I’m glad I support Brentford rather than one big fish in a rapidly stagnating pond. And Dean speaks

Football is slowly waking up. This time last year, we were talking about Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar beating Celtic 1-0 in the Champions League qualifiers. Quite possibly the most embarrassing results in Scottish football history (to add to an already long list) yet last night they were equalled by fellow Glasgow side Rangers when the fourth best team in Luxembourg, part timers Progrès Niederkorn, knocked them out of Europe. And closer to home, Brentford boss Dean Smith has been up in front of the Sky sports cameras.

Ordinarily these pages wouldn’t look at the Scottish game but Rangers have held a bit of a fascination in recent years, given the circumstances which saw former Brentford boss Mark Warburton both join and leave the Ibrox club. “You walk around the stadium, the first time for me this morning, and you smell the history” he said upon becoming their manager in June 2015.

I’m sure this morning they’ll be smelling something rather different North of the border and Warbs will be very pleased with his decision to resign prior to joining Nottingham Forest. Internet bookmaker PaddyPower have already declared Celtic as league Champions prior to a ball being kicked although, to be fair, most bookies have them as 1/9 on at best to lift that particular silverware.

Other bookmakers are also available

For all the ongoing talk about these two ‘giants’ of Scottish football joining the English Premier League, the totally one sided nature of their domestic league along with results such as those against Progrès or Lincoln show how out of touch they sadly are these days. A point made all the more apparent as after limping past the Gibraltarians last season, Celtic then endured complete capitulation in the group stages, failing to reach the Europa League whilst also suffering a 7(seven) goal bracketing.

Winning at home is nice, but to watch such consistently uncompetitive football must become a somewhat soul destroying affair. Where’s the genuine competition? Where’s the excitement? What’s the point when you win your league by a country mile or get kicked off the park the moment the competition hots up a bit. With your closest historical rival a shadow of their former selves, it really gives off the impression of going through the motions. Give me the Championship any day of the week.

Which is why the return to our own league campaign cannot come soon enough. Nobody could claim this division is one sided. Anything but, with Newcastle United’s title win going right down to the wire last season whilst Brentford have claimed more than their fair share of illustrious scalps over the last three campaigns. Three top ten finishes have surprised more than a few people outside of TW8 (most notably Ian Holloway) and I’m desperate for us to give this division another try.

The good news is that the Bees are now back in training and yesterday, ‘official’ released a video of head coach Dean Smith talking to Sky Sports News.

Dean Smith spoke to Sky

In the interview, which you can see below, Dean sounds über positive. He talks about having had lots of fresh ideas and sharing our own sentiments that its good to be back after a long break. He has confirmed his top six aspirations along with a desire to keep hold of last seasons squad. Moreso given our strong finish to the campaign.

Then, somewhat randomly, the interview changes tack with the second half being taken up with a discourse on penalties. The recent England – Germany U-21 game. Dean Smith’s philosophy on penalty taking. As a player and as a head coach. It went on. I was half expecting him to be quizzed on Marcello Trotta.

A shame really,, as this was a somewhat wasted opportunity from Sky to dig into our plans, our set up and mindset. To find out how Dean has continued the great work already done by Warbs, Lee Carsley and, of course, the team behind the team.

A missed opportunity?

Then again, I’m more than happy being the underdog. Being that unfancied, under the radar team. Catching the likes of Leeds United, Derby County, Aston Villa, Mr Holloway et al with their pants down.

Nobody can deny the likes of Rangers and Celtic have huge stadiums, even bigger fan bases and plenty of historical honours. Likewise that Griffin Park is still only a 12,000 capacity ground with a trophy cabinet that is emptier than Arsenal’s.

But who wants to be the one big fish in a rapidly stagnating pond of tadpoles? A fish that gets gobbled up the moment any invasive species appears from the continent. The Championship, and beyond, is where it’s all at. Where the real action happens. Where real football takes place.

It’s July 5th. This time next month proceedings begin in anger with out trip to Sheffield United. I really cannot wait. It promises to be even bigger and better than ever before.

Nick Bruzon

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With Brentford in a Field of Dreams (sorry) here’s one turkey from Christmas past before Cardiff on Boxing Day.

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all that. Brentford are preparing to host Cardiff City (for whom Sol Bamba – a terrace songsmith’s dream if there was one – will be missing) whilst Rangers fans will be crying into their sprouts at the prospect of no Jota under the tree. As for Matthew Benham, will he be the beneficiary of a £15million gift from West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa or even Reading in the New Year sales? This, of course, being the current suggested rate for a Scott Hogan.

