Brentford 2 Nottingham Forest 1. The Bees moving five points clear of Fulham (and about three divisions ahead of Chelsea) as the Premier League edges towards conclusion. With the trip to Liverpool next up, the European dream remains alive in the hands of Thomas Frank and his magnificent Bees.
Bees Buzzing. Tricky Trees, felled. That late, late winner celebrated in style.
As ever at this point in the weekend, we look back at the game just gone. Who shone for Brentford. Who created the headaches for Forest? Who was the star player, who made the top five and who leads the season long race to be crowned our top performer of the campaign? Could anyone break in to the starting XI for the trip to Liverpool and what were the main talking points?
Chelsea 0 Brentford 2. What a scoreline and what a game. What a triumph for Thomas Frank and what a disaster (another one) for Frank Lampard. With just five games to go – and the visit from Nottingham Forest next up on Saturday – could the Bees retain their position as the best placed club in West London? Might Europe be on the cards still?
The Premier League Twitter feed captures it perfectly
Saturday’s game with Nottingham Forest will go a long way to helping answer those but, for now, we need to look back at the game with Chelsea. Who shone for Brentford? Who was our star player? Who makes the top five and who leads the race to become our season long top performer?
Brentford held to a 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest. The prospect of a trip to Manchester City next up for a team that, despite the enforced changes and injuries, can feel hard done by not to have come away with all three points. The hosts, lucky to end the game with eleven players after a somewhat petulant display from their ‘keeper. Likewise, fortunate not to have further questions asked about the nonsense in the warm up where the blunt end of a pitchfork seemed to be involved in some unorthodox action. Sh*thousery is alive and well at the City Ground.
Dean Henderson, yesterday
As ever at this juncture, time to see who was the star player for Brentford. Who made up the top five against Nottingham Forest and will anyone have earned a start against Manchester City on Saturday?
Two points dropped or another gained in a performance that was streets ahead of that second half no show on Tuesday? Brentford held 1-1 by Nottingham Forest in a game that arguably we could have won , given the chances created, or making further ground on Swansea City who lost at home to Cardiff City? The gap between us a solitary point. The huge fly in our ointment being a Watford team who won, again, and are now looking to make their own insurmountable assault on second place. A position they currently occupy with a 7(seven) point advantage over the Bees, albeit having played an extra game. With so many Brentford fans fixated on the potential 8 point lead available to the Swans after the dog’s dinner we served up at Coventry (how are those maths working out?), how many stopped to focus on The Hornets as the main danger threat to our automatic aspirations? They’ve been chipping away with win after win after win and now, all of a sudden, have found quite the clear air between second and third place as their rivals’ current milieu has been one more favouring draws and defeats.
The final score – as seen on Brentford official.
Our own game started so brightly. Ivan Toney scoring yet another from the penalty spot. It was as stonewall as they come in the decision making stakes. As ice cool as ever in the execution. Another one rolled into the bottom corner, taking the Championship’s leading scorer up to 28 from 37 games. Twelve minutes gone and Brentford ahead. Nottingham Forest on the ropes and doing well to stay alive. Mbeumo could have done better. Dalsgaard had a a glorious chance. The pressure building and the approach play suggesting more was to come.
Our visitors limited to a half-arsed penalty shout of their own that had both sets of players laughing and earned Alex Mighten nothing more than a yellow card for his trouble. The Tricky Tree less felled in the box and more needing to smooth over the rough edges on his Tom Daley tribute act.
Perfect 10s for effort, if not execution – the GPG at the right place on the screen grabs for this ‘penalty’ analysis
But let’s not get cocky here. Dominant though Brentford were, it had the feel of a game that needed more than one goal got make it safe. Half time came and went with the thought that taking one of those additional chances in the opening period might have eased stress levels in the environs of TW8. Calmed some strained nerves as the inevitable happened just after the hour. Mathias Jensen losing out to Bong after the Forest player manhandled his way through and past our man before releasing the ball forward. Brentford still had enough back to cover but Winston Reid could only guide his clearance straight to Filip Krovinovic close in. Ping. The ball was returned with interest straight back in the direction from which it came, straight past the defender and straight past David Raya in nets. 1-1. Well done. That play had been allowed to continue after the assault on Jensen a cause of huge frustration (and that’s the polite term) but, frankly, we still should have had the nous to cut that one out. Instead, the visitors handed out the consummate lesson in taking your chance when it comes.
