Warburton and Weir Get Prime Rangers Posts

Former Brentford manager Mark Warburton and his assistant David Weir are to become the new dream team at the helm of troubled Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers, it has been announced.

52-year-old Warburton was recently released by Brentford despite having steered them from League One to the Championship and the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League, following a polite but fundamental disagreement with owner Matthew Benham over his footballing philosophy and the owner's future plans for the club. Assistant Manager Weir went with him and is to play a similar role at the Scottish Championship side, where we was once team captain.

"Whoever comes in must appreciate the size of the task in terms of the history of the club and where they have to be," said Warburton prior to the announcement.

"This is about making significant progress in a designated period of time."

The appointment is set to be made official by close of play today.

Wales to be in Top Seeding Group for 2018 World Cup Draw

Wales' 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Belgium in Cardiff on Friday saw them move closer to a first major finals since 1958.

But the victory could also see Chris Coleman's side enter the top 10 in the Fifa rankings for the first time.

It will almost certainly put Wales among the top seeds when the 2018 World Cup qualifying draw is made in July.

"We're in pot one for the World Cup and the rankings are very healthy, the best we've ever been," Coleman said.

Belgium were ranked second in the world before the match at Cardiff City Stadium, which was settled by Gareth Bale's 17th goal for Wales.

COEFFICIENT SYSTEM

Coleman's side were ranked 22nd, but the points gained from the win will see them climb the order under Fifa's coefficient system when the new rankings are published on 9 July.

If England fail to beat Slovenia in their Euro 2016 qualifier on Sunday, Wales could be ranked above Roy Hodgson's side for the first time in their history.

Being among the top seeds when the draw for Russia 2018 is made in St Petersburg on 25 July will see Wales avoid the likes of Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France and England in their pool.

In March 2011 Wales were as low as 116th, and in the last World Cup qualifying campaign they were bottom seeds alongside countries such as San Marino, Andorra and Luxembourg.

Coleman became Wales boss in January 2012 following the death of former manager Gary Speed.

The former Fulham and Coventry manager lost his first four matches in charge before a 2-1 win over Scotland.

"It is astonishing," Coleman said.

"We've been chipping away at it for a long time and my staff are absolutely fantastic, they work so hard when we're in camp."

Reproduced with acknowledgements to BBC Sport

Marinus Dijkhuizen Takes Over as Brentford Head Coach

Marinus Dijkhuizen

Championship club Brentford have named Excelsior manager Marinus Dijkhuizen as their new head coach.

The 43-year-old Dutchman replaces Mark Warburton, who left at the end of the season despite reaching the play-offs.

Warburton led the Bees to promotion from League One last year but was told in February he would not be retained at the end of the campaign.

Dijkhuizen will be assisted by Roy Hendriksen, who joins the club from Dutch side NEC.

Warburton was involved in a disagreement with Brentford owner Matthew Benham over the future direction of the west London club, with Benham keen to increase the use of statistics in the club's recruitment of players.

Dijkhuizen will work with Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles, who were recently installed as co-directors of football at Griffin Park.

RESTRUCTURE

"The appointment of the new head coach was a very important part of the restructure of the football management we have been undertaking," Benham told the club website.

"We wanted someone who could share our vision for the future.

"We want to be an innovative club in everything we do and having a head coach who thinks in that way was very important."

Dijkhuizen took over as manager of Excelsior in January 2014 and led the side to 15th place in the Dutch Eredivisie last season, although they ended the campaign without a win in nine games.

A former striker, he had two spells as a player with the Rotterdam-based club and also spent time on loan at Dunfermline.

His assistant Hendriksen, 46, had a 16-year playing career in the Netherlands and had a spell as a coach at RKC Waalwijk before joining NEC in 2014.

MONEYBALL

Bees owner Benham has decided to change the club's management structure, with their future recruitment set to be based more on mathematical modelling and statistics which, allied to more traditional scouting methods, is referred to as a 'Moneyball' approach.

Moneyball is a system which emerged in baseball in which the smart use of undervalued statistics allowed financially disadvantaged teams to compete with better-resourced rivals.

"It has been important for us to find a coach who is open-minded, forward thinking and who has great man-management skills," said Ankersen.

"In the recruitment process, Marinus has shown all those qualities and we are confident that he will be able to succeed in the role as head coach."

Reproduced with acknowledgements to BBC Sport