Reading have probably got more chance of picking up Hulk Hogan than Scott. Why would he need to even consider going there? Besides, with the Royals already baulking at the prospect of having to pay £9million (as has been reported in the Birmingham Mail), adding another 6 to that is going to be well beyond their particular ball park.

There’s more chance of Hulk than Scott

That is if we even sell in the forthcoming window. Eventually, of course, it will happen. Nobody is that naive whilst the simple mathematics of ‘one club players’ so rarely being a thing these days make it inevitable at some point. Yet in the short term, the tantalising prospect of seeing him and a returning Jota on the same pitch is one I’m still holding out hope for in the second half of this season.

Still, all that is to come. We have the festive games against Cardiff and Norwich City to before that. Scott will surely be the first name on the team sheet (unless he has a sick relative), closely followed by Tom Field. The left back “delighted” at having just signed a contract extension that will see him at Griffin Park until 2020.

For all that Scott is doing it at one end, few could deny the wonderful start that Tom has had to his own Brentford career. From a home debut agasint Fulham where his call up was so unexpected that even supporters were asking ‘Who?‘ when they saw his name on the team sheet, to a recent run in the side as Dean has switched to a three centre back system supported by Tom and Maxime Colin. It is no coincidence that we are yet to concede a goal in the League whilst Tom has been on the pitch.

Tom in a field of dreams. A pun so bad we made it twice

Prior to all of that we have Christmas day ahead of us. Preparations here are remarkably under control with all shopping done (for once). Already I’m dreading that Columbo moment around 3pm when Mrs Bruzon asks for “ Just one more thing…..” from a by then heaving, and empty shelved, supermarket. So until that happens, here’s one we’ve run before but probably deserves another airing.

It is a story that, if being honest, I had completely forgotten about until an article in The Times a few years ago from none other than Mark Clemmit.

Mark, of course, is better known as Clem, the ever popular roving reporter for BT Sport and formerly of the BBC Football League Show. There, his own performance was the subject of a season long analysis in 2014/15 as to whether there is any support for many supporters’ long held belief that he ‘jinxes’ whichever team he follows. Specifically, that the team covered by the man with the mic that week would, at best, pick up a point. Indeed, by season end Clem teams had only tasted victory 7(seven) times out of 30

But we digress. The jinx factor aside, it is fair to say that Clem remains an endearing and well-respected pundit. Aswell as his TV work he has also been a prolific writer over the years and it was for the aforementioned paper that he chose to talk about Brentford a few years back. Or, specifically, what we tried at Christmas 1983

To me, 1983 doesn’t seem that long ago. Knight Rider, Blackadder and the A-Team graced our TV screens whilst big hits at the cinema included Return of the Jedi and Octopussy. On the football pitch, Stan Bowles was strutting his stuff for The Bees whilst Bob Booker was halfway through his first spell at Griffin Park.

That said, given as Bob made his final appearance for us in 1993 that doesn’t really narrow it down, such was the three-decade spanning length of his Brentford career. Even Roger Moore only lasted as Bond for 12 years although for all that I love his time in the role, even I have to step back in slight disbelief at the image, from the official movie poster, of 007 casually standing on the tail of a speeding aeroplane as he tosses a bad guy to his doom.

Roger’s wing walking (top left) a highlight of 1983

But the point being that, to me at least, 1983 still seems very vivid in the mind’s eye. As such, I was intrigued by the gem that Clem had unearthed, pertaining to Brentford’s Christmas fixture list. The ever-progressive club had, at one point, looked to revive an old festive tradition and arrange our game with Wimbledon for 11am on December 25th.

It seems madness now but not as crazy as the reasoning, given out by the Press Officer at the time. It was an attempt to get back to, and I quote, “The old idea of men going to football whilst ladies stayed at home to cook the turkey”.

Seriously? Was this just Clem having a joke at the expense of Brentford fans? Seemingly not. A quick trawl of the interweb reveals this gem elsewhere whilst, more importantly, it is directly referenced in the excellent “100 years of Brentford” book.

After protests from both sets of fans the game was rearranged for Christmas Eve and we promptly lost 3-4 in front of 6,689 fans.

Their numbers, presumably, bolstered by women who had been unchained from their cookers.

Here’s hoping for a better result on Monday against Cardiff City. See you there.

Nick Bruzon

As Rangers rumours get a little mixed up, Tom and Tom raise spirits with video double

Well, that was an odd day for Brentford fans. With the Rangers  / Jota story now changing tack in the Scottish press to suggest that former Bees boss Mark Warburton has flown to Spain to speak directly to the popular midfielder, South of the border those reports have been roundly, erm, scotched.