This was not a park the bus exercise either. Progress was hard, as much through our own decision making, but there were still chances to seal it. Substitutes Ghoddos and Fosu who, personally speaking, should have come on much earlier, both coming close. Mbeumo had already had a glorious chance, foiled only by time quite wonderful defending. It had seemed an odd on goal after the square ball across the face from Ivan but, instead, a last gasp challenge saw a corner the best we could salvage. And then with almost the last kick of the game Toney saw his own deflection assisted shot go just the wrong side of the post. So near yet so far. 1-1 it finished. Forest good value and deserving of their point. Brentford left frustrated. Twitter given a wide berth. Frankly, life’s too short to read that in the heat of the aftermath.
Checks for #Frankout
Sunday morning. Time to pick up the pieces once more. To read match reports and see what Thomas had to say for himself. His key take away being that, “this was close to a spotless performance in every aspect, we defended well, created chances, pressed forward and first half we should have been 2-0 up“.
Well yes, he’s right from many respects. Shoulda Woulda Coulda, though. Chances don’t win games, strikers do. Or, at least, goal scorers. Any other day at least one of those probably goes in and the game is safe. But it didn’t. It was today. Not the other 9 times out of 10. And it’s agonising. As much as anything else because we know how last season played out when opportunity knocked. That’s the obvious downside and the place people are likely to gravitate towards. It’s football. We’re pessimists. We’ve been here many, many times. Dont even start me on there W place in North London.
Personally speaking, I’m of the more optimistic school of thought. It goes without saying I’d prefer to be in the position Watford find themselves, even though they have played that additional game. Yet they aren’t home and hosed yet. Anything but. Let’s not forget they still need to come to Lionel Road in the penultimate game of the campaign. That’s before they host Swansea City. We win that one and our game in hand over them then the gap is a solitary point. Imagine actually needing a favour off Swansea at the end of all this?
I can’t really think that way. This is on us still. We still have the time and potential on our side.There are still 9 games to play. That’s a fifth of the season as near as makes no difference. This campaign still has SO much football left in it. We’ll call it after game 46. Not after a result that doesn’t go our way.
Everybody now gets the chance to reset and recover. Hopefully our internationals will all be suffering from niggles that cause their precautionary resting from World Cup qualification and U-21 duty. We’ve still got Josh Dasilva and Rico Henry to return. Hopefully this season . Hopefully soon. Along with Ivan they are two of the best players in the division, let alone this team. Name me any Championship side that could honestly say it was better without players of their calibre? Well, we all know the answer to that and whilst lamenting their absence won’t help anyone, I’d love if they play some significant role in that final run in. Fingers crossed the anti-gravity treadmill, or whatever else they are hooked up to, is doing its thing.
Until then, time to try and chill for a bit. There are two weeks until the next round of fixtures. We’ve got the Mark Devlin derby at Huddersfield on Easter Saturday. The day before, Watford host Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea go to Birmingham City. Fingers crossed that’s a Good Friday. For Brentford.
For a moment, it looked like we’d have comfortable afternoon. Sadly, this was the only chance taken
Brentford host Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime. The game live on Sky with a 12.30 kick off. The Bees looking to bounce back from the 2-2 draw with Wayne Rooney’s Derby County on Tuesday night. A game we could, maybe should, have been out of sight in by half time. Instead, our PMA got on the coach early and a second half no show saw us hanging on for 45 minutes before succumbing to the inevitable equaliser. Frustrating doesn’t even begin to describe it but there’s nothing we can do now except kick on and go ag, ag, ag, once more. Elsewhere, there was amazing news on the international front with nothing but plaudits for Ethan Pinnock and Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa but still a Bee in our hearts) earning call ups for Jamaica and England respectively.
