Something has to give. But who or what?

Brentford have only gone and bought another midfielder. The much-rumoured transfer of Josh McEachran from Chelsea was completed on Friday as he signed a four-year contract at Griffin Park. And there’s news from two Championship stablemates where Doctor Assam Allam is trying it on again at Hull City AFC and Wolves, where the home team have been stung by the Bees before the season has even begun.

But first up, Josh. The newest, and possibly only, member of the #BrentfordFC moustache club put pen to paper on Friday. In doing so, he showed just how serious Matthew Benham and his fleet of coaches are about taking Brentford forward this season.

Josh signs for Brentford – no beard but a fine moustache

Marinus has already described him as, “A versatile midfield player who can play in a holding role and as a playmaker.” Certainly, the Internet is raving about the potential of this former England U-21 who played close to two dozen games for Chelsea before heading out on loan to a number of clubs including Middlesbrough, Swansea City and Vitesse, for whom he would have crossed swords with our new head coach last year.

Josh is an ambitious signing, make no mistake. However, I do wonder what it means for our already top-heavy midfield set up. By my reckoning, he makes it eleven players who will justifiably believe they are in contention for a start. Ryan Williams, Konstantin Kerschbaumer, Lewis Macleod, Sam Saunders, Jonathan Douglas, Marcos Tébar, Stuart Dallas, Alan Judge, Toumani Diagouraga and Jota will all be battling him for a central berth.

And that’s not counting Moses Odubajo or Alan McCormack, brought into the club as midfielders but, due to necessity, ended up being converted to defense where they’ve battled it out for the right back slot.

Those numbers are going to present Marinus with a headache, even if he was to adopt a Spanish 4-6-0 formation (and given our striking options, as it stands, that may not be as implausible as it sounds).

The other, more realistic, option is that somebody will be moving on. Could this see an end of the road, at Griffin Park, for some of our ‘elder statesmen’ with the likes of Jonathan Douglas and (please no) Sam Saunders making way as Marinus builds a new look team? Could some of the many rumours we’ve been reading about for the bigger names in our squad actually come true? I’m desperate to see the likes of Jota and Alan Judge next season – both of whom were among those who did nothing but impress last time out.

As I’ve said before, it’s always hard to see your heroes leave. I’ll be upset if pretty much anyone of the aforementioned players does depart but that’s football and Brentford are building for the future. The maths are stark but simple. Eleven (or thirteen) into five just won’t go.

Going back to territory we’ve visited in the past, Hull City AFC today face the latest challenge to their name. I’ve long been a supporter of the #NotoHullTigers campaign as controversial owner Doctor Assem Allam looks to rebrand the club, for the perceived marketing potential, as Hull Tigers.

You may not be aware but this Saturday sees the club face a vote at a meeting of the Football Association Council to see if his already rejected plans can be resuscitated. Whilst the word on the street is that he’s going to end up one unhappy tiger, nothing is ever guaranteed.

Good luck AFC. You’ve got one Bee behind you. I never tire of saying how lucky Brentford are with our owner. Here is yet another example of just how true it is to ha ve genuine supporter (since 1979) at the helm.

Its all in the name – this Bees is backing Hull City AFC

And finally, from tigers to Wolves. And Bees. With the memory of our 4-0 victory from last season still fresh in the mind, not to mention our epic League One campaign, I’ve got a lot of time for the Molineux club. Recent history between us has seen nothing but exciting times and some cracking games as success followed for both our teams in seasons 2013/14 and 2014/15 (and which more than a few things were written about). There’s been a lot of good natured banter over the last few seasons and I genuinely can’t wait to resume the on pitch action once more.

As such, it was great to see the Bees have already got one over them before the season has even kicked off in anger. The club’s official Twitter feed sharing this shot on Friday of a swarm(ish) taking residence at Wanderers.

Insert your own Bees sting Wolves related headline, here

The Bees caused more pain for Wolves yesterday

Nick Bruzon