Is this next season’s shirt? Plus an unexpected favour

Saturday. Brentford have another afternoon off. The price of FA Cup capitulation. With the scheduled game against Leeds United having been brought forward, we’re not even half-way towards out next outing – the televised clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Friday evening.   Plus, Manchester United do us a favour whilst one correspondent asks if we’ve been given a possible ‘sneak peek’ of next seasons’ kit? First though, this weekend.

It always feels like we are missing out when most of our rivals are playing. One slight positive is, I guess, that the next time we all meet up the shape of our squad will be known. Will that include Alan Judge? James Tarkowski? Anybody new? With the window due to ‘slam shut’ on Monday, the time for deals is running out. That doesn’t make them any less likely, of course.

Traditionally, the final day has been anything from a sea of tumbleweed to a flurry of frenetic activity. And that’s just the onlookers although recent times have seen them absent after reporter Alan Irwin was assaulted with an ‘adult product’ . Let’s hope our ‘out door’ remains equally quiet over the next few days.

That said, yesterday saw the transfer klaxon going off at Griffin Park with the club announcing that 19 year old centre back Emmanuel Onariase has signed on a youth contract from West Ham. With Harlee Dean, Yoann Barbet, James Tarkowski and Jack O’Connell having already featured in that position this season, what does this mean for our first teamers? Could one or more be on the way out – either now or at season end ?

The situation around James Tarkowski, if not entirely clear following the respective statements, has certainly been made very public. Likewise, Harlee’s contract expires at the end of the season. One would hope that at least one of these players is in the long-term plans of our co-directors of football. We’ll see though.

Emmanuel signs and opts for scarf over shirt

The other slight plus from this weekend was Derby County being beaten by Manchester United in the FA Cup last night. As anybody who has been reading this week will be aware, I’m not particularly interested in the cup performances of Mr. van Gaal’s team.

However, the result does now mean that our game with Derby at Griffin Park will go ahead on February 20^th. Had the Rams beaten United then we wouldn’t have had a Saturday ‘home fixture’ until March 5^th against Charlton Athletic. Imagine what a long wait that would have been – over a month without a home weekend fixture.

We’d have had to do ‘that trip’ to Ikea, visit the in-laws, paint the spare room or fix the leaky tap. I can only imagine the panic over at The Griffin as takings nosedived. Thanks Man U. Please note: my interest in you is now over. Again .

And finally, fellow kit enthusiast Luis Adriano contacted me on Twitter last night with a great spot – could this be next season’s home shirt? Made by adidas, it is the away shirt for San Jose Earthquakes’ 2016 campaign.

Could we wear this next season?

As Luis noted, “not sure it would go down too well with the traditionalists” but , from a personal perspective, I have to say that I love it. Red and white stripes but certainly a little bit of a twist on the norm. Would Matthew Benham and Mark Devlin take this much of a leap into untraditional territory? Would supporters like a shirt that was this heavy on the white?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the Osca ’83-’84 home effort. The one with the all white upper half. So rare, I don’t even have one in my own collection that, otherwise, features most things from 1978 onwards (the ‘mythical’ Adidas ’80-’81 aside).

Indeed, it came second in my all time ‘top ten’ of the Bees home shirts. As was noted at the time, that one was “The Marmite of Brentford shirts. To some, an abhoration. To others (well, me) it’s brilliant”.

Would we have the guts to go this radical? Would fans warm to it? I may be shooting in the dark but it would be interesting to know.

Either way, it’s a lot better than speculating about who might be sneaking out of that window by Monday.

Osca 83-84. Loved the shirt – not so keen on the shorts.

Nick Bruzon

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Missing pieces make for an unusual deadline day

In the end transfer deadline day ended up being as quiet as a Chelsea FA Cup crowd, with Brentford picking up a solitary signing in Blackburn Rovers left / centre back Jack O’Connell. Whilst there was no sign of the proverbial ‘double swoop’ so favoured by our local journalists, as important was the fact that our squad has remained intact. Perhaps the players taking heed of the warning that had reportedly been ‘fired’ at them by Warbs (is there any other way he delivers one?) not to ‘do a Forshaw’.

To read the rest of this article, season 2014/15 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full. Containing additional material and even some (poor) editing, you can get it here for less than the cost of a Griffin Park matchday programme or Balti Pie.

Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, I need to make more space on the site for any follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further on.

The big Forshaw question(s)

Only at Brentford ! With Saturday’s game against Middlesbrough already taking the expectation levels to fever pitch, things went through the roof yesterday with Adam Forshaw making a much anticipated transfer to our opponents following what they describe as “a brief stint at Championship rivals Wigan”.

A mere 17 games (that’s approximately a quarter of one, million, pounds per appearance) followed by a reported cut price sale, suggest that things didn’t work out too well .

To read the rest of this article, season 2014/15 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full. Containing additional material and even some (poor) editing, you can get it here for less than the cost of a Griffin Park matchday programme or Balti Pie.

Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, I need to make more space on the site for any follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further on.

As one King stands down, could another return?

With the back pages of the papers being dominated by the news of ‘one club man’ Steven Gerrard and his decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season, it is a timely reminder of the lunacy into which we are about to descend. Brentford, of course, are already ahead of the game having signed Lewis Macleod from Rangers (effective tomorrow) whilst Championship rivals Derby County have done similar with Ryan Shotton from Stoke City. It is, of course, time for the transfer window to creak open for that one month countdown until Natalie Sawyer tries to stop Sky Sports Jim White from threatening to self combust during the last moments of ‘slamming shut’.

To read the rest of this article, season 2014/15 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full. Containing additional material and even some (poor) editing, you can get it here for less than the cost of a Griffin Park matchday programme or Balti Pie.

Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, I need to make more space on the site for any follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further on.

It’s official! Nobody saw this coming (especially Alan Irwin)

It’s official – Brentford have signed Portugal U-21 striker Betinho on loan from Sporting. Just read that again! Brentford have signed Portugal U-21 striker Betinho on loan from Sporting. The story is so incredible sounding that you wouldn’t believe it to be true if it you’d read it any place other than in club news or on the BBC.

It’s official  – the deal to take Adam Forshaw to Wigan Athletic from Brentford has finally gone through, a week after the price finally reached an acceptable level (you can’t blame Dave Whelan for trying his luck).

To read the rest of this article, season 2014/15 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full. Containing additional material and even some (poor) editing, you can get it here for less than the cost of a Griffin Park matchday programme or Balti Pie.

 Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, I need to make more space on the site for any follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further along.