First World problems, eh? The sort most teams would love. Automatic is still well within our control, should we find our mojo. It seemed to be well back after the game at Blackburn and the opening period against Derby. Then, inconsistency struck. For Thomas Frank, selection headaches, of the nicest sort at centre-back. Pontus, Winston and Ethan Pinnock are all fit. 2 out of 3 ain’t bad, as popular music’s Meatloaf once sung. So will we dispense with full backs and go for the lot? Then there’s the perennial question of Fosu v Canos. The former at least attempted to inject some of the zest that had so sadly gone awol from the rest of the team when he came on. Sergi had already added to his goal haul.
Yet perhaps the biggest conundrum is how Bryan Mbeumo rediscovers his spark? There, perhaps, the greatest enigma of all. He seems to be either amazing our anonymous. Like Sergi, Thomas Frank has persisted, perhaps in the hope that he will also return to last season’s consistent brilliance. With one game to go before the break I am sure we will see more of the same.
Flying Bryan is a joy to behold
That’s me. Flying Bryan was an integral part of the BMW that got us so close last time out. We’ve readjusted to life without Ollie Watkins just wonderfully, Ivan Toney scoring at an even more prodigious rate than the now Aston Villa man, but our approach play has felt, if not laboured, then certainly off the pace at times compared to last season. Then again, we’re a different team. The emergence of Vitaly Janelt in the middle a joy to behold. With Christian Norgaard fit again, those two have immediately formed a quite wonderful partnership. Questions as to whether they can play together well answered. When Josh Dasilva is fit once more we could have quite the line. Regardless of individuals, that return from injury can’t come soon enough. Whomever else is picked, a fit Josh is a guaranteed starter.
As for Nottingham Forest, well…. I heard a stat on this week’s Prutton’s Predictions podcast for Sky Sports claiming that ‘own goals’ was their leading scorer. Surely not? Well, a check of the stats sees 29 scored in the league, 25 named players getting them and Lyle Taylor leading the pack on 4. Meaning that, at the least, o.g.s would seem to be joint top.
Urghh. I hate these sort of nuggets. Much like Derby not scoring in four games before we played them, the sort of thing that can only come back to haunt you. Either Grabban or Taylor (and talk about the DoFs making the right transfer selection there) to get a hatful or one to go in off Henrik’s backside and further strengthen o.g’s claim for the Forest golden boot. Please note: by Henrik, substitute ‘anyone’. For once, a jinx free game of regular football would be just wonderful. It’s Brentfoird, innit? A moniker I’d love if we could dispense with as we enter this final run of fixtures.
Cripes, I can’t call this. Even though I have on the aforementioned podcast. Let’s just wait to see what plays out. One last push before International break. The dream of three points at the forefront of the mind and then, once more, hoping Watford and Swansea care to fall over in their games at home to Birmingham City and Cardiff respectively. If ever there was a time to prove you are ten times better…
A point on the road and avoiding defeat. Something you’d normally be ok with. Moreso with one of your main promotion rivals falling to a 3-0 defeat. Yet there’s nothing but a hollow feeling this morning off the back of as frustrating an evening as they come. Brentford were held 2-2 at Wayne Rooney’s Derby County in a game that saw us electric in the first half and anonymous in the second. Early goals from Ivan Toney and Sergi Canos setting our stall out but there was always the feeling that missed opportunities, primarily one from Bryan Mbeumo, may come back to bite us in the second period. Its Brentford, innit? Yet there was no legislating for how costly our inability to punish opponents when they were looking dead on their feet would ultimately transpire to be. The aforementioned defeat for Swansea City at Bournemouth providing scant relief in the face of our own disappearance and Watford cruising past Rotherham 4-1. Saturday’s game with Nottingham Forest will be huge. Another early kick off to try and lay down a marker. A chance to exorcise the demons of the second half.
Cripes, it all started so well. A return for Pontus Jansson alongside Winston Reid at centre back in his first game of the year. Wayne Roon etc etc Derby County so anonymous in that opening period we could have filled the defence with a couple of paper bags fluttering around randomly in the breeze and we’d have been just as safe. Bryan Mbeumo and Sergi Canos, the other change to the team, driving us forward. Norgaard and, especially Janelt, imperious in the middle. Vitaly winning every ball and breaking with speed. Ivan Toney doing his thing from the penalty spot once more with less than ten minutes gone after Mbeumo had been felled in the box. No complaints from Derby and about as stonewall as they come.
