Brentford owner Matthew Benham reckons overhauling the structure of the club's football department is the only way to securing a sustainable Premier League future for the Bees.

The Bees confirmed Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles as co-directors of football on Saturday, less then 24 hours after Brentford saw their promotion hopes extinguished in the north east on Friday.

The pair will work with Benham, the board and a new head coach next term as the club bids to break into the top flight at the second attempt since winning promotion to the Championship from League One.

Current boss Mark Warburton, who watched his side exit the Championship play-offs with a 3-0 defeat at Middlesbrough on Friday, officially steps down on May 30 to pave the way for the new structure.

And Benham believes restructuring, originally announced in February, is the only way the club can reach the top flight and remain there.

“When changes to the football department were first announced, we were very clear that we wanted Brentford to be a club that could reach the Premier League and stay there," he said.

“We believe this can only be achieved sustainably with an innovative approach to player recruitment and the overall management of the club.

“Rasmus and Phil can help us achieve our aim.

“The director of football role is a big one and splitting it means we can add the expertise of both of them to our management structure.”

Ankerson is chairman of runaway Danish Superliga leaders FC Midtjylland (FCM) - also owned by Benham - and will combine that role with a new position at Griffin Park.

He has written several books about talent and performance development and is probably best known for his book The Gold Mine Effect in which he shares his experiences from having lived and trained with the world’s best athletes for six months.

Giles has worked at Smartodds – a company owned by Benham which provides statistical sports modelling services – for eight years and has been their head of quantitative sports research since 2010.

FCM are on the brink of lifting the Superliga title and Benham believes elements of their success can be repeated in the Championship next term.

“I have worked with Rasmus at FC Midtyjlland and many of the methods we will be using at Brentford are already showing much promise there," he added.

“We have always spoken about sharing knowledge between Brentford and FCM, and while the clubs will continue to operate separately, we hope to improve that sharing process.

“Phil is someone who has excellent football knowledge and the analytical skills to assess players, tactics and teams in the way we want to.

“Rasmus and Phil will work with our new head coach to ensure we can get the best Brentford squad possible.”

And Bees chairman Cliff Crown says the new approach can counter the fact the club cannot simply throw money at the situation. 

“Brentford are not in a position to buy instant success, but I believe these appointments will prove to be key to our ongoing process of building for the future success and sustainability of the club," he asaid.

“I would like to thank Brentford fans for their patience over the past few months and while our excellent 2014/15 season is unfortunately over we must now look forward to 2015/16 and hope to make it even better.”

The appointments accompanied news the Bees have made their first new signing on the summer with the arrival of Akaki Gogia on a Bosman free transfer.

The 23-year-old will become a Brentford player in July when his contract with German Three Liga side Hallescher FC expires this summer.

Akaki, born in Rustavi in Georgia, has previously won youth international honours with Germany at U18 and U19 level.

He started his senior career with VfL Wolfsburg, spending loan periods with FC Augsburg and FC St. Pauli before his move to Hallescher FC in 2013.

Akaki, who has signed a long term contract at Griffin Park, will link-up with the first team squad when they return for pre-season training in July.