Rumour meltdown: Jota, Bentley, Maupay. And a certain game (of Liverpool bingo) awaits.

The wait is over. Strap yourselves in for a wild ride. This is the big one. Sure, there may be something going on in Madrid this evening between Tottenham and Liverpool (and we WILL get there for a bumper game of bingo) but back in Brentford it begins. With Aston Villa confirmed as a Premier League team, there was always going to be untold speculation linking Dean Smith with not only his old club but just about any target that may have been potentially available. Yes, clickbait season – aka the early knockings of the summer transfer window – is here.

The desperate hunt for stories and transfer news sees all manner of sources close to clubs being quoted and suspicions alluded to as news sites will publish anything in the desperate search for hits. Usually involving the phrase, “We understand that…” and  “The player is thought to be: unhappy / desperate to force a move / frustrated / keen to test himself at a higher level”.

We don’t normally do rumours on these pages but with some corkers out there at present, you have to make an exception every now and again.  I’ve already seen a lot of talk about Aston Villa making a £20million swoop for Neal Maupay. It’s an obvious link between Dean Smith and Brentford with an incredible amount of money being suggested but it won’t be happening. No chance. The player is too deeply ingrained into the set up at Griffin Park. The club love him. He loves the club. The final season in our current home is where its going to be happening.

Indeed, if anyone leaves Brentford for Aston Villa then its more likely to be somebody like now out-of-contract Yoann Barbet or Josh McEachran – both of whom thrived under Dean at the start of the season just gone. Nobody can doubt Yoann’s versatility or passion and our loss will be anybody elses’ gain when pen is eventually put to paper. As for Josh, he was widely quoted as still harbouring England ambitions and, to be fair, was one of our stand out players prior to the autumn blip in form that saw us dumping our promotion ambitions for a short lived dalliance with the lower end of the table.

But rest assured, Neal is going nowhere. His value as an individual is, of course, immense but it is his interaction with those around him something that you cannot put a price on. The link up play with the likes of Sergi, Ollie and Said was a thing of beauty to behold. He needs them as much as we need him. If nothing else, can you honestly imagine him and John McGinn in the same team? Let’s just stamp on this rumour right now.

Going nowhere

I’ve also seen whispering of Dan Bentley to Stoke City. That one seemed pretty random and probably based on nothing more than their all-round awfulness in 2018/19 and our own goalkeeping conundrum that eventually saw duties shared. Let’s not forget our first away game of last season, at Stoke, where the opening goal he and Chris Mepham conspired to let in between them was hardly a great advert for any prospective employer. Personally, I think Dan is great and would hate to see him go. Don’t let the odd hiccup last campaign tarnish his overall quality between the Griffin Park sticks.

Yet the best rumour involves the King. Jota. Despite the quality we have now, one can’t help but go misty-eyed thinking about all he did at Griffin Park. How awful it was to see him end up in that footballing backwater and cultural desert that is Birmingham City.

Now, there are stories doing the rounds that are linking him with a move across the city to reunite with Dean Smith as part of a swap deal involving somebody called Gary Gardner. I have to be honest, he’s not a player I’m overly familiar with but , regardless of the stories validity, it’s my favourite so far. Purely because of the reaction form the St. Andrews faithful. Talk about Twitter meltdown.  

I hope this one is true. Presumably we’d be in line for any sell on clause whilst it would be incredible to see Jota in the top flight.  He has the ability, that’s for sure. Jota v Jota in the Wolves – Villa game would be magnificent. Anything that causes Birmingham City angst can only be a good thing in my book and they’re likely looking to rebalance their wage bill after last season’s little bit of bother with financial irregularities and that points deduction.  Plus he’s a shoe-in for any fantasy football selection if so.

Come on – make it happen, Dean.

The genuine news out there at present is this evening’s Champions League final between Tottenham and Liverpool. It’s a game that is harder to unravel than one of Matthew Benham’s cryptic video clues. No matter who you think is the strongest of the two, the double ‘miracle’ of the semi-finals where seemingly insurmountable leads were reeled back in prove that both teams have what it takes. And both defences must be somewhat porous to have got into that position in the first place.