It was another one stroked home to the bottom corner. Another one preceded by that most heart stoping of almost nonchalant ambling up to the ball before unleashing a trademark precision strike. 1-0 up and soon it was double. Canos getting our second from the corner of the box with a fine shot, hit low into the corner. Tariqe Fosu may feel hard done by, and personally I thought he’d retain his spot following the game at Blackburn, but Sergi was there to to do what he does. To show the critics just why he deserves his chance.
2-0. Sergi did his thing…
In between these came the Mbeumo opportunity. Jensen bursting clear and squaring to the unmarked wideman. He was clear, albeit on the angle, but somehow managed to hit it painfully wide rather than coming close to even troubling Derby ‘keeper Kelle Roos. It wasn’t the only chance we had in that period but certainly the clearest. The sort that might have had Ian Moose punching the directions to the training ground into his sat nav. With the pressure building and the Derby goal being peppered, it was the sort of half where we felt hard done by in ‘only’ scoring twice. Arrogant? Not really. More symptomatic of the possession we’d enjoyed and chances we’d created in one of the most intense periods of football we’ve played this season. Yet, as we all know, stats and chances count for nothing if you can’t turn them into goals. If the first half had been nothing but Brentford, the second period saw the baton handed to our hosts in quite remarkable style.
Wayne Rooney has been lauded for the triple substitution he made as the players returned. Rightly so. Derby hadn’t been at the races and drastic action was needed.. There was no messing around. No further opportunity for the no-shows to redeem themselves. Instead, a change in set up was the decision and what a reaction. Within minutes they’d pulled the first goal back. Nathan Byrne bursting down the right and squaring the ball for Louie Watson with the simplest of chances. He made no mistake as he steered home from close in. Now we had a game on our hands. Now we saw 2-0 and dominant become 2-1 and wobbly with almost the entire second period to play. Brentford resembling nothing more than punch drunk boxer. Derby raining strike after strike in a bid to find that knockout blow. The Bees on the ropes, offering nothing. Hanging on to a 2-1 lead and waiting until the final twenty minutes to start making changes.
The arrival of Tariqe Fosu providing some respite as we began to open up the Rams but there was little end product from anyone to provide a genuine threat to Roos. The feeling that a second Derby goal was coming growing by the minute and then, with the clock reading 86, it arrived. Louie Sibley making the opportunity for himself and then unleashing a fine curler past David Raya. 2-2. Game over, man. Game over. A point gained but a match that feels like nothing except a gut busting defeat. Even having slept on it. We could have put it out of sight in the first half, true, but it was more our complete inability to even come close to keeping pace with our opponents in the second that is the real mystery. Our inability to get even close to the ball or hang on to it when we did pick it up that I can’t get my head around. You have to credit Wayne Rooney and his side, of course. Yet at the same time, it takes two teams to play a game of football and there was only one present in the second 45. Thomas is going to have to give the mother of all pep talks today in the build up to the TV game with Nottingham Forest on Saturday lunchtime.
Win that one and we overtake a Swansea City team who then have their challenge with Cardiff City the visitors. Win that one and we close back in on second place Watford ahead of their visit from Birmingham City. Let’s hope Lee Bowyer is ten times the better manager than the recently displaced Aitor Karanka.
Yesterday started off badly with the sad news of Yaphet Kotto passing at the age of 81. To cinema goers, he was best known for his roles as William Laughlin in The Running Man, Parker in Alien and, of course, Doctor Kananga in Live and Let Die. The role that saw him face off against the best Bond, Roger Moore, trading one liners and high end fashion with 007. As full time went at Pride Park, I couldn’t help but think back to his own impassioned speech to tarot reader Solitaire (Jane Seymour) upon discovering her betrayal as he despaired, “I gave you every break possible. You had a 50-50 chance. You weren’t even close.”
The highlights are up. Somewhere. I’m not sure I can face watching them again today. The post match catch up last night was painful enough. No team has a right to win every game. It’s not the fact we lost, sorry drew, that hurts, but more the manner of our no show. Instead, perhaps time to crack open the Bond collection instead. Time to switch off from football for a few days.
See you on Saturday for Nottingham Forest. Maybe sooner.
