Phil Giles: The role of a Premier League director of football | OneFootball

When Thomas Frank first joined Brentford as assistant head coach to Dean Smith in 2016, it’s safe to say that almost no one in west London were even aware of who the Dane was.

But there were a couple of people who had a vision of what he could be capable of: namely Phil Giles and his co-director of football Rasmus Ankersen, who had an idea of the things the former Brøndby boss could bring to the club.

In a statement given when Frank was appointed as assistant head coach, Giles said: “I have absolute confidence that, under Dean's leadership, assisted by Richard [O’Kelly], Thomas and the rest of the players and staff, we will start to climb the league table again in the near future".

And when Smith left Griffin Park to join Aston Villa, Frank was named as his replacement - and Giles' prediction that the Bees “will start to climb the league table” has been more prophetic than even he could have hoped.

Explaining how the process of appointing Frank as Smith’s replacement happened, he explains: “When Thomas first joined us, it was all with the potential idea that he could replace Dean - but it was never promised to anyone that there could be an internal progression.

“It’s always nice when you can do that because you can put in someone you know, it’s a known quantity, and you can assess someone’s qualities inside before you make that step.

“But when Dean left, we did do a process around external candidates, we spoke to a few people, just because a) it is a good process to do, b) it tests our assumptions and that we’re making the right decisions, and c) it reassures Thomas that he’s getting the job because he’s the best candidate, not because we can’t be bothered to find someone else!

“He showed that he was the best person and earned it.”

Giles has now been working with Thomas for eight years, during which time their relationship has strengthened and developed; as a result, the club and squad have done the same thing, which is a connection that is no coincidence.

The director of football explains why their roles complement each other and how that has created such a successful dynamic.

“What Thomas does, day in and day out, is develop the players within our framework, to give them opportunities, and to reward them; as well as the players, when they’re not playing, he still makes them feel part of it,” Giles says.

“Thomas won’t be involved much in the transfers from a technical point of view. He will be involved in conversations around the squad evolution and the players we want to bring in. He needs to picture in his head how he will weave that player into his plans.

“Mine and Lee [Dykes, technical director]’s job is to do the nuts and bolts of the transfer.

“Thomas might meet the player or his agent at some point because that relationship between player and head coach is key, and we want to establish that almost immediately so that the player knows what to expect before he even comes in.

“But the days of the manager being the person who picks up the phone to an agent or player and effectively doing all the steps of the process has ended - the game is far too complex now.

“It requires a full-time focus on that, which is good because it means head coaches are freed up to deliver in other parts which are more suited to their skillset.”

When it comes to Giles' main tasks as director of football, he is responsible for the whole strategy of the football department - but he admits that most people know his job for what he does in the transfer window.

And he discusses some of his various duties when it comes to buying and selling players, including his important role in handling the long-term vision and look of the Bees squad.

“One of my responsibilities is looking at the squad management and squad planning of the first team, as well as the contract renewal side of it as well,” Giles reveals.

“That will mainly involve me, Thomas and Lee, but it might potentially involve other coaches as well; it’s whoever we need to get feedback from about where the current squad is.

“We look at the ages of players and contract lengths, as well as the players’ potential desire to move on, if that’s the case.

“We then have to think about the gaps opening up, where we can improve - and that’s not just down to players and positions, but also attributes. Have we got enough pace in the squad, leadership in the squad, height from set-pieces… have we got someone that can take a long throw?

“We then plan out how we can fill those gaps, which isn’t always that easy.

“We might have three ideas on how we want the squad to develop, then Lee takes that away with his scouts, and then he will deliver back ideas and suggestions. He’ll also have done some groundwork as to whether he thinks we can sign them.

“We see what the coaches think of the player, and then my job is to bring that all together with a cohesive plan, before, hopefully, executing that plan, which results in us signing that player.”

However, signing the exact type of goalkeeper, defender, midfielder or forward you want isn’t always possible, as Giles goes on to explain: “Sometimes you have an idealised picture of the sort of player you like… and then you quickly realise that that player is not available!

“So you then have to find compromises and, ultimately, you end up signing the best possible player you can sign.

“Even if their profile is not ideally what you want, the job of Thomas and the other coaches is to mould the team around those attributes.

“If we have some attributes in midfield that are at the top level, the rest of the team will mould around that.

“Thomas wants the best players on the pitch and, in theory, that will lead to better results.”

He adds: “If it’s a top player, at an affordable price, and they want to come, you can’t turn around and say, ‘Well, they don’t quite fit’.

“And it’s very rare you’ll find an extreme example of a player who’s just totally unsuitable.

“If a player is stylistically unsuitable but will be the best player in the squad, we’ll change the playing style, adapt and innovate.

“It’s the same with Manchester City when they signed Erling Haaland. They didn’t turn around and say, ‘We’ve never had a big No.9 like him before’ - they took him because he’s an absolutely unbelievable player and they adapted.”

Brentford’s in-depth approach and strategy in the transfer market were discussed in The Long Read with Lee Dykes, so Giles takes a more overarching view of how the club does business.

He insists that it’s important to give any new Bees signing time to show what they can do - which has been highlighted by some examples of the club reaping the rewards of that this campaign.

He says: “We sign younger players and we know they’re going to develop; the secret is to remember that and to stay patient with them for as long as it takes.

“It does take time. We’ve seen that with Mikkel Damsgaard, Keane Lewis-Potter, and even Josh Dasilva years ago.

“I never write players off. It’s easy to have a player for three weeks and write them off, but that’s a very expensive way of running a football club!

“You can write them off too quickly, spend more money to replace them, and then that doesn’t work either.”

He adds: “It’s quite rare that we will move a player on because we don’t think a player is up to the level or isn’t good enough.

“Generally, the sort of player that we sign, even if they’re not doing it right now, there’s a way of developing them. Whether that’s a loan or something else.

“The exits are more around a player’s desire to move on.”

Ahead of the 2025 January transfer window, many Brentford fans across social media will be asking the question as to whether it will be a busy one for the club.

Whilst that’s a question Giles won’t necessarily see (“I’m not active on social media, I might see things pop up”, he says), the director of football does provide a response.

He answers: “This January, I’m expecting it to be pretty quiet, in general. I’m not expecting much either way.

“We did a lot of work in the summer, bringing in a lot of new players: Sepp van den Berg, Fábio Carvalho, Igor Thiago, Jayden Meghoma, Gustavo Nunes, and we need to integrate them into the team, instead of signing new players.

“You can see a lot of the young players we’ve got being a fundamental part of what we want to do for a long time.

“I can see someone like Keane Lewis-Potter being here for many, many, many years, for example.”

However, no one can stay at a club forever.

And whilst Giles was reluctant to talk about hypotheticals around Brentford head coach Thomas Frank leaving the club one day, he theorised how he would handle that scenario, as the man who would have to find his replacement.

He stated: “I expect it will be difficult, but we’d have to do it!

“It’s like when you replace a player: replacing Ollie Watkins was a difficult problem to solve, replacing Ivan Toney was a difficult problem to solve; these are difficult problems to solve, but you just have to get on with it, we won’t have a choice.

“I think it’s the same when replacing players and staff: sometimes you can overthink it.

“At the end of the day, it’s who the best candidate is, is there someone really, really outstanding, and will they make a positive impact at the club?”

But, as Giles asserts, there’s no point worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet.