Transfer window set to slam shut for Brentford but is this it?

Tuesday is the day. The transfer window slams shut ( © Sky Sports) and, with it, the last chance to see who will leave or join the Brentford squad on a full time basis. Of course, the Bees have already stepped up their loan activity with the news that Sergi Canos has signed until January from Liverpool. But does this mean that all business has now been concluded? Or will Jim White and Natalie Sawyer be working themselves into a Griffin Park related frenzy on national “Harry Redknapp leaning out of a car window” day?

Canos is the latest to wield the Brentford FC signing shirt

Brentford have certainly been profligate in recent weeks with several big name players leaving TW8 for Championship rivals. Andre Gray to Burnley, Moses Odubajo to Hull City and Stuart Dallas to Leeds United have been the names to really stand out. Not to mention the release of Jonathan Douglas to Ipswich Town. Factor in the freak injuries to Jota and Josh McEachran (the latter before a ball had even been kicked in anger) and it’s no wonder our attacking options have, according to many, been stifled .

But could this change? Monday’s new saw a signing that followed hot on the heels of striker Marco Djuricin to give, on paper, an added dimension of flair to the Brentford squad. In the Red Bull Salzburg loanee we have, at the least, a plethora of puns. Moreso alongside A. Judge (that’s Alan, of course). He is an Austrian international who already has two full caps to his name,

As for Canos, it really is a huge case of potential. I’d offer a word of caution in putting too much pressure on this young man’s shoulders. In recent years we’ve learned that for every loan gem from that part of the world (see Adam Forshaw, Chris Long and Jake Bidwell) there’s a potential Joao Carlos Teixera. For every unheard of youth prodigy (see Marcello Trotta) there’s a Betinho lurking in the wings.

Betin-who ?

Whilst we’ve done very well in the past in our recruitment, the previous management haven’t been infallible. Those lamenting the departure of Warbs should bear in mind he took several bites at the cherry to get things right. The second coming of Liam  Moore is another that springs to mind. And then out of it.

It takes time to build a team. There’s no denying we’ve taken an unconventional approach in allowing several well established players to leave (albeit for an incredible amount of money) before looking to rebuild from scratch. Likewise, that we’ve then had our cause hindered by injury – and one can only worry about the amount of twigs that may reach the training ground now that Autumn is almost upon us.

However, my guess is that any long term activity has come to a close and we’ll not be troubling Sky Sports News. This is the squad Marinus has to play with and, with quality players also on the mend, we could soon be in a much stronger place.

Certainly, that usual barometer of impending transfer news – Matthew Benham’s twitter account – hasn’t troubled the scorers since August 19th. And that was the wonderful coming together of fiction and fact that saw Alan Partridge’s ‘Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank’ become a reality.

So unless we’re planning on signing the former World Middleweight Champion, this is probably it for any ‘inward’ activity on Tuesday. Welcome Marco and Sergi. Griffin Park is certainly a place of change at present but, equally, we’re a club who are on the up.

The A-Z of Brentford – October 2013

As Brentford reach the end of October on a high and prepare to face Crawley Town at the weekend, it’s time to round up the best and worst of what happened over the month in another A-Z. Warning: includes some tenuous links.

A – Ashton Gate. This win at the home of Bristol City, our second successive victory in the league, propelled the Bees to seventh place in the table (despite Uwe’s brief aspiration for the Griffin Park support to be more like theirs). And better was to come.

B – Buzzette. ‘The Last Word’ launched another caption competition to win a Buzzette mug. Being judged by Natalie Sawyer, the best of the (printable) entries received so far are on line and you can still enter here if you are here quick.

C – Colchester United. A superlative final twenty minutes against the U’s, following a frustrating earlier period in which we went a goal down, saw Brentford cruise to a Clayton Donaldson inspired 3-1 victory.

D – Dallas, Stuart. Went on loan to Northampton and scored from the bench (not literally) on his debut. Now has two goals from his first three games for the Cobblers.

E – England ‘band’. THE most irritating thing in football. A reminder was received mid-month, if ever one was needed, that musical instruments should never be allowed into Brentford games. Hurrah for the Poland fans who finally drowned them out as we qualified for the world cup 2014.

F – Flares. The firey things, not the über -cool 70’s trouser. The 14 year old numpty who brought one into the Colchester game was subsequently arrested, banned from Griffin Park and was due to attend youth court at the end of the month. It really isn’t big, clever or injecting any sort of ‘Continental, colourful atmosphere’. Don’t do it, kids.