Matchday. Time for Brentford fans to get back on the horse after the midweek reverse at Norwich City. Except, of course, we can’t. Friday morning saw the announcement of our visit from Rotherham United being cancelled due to their second Corona Virus outbreak of the season (following that in December). Instead, the game has been pushed back to April 27th and we can do nothing more today than watch the results roll in. Watford – Nottingham Forest and Swansea – Middlesbrough being the key fixtures of note. Given our own lack of action we could well end up sitting in fourth place by the end of the day. Whatever else happens, by the time we play next (at Blackburn Rovers on Friday evening) at least it will be in the knowledge that Swansea have finally caught up their two games on us. Following today’s encounter, they also travel to Ewood Park. Tuesday night could be a huge one for them. And us.
However the table looks at that point, I’m not gong to get over excited or angry. As we’ve been saying all season the Championship is a marathon not a sprint. Positions ebb and flow. It won’t be until the final game of the campaign that Brentford know for sure how things look. Obvious, I realise. Obvious that is, to those of us who understand football. Who resist the tendency to hit the panic button and go for the knee-jerk, lemming like meltdown because a player mishits a pass or the team fail to score. Who think that enjoying our highest position in years and pushing for the top flight is something to celebrate rather than being “up the club’s ass(?)”. Weird. But that’s old ground covered off a few times already. I think, by now, its fair to say we fall into two camps. The objective and the keyboard warriors. Which is probably the same at most clubs, to be fair. The difference being we’re second, everyone, rather than fighting a Birmingham City style relegation battle.
I’m gutted about today. Initial thoughts are with the players and staff at Rotherham United. Unlike the Bristol City symptom-gate affair (which, unless I have missed something, all seems to have gone very, very quiet despite the promise of an EFL investigation) positive tests were returned. Hopefully all will be well in their squad.
Instead of seeing former Bees Chiedozie Ogbene and the ever popular Flo Jo once more, we are confined to barracks. Stuck on the sofa watching Watford and then waiting for updates from the Swansea City game.
Not today….
Personally, I’m not overly fussed about sitting through either. Boredom aside. As noted before, they won’t be definitive in the final placings, regardless of any flux experienced in the table. It goes without saying we’d love a pair of away wins but I can’t see Nottingham Forest or Middlesbrough able to offer any resistance whatsoever. Boro’ in particular will be up against a Swansea team buoyed by their 96th minute ‘penalty’ at Stoke. Shut happens. They still need to pick up points in their surplus games and then maintain that position. The subsequent tough run they face is their problem, not ours.
So yes, I expect Brentford to be an interim fourth place come 5pm. And when we are, we are. The plus side to Rotherham’s misfortune being that at least, in the short term, it allows our players some extra recovery time. The injury list is a long one. Fatigue must be setting in. The heart would rather see us playing but the head says that at least we can gain some advantage by this enforced inactivity. With three teams currently fighting it our for one automatic place (Norwich City won’t blow their chance) this will come down to who can hold their nerve. Who can keep their squad trim. Who can put a decent run together over the final dozen games rather than hitting the skids. Let’s not forget that Watford had their own wobble at Bournemouth last week whilst Swansea have been humped by both Huddersfield Town and Bristol City in recent fixtures.
There’s a touch under a quarter of the season to go. It is going to be huge for Brentford. Let’s just focus on ourselves. Starting at Blackburn on Friday. Anything else that comes our way is a bonus.And if there are no gifts, there’s always the social media meltdown button to press…
Waking up on Tuesday morning it suddenly hit me. The transfer window is open and has been for weeks. Even better, the transfer window shuts on Friday night yet Brentford haven’t even come close to being mentioned in one of those ‘the three players this club must sign’ non-stories that website 72, flw and the other few clickbait-mongers seem to print every ten seconds. Move along, nothing to see hear. We’ve a huge game with Swansea City tomorrow night whilst over at the City Ground there’s a chance for us to all prove that, sometimes, we’re bigger than any club rivalries which may exist. That sometimes, we need to join together to stop a common foe – the likes of Boris Johnson and Piers Morgan. The pair lining up with Simon Cowell and Rishi Sunak, amongst others, to stop one Nottingham Forest fan scooping one of the greatest awards currently available to mortal man. The Heatworld ‘Secretcrush 2021’ award.