If anything, Tottenham pulled off the bigger miracle. Liverpool were at home and had the full 90 minutes to reel in Barcelona. Spurs were playing in Amsterdam and had capitulated to a position that saw them needing their three goals in the second half alone. To hang in there until finally taking an aggregate lead in the 96^th minute of the second leg was nothing short of incredible.

I can’t even come close to calling who will win this one. What I can predict, however, is that we’ll have a field day in Champions League final bingo. For no other reason Liverpool are playing. Chuck another English team into the mix and you can bet the related clichés will be on overdrive.

If you’d like to play along, then here’s your card….

Enjoy

Nick Bruzon

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Kamo joins but will King Jota abdicate ? Reece Cole – what a goal !

Boom. That was a day and a half. Following weeks of tumbleweed, football has come back to Brentford with a bang. There’s been a new signing in Kamohelo Mokotjo.  We’ve had the first pre-season friendly with a 5-1 run out at Aldershot. Yet all the talk was of  the main man, Jota, missing that game following a deluge of transfer speculation involving the likes of West Ham, Newcastle, Brighton and just about any other name our local press could chuck at the story to generate click bait headlines and some form of substance.

And so, with the absolute greatest of respect to Kamo, we can only start with Jota. Everybody knows just what he did before going out on loan to Eibar for personal reasons and everybody knows just how incredibly he performed upon this return in January. His ability is staggering, his enthusiasm and love for the club is apparent and he is one of those rare players to unite all Brentford fans in a common opinion – namely just a wonderful player and, quite possibly, the most skillful we’ve had the privilege to watch in living memory.

‘Official’ love him, too

Well, whatever nonsense/guesswork was going around cyberspace (and boy, here was an example of how a rumour can spread like wildfire thanks to social media), it was down to none other than Billy Reeves as the right man in the right place. His post match interview with Dean cut to the nub of the matter, where our head coach confirmed:

“Jota came to see me yesterday and he said that his agent has told him there’s a bid imminent from a Premier League club. He knows that club will want a massive bid….If the bid doesn’t come in and its not big enough Jota’s happy enough to stay at Brentford as a Brentford player”

This seemed to immediately rule out West Ham as potential suitors. The words ‘bid’ and ‘massive’ being anything but their style, as evidenced during the faffing around with Scott Hogan at Christmas. That, something which eventually worked to our advantage as the player moved to Aston Villa for a figure documented in the media (although officially undisclosed) as £15million.

Dean went on to add that,“It would have to be a massive bid to tempt the football club” , so the question is now, what happens next? And apologies if that puts anybody off their cornflakes with images of Phil Tufnell or Ally McCoist faux-flirting with Sue Barker.

Let’s rule out West Ham. His flair and skill would perhaps be at odds with their more industrial style of football whilst they’re generally all talk and no trousers when it comes to significant transfer activity. My gut fells is one of those clubs we were on Championship terms with last season – namely a Brighton, Huddersfield or Newcastle United. Although don’t rule out the likes of Bournemouth or Watford. Hey, I realise that’s a quarter of the league in one sentence but I’m just trying to figure it out.

Talking to another source close to the club last night, the name Brighton also came up. On target or miles off? Who knows. Will they, or anyone else, put in what Dean confirms “would have to be a massive bid to tempt the football club” ?

Billy’s interview cuts to the chase, as ever

It’s interesting. We know the financial rewards for reaching the top flight. £170milllion is the figure touted for going up from the Championship. Weigh that up against £8m – the figure Billy suggested to Dean – for a player who will be out of contract when this campaign ends. Which way will the club jump? Indeed, will we even get a choice if Jota decides his heart and feet belong in the Premier League immediately?

We all know of his love for Griffin Park. That much is apparent . But agents and money both talk. We showed loyalty to him in supporting the loan move back to Eibar and that was paid back in bucketloads when the player returned at Christmas. Indeed, Dean spoke earlier in the week (in that SKY interview) about our aspiration being top six. By definition, that means promotion or a shot at it through the play-offs. With it comes that dumper truck fill of money and the top flight football that Jota is so clearly capable of.

