GIVEN the choice, Frank McParland would not have left Brentford, but the sporting director bears no grudges.

After taking up a similar role at Burnley, he is set for a reunion with his old club tomorrow, having been reunited with one of his Bees signings on the eve of the game.

He regards Andre Gray as one of his best deals at Griffin Park.

There were others, such as James Tarkowski, Moses Odubajo, Jota and Alan Judge, but it was Gray who really stood out.

“The one who has probably taken most of the plaudits would be Andre Gray,” said McParland.

“We took him from non-league, where he played right wing most of the time for Luton.

“Warbs (Mark Warbuton) and David (Weir) turned him into a proper striker, and he played up front all the time.

“He scored 19 goals last season and obviously his value’s increased a lot now.”

The 24-year-old was a £500,000 purchase from Luton Town just over 12 months ago, going on to score 18 times in his first Championship season.

It had been suggested McParland had an agreement with Brentford which meant he was forbidden from returning for players – a clause which emerged when Burnley were first linked with Chris Long, who they signed after he turned down a new deal at Everton.

The 20-year-old was on loan with the Bees last season.

But, ahead of the Gray deal being completed, McParland moved to clear up any confusion, saying: “I think I’ve got a really good relationship with the owner.

“If we are interested in a player and we think it’s right I would always speak to the owner.

“He’s told me he’s got no problem with that side of it, as long as I went to him first and we discussed any players that we’re interested in.

“If we can do a deal, great, and if we can’t walk away .”

McParland had previously worked in numerous guises at Liverpool, initially as a part-time coach while juggling a full-time job as a manager for British Telecom, where he had worked his way up from an engineer.

He then moved to Anfield, and their Melwood training ground, on a permanent basis when the academy system first started out in the 1990s.

He has worked as chief scout, for Rafa Benitez, and director of the academy before making the move, via a brief spell at Watford, to Brentford, where he worked closely with then-manager Warburton and assistant Weir.

He said: “We were sixth in League One in the November/December, then we made a couple of really good signings at Christmas and we were promoted with five games to go.

“It was a really successful time, and obviously last year we got to the play-offs.

“From a small club with a really small budget at the time to get to the play-offs was really good.

“I’d worked at Liverpool for a lot of years and the best time I had was probably when we won the Champions League. Great, great times.

“But other than that I would say probably my most enjoyable time in football was at Brentford.

“It was a really good combination of Mark Warburton, David Weir and myself.”

Brentford were close to promotion to the Premier League, so to the outside world it made no sense for the club to announce in February that Warburton, Weir and McParland would be leaving at the end of the season.

“The owner calls the shots ultimately,” said McParland.

“I had a really good relationship with him and still speak to him now, I’ve got no axe to grind with anyone at Brentford. I enjoyed my time there a lot.”

Owner Matthew Benham appointed Marinus Dijkhuizen, former manager of Eredivisie side Excelsior, while Warburton and Weir went to Rangers.

McParland said: “He’s got a new way of what he wants to do things, and that’s fine.

“We just move on and we’ve all gone to do different things.

“I’ve come here and I’m really enjoying the club.

“Not that I wanted to leave Brentford at the time – it’s a shame really but it’s opened another door for me.

“It’s been good that I can come to a club that’s pushing to get back into the Premier League and I can try to help build the infrastructure up .”