First up, the transfer window. If anything, we’ve been clearing the decks. Turkish striker Halil Dervişoğlu has joined Galatasaray on loan until the end of the season. Thomas Frank told ‘official’ that “Halil is a young player that we have a lot of belief in and one we think has a big future at Brentford,“ but cited competition for places with Ivan Toney and Marcus Forss as a crucial reason in the decision to send him out at this stage in his career. The showing against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup suggested this may well be true but having already spent loan time at FC Twente, one does have to wonder if it is the last we have seen? Only time will tell there.
Dervişoğlu – image shamelessly lifted from ‘official’
About the only thing I’ve seen suggesting anything inward came at the end of the game with Leicester City on Sunday. Adam Devlin and Rob Davies both calling this one. Is Daniel Amartey set to join? Surely this was nothing more than a catch up with a player who spent two years playing in Denmark with FC Copenhagen? Given how close Brentford keep our cards to the chest, not even we’d be this unsubtle? At the same time Amartey, along with Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw, is one of three players this club must sign in the current transfer window. D’oh!!
In all seriousness though, the longer we avoid those sort of headlines the better. Rico Henry is undoubtedly the best left back in the Championship, if not higher. Ethan Pinnock is winning plaudits everywhere. We already know of Arsenal’s interest in David Raya. Ivan Toney is top of the pops when it comes to Championship goals. To name but a few. All four players will be featured in the Panini sticker book next season. Of that, I have no doubt. All being well they won’t make that step up until the end of this campaign. With Brentford. Cripes, this Swansea game tomorrow is huge !
The other news was that surrounding Nottingham Forest supporter Matt Dyson. He has been nominated for Heatworld’s Secret Crush 2021 award. An honour bestowed on what they deem to be an unlikely sex symbol. “There’s no one-size-fits-all approach” goes the build up, helpfully continuing, “fellas come in all shapes, sizes and age brackets – which is why heat is once again giving you the power to choose the best of the unconventional bunch.”
Thanks, heat. However, look beyond the objectification of men and there’s a far more serious matter at stake. Namely that of stopping Piers Morgan. Or Boris Johnson. Along with Forest fan and Absolute radio DJ Dyson, they’ve both made a long list that also includes names as diverse and far reaching as Gary Lineker and Bill Bailey to Dec and Ant. Yet back to back winner Morgan is the one everybody wants to stop. Apparently. Don’t inflate his or Johnson’s ego any more than they already are. A vote for Dyson is a vote for blokish charm. A vote for common sense. A vote for, well, something.
The link is here. Please give 30 seconds of your time and go for it. If you don’t, Boris might win. Piers could triumph. And that would be unbearable for followers of social media. Just don’t forget ‘untick the boxes’ asking if you’d like to read more. Unless of course, you would.
2019/20 – After 18 games Brentford had picked up 27 points and were sitting 8th in the Championship table. We’d just gone down 1-0 at Blackburn Rovers. Fast forward a year and we’re 6th after the same number of games. The points total four better on 31. The Bees returning home following a 3-1 tonking of Nottingham Forest. Ivan Toney clear of Adam Armstrong in the race for the golden boot. His late strike blowing the beautiful curler from Josh Dasilva clean out of the water in any attempt to find goal of the day. All this, at a time we’re having to rest/rotate the squad as often as we’re playing games, given the two a week schedule we’re currently racing through. With the televised trip to Watford next up on Tuesday, be sure of more to come. Likewise, be sure of more moaning. Seriously! The announcement of yesterday’s team the latest place where the more unhappy element of our fanbase came to the fore in the replies. Frank out. Yeah!!
Thomas makes 3 changes to the side from Wednesday night
We talked about this after the game Blackburn game. We’ve a club here doing so much for their fans. Look at the way we’ve rallied around Jamie Powell and those before him who have found themselves in the most unimagineable situations. A club doing so much in the local community. A club set up for ongoing growth. A club that is better placed this season (points/table) than at any other time in our Championship life. A club that don’t have an unlimited supply of funds yet are spending, selling and reinvesting in unspotted talent in a style that makes us the envy of the football world.