Is he prepared to wait? Can we make him an offer he can’t refuse? Are we financially able to turn down that short term hit of cash which comes with his transfer fee ? Are we able to make it without a man who is most prolific talent? This one is going to take am massive leap of faith from all parties if Jota is to stay a Bee.

Brighton. West Ham. Other. This is going to be a very squeaky next couple of weeks on that front. I’d also note that the fact we are even having this conversation – top flight aspirations and another multi million pound transfer – shows yet again how far we’ve come as a club. This time though, I’m hoping it’ll play out in a fan friendly way and the King doesn’t abdicate just yet .

On the more positive front, Kamo Mokotjo has signed from FC Twente. Top marks Beesotted for calling that one. Dean Smith told Billy “He’s a ball winning midfielder. His passing stats were incredible last year in the Dutch league“ whilst his quote on official describes Kamo as “a defensive midfielder who can break play up, cover a lot of ground and use the ball intelligently”

The news was preceded by a short video in which the media team debated whether there was a gimmicky way to announce his signing before settling on the traditional signing photo. Reaction to the 40 second film has been mixed – both cringe and brilliant.

For me, we are in the latter camp – a clear attempt at taking the ‘p’ from the likes of Aston Villa (That. Whatsapp) and the seemingly modern trend for ‘hilarious’ announcements. Often involving hashtags.

Whilst the build up to the punchline was perhaps a tad laboured (Chris Wickham, Ciaran Brett et al are certainly no Matt Damon on the acting front) we got there in the end. Top marks all round and I hope supporters can see it for the obvious joke that this was !

And did anybody spot new programme editor Sam Marshall in there? He’s on twitter now as @SamMarshall94 .#WelcomeSam.

D’oh!

One other observation on this news but has Kamo been given the world’s longest signing scarf? Or, as one New Road observer would suggest to me last night, perhaps he’s only 5ft two ?

Kamo signs – he won’t be cold in the winter

As for on pitch action, we can only be happy with a 5-1 win at Aldershot. I wasn’t there so can’t add much more beyond what we’ve all seen on social media. That said, special mention to Reece Cole in setting an early bar for goal of the season. What a strike for the youngster and, with the finish/build up play, an effort somewhat reminiscent of Stuart Dallas at Fulham.

You can see that one Twitter now.

Thanks again for reading. I’m off to watch The Lions and pray for Jota.

📹 Pick that out! @reececole32 nets a beauty vs @OfficialShots pic.twitter.com/1XxJNGyz2V

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) July 7, 2017

AUTHOR’S PLUG – (it’s all for charity).

And if you’d like to read more about Jota and last season then please don’t forget (how could you?) that the regular season review e-book remains available for download. This one is titled ‘Welcome home, King Jota’ and this time around it is for a great cause. All funds raised are being given to the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust. Likewise, any subsequent sales from the previous versions.

Containing the least bad of the blogs from May 2016 to May 2017 and a bit of new material too, you can pick it up, here. It’s just £1.99.

So why not do something great to help our club. What else will £1.99 get you? What better way to spend some time on the commute to work, the beach, by the pool or even hiding out in the toilet at the office?

For less than the cost of half a pint on match day, it’s the season review that has been designed to fit in your pocket (if you are using an i-phone).

Nick Bruzon

The King of Spain reigns supreme at Griffin Park. Unprecedented joy follows a quite wonderful denouement.

Brentford 4 Rotherham United 2. A game that prior to kick off had promised goals and a guaranteed three points for the home side would look, by the scoreline, to have delivered just that. The headlines, quite rightly, will have been dominated by a quite wonderful performance from King Jota, whose joy enthused celebrations of his late hat-trick goals left everybody (the handful of Rotherham supporters aside) leaving Griffin Park with grins like split watermelons. Yet on a day where we commemorated 50 years since the doomed take over attempt by QPR, the Millers came so close to being consumate party poopers.

