Newcastle, Barnsley and a trip down the road. What a month ahead.

With ‘kit obsessive’ submitted for the Barnsley programme and Brentford in the midst of international break, I wasn’t going to bother today. Gibraltar shipping what is deemed to be the fastest ever World Cup qualifying goal last night (Christian Benteke’s strike now recorded at 8.1 seconds – although it seemed an awful lot quicker watching it live) perhaps now would be a good time for a bit more of a rest. And then I looked at the fixture list. Trips to Newcastle United and Derby County await before that Halloween showdown with QPR. And, of course, between the last two we have the prestigious moment of the aforementioned match at Griffin Park –  our 4,000th game.

What a month October promises to be.

With the Bees currently one place out-side the play off zone after 11 games, nobody could deny we are where we are on merit. Sure, we’ve ridden our luck at times but, equally, we’ve take our chances when they’ve presented themselves. How long ago do the opening week defeats to leaders Huddersfield Town and then Exeter City in the EFL cup now seem?

But for all Scott Hogan has been banging them in. For all that Daniel Bentley has marshalled one of the tightest defences in the Championship (only Huddersfield and Brighton have conceded less). For all that Ryan Woods has been dominant in midfield, to name but a few of our standout players, there can be no resting on laurels. Instead, it is the time to see if we will push on and be genuine promotion contenders or should mid-table and survival at this level be a realistic target  ?

This Saturday sees the trip to Newcastle United. When the Premier League die was cast and saw the Magpies, Aston Villa and Norwich City relegated there was palpable excitement in the air. A fixture list that already offered us Fulham and QPR now had the additional draw of these historical powerhouses of English football.

Yet if we’re being honest, Newcastle was the one out of all these we’ve been looking forward to the most. A big name to test ourselves against. A new ground for many. A return to a footballing Mount Everest for others. And that’s just the climb to the back of the away stand.

We haven’t played them in the league since 1992/93. Just to put that into context, Jim Rosenthal was presenting live football on ITV (bring him back. please) whilst Phil Holder was in charge of the Bees. A 2-1 home defeat in front of the cameras was followed a by a 5-1 loss on the road. I’ve a feeling that the Bees will be a different prospect this time around.

Jim Rosenthal and Phil Holder – the previous season our league paths crossed

With Mark Devlin confirming we’ve sold close to 3,000 tickets you can already feel the anticipation building. It’s only Tuesday morning yet, already, I can’t wait to get on that train up to the North-East. Despite the early start, it promises to be a great day for the supporters. Whilst I hope the players enjoy themselves too, let’s also remember that this is ‘just another game’. Easy to say when I’m bigging it up but to play the occasion rather than the team you are up against can be a fatal error.

Newcastle are beatable. They’ve lost 3 out of 11 in the league this season. That’s over a quarter of their games (checks fingers) and sees them just four points ahead of Brentford. Certainly, a position not predicted by many pundits before the season began. Hello, Ian? Ian….? Has anybody seen Ian Holloway?

Can we do it? The optimist in me says yes. The head says I haven’t a clue. I’m just the numpty on the terrace who wears his heart on his sleeve and his funky bee on his chest.  All I know is that whatever happens on Saturday it’s going to be a good , good day.

And that’s even before we then get to Derby County next Tuesday , Barnsley (home) and the televised encounter with QPR at the end of the month. Each of these has added significance in its own right but, Newcastle aside, it is  the Barnsley game I’m really up for.

That may surprise many, given the rivalry with the Loftus Road mob but 4,000 games is a huge moment in our history. No doubt the club will have something special lined up for that one and it is bound to be a special occasion.

Still, all that’s for Saturday week. For now, all the focus is about this weekend. Can the Bees mix it with the big boys?

I can’t wait to find out.

Breathing gear. Check. Ropes. Check

Nick Bruzon

Kit Obsessive : Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town are the visitors to Griffin Park on Saturday with Brentford looking to get their first points, and win, on the board for 2016/17. Whilst you’ll find the usual match previews kicking around elsewhere, in addition we’re taking a different approach this season. Following on from yesterday’s new, regular feature about our forthcoming visitors The Last Word on… it’s time for another new, regular feature. New, that is, to these pages.

Kit obsessive is back. Originally submitted to last season’s match day programme, a third season in the Championship means that with the exception of 6 new teams it is ground previously covered – at least for those who buy that publication. So whilst I gather that articles on the likes of Aston Villa, Barnsley et al will still appear in that format this time around, repeating the feature would not reveal anything new.

That said, for those who missed out on the programme then I have been asked by at least one Last Word reader  if it would be possible to re-run them this year. And by ‘at least one‘ I mean, ‘actually one‘. But why not?

