubs need to want them and it has to be the right environment.
“If you are a manager and you have got two games to save your job you are not going to look at Brentford’s Under-21s, you are going to look at a player you can rely on and can hit the ground running.
“The younger players are going to be hit and miss and generally the first loan spell doesn’t really work out.
“We have seen that with a couple of the boys who have been sent back early.
“It is important that we build them up to be ready for Brentford and not someone else.
“What boys like Alfie Mawson, Charlie Adams and Manny Oyeleke are learning can be taught here but only if they are playing in the first-team.
“It is difficult to get that intensity and that pressure of playing for three points in the Development Squad.
“Players like Alfie and defenders in general find it easier to cope with the intensity when they first go out on loan because they are rugged by nature.
“The likes of Josh Clarke and Charlie are wide players so the system they play in, the players they play with and the pitch have to suit them.
“They need a lot of little things to go their way to be successful.”
Bees Player subscribers can listen to the full interview here