View from the Braemer – unadulterated joy from Jota and the team

To be overly down on a four goal home win seems really odd. Yet Brentford were so, so sloppy for huge swathes of this game. The Bees started, with Romaine Sawyers seemingly in the ‘false 9’ position once more, at 100 mph. 85% possession in the opening period was rewarded by Jota’s first after what the papers report as 13 minutes (although if Kitman Bob is reading, I’m pretty sure the Griffin Park clock said 8) . It was a beautiful finish from a tight angle on the left and promised to be the precursor to a much anticipated opening of flood gates.

And then. Nothing. From shuffling around like disinterested zombie hoards, Rotherham United were slowly allowed back into it. The scoreline stayed 1-0 at half time as the game descended into League one style averageness. Sawyers was drifting so deep that he was more Josh McEachran replacement than filling in for Lasse or the Hoff. This isn’t his natural position and I do sympathise with a player thrust out of his comfort zone yet, at the same time, if you can’t handle it then let somebody else have a go. Let the head coach read the game. Really, Dean should have made changes quicker rather than Romaine coming in for more flack. When he was switched, look what happened.

Being honest, I was quite happy with the starting XI in the circumstances but once we’d got bogged down into high ball kick and rush then changes should have been made. Instead, Brentford allowed the visitors to equalise not once but twice. Our second goal, Nico bundling home a cross from Ryan Woods, should have knocked the stuffing out of a Rotherham team looking to grind out a draw. Instead, we gave them the freedom of Griffin Park.

Then, with the impressive Sergi Canos and the B-Team’s Justin Shaibu making their marks from the bench, Jota stepped up and did his thing on the 90th minute. The first, from the penalty spot, prompting ecstatic celebrations from the player, the team and the crowd. A few minutes later, he combined with Sergi to get on the end of a through ball from Sawyers (and when he does those, he does them so so well), to go around Lewis Price. With the former Bee scrabbling around in the mud, the King of Spain was as cool as you like to stroke it home.

Cue mayhem of an unprecendented style. Cue tears of regret from those who left early.

Even now, Sunday morning, I still have a huge smile on my face at the resultant celebration. An outpouring of pure joy. And that was just Jota. Truly, we are blessed to have such a talent in our team. It was a privilege to be part of that moment.

What a wonderful, wonderful man and yet, what incredible enthusiasm. Even Dean Smith told Billy Reeves at full time that the player had received a round of applause on entering the dressing room.

Aswell as the goal video (up on Sky now ; Beesplayer now below) do listen to BBC Billy’s interview with Dean. It’s interesting to hear his acknowledgement of our own improvement points from this one aswell, of course, as his own admiration for the super Spaniard and his “great balance” .

Fantastic Jota gets his first hat-trick for the Bees

What else can you say about this one?

Well, the club have rightly paid huge notice to the 50 year anniversary of QPR trying their little stunt and the incredible effort involved by supporters and players like in thwarting this. We’ve had all the build up to this game whilst on the day there was that wonderful banner and of course, the minute’s applause on the 67th minute. The timing of Rotherham’s equaliser proving somewhat unfortunate and one of those rare instances where there was more clapping from the home side than the visitors after an way goal had been scored. Only Brentford.

Equally, another big nod of recognition is due to Mark Chapman. This season’s match day programme has been given due credit on these pages before and likewise, the piece of work he and the team put together for yesterday’s game needs proper recognition. If you haven’t got one yet, do drop into the club shop to see if you can get your hands on a copy. It is well, well worth a look about an event that is such an important part of our history. There’s more than just QPR, though. Come for the history lesson; stay for the interview with Chris Wickham.

But we can only finish, once more, by offering a huge cyber hug to Jota. What a way to finish a game. What a way to grab a hat trick. What a way to pull Brentford out of the fire. What a way to send the fans home so very, very happy.

What a way to stick two fingers up to all those at Loftus Road.

Muchas Gracias to the king.

Nick Bruzon

Bees go bonkers and Twitter explodes as Jota is recalled.