Yet there are still fans who seem to relish being able to slag off players before a ball has even been kicked. Demanding ‘Frank out’ (are they SERIOUS ?) with nothing more blatant than pure pleasure as a cause for doing so . The treatment of Sergi this season has been horrific. Emiliano last time out. He seems to be flavour of the month once more.
We win and lose as a squad. Those of us with eyes have been under no illusions that squad play has been essential. Will continue to be so. Thomas has been unequivocal about his need to make multiple substitutions per game. Before and during. There will be times when we see players start that we think would be better placed on the bench and vice-versa. That’s football. Its all about opinions. But for a squad and head-coach that is so well placed to come under such constant attack from certain quarters is utterly baffling.
And we go again
I’ve seen us when we genuinely shit. This is nowhere near it. I’m not using ‘we used to be broke’ as the sole excuse to appreciate what we’ve got now. It’s massively important to know your history and remember where we’ve come from but that’s only part of it. No player will ever be 10/10 game after game. No squad has a divine right to win every match. We’ve said this so many times before but its true. So suck it up.
Benrahma has gone and, whilst I’d love him back here still (who wouldn’t) we’re still scoring goals for fun. To be 11 unbeaten and still carving out the wins is nothing short of incredible given the intense physical pressure the players are under. It may not always be the 100mph football of last season and it may, sometimes, be a horror show to sit through (Middlesbrough and Derby anybody…) but we’re finding our groove. We’re finally into our new home. We’re three points off automatic. We’ve just obliterated Nottingham Forest. We’ve just seen Ivan Toney score one of THE goals. Highlights below.
It went up as high as it went forward. The hoof (and there is no other word for it) from Janelt coming down with snow on it. Ivan keeping his eye on the ball all the way through to beat his man and fire a quite exquisite finish home on the half-volley. There are no words to really do it justice. Just watch again. And again.
To think, Nottingham Forest ended up with Lyle Taylor. Both our clubs heavily linked with both players over the summer. Safe to say we’ve got the good end of that deal. Frank out. Sack the board. Where’s the money, Benham?
Before that, Henrik Dalsgaard had opened the scoring early for a much changed Brentford line up. We still played the same way. We still tried to pour forward as we’d done against Blackburn. We still created chances but this time, unlike the Derby game, they went in.
There could have been more. Mbeumo coming close whilst Ivan Toney almost scored a first half wonder goal after connecting with an inch perfect cross from Emiliano and seeing his acrobatic effort swoop just over. In the end, it was Josh Dasilva who double the lead late on with a left-footed curler from the corner of the box after Sergi Canos continued his red hot streak with another assist. It was a goal that would have been the moment of the match, had Ivan not come along and done his own thing minutes later. Frank out !
Ivan comes close in the first half after postman perfect delivery from Emiliano
Next up, a trip to Watford on Tuesday night. I’d love to be there but we’ve no hope. Urgh. Corona. Then, assuming there is no change to the London tiering, we’ve another 2,000 fans able to get a taste of Lionel Road when Reading visit at the weekend. With both teams above us, these games are real six-pointers. A chance to reel in the promotion pack and perhaps even hit those automatic spots.
What a fantastic opportunity awaits. With Newcastle United to come in the league cup quarter-finals, life is definitely looking up on the pitch. For most of us.
Brentford 0 , Wayne Rooney’s (interim) Derby County 0. The Bees made it ten unbeaten on a night that, being honest, was as frustrating on pitch as it was exciting off. We head into the weekend, sitting 7th (seventh) in the Championship. A win away from Bournemouth in the automatic spots and facing the prospect of a trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon. Themselves, victims by the odd goal in three at table topping Norwich City and sure to be raging after going behind, again, just after they’d hauled themselves back in to it last night. Yet the fact that we’re already talking about another team is, perhaps, subconsciously telling us all we need to know about last night at Lionel Road. My word that was hard going.
For the supporters taking their turn on the ticket merry go round, you could see and hear what this meant. Social media was awash with more positivity and photos. It sounded great from the TV and just imagine what the noise will be like when the stadium is eventually allowed to be full (scientists calculate that as being approximately 2032).