For one reason, I can’t believe this has happened purely because it would represent a totally illegal approach to a player still contracted to Brentford. Rangers wouldn’t break the rules in this fashion, would they ?

Warbs only ever came across as nothing but an honourable man at Griffin Park. Who could forget his performance on Sky Sports News after the Village-gate story about his eventual departure from Griffin Park broke. He was nothing but the consummate gentleman and professional defending both the club and Mr. Benham as he looked to rally his troops and supporters.

Warbs , Jota and the team on the day of village-gate

Ok . Let’s say for argument’s sake that Mark had taken a quick Spanish holiday where he happened to bump into Jota.  Are we really expected to believe he’s then gone telling the local media? As ever, the ’stories’ are supported by nothing more authoritative than that coverall phrase “Record Sport understands” (something as concrete as : “a source close to the club”) to describe a “secret trip at some point in the last seven days”.

One can only assume the Rangers manager is speaking to his lawyers at the moment or contacting the paper to retract this article. The position it now places him in would seem one at odds with the rules of how football is governed and transfer business is carried out.

Thankfully, West London’s Premier Journalist Tom Moore was on hand to save the day and dampen the hopes of the Ibrox faithful.

Jota isn’t going to Rangers – Tom has it on the nose

His article – which is well worth a look just for the video shot in a live office environment where Tom is, at times, drowned out by the woman who deals with the competitions on line – pours cold water on any such rumours.

Catching up with Dean Smith, Tom quotes the Brentford head coach as saying : “I know we’ve had no contact from Rangers. He’s our player and they’d have to come through us first..….I’m sure that’s just speculation. I’m not sure Mark would go out there to speak to one of our players. They would have to contact us to speak to one of our players for sure.”

Perhaps Rangers are best focussing on an equally bizarre story – their Twitter spat (is there a finer phrase in cyberspace?) with Little Mix over the Christmas Number One  – rather than pursuing a player they have no authority over. If, indeed, they are actually doing so. Hmm. A rumour gone wild? Who’d have thought it?

The aforementioned video also includes Tom’s take on the Scott Hogan speculation, our current form ( “Good enough to survive in the division but not good enough at this stage to reach the top six in the league”) and who he sees as our standout player. Take a look. It’s a good one….

The other video to catch the eye yesterday was one which appeared on Twitter. Whilst we’ve probably all seen this, it is one so good it deserves another look. Take a bow, Tom Field.

Surely a full 90 minutes are next on the agenda. Not only are we yet to concede a league goal when he is on the pitch but now he’s only goner and pulled this out of the hat….

📺 That moment when your left-back does this in training and you can't go on! Take a bow @TomField9 pic.twitter.com/njm1unGfn1

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 21, 2016

Nick Bruzon

No, no, no, no, nooooo, Jota! Is there any truth to Rangers rumour?

Is Jota leaving Eibar in January? Is Rangers (Glasgow, not Loftus Road) rather than Brentford his likely destination? Are local journalists simply hopping on the coat tails of the Scottish Sun to blow one of the usual plethora of rumours that appear at this time of year out of all proportion ?

Certainly, to read the legion of headlines one could be forgiven for imagining the talismanic midfielder is currently hot footing  it towards Rangers, having played his last for both Brentford and Eibar. The aforementioned Sun have run the ‘stories’ (please note: your definition of stories may vary) with quotes as definitve as “The Gers boss has enquired about a loan switch” and “Jota has been strongly linked”  – with Rangers.

And then in the usual lemming like rush for click bait generating headlines, the likes of Get West London, Here Is The City, The Daily Record and even something called ‘Football Insider’ have followed suit.

All tell a similar story. Nothing of any, actual, substance and simply the admission from  Eibar sporting director Fran Garagarza that Jota is ‘within his rights’ to ask for his loan from Brentford to be terminated once the January window opens.

Jota – when will we see you again?

The one thing we can say for sure is that the Spaniard hasn’t been high up the pecking order at Eibar. But even if he was to leave, would he really go to Ibrox?

Sure, league wise there’s the chance to be a very big fish in a very small pond but the simple fact is that he remains our player. Brentford have no need to sell and his return would be both a wonderful psychological boost for a team that sit just three wins below the play-off spots for the Premier League.

If nothing else, surely Dean Smith is fighting tooth and nail to secure the return of somebody who is one of HIS players? Just imagine the link up with goal machine Scott Hogan? The option of a ball from the flank aswell as the one through the middle.

We don’t normally do ‘rumours’ on these pages. Mainly because the vast majority that have appeared over the years have proven to be unsubstantiated. The said, the locals did have a good summer this year but this one seems a headline too far.