The visit of Norwich City has suddenly taken second place as Brentford confirmed that Jota has been recalled from his loan spell in Spain with Eibar. Rangers fans convinced that the Spaniard was heading North of the border to be reunited with former manager Mark Warburton will, instead, have to console themselves with being beaten by Celtic (probably).

He’s coming home

With the team crying out for somebody of his ability, this is just fantastic news. Having become a Griffin Park legend in a such a short space of time, fans were devastated (albeit sympathetic) when he  was allowed to return to Spain for personal reasons.

Having said at the time that: “This isn’t “goodbye” but more of a “see you later”, that promise is now about to be fulfilled . Not surprisingly, Twitter has exploded. Within minutes his name was trending in London whilst the reaction from fans was as expected.

📝 Welcome back @KingJota

Details 👉 https://t.co/zA4MFc3DsF pic.twitter.com/4UDV243lOp

— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 31, 2016

2017 is already a better year now @KingJota is coming back 😊❤️

— Katie Morrey (@KatieMorrey) December 31, 2016

@BrentfordFC @KingJota Yes Yess YESSSS ⚽️🐝🐝⭐️

— steve (@Storeman2009) December 31, 2016

@BrentfordFC @KingJota BEST EVER LATE XMAS PRESENT !!!! @KingJota is back!!!! #brentford #JotaInTheLastMinute 😍😍😍😍😍

— Lukas Daszynski (@ldaszynski) December 31, 2016

@BrentfordFC @KingJota yessssss!!!!! Get in there. The King is back home. 🐝🐝

— Mark Payne (@markbroncos86) December 31, 2016

It's getting @KingJota in here, so take off all your clothes #BrentfordFC

— Matt (@mrperson77) December 31, 2016

JOTA JOTA JOTA JOTA JOTA JOTA

— Jordan Nugara (@JNugaraBFC) December 31, 2016

@JoeCrippsThe3rd They called your bluff then

— Mr Gray (@DeloreanGray) December 31, 2016

All the news about his return is on ‘official’ although the jist of it seems to be that Jota will be available for the FA Cup tie against Eastleigh. Now there’s a way to make an entrance…

WELCOME BACK, JOTA !!!!!!!!

Liverpool loanee playing with the big boys but Jota is still King

With three successive wins under the belt and the small matter of a derby game with QPR on Friday, it’s fair to say that things are again moving in the right direction for Brentford. With Liverpool loanee Sergi Canos apparently picking (current) club over country for the win over Charlton rather than the Spanish U-19s, team spirit would seem to be as alive and well in the first team as it is on the terraces at Griffin Park.

And nowhere moreso was this demonstrated than on Twitter yesterday where our Spanish contingent seems to have been up to all sorts of training ground high jinks. Canos started it, along with Marcos Tebar, but Jota has certainly finished it – for now….

It all began with Jota’s car. A very sleek looking white number (what I know about motor vehicles you could write on the back of a stamp) but with added ‘go faster stripes’.

“Now Comes autumn”, said Canos’s caption as he and Tebar took ownership for this prank. Is this really how they do things in Liverpool?

What Sergi Canos started…

Retribution was swift. And wet. Very wet. Jota putting the boot in (quite literally) along with the reminder for any young upstarts not to play with the big boys.

With Canos now training in a wetsuit, his only comeback was the rather ominous sounding note that “you have won the battle but not the war”… Could there be more localised autumnal weather heading towards the Brentford training ground?

….Jota finished

Still, you can understand The Three Amigos (damn, couldn’t quite make it without obligatory cliché) being in such high spirits following wins for Brentford over Rotherham United, Wolves and Charlton Athletic. And the club have released a compilation video to highlight a quite breathtaking eight days of football.

Starting with Alan Judge and his wonderful volley against Rotherham, it runs through all the recent Bees action, culminating in Lasse Vibe’s strike from the win over Charlton on Saturday. I’m still not sure which is my favourite in what, with three goals and three assists, seems to be a show reel for the Irish international.