As a self confessed kit-obsessive, I have what some would probably term an unhealthy fascination with team colours. Of course Brentford are at the forefront of this interest as the club has, over the years, made some pretty decent stabs at changing the red and white stripes around. However, with a few odd exceptions we follow a fairly similar template.

The same cannot always be said for our opponents, though. Using no more scientific criteria than personal taste, this feature sees us delving into the historical kit bag to select the best, the worst, a sublime away and an unfortunate design/retro classic worn by our opponents through the ages. So without further ado, here’s Kit Obsessive: Ipswich Town.

Since their inception for the start of the 1888 season Ipswich Town had, like the Bees, largely worn stripes – albeit blue and white. However, unlike the Bees they ditched these in 1936, switching to predominantly blue offset with white trim and (until the mid ‘60s) white sleeves.

But with over 125 years of history to choose from, which have made the hall of fame and which should be left to rot in the chamber of horrors?

The best: Umbro 1992-94. In my opinion, Ipswich have had some real stunners to chose from over the years. The Adidas designs from 1977 to 1989, synonymous with FA Cup triumph and the UEFA Cup victory, all reek of quality. That said, I’m genuinely in two minds about the red chest stripe that accompanied the 1985-86 effort.

An innovative break from tradition or a sickening abomination that shattered the otherwise unsullied blue with all the subtly of an oil tanker? The only people definitely smiling about it being the club sponsors, Radio Orwell – think Alan Partridge had he opted for Suffolk rather than East Anglia and neighbours, Norwich.

But my winner in this category comes from that phase in the early 90s when retro was the new cool. Specifically 1992-94. Clubs opted for big badges, old style shirts, pin stripes and even lace up collars.

Umbro were leaders in this trend and nowhere better than at Portman Road. Whilst Manchester United, Aston Villa and even Oldham Athletic made decent stabs at this look, none came close to Ipswich Town who married the perfect mix of blue, red trim and a return for the white sleeves with some old school chic.

Embed from Getty Images

 

The Worst: Punch 2005-07 .Ipswich Town have, to be fair, largely bypassed this category – certainly compared to some of our divisional rivals. However, even the Tractor Boys aren’t exempt when it comes to those that should probably be forgotten about.

Mitre’s effort from 2007-09 is a clumsy attempt at the vintage style carried off so effortlessly by Umbro. Looking somewhat generic, it’s less old school, more primary school whilst not even John Wark can save the Core 1995-96 away shirt – bottle green and burgundy – which puts one in mind of a poor man’s Portugal.

But the winner comes down to a choice between two and, as I’m saving one for the ‘unfortunate design’ category, it has to go to Punch 2005-07. This opts for blue with white, but the latter colour to an extent that looks as though a drunken groundsman has ‘gone rogue’ with the pitch markings when painting the touchline.

It has an expanding sash that starts on the shoulder and grows out, all the way to the waist. This is less subtle trim and more something that looks like a prototype costume for one of the Thunderbirds pilots.

Worse, the design continues onto the shorts where there is even an equivalent blue swoosh. Truly, one that should be consigned to the waste bin of history.

The away: Adidas 1986-89 Where to go with this, given Ipswich have had as many top quality away shirts as they have had home?

In the end though, it was a toss up on the mid to late 80s. Whilst the Radio Orwell Adidas effort may have split opinion when it came to the home effort, there’s no question the bold red stripe only enhances things against the white of the away kit.

But I’ve elected for the successor to that one, another Adidas production, as the most stylish Ipswich Town away kit. The winner is the Fisons sponsored 1986-89 (yes, teams wore the same shirt for more than one season back then).

Bedecked in the inverse club colours of all white, with blue trim, this also featured a subtle diagonal two-tone strip effect. Simple but stunning.

The unfortunate design: Core 1995-97 Just as the faux Thunderbirds sash was a close contender, the winner here could as easily been triumphant in the worst shirt category. And, again, we also need to take a sideways glance at the world of TV Sci-Fi.

You have to feel for Core. They actually produced a fairly decent set of kits for Brentford in the mid90s but, alas, at Portman Road things were somewhat different.

We’ve already mentioned their away version from 95-96 but the home from that (and the following) season is even worse. The top half starts decently enough with a traditional deep blue but as we make our way down the shirt, things take a turn for the peculiar.

The blue starts to merge into white, gradually replacing the primary colour until by the final third we are all white. It is a design gimic that even continues onto the arms.

At best it looks like the players have been caught in a snow drift; at worst, as though they have just given the order to “Beam me up, Scotty”, Star Trek style, and the transporter beam has taken hold.

Nick Bruzon