Top transfer rumours of the summer reviewed as Chelsea enter the fray

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.

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The Brentford ‘be@*d club’ gains and loses a member

Matthew Benham’s latest cryptic clue has been revealed as the much rumoured transfer target, Yoann Barbet. The signing of the French centre back from Chamois Niortais was announced on Thursday, scotching any lingering worries that former QPR ‘character’ Joey Barton would be joining the Bees.

The retrospective unraveling of the video hint, the ‘It’s just the three of us’ scene from the film Barton Fink, has best been interpreted as a reference to the three Frenchmen now at Griffin Park – Toumani Diagouraga and Raphaël Calvet being the other two. It’s not without good reason these (the clues rather than the players)  are described as cryptic although if Matthew was going down that route, was there a case for ‘Three Men and a Barbet’, perhaps?

 

To read the rest of this article, season 2015/16 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full, as :   Ready. Steady. Go Again. : Brentford FC season review 2015 – 2016

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

But wait, like all the best infomercials, there’s more. The last three seasons of the Last Word : Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup; Tales from the football village and Ready. Steady. Go Again are also available in one combined volume as: 

Brentford Football Club – The Bees are going up. Season reviews: 2013/14, 2014/15 & 2015/16 

We did. And we still are ! 

 

Official twitter strikes again

 

Barbet or Barton? Is Matthew Benham’s clue pointing to France or QPR?

Matthew Benham has sent Brentford fans into waves of mild panic that the club will be signing former QPR midfielder and current free agent Joey Barton.

The cause for this alarm was the club owner using Twitter on Wednesday lunchtime to release one of his ‘cryptic clues’ – always a sign that transfer news is imminent. This time around, the video was a scene from Coen Brothers classic, Barton Fink. Hence the immediate thought that similarly monikered Joey was next on the Griffin Park shopping list.

To read the rest of this article, season 2015/16 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full, as :   Ready. Steady. Go Again. : Brentford FC season review 2015 – 2016

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

But wait, like all the best infomercials, there’s more. The last three seasons of the Last Word : Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup; Tales from the football village and Ready. Steady. Go Again are also available in one combined volume as: 

Brentford Football Club – The Bees are going up. Season reviews: 2013/14, 2014/15 & 2015/16 

We did. And we still are ! 

Forget Rangers rumours. Matthew Benham’s announcements are all that count

With no Championship action for almost two months, it really is desperate stuff out there in terms of genuine news as the rumour mill goes into overdrive. If you believe the papers then Brentford are set to lose Alfie Mawson and Stuart Dallas to Mark Warburton at Rangers, James Tarkowski is attracting Fulham whilst the Andre Gray/QPR stories are still lurking. Then there’s the prospect of Brentford bolstering their ranks with the addition of centre back Yoann Barbet from outfit, Chamois Niortais.

I even saw one last night that claimed we are on the hunt for Swindon Town winger Nathan Byrne. BBC Radio Wiltshire suggesting that the winger and former Bee could be on his way to Griffin Park over the summer.

Hogwash, the lot of it. Probably. Which manager isn’t linked to his former players? It’s hardly the stuff of Roger Cook style investigative reporting to connect the two and so not surprising to see any number of Brentford players linked with Rangers.

To read the rest of this article, season 2015/16 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full, as :   Ready. Steady. Go Again. : Brentford FC season review 2015 – 2016

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

But wait, like all the best infomercials, there’s more. The last three seasons of the Last Word : Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup; Tales from the football village and Ready. Steady. Go Again are also available in one combined volume as: 

Brentford Football Club – The Bees are going up. Season reviews: 2013/14, 2014/15 & 2015/16 

We did. And we still are !