The first against Rotherham was a stunning bit of technique and timing that had the entire ground on it’s feet at the quality of the effort. But watching the Charlton highlights, the way Judge flicked on with his head before embarking on that huge run and cross really needs to be seen again. And again.

If there is any disappointment to be found with this, it is the reference to our “Magnificent Seven” that accompanies the video. Surely everybody knows this should be a Magnificent 7 (seven)?

Welcome to the Alan Judge show

And finally. It seems like it was Barnaby, in the car park, with the rogue radio mic.

Following yesterday’s story as to the entire crowd at AFC Bournemouth being treated to the phrase “F**king hell, it was like men against boys “ over the public address system, the Cherries have been happy to accept the explanation offered by one Tottenham fanatic, preparing to make a fan video. Namely, that he just happened to have tuned into the exact same radio frequency that Bournemouth use around the stadium at the exact same moment he was having a pop at them.

Several supporters have been in touch to clarify that Bournemouth’s own ‘man with the mic’ indeed had the mic nowhere near his lips at the time of the incident. Moreso, Bournemouth have also issued a statement confirming it was, indeed, Barnaby who uttered the fateful profanity.

I’m still not entirely convinced by the ‘accidental’ angle but the important thing is we’ve all had a good laugh and, likewise, been able to remember that even in the uber-sanitised world of the Premier League, scope remains for this sort of comedy gold.

Nick Bruzon

Farewell to the king as season wraps up

What a Bank Holiday Monday. Mr Brentford, Kevin O’Connor, has officially ‘hung up his boots’ whilst over at Wembley, Norwich City made an immediate return to the Premiership after ousting Middlesbrough 2-0. And then there was more managerial intrigue at Griffin Park where the name of Marinus Dijkhuizen was the one on everybody’s lips after Jurgen Klopp’s admission he could order a beer in Spanish seemed to rule him out.

Jurgen Klopp. Sorry, but before we get any further that does just bear repeating. Even to be mentioned in the same breath is utterly bonkers yet, at the same time, symptomatic of how fast Brentford are accelerating. Talking to a source close to the club this morning, there is no official news out there yet although a tongue in cheek thought that, now Carlo Ancelotti has been sacked by Real Madrid, could his sudden availability cause any shortlist to be redrawn?

Middlesbrough. Whatever you feel about the way they kicked us off the park and ran down the clock, I do need to spare a thought for their fans after yesterday’s Championship play off final. Nobody wants to go through that and, perhaps, Brentford most of all can share that pain after eight unsuccessful attempts to get promoted in this fashion.

Warbs was on the Sky Sports pundits panel (as Harry’s knee seems to have recovered)

Worse, it means a return to arms for ‘that drum’ next season. I’ve long been an advocate of the thought that musical instruments should not be allowed within 100 yards of a football stadium (see also: Yeovil, Portsmouth – bell, Bernie Clifton’s alleged England supporters alleged band). The supporter equivalent of ‘goal music’, any team needing these to kickstart the atmosphere need to take a look at themselves.

On the plus side, it gives us a chance to test ourselves against a team who, being fair, probably gave us the hardest time of any other opponents all season. 4-0 and 1-0 defeats in the league were followed by 2-1 and 3-0 reverses in the play off semis. Just as I enjoyed showing Wolves how far we’d come since last season (the 4-0 home win being the last thing they probably expected) I’m already keen to see how we fare against Boro’ next time around. Whoever out of Klopp, Dijkhuizen, Ancelotti, Warburton (you never know), Redknapp (leftfield, but…) this is one encounter that is going to be key to our season 2015/16.

But one person who won’t be playing any part, on pitch, is club captain Kevin O’Connor. Social media was awash with tributes after the club finally got a hashtag spot on and made the following announcement :

no comment needed

What can you say? If ever there was somebody that typified a team, that had been through the lows and the highs, that wore his heart on his sleeve but always played the game in the fairest possible style – it’s King Kev. So few players see out their career at one club but Kevin, in his 501 games, has joined that elite group.