G – George (Saville) curled home a magnificent shot to put Brentford into the lead against Colchester. A contender for goal of the season, alongside Adam Forshaw against Sheffield United and Shay up at Port Vale.

H – Harris, Kadeem. My word, doesn’t Kadeem Harris look tasty? Cardiff City’s latest attempt to say “sorry we nicked your goalkeeper, even though we aren’t playing him’” looks like the proverbial ‘wing wizard’ that the Bees have been crying out for at times. The loan signing deservedly scored, on his debut.

I – Inquisition. Nobody expects the Stevenage Inquisition. Certainly not Billy Reeves and the rest of the press, as Uwe kept them all waiting whilst he ‘had a chat’ with the team after the Stevenage game. Whatever they discussed certainly seems to have worked. Three successive wins followed.

Nobody expects the Stevenage Inquisition

J – Joao Carlos (Teixera). Returned to Liverpool after 28 days of a loan spell that saw him barely register on the Griffin Park radar. An unusual piece of business from start to finish, it will be very interesting to see if, longer term, the Portuguese U-20 was our biggest missed opportunity in years or another wunderkind who fizzles away.

K – Kick it out. The campaign for ‘tackling exclusion’ in football had a promotional day this month with everybody from players to mascots and even Buzzette (below) getting involved. You can read more about ‘Kick it out’, here.

Buzzette shows her support for the ‘Kick it out’ campaign

L – Lee, Richard. Was handed back the gloves against Bristol City and made it three wins from his four appearances this season. Followed this up by giving an exclusive, and very open, interview to ‘The Last Word’.

M – Marcello (Trotta). Off the mark against Colchester United and then bagged the winner against Shrewsbury Town. Let’s hope the second chapter of the Trotta-Brentford story has a happier conclusion for the team.

N – Norris, Luke. Déjà vu? Luke Norris went on loan to Northampton and scored, on his debut. He’s gone one better than Stuart, though, and now has three goals from his first three games for the Cobblers.

O – The O’s. Leyton Orient are top of the table, as it stands, but the wining run has been stopped and their lead over Brentford is now down to 11 points.

P – Peterborough. The Posh (about as posh as allegedly Posh Spice ie not very) were 2-1 home winners in the JPT. I didn’t want to go to Wembley, anyway. Dreadful place.

Q – ‘Queuing up to get out’. Mark Burridge’s stirring description of the Bristol City fans as Clayton made it 2-0. Less a fire drill, more a full scale evacuation.

R – Rotherham. The fine win at Coventry/Northampton which closed September was immediately followed by a lacklustre home reverse to the Millers. Move along please, nothing to see. We won’t play this badly again. Ahh, hang on…

S – Stevenage. The less said about this the better. Out of the blocks like a greyhound following the Rotherham ‘display’, Clayton’s early goal was nullified by David Button’s questionable attempt to impersonate Johan Cruyff. Made Les Dennis’s take on ‘Mavis Riley’ look Oscar winning in comparison. A 2-1 defeat ensued.

T – Tabb, Jay. The Ipswich Town wide-man and ever-popular former Bee spoke to ‘The Last Word’ earlier this month about his career since leaving TW8 and his time at Griffin Park aswell as giving his thoughts on Brentford’s season so far.

U – Up. The direction Brentford are heading. Finished the month in 5th place after beginning it mid-table.

V – Venta, Javi. Had his contract terminated by mutual consent for personal reasons at the beginning of the month. A brave signing and a shame we never got to see Javi’s full potential. The flip side is the emergence of Allan McCormack in the cover right-back role. With three wins from three, could this be the tactical master-stroke of the season?

W – (The) Who. The match-day programme went all ‘Smash hits’ with an article about popular music’s ageing rockers. Bob Booker is a fan, apparently.

X – eXit music (sorry). Despite fine wins against Colchester and Shrewsbury, aswell as the loss to Rotherham, Griffin Park music lovers are still being tormented with those two ‘walk out music’ staples: ‘Celebrate’ by Kool and the gang, for three points, or the horror that is ‘Guaglione’ for a win/draw. Please Big Bee Radio. I’m begging you, change the record….

 Y – Yellow Cards. Even allowing for the appearance of Keith Stroud at Griffin Park for the final game of the month, only five bookings were made in our five league games over the period. And the one offered by Stroud seemed particularly innocuous.

Z – Zombie films, tenuous reference to. The month started in disappointing form with that defeat to Rotherham on October 5th. How things change and our next League game, 28 days later (I did say it was tenuous), sees Brentford in fifth place as they prepare to line up against Crawley Town.

What a change in the 28 days between the Rotherham game and the impending Crawley fixture