Former Chelsea boss heavily linked with Brentford job

Former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo is being heavily linked with the vacant manager’s job at Brentford.

The Bees are looking for a replacement for Dean Smith, who this week left for Aston Villa, where Di Matteo has also had a spell as manager.

Di Matteo, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2012, is among the bookmakers’ favourites for the Bees job.

He has plenty of managerial experience in England as well as a spell in Germany with Schalke. He has also been in charge at MK Dons and West Brom.

However, Brentford co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen told a fans’ forum on Thursday evening that the club are not necessarily looking for managers with Championship experience.

“We are pretty open-minded. We aren’t necessarily looking for someone with Championship experience,” he said.

“We want someone who can build on what has already been built.”

The club’s other co-director of football, Phil Giles: “Are we starting from scratch today? More or less, yes.

“We don’t have a detailed plan but we are pretty confident we can make good decisions over the next few days and move this club onto a new level.”

West London Sport have reported that coach Thomas Frank, placed in caretaker charge following Smith’s departure, is being considered for the manager’s job.