And for our next trick, watch as the dog makes this homework disappear.

New Year, same Covid. Brentford saw this afternoon’s game with Bristol City canned last night after the visitors declared that due to a number of their squad apparently exhibiting Corona virus symptoms, and the testing laboratory being closed for the bank holiday so they couldn’t know for sure, they would be unable to safely fulfil the fixture. The timing of the sudden outbreak of symptoms to an injury hit squad (at least 8 at the last count) combined with the inability to perform any testing is one which had supporters up in arms. Fishy is not the word. Jose Mourinho would describe the late cancellation of Spurs game against FulhamL as being like Under-13s football. One can only imagine what the Tottenham boss would make of this one.

“Everyone at Brentford FC sends their best wishes to Bristol City for a safe and speedy recovery to all those who are affected.” (as opposed to infected ) said the diplomatic blurb from Official on Twitter that went with the announcement. I do wonder what they made of the situation behind closed doors but the narrative on the BBC home page regarding the three games impacted by Corona Virus said it exactly as it was. Read into this what you will.

The BBC website last night

Genuinely, one hopes nobody is ill. The frustration here being the late cancellation of a game in what reads as somewhat murky circumstances. The story is one that, at face value, is about as fishy as Michael Fish dodging a salad to eat fish and chips in Dodge City whilst listening to the greatest hits of pop music’s Dodgy. A Bristol City team who had been pushing for the play-offs but fallen out of contention after losing four of their last five games. A team decimated by injury. A team due to travel to the Championship’s form club. A team who the day before the game suddenly declare an out break of ‘symptoms’, not confirmed cases, but are unable to prove this due to an inability to get tested in this brief window. Hmmmm. Read into this what you will.

An artist’s impression – if it’s good enough for them

The club won’t say anything. They don’t need to. Thomas Frank will, of course, avoid getting himself or us into trouble. Perhaps there will be good wishes to our opponents and then that will be it. Brentford now facing a sudden gap in the fixture list and needing to crowbar this in somewhere else. A Bank Holiday Saturday now cut short and the chance to spend some more time  in our own company now upon us instead. Urghh. We’ll have to do something.

The flip side to all of this, if I can grasp for any positive, is the chance to restore some fitness. Next Saturday is the FA Cup game with Middlesbrough and one in which, no doubt, the team will be made up of fringe players and those normally used to starting on the bench. With our next league game the trip to Reading on January 16th, it does mean we’ll have had a break of over two weeks without Championship action or international call ups. Might it tempt Thomas to start at full strength against Spurs on Tuesday night? If for no other reason than to keep things ticking over. The selection for the League cup semi-final was always going to be a divisive one, whichever way he went. Show faith with those that have got us this far or strengthen the team even more? After all, the ‘W’ place in North London is only 90 minutes away.

My own feeling is that he would have stuck with the Newcastle side. Now, he’ll go for the one that beat Bournemouth. Perhaps with the exception of Luke Daniels. Our reserve ‘keeper more than earning his own chance on merit this season and, were it not for the outstanding ability of David Raya, would surely have had more starts.

That Tottenham game is all to come. For now, we have an afternoon off. A chance to watch the other results roll in as Brentford sit tight. Time spent kicking our heels instead of looking to extend that unbeaten run further. Perhaps evening finishing off our Christmas holiday’s homework, assuming the dog hasn’t eaten it.

The closest we’ll get to anything at Lionel Road today

Nick Bruzon

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If you can’t beat them (and they can’t), then sign them. Thank you, Aston Villa

The transfer window has closed. Hot off the back of thumping Aston Villa 3-0 at Griffin Park on Tuesday night, Brentford announced that goal machine Scott Hogan had, finally, been sold. Not to long time suitors West Ham – a club who would have, in the short term, fulfilled his Premier League aspirations – but instead to none other than Villa themselves. Championship rivals to the Bees and now sitting below us in the table.

Aston Villa announce their side of the deal

Good luck to Scott, genuinely. I’m sure we’ve all seen his message to supporters , sent via club Captain Harlee Dean. We’ll miss his goals, no question, but Lasse Vibe showed once more that he is more than capable of stepping up. Moreso given the new look formation employed by Dean on Tuesday night as Aston Villa were put to the sword.

I suppose we’ve a lot to be thankful to Villa for. Brentford have received a record club transfer fee whilst West Ham have been put firmly back in their box. On the pitch, we’ve picked up four points from a possible six over the course of the current season. Our record against Villa now reading:

P2 W1 D1 L0 F4 A1

Not bad, for a pub team.

Then, of course, we’ve got ‘tweet of the season’ from quite possibly football’s angriest fan. This beauty appeared prior to Brentford visiting Villa Park back in September. Fair to say that Master Hateley is probably looking for a new team to support at present. I hear Birmingham City are worth a look. Similar current form and a former Brentford goal machine up front.

The other reason to be thankful was that it has freed up funds to let us sign Sergi Canos.

