Summer’s here and news is slow. The potential signing of Chelsea midfielder Josh McEachran is the latest story to intrigue Brentford supporters, with his being the name on everybody’s lips on Friday.
Having already added Konstantin Kerschbaumer to our ample midfield, is there really any truth to this latest rumour? At this rate we’ll have enough central players to make up a second Brentford team (or Wycombe Wanderers, as I saw one Twitter wag refer to yesterday).
Who knows? Several sites have reported this one as imminent although with no leaked pictures, there is nothing concrete to suggest any level of accuracy for a player who, on paper, would be a wonderful signing for Brentford.
Is Josh next on Mr Benham’s shopping list?
Beesotted have run with this one and, to be fair to Dave, Billy and the team, they are more often than not on the money when it comes to this sort of subject. Unlike some of their rivals in the press.
Indeed, looking at the twelve major transfer rumours of the summer so far, only three have come to fruition. One out of four ain’t bad (as Meatloaf didn’t even get close to singing) but it also shows how much hot air and desperate padding does the rounds this time of year if you think that nine of these ‘hot leads’ have, so far, failed to materialise.
Rumoured OUT
Jota – Swansea City (No sighting)
Andre Gray – QPR (No sighting)
Tony Craig – Millwall (No sighting)
James Tarkowski – Fulham (No sighting)
Moses Odubajo – Everton (No sighting)
David Button – Aston Villa (No sighting)
Rumoured IN
Carlton Cole – free agent (No sighting)
Yoann Barbet – Chamois Niortais (CONFIRMED)
Konstantin Kerschbaumer – Admira Wacker (CONFIRMED)
Michiel Kramer – ADO Den Haag (No sighting)
Andreas Bjelland – FC Twente (CONFIRMED)
Josh McEachran – Chelsea (No sighting)
Konstantin and Andreas are 2 of the rumours to deliver, so far
No doubt more will be come clear over the coming weeks. Especially as Marinus has the boys back in training. I’ve no idea what our starting XI would be right now, such is the change in infrastructure and personnel we have already started to see. This before you then factor in the head coach’s personal preferences (assuming ‘the model’ has room for these) and any other transfer activity – whether from the above rumour list or out of left field.
I’d hate to be a journalist at this time of year – scratching around to find stories out of nowhere and waiting for leads to pay off. No doubt we’ll see more of these over the coming weeks and no doubt some might happen – if you chuck enough mud then some will, eventually, stick. Likewise, if you believe them all then we’ll have no team left.
Brentford fans are getting worried about the likes of Jota and Andre, in particular, leaving but there’s been no substance to any of this. The papers love to talk and supporters love to read it.
Personally, I can’t help but feel that with our numbers ever increasing the ‘out door’ will, eventually, swing. You can’t run a side on a bloated squad and so somebody, somewhere, is going to be upset sooner than later.
But equally, I can’t help but feel that Matthew Benham knows exactly what he is doing. He wants success for this club, no question, and he’s not going to do anything to jeopardise that.
Brentford are on the up, make no mistake. The press may not have too much of an idea about who is staying and who is going but we’ll find out eventually. And when it happens, let’s all just show a bit of faith and confidence in our owner. He’s invested heavily, and very well, so far.
Long may this continue.
Nick Bruzon
Should you want to read more Brentford related thoughts (through the eyes of a supporter) then the amalgamated Last Word compendiums from the last two seasons are available for your kindle. Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup (2013/14) and Tales from the football village (2014/15) tell the full stories of our promotion and subsequent life in the Championship, through the eyes of a supporter.
Featuring the best of the not so bad columns and some additional, previously unseen material, they’re just another way to get through a few days over the summer as we wait for the transfer news to be confirmed and the preseason tour to start.
Thanks for reading.
BrentfordFC 