Even during the hullabaloo of, and subsequent fallout from, ‘that penalty’ he did nothing but carry himself with the utmost of dignity. Yet how sweet was it to see him nail that last minute spot kick in the play off semi final at Swindon in the very next game?

Over his 501 games, Kevin has played in just about every position for Brentford. Except goal. But even that almost happened – certainly if you were to believe Hayes & Yeading from a few years ago.

Could King Kev have ended up playing in goal?

Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Kevin will know what an absolute gentleman he is. Whether lining up with the fans to try and buy a beer (that didn’t happen) at the impromptu street part following promotion against Preston, just stopping for a chat in Braemar Road after a game or at the pre-season fans’ days. Whatever the occasion he has always taken the time to welcome the supporters.

Kevin – you’ll be missed on pitch but, at the least, your legacy continues in the new role at Griffin Park. Thanks for all the good times.

And finally, if anybody is looking for some holiday reading or just wants to reflect on what has been, frankly, an incredible season then the 2014/15 review is now available for download. Featuring the least bad bits of the Last word, some poor editing and even a bit of new material you can get it here for less than the price of a Griffin Park Balti pie or matchday programme.

Thanks for reading – here’s to pre season.

Available – now. If you fancy the season in one , pocket size, place

Griffin Park? This. Is. Sparta!!

It’s a BBC special today. Whilst Brentford may have departed the FA Cup, I do need to give quick mention to the Beeb’s coverage of the fourth round where they have selected Cambridge United v Manchester United and the tie between the winners of Bristol City v Doncaster against West Ham or Everton as their two live games.

Whilst the fourth round is still being spread out over four days, that’s one less than the torturous drip feed of fixtures we had for the previous set of games. More importantly, they have given us games that the neutral might actually want to watch, compared to the all Premiership borefest that was Arsenal v Hull City last time out.

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.

Can Brentford beat Fulham and go second in the table?

Finally. It’s Brentford – Fulham. It’s tonight, I’m buzzing and I cannot wait to resume League action with our neighbours. I think it’s going to be a tense and tough game but I also know we have the players who, if they do what they have been doing in recent weeks, have all the ability to pick up the three points that will take us into joint second in the Championship table.

And, at the same time, give us that sweetest of things – local pride and gloating rights.

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.

Looking back to look forward for King Kev. Leeds’ loss is Brentford’s gain

This Saturday will, all being well, see Kevin O’Connor make his 500^th appearance for Brentford. It is a stunning achievement for our club captain who passed the 400 mark at the time of his testimonial match (against Fulham) in 2010.

Back then, I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to interview Kevin for that game’s programme. Whilst much has changed since that column was written, re-reading it last night in anticipation of this weekend’s game has shown some very interesting parallels and reminders. Starting with his joining the Bees, the Last Word looks back at what King Kev had say about Brentford and his career as he approached that previous landmark.

Kevin on starting at Brentford: “As a youngster, in the first year I had to clean Ijah Anderson’s boots and also Ryan Dennis. Then, when Paul Evans joined, I had to look after him. That was brilliant for me and he really looked after me when I was YTS.

He’d have a chat with me and I got to know him quite well. Once I broke through he was brilliant and looked after me. He went out of his way to make sure I was alright “

On breaking into the squad: “I came in to the team just before Ron Noades quit. There was a lot of good players then – Andy Woodman, Martin Rowlands, Lloyd Owusu.

It was intimidating but the lads were brilliant and after a couple of weeks I was able to fit right in. They were a really nice bunch, like family. It was a good atmosphere and I think it showed on the pitch over the years.

I’ve been really lucky at Brentford – every squad has got on really, which helps as you want to enjoy going in to work. It shows; when every one gets on and is working hard for each other you get that little bit more out of the team.”

To read the rest of this article, season 2013/14 is now available to download onto Kindle, in full. Containing previously unseen content, you can do so here for less than the cost of one matchday programme.

 Thanks for reading over the course of the campaign. For now I need to make space on this page for any follow up.  The ‘close season’ / World Cup columns continue in full, further on in this site.