Marinus Dijkhuizen said he was excited ahead of the start of the Sky Bet Championship season and his first match as Brentford Head Coach. Marinus took over at Brentford in the close season and has had five weeks with his players in the build-up to the opening day.
The Bees kick off their season against Ipswich Town at Griffin Park tomorrow, Saturday 8 August, at 3pm. Ipswich finished sixth in the Championship last season, a place behind The Bees, and both teams will be looking to improve on 2014/15 and earn a Premier League place.
Marinus spoke to the press yesterday, Thursday 6 August, ahead of the match, and said his family and friends were coming over to watch. He said he had watched Ipswich in pre-season – including in a 1-1 draw with FC Utrecht last week – and knew what sort of challenge they would pose.
“It will be a fantastic day,” Marinus told the assembled media. “I have a lot of family coming over, my wife and children are coming, friends are coming and others are coming over from the Netherlands.
“They know the importance of the first game. The first game of any season or tournament is important, especially when you are at home. I am very excited. There are a lot of players involved who played last year. It is new but not very different.
“I have watched Ipswich twice, against Utrecht and once more. They are a strong side, well organised in defence and difficult to play. They are direct and this will be difficult.
“It is two good teams, who finished fifth and sixth last season. It will be a close game.”
Despite squad changes at Brentford this week, Marinus said everyone knew the team that would face Ipswich. Jonathan Douglas, Stuart Dallas and Moses Odubajo have left Griffin Park this week while Marcos Tébar has an injury.
But Marinus said Andre Gray was available despite transfer speculation as was new Danish international centre back Andreas Bjelland while Sam Saunders was close to a return and set to play for Brentford’s Development Squad against Birmingham City on Monday, 10 August. It is the first of five games in 14 days for Brentford with a Capital One Cup tie against Oxford United to follow at Griffin Park on Tuesday, 11 August.
Marinus said: “I know what the team will be and the players know the team. We trained 11 v 11 today so they know. It is clear to everyone. “It is good to play games. We have been training for five weeks and the players want to play. We are in football to play games. I can get used to English football quickly. We have a big squad and quality on the bench. We won’t be using the same players in every match. We have a lot of quality players and enough quality in the squad that we are ready for tomorrow.”
Brentford had pre-season wins over Stoke City, Boreham Wood and Sporting Clube Farense but lost to Tottenham Hotspur, Luton Town and Norwich City. Marinus said a win tomorrow would give everyone confidence, especially with a new Head Coach at the helm. He said players can find it difficult when there are changes but everyone would be ready for the first match.
“A good start is important,” said Marinus. “It gives the players confidence. It would also be good for me, as Head Coach, to get a win, especially with the news around our players moving clubs. It will be good for the confidence to win. There is a new Head Coach, new ideas, new things, you have to win as quickly as possible.
“We had some good friendlies but others that were average. The game against Ipswich will be like the one against Luton, they were direct and it was difficult. When there is lots of movement with players it can be difficult. But on Saturday it will be game on.”
The full pre-match press conference is available for Bees Player subscribers below.