Brentford 5. Newcastle United, Birmingham, Huddersfield 6. QPR 14. Rotherham 20. Not the odds on winning September’s manager of the month award but, infact, the total goals conceded by the respective teams after 8 Championship games. And in the case of the Bees, one man has a huge part to play in that stat – goalkeeper Daniel Bentley.
Priced at just £1.99, all sales are being donated to the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust.
Likewise any sales from the previous titles – Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup (2013/14), Tales from the football village (2014/15) and Ready. Steady. Go Again. (2015/16) – are also now going to the BFCCST.
Containing the least bad of the blogs from May 2016 to May 2017 along with a smattering of new material, you can pick it up, here. Its all for a great cause and,hey, you may even enjoy it…..
Where do you start after yet another ‘one of the most dramatic final days of the season’ since the last one? After spending the season on loan at Brentford, Sergi Canos making his debut for Liverpool ? Former Bee Wojciech Szczęsny rubbing salt into the Tottenham wound after Spurs came perilously close to a bracketing when they went down 5-1 at Championship bound Newcastle United? Or Old Trafford where, of course, Manchester United had their game abandoned after the bomb scare?
Nobody needs my in-depth analysis of that situation. An evacuation was, of course, the absolutely right and proper thing to do. Likewise, it was reassuring to see how quickly and efficiently this appeared to take place.
But beyond that. Wow! To say “questions will be asked” is sure to be an understatement to rank alongside this whole affair being described as a “fiasco” First thoughts I saw suggested the suspicious package found at Old Trafford was a ‘seasons highlights’ DVD or a trophy. Infact, it turned out to be a training device used by a private security company to prevent exactly this sort of issue happening , left behind after a midweek drill.
Twitter reacted, of course, with the mood changing from worry, shock and horror to incredulation as the story unfolded over the course of the afternoon.
Who knows what the fall out will be from all of this. For once, “Sacked in the morning” won’t be a chant directed at the manager. Even when the rearranged game has taken place on Tuesday, this won’t be the last we hear of it. People are jittery enough as it is. For sure we can expect even more enhanced security next season.
OK – the Brentford connection. First up, Wojciech Szczęsny. None other than the Arsenal goalkeeper and former Bee was lining up to lead the taunts after Tottenham managed to blow an unblowable situation.
Spurs, a club who could choke on a Rice Krispie, needing only a point to guarantee second place in the Premier League came within two of a 7(seven) goal bracketing. This, to relegated Newcastle United – one of the poorest teams since Premier League records began.
The consolation of Champions League football will be little consolation to being pipped by their arch rivals, yet again. Expect the Arsenal ’smug-o-meter’ to be through the roof today. Absolute Radio DJ Richie Firth already leading the charge on this morning’s Christian O’Connell breakfast show although, for once, if not sympathise you can understand.
As Richie noted, “Only Spurs could come third in a two horse race“.
Chesney. For once, not the one and only
Liverpool. Sergio Canos.
We’ve waxed lyrical about the Spanish wunderkind many times this season.And rightly so – his achievments on pitch were legion. But with most of his Brentford team mates now on their holidays, if social media is to be believed, he had the honour of pulling on that famous red shirt in a 1-1 draw with West Brom.
Congratulations, Sergi. No doubt the first of many Liverpool appearances although, in the short term, if you want to come back to Griffin Park for another season then there’ll be no complaints from West London.
And finally, a HUGE thanks to all those who have so far downloaded both the Last Word ‘season review’ (Ready. Steady. Go Again) aswell as the three year anthology (The Bees are going up). These are both available now.
Very much a day of mixed emotions yesterday as former Brentford goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny (now plying his trade with Arsenal) kept Gibraltar at bay in their EURO 2016 opener against Poland. And by kept at bay, I mean barely had a look in as the boys from the Rock were on the wrong end of a 7(seven) – 0 bracketing.
Despite an even first half, it ended up being the sort of rout that nobody likes to see. It took Brentford owner Matthew Benham, who had earlier given a positive reaction to the ‘hot seat’ idea for Lionel Road, to fully lift my post match gloom with another view of one of his favourite football headlines.
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.
BrentfordFC 
Matthew Benham and Roy help lift the mood as Gibraltar are bracketed.
8 SepVery much a day of mixed emotions yesterday as former Brentford goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny (now plying his trade with Arsenal) kept Gibraltar at bay in their EURO 2016 opener against Poland. And by kept at bay, I mean barely had a look in as the boys from the Rock were on the wrong end of a 7(seven) – 0 bracketing.
Despite an even first half, it ended up being the sort of rout that nobody likes to see. It took Brentford owner Matthew Benham, who had earlier given a positive reaction to the ‘hot seat’ idea for Lionel Road, to fully lift my post match gloom with another view of one of his favourite football headlines.
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.
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