If any midfield move is in the offing it will, surely, be through the outdoor. Konstantin Kerschbaumer’s exit must be as nailed on to happen as his backside currently is to the substitute’s bench. I’ve no evidence to support this beyond my own eyes –  what he has to do to get a game is beyond me but it seems one relationship that has been fatally holed below the waterline.

With the window opening in a couple of weeks it could be a painful ride through until the end of January. We’ll no doubt be inundated with more of these headlines (see also: Scott Hogan) from our friends in the media who would report transfer activity in a packet of cereal if it meant a headline. And yes I’ve used that one before but, frankly, I like the excuse to crowbar in the graphic.

The one thing I’d bet my hat on is that there’ll be no Mark Warburton / Jota reunion.

At least, at Rangers…..

This sort of transfer activity always popular

Nick Bruzon

Will Lewis become Paul Robinson or Mr Udagawa?

With Brentford not playing until next weekend’s home game against Rotherham United, things have been somewhat quiet. There’s been no real news out of the club, beyond the 2-1 development squad win over QPR that featured that happiest of things – an appearance from Glasgow Rangers old boy Lewis Macleod (along with a goal). So the mind has been wandering.

Mr. Udagawa. To TV viewers of a certain age (i.e. late 80’s Neighbours fans) he was THE face of international sophistication. By day – Japanese businessman. By night – staple of the Erinsborough dinner party scene as the Ramsay Street residents did everything possible to promote Lassiter’s Hotel and, to a lesser extent, Helen Daniels’ ‘Home James’ chauffeur service.

Des Clarke got the sack from the Pacific Bank after a hilarious mix up that involved a shambolic attempt to learn Japanese, whilst Paul Robinson engineered a fake marriage to then secretary Gail without even having the good grace to inform her of his plan in advance. These were the lengths people went to in order to try and clinch the highly sought after ‘Udagawa deal’.

(l-r) Clarke, Udagawa, Robinson. Titans of international business

Mr Udagawa rarely appeared on screen although, when he did, he inspired fear. This was one man not to upset despite everybody giving it their best shot to do. All plots around the character usually involved the carefully laid plans to impress him crashing to the floor in a series of misunderstandings as a seemingly doomed deal would subsequently be saved by nothing simpler than a home cooked meal.

He was, if you will, the Keith Stroud of his generation. Everybody wanted to stay on his good side as failure to do so would mean swift and terrible retribution. So why mention him now?

Quite simply, his name came up on Absolute Radio this week during an interview between breakfast show DJ Christian O’Connell and ‘Don’t it make you feel good‘ singer Stefan Dennis.

Dennis is probably better known for playing Paul Robinson on Neighbours over the majority of the show’s thirty year run. Whilst talking about that aspect of his career, mention of the name Mr Udagawa brought about the acknowledgement of the character being “TV’s most powerful cameo”. And that’s a line that has been playing on my wandering mind.

Stefan Dennis – come for Neighbours; stay for the synth-driven pop

With Lewis Macleod now fit enough to play following the injuries and twig-gate that have blighted his time at Griffin Park since joining ten months ago, Brentford fans have now been given a little teaser. But what next?

How far is he from the first team? Can he live up to the potential that saw then manager Mark Warburton sign the player from Rangers and upset Barry Ferguson to hilarious levels of sour grapes?

Injury meant that Lewis’ previous appearance had been with the signing shirt

Most importantly, what will he do for the Bees? So far, much like the legendary Japanese businessman, the vast majority of his career has seen Lewis playing a role that is no more than an off-screen mention. Now, he has the chance to establish himself, Paul Robinson style (although without the philandering), as a mainstay in the team.

Ideally, a mix of both would be the winner. A player who ends up with the same level of respect and fear-engendering aura of Udagawa that causes opponents to fall to pieces around him but, equally, one who now has the longevity of Robinson.

After these recent weeks of uncertainty and upheaval, it’s great to have something positive to aspire towards once more. Lewis has the weight of expectation on his shoulders but, equally, he has nothing to lose.

A goal and an assist in Tuesday’s night’s win at Loftus Road isn’t a bad way to start.

Now don’t that make you feel good?

P.S. : To listen to the full Udagawa inspired interview, aswell as voting for a charity competition winner, you can do so at the Absolute Radio website, here. Truly an enthralling, albeit unusual, conversation…

O’Connell and Dennis provided a surreal, but enthralling, conversation

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 ! 

Wake up and smell the history. Warbs is at Rangers but some things don’t change

Mark Warburton is officially in charge at Rangers. We’ll get back to Brentford momentarily but there simply remains a final observation on the long running saga that saw Warbs, along with David Weir, sign a three year deal at Ibrox.