Back home we had the intriguing combination of witnessing this in the company of Natalie Sawyer and Jonathan Douglas sitting with Mark and Mick in the commentary box. Fate bringing together one of our more recognisable fans alongside a former player who is a hero to just about all Brentford supporters. They seemed to go well together ! Mark was in there with his Cameron Diaz story – pretty sure I heard her name mentioned on more than one occasion – as her fake fandom was once again put into the minds of all true Bees (and if you’d like to read more, then let’s never forget her celebrity supporter status, or lack of, being unmasked on national radio…).
Now lets unmask this imposter
Again, though, we’re digressing from the main event. When Brentford fans (or lack of) are the talking point then we’re probably in the right ball park after a gritty 0-0. It was one that saw us unable to break through the eleven men Wayne Roo… (can we just call them Derby County and take the Rooney bit as read?) had packed behind the ball. 59% possession for Brentford (I’d have had it as more) and 12 shots only tell part of the story. The crucial factor being that not one of those was on target. That when the chances came, we blazed high. We fired wide. We didn’t trouble their goalkeeper. Bryan Mbeumo, starting this one alongside Sergi and Ivan, had the best of these. It seemed harder to miss than score yet he managed the former when he found himself just yards out early in the second half with the goal gaping.
That’s football. Ideally the game doesn’t hang on one chance. Vitaly Janelt had a pair of shots from distance early on as it looked like it was simply going to be a matter of time before the floodgates opened. ‘This is going to be 0-0’ said Mrs. Bruzon early on. Hmm. What does she know? Rico’s on fire. Sergi has picked up where he left off against Blackburn. Ivan is the division’s top scorer. Alas, as with everything in life, she was right. Josh Dasilva also had his moment but couldn’t quite find a way through in a game where Thomas Frank noted at full time that, “We created five big chances but didn’t have the sharpness or quality in the decisive moments.”
Too true, Thomas. His team selection was strong enough. The opposition came to do a job on us and they succeeded. No complaints there. An away point from a promotion chasing team no bad thing in their eyes, I’m sure. For Brentford, though, can there be any positives?
Well yes, of course there are. The unbeaten sequence aside, it was another clean sheet. It was another game without Christian Norgaard – a player that I’m intrigued to see playing with Vitaly Janelt. Too similar or the making of Brentford 2021? It was another solid performance from Mads Bech Sørensen. It was another point that keeps us well in contention. This time last season we were eighth with 27 from 17 games played. This time around we are one point and one position better off. Not so much clutching at straws after a ‘challenging’ 90 minutes but more the case of looking at the table with fresh eyes having slept on it following, rather than during, the game.
For me, Clive, the frustrating thing is as much seeing Said Benrahma keeping the bench warm at West Ham. The reasons for selling (sorry, loaning) him are clear to all and so there are no complaints there. He wanted his move to the top flight and the money will be very good for us. Yet last night was the sort of game where having a player of his unique ability could have been the difference between the win and the eventual draw. He’d have decimated them, had he been on his game.
There’s no benefit in crying over who we don’t have but at the same time there has been a clear gauntlet thrown down which, to date, none of the wider players have consistently looked like picking up. We’re solid at the back. We drive forward in midfield. The goals are coming up top (normally). Unlocking that final area of the pitch is the challenge. It’s great that the full backs can overlap in such style but Rico must be knackered. Thomas can only pick from his available squad and, perhaps, it will be a return to the combination of Canos, Forss and Toney that serves us best against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Go for it from the off and see what happens.
For now, though, it IS another point and another game where we’ve had some more of the fans back in. Long may that continue. ( Did somebody say Tier 3…..…?). Derby County are still languishing in the bottom three and we’ve a trip to another of their relegation rivals to look forward to this weekend. Chris Hughton’s recent record at Forest is on a par with Simply Red’s greatest hits – short and terrible. LLDLL from the last five doesn’t make good reading.
So I’m happy still. It wasn’t a great spectacle but one game is only a small part of the bigger picture. A picture which is a frenetic, non-stop season with games coming week on week on week. I’d love to have won but in the end we’re as lucky not to have lost. Derby had their own chance(s) late on and that post is still rattling.
Move along. Nothing to see here. Instead, its one for the record books and the ongoing hope that, one day, perhaps Cameron might just check what she is missing out on. Hey, if its good enough for Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham….. Yet even if she does, somehow, appear Natalie will always remain Queen Bee.
BrentfordFC 