Looking at the player’s post on Twitter it would be fair to say he seems as excited as the Brentford supporters about a permanent return to Griffin Park, telling the club that his move was,  “Amazing. I feel full of happiness” before putting his motivation down to the supporters themselves for believing in him.

The whole piece is on Brentford official and well worth a read through. And , for Beesplayer subscribers, there’s even a video. Do take a look, You won’t be disappointed.

Equally good news about the Canos transfer is that we didn’t use that most cringeworthy of social media devices, a hashtag.To be fair, after #bignewambitions (never, ever forget), #Novemberkings and #trophyfriends, it would be fair to say that the club have been a lot more judicious about the use of such devices.

Instead, Brentford fans have looked on and laughed as other teams fall prey to this trap. The season has already given us QPR with #Jakejoins. Now, we have had #WelcomeScott from Aston Villa.

As correspondent Luis Adriano note on Twitter yesterday, it looked as though he was standing in front of a TV weather map, Carol Kirkwood style. All that was missing were a few magnetic stickers. Personally, I’m more a Michael Fish fan – from a meteorological perspective – although do think Luis may have a point.

 

That said, looking at Scott’s stance – classic Antoine de Caunes – he is perhaps more kitted out to stand in for the host of early-90s pop culture show, Rapido. Whilst I can’t imagine Scott ever cracking out the “Rap, Rap, Rap, Rapiiiidoo” (kids, ask your dads), he does have a certain Je ne sais quoi about him.

In all seriousness though, there’s nothing but genuine good wishes toward Scott. We all know the 18 month injury hell he went through which now seems well behind him whilst his goals saved us on more than a few occasions.

I’m sure he’ll continue to find the back of the net for Villa. Indeed, I hope he does. There’s more than a few ’Scott Hogan – leading Championship goalscorer’ bets that are still well alive.

For research purposes, of course.

Nick Bruzon

Could Charlie’s charity shirt provide a distraction from the weather?

Brentford face Crawley tomorrow (in theory) although supporters have already been warned to check the official site in case the elements interfere.

I, for one, hope the game goes ahead. The phrase ‘points in the bag are better than games in hand’  is one I’ve held dear for years. That’s not to say we are guaranteed any points – quite the opposite, I’ve been guarding against complacency for months.

However, I have to assume that our rivals will win (Wolves travel to bottom club Stevenage whilst Leyton Orient take on an out-of-sorts Peterborough) and, as such, I’d much rather there was no added pressure from having to play ‘catch up’. Likewise, nobody needs fixture congestion with postponed games having to be crammed in toward the denouement of the season.

I am sure these are sentiments being shared by the club and one employee in particular. I’ll spare any blushes by keeping their identity secret  – suffice to say that I hope we don’t have a repeat of the Michael Fish, ‘hurricane’ incident.

Could Michael Fish have a protégé at Griffin Park?

 

So, if the worst does happen and the game is canned then what will you do between now and our next football fix on Wednesday?

Well, the winter Olympics start today so you could sit in front of the TV to see how the ever tolerant Russians uphold the Olympic charter, which includes the line: “. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind “

Given the well-documented comments on homosexuality, Sochi seems like something out of the eighteenth century at times. Moreso, given as football clubs all over England are now supporting the FvH campaign and, indeed, Brentford are due to do so on Saturday.

Personally, I’ll be giving the Winter Olympics a skip.  This is nothing to do with Mr Putin’s attitude to human rights but simply because they are very much the poor relation compared to their summer cousin. The fact that they need inclement weather just to take place already puts them on the back foot.

So what else can we do? Well, how about signing the Lionel Road petition? I was unable to attend the fan’s forum last night but I gather we were told that the decision would not be made by this Tuesday (thanks to @Beesotted for their excellent twitter updates). You can do that, here.

Or, there is always eBay. Specifically, for football shirts. If anybody reads this before 1.55pm on Friday morning then there is still time to bid on a stunning Brentford shirt.

Sky Sports presenter Charlie Webster (@CharlieCW on twitter) has just run 250 miles, visiting 40 football clubs, over a mere 7 days (do the maths – ouch !!). The challenge was undertaken on behalf of the Womens Aid Federation of England and, at the time of writing, Charlie was almost half way towards her £100,000 target.

Aswell as a ‘just giving page’, where you can learn more and donate, there is also a very special charity auction taking place to help raise funds. You can bid on a 2013/14 Brentford home shirt signed earlier this season by the entire squad.

Aside from being an excellent cause, who knows what a treasured item this could become in the future should the season end as we all hope it will.

Until then though, let’s keep our fingers crossed that Saturday is ‘Game On’.

Game on? Or rain stopped play?

You don’t need to be Michael Fish to recognise the threat the weather poses to tonight’s League One clash between Brentford and Bristol City.

With the Bees looking to consolidate their position above both Leyton Orient and third placed Wolves at the top of the table, I have my fingers crossed that we get the go ahead. However, the state of the pitch at the end of Friday’s win over Gillingham had me worried.

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.