On giving his opening press statement, Mark showed that Rangers will present no challenge to him – certainly in his unique turn of phrase. I don’t necessarily mean the sort of straight talking we saw so much of last season. For example, “Am I the only one who thought that was a penalty? Maybe I should go to Specsavers if I am.”(after the home defeat to Norwich City).

Or “A bid is only a bid when it is at the right level, a realistic level. Quite frankly that was nowhere near our level” following one of Wigan Athletic’s many attempts to lure Adam Forshaw to their, eventual, doom.

Mark opted for ‘signing antlers’ rather than the traditional football shirt when joining Rangers

I’m talking more about the unique lines he used to drop into normal conversation. Not so much football cliché, as I’ve never heard other managers use these, but what have eventually become known as ‘Warboisms’. Certainly on our area of the terrace, where it sometimes seemed he was going toe-to-toe with Billy Reeves in a battle for most creative use of the English language (and that is fully intended as a compliment, to both).

We’ve all enjoyed the fact that “The football department is in good shape” or Josh’s “raw, blistering pace”. Indeed, the latter to be used in conjunction with “Pitch geography” to help produce end product – perhaps teaming up with “Andre Gray – the thinking striker”.

But Mark hit the ground running at Ibrox, where he told the waiting media, “You walk around the stadium, the first time for me this morning, and you smell the history.”

Smell this history. What a wonderfully evocative image. Warbs – I’ll miss you, genuinely. Good luck at Rangers and enjoy it. The fans are in for a treat.

Back at Griffin Park, ahead of Wednesday’s League fixture list reveal Brentford will today find out who we are to be pitted against in the Capital One Cup. The good news is that we are seeded so could be drawn with anybody in the other half of the draw from Martin Allen’s Barnet to the Brentford old boy’s club at Wycombe Wanderers.

The draw takes place at 10am on Tuesday morning. And once that happens, we really can start to make the first of those plans for 2015/16.

The season is getting closer. Slowly…

The draw is early on Tuesday morning – who do you want?

What happens next as Rangers prepare to announce Warbs ?

Former Brentford manager Mark Warburton is today (Monday) finally set to be revealed as the new man in charge at Rangers. Swapping the English Championship for the Scottish, he takes David Weir with him and puts to bed one of the most rumoured, but prolonged, stories doing the rounds.

Brentford fans have, of course, known since February that Mark and David would be leaving us following the Football Village affair prior to the home game against Watford. But until the stories about Rangers started to circulate last month, most of us assumed he would be staying South of the border.

News sources as diverse as the BBC, Herald Scotland and even City A.M. (worth reading that one for the input of Brentford fan, reporter and podcaster Billy Grant) are now reporting that Mark will be officially unveiled in a 2pm press conference on Monday.

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 ! 

An awkward situation is avoided. For now…

Wednesday saw a potentially awkward situation for Brentford fans avoided (one hopes) after former boss Mark Warburton, the odds on favourite to be next manager at Rangers, distanced himself from reports suggesting he was in line to replace Kit Symons at Fulham. Clearly his stock is in demand, having spent the latter part of last season being linked with all manner of positions – even doomed QPR were on the agenda – and nothing has changed since.

My own hopes are that Warbs does end up at Rangers. It would be a fantastic challenge, an incredible long-term opportunity and one which a man of his ability would relish. Additionally, if Mark does find his way to Ibrox it he means he is no longer managing in the Championship.

Frankly, I don’t want him doing his best to scupper our own promotion prospects.

 

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 ! 

Could Barry Ferguson’s words about Brentford come back to haunt him?

Forget about the ‘in play’, it’s all about Glasgow Rangers and Brentford today. Despite my well documented ineptitude at football betting (it’s bad enough that half time on TV is ruined by Ray Winstone’s disembodied head and geezer-shtick without paying for the privilege) the boredom of the summer months has seen some internet based research on that most hopeless of tasks.

And by research, I mean nothing more scientific than checking out the latest odds. Primarily on the Bees but also on Glasgow Rangers where Warbs is the bookie’s choice to be named the new manager at Ibrox. This, after admitting he has already spoken to the club and would take David Weir with him as assistant. Checking this morning, he is 1/6 on with even David being the third favourite (now THAT would be an interesting role reversal).

To be honest, it’s nothing really to do with us anymore but until Marinus has had a decent chance to get his feet under the table, Warbs’ popularity and success with Brentford means it is still somewhat tricky not to associate him with Griffin Park. All being well, Rangers’ chairman Dave King will name him shortly and then we can all move on.

 

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 !