Hogan. Hero. (and what have Besotted spotted?)

Another game unbeaten and 10 points out of 12 for Brentford as Bristol City were held 1-1 at Griffin Park on Saturday. A close to capacity crowd witnessed the unadulterated joy of Scott Hogan’s injury time equaliser as the Bees were officially assured of another season in a Championship that will now include relegated Aston Villa. And with Cardiff City, for whom it is is surely a case of ‘win or bust’ as they try to narrow a five point gap to the play offs, visiting on Tuesday there promises to be no let up in the action.

The Bees had free scoring Nico Yennaris back in midfield, giving supporters their first chance to see how the team would cope without the mercurial talent of Alan Judge. I think he’d have loved this one as Brentford were given freedom to run at the visitors in a first half where we did everything but score. With the destination of Kitman Bob’s stunning ‘giveaway’ prize hanging in the balance, there was an extra level of frisson to every thrust.

Bob’s brilliant giveaway hung in the balance…

And so, not surprisingly, it was pantomime villain Lee Tomlin who ruined the script as he was allowed the freedom of Griffin Park to burst clear and fire home from the edge of the box just before half time.

The rotund striker certainly gave it large to the home fans as he celebrated the opener. Having been the victim of non-stop first half comments about his less than svelte figure, there was no surprise in his returning the taunts. Tomlin cupping his ear to the Ealing Road got the reaction one would expect.

The second half was a much more even affair. Tomlin was replaced by Peter Odemwingie for the visitors as Bristol City looked to double their lead. To be honest, most of us were just  surprised to see the striker on a West London football pitch rather than hanging around in his car outside a West London stadium.

Odemwingie in match kit (rather than in a car park) as Tomlin takes the weight off his feet

Being equally honest, Brentford were lucky not to go 2-0 down when David Button raced out of his box to clear against the onrushing Bobby Reid and came off, what we’ll politely describe as, second best. With an open goal begging , albeit on a tight angle, only a wonderful challenge from Yoann Barbet spared the Bees’ blushes despite desperate shouts for a penalty from the visiting fans.

Lasse Vibe, looking to make it 6 goals in 4 games, had the best chance for Brentford. Peter Gilham was already switching on his microphone as the great Dane headed towards goal, only for City ‘keeper Richard O’Donnell to pull off a wonderful point blank save and tip it over for a corner.

The best chance that is, until the 87th minute. With the proverbial kitchen sink being chucked at City, substitute Scott Hogan won a penalty after being bodychecked by Nathan Baker. 595 days after that horrific injury at Rotherham, here was a chance for the returning striker to open his account for Brentford. Taking responsibility for the spot kick, he hit it had and low but a little bit too close to the City goalkeeper. The opportunity gone, that was it. Surely?

No. There’s a little thing at Griffin Park called ‘Jota time’. Hogan only had to wait a few more minutes, leaping to head home Jake Bidwell’s flick on for the equaliser. It prompted delirium in the stands and a passionate announcement from our own ‘man with the mic’. PG even shunted goal sponsors Siracusa Italian restaurant down the pecking order as he celebrated like the rest of us.

Brentford ‘official’ mark the moment on Twitter

There was a time when it looked like Scott might never play again. There have been potentially demoralising set backs when it looked as though fitness was returning. Now, almost two years  later, he’d done it.

The club have stood by Scott and have now been rewarded. Here’s hoping this was the first of many to come. You could see what it meant to the players, his team mates and the supporters.

On day where posters appeared (a good spot, Beesotted) announcing “We’re the first to admit that this season hasn’t gone to plan”, it was wonderful to see something else unexpected – certainly at the start of the campaign  – happening.

Namely Scott reaching match fitness, starting to get a regular run of appearances and finishing with such confidence.

The video highlights have now been released and, of note, they also see the return to action of Mark Burridge in the BeesPlayer commentary box. the regular reader will be aware that our three match winning streak (after that dreadful run of defeats) coincided with his time off at the Atlanta Masters golf.

Far from being the jinx some had suggested he might be, what a wonderful moment for Mark to be back at the helm to see Scott get his first Bees’ goal. Welcome back Mr.Burridge.

Mark Burridge describes that big match action

As for those posters. We’ve all got eyes and have seen what is happening this time around. Nobody needs another list of the ‘lows’ whilst many supporters have found it hard after last season’s incredible story of Championship life for the Bees.

Whilst that opening comment would be akin to the captain of the Titanic saying  that her maiden voyage was blighted with a few teething issues, it was just nice to see the club engaging in a bit of honest comms. Any regular reader will know our constant decent into what Oliver Holt once called “anti-PR” has been a source of regular frustration over not just this season but last time, too.

We do loads of great stuff off the pitch (yesterday’s Fan Zone and Bob’s shirt comp being yet further examples). Comms are easy but they take guts sometimes. Fair play for recognising this.

“We’re looking forward to moving up the Championship table next year” continued the announcement.

Hear, hear.

Great spot from Beesotted

Nick Bruzon

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Brentford give us all something to think about

Back in January Oliver Holt, then chief sports writer for the Daily Mirror, was left somewhat perplexed by a Twitter ‘spat’ that saw him questioning whether Brentford practice “anti-PR ”. It all moved on rather swiftly – he’s now at the Mail on Sunday and, likewise, didn’t make any more of an issue out what was, ultimately, deemed “a strange volley of tweets”. However, the latest effort from The Mirror does make me wonder whether somebody else there has a longer memory.

The announcement of Flemming Pedersen as our new head of Football Philosophy and Player Development is certainly one that has me intrigued. Following hot on the heals of head coach Marinus Dijkhuizen and the co-directors of football in Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen, it is an appointment which further continues Matthew Benham’s bold vision of the future.

To read the rest of this article, season 2015/16 is now available to download onto Kindle (and other electronic reading device) in full, as :   Ready. Steady. Go Again. : Brentford FC season review 2015 – 2016

Thanks for reading and all your comments over the course of the season. For now, it’s the annual clean up to make more space on the site for the inevitable follow up. However, ‘close season’ will continue in full, further along.

But wait, like all the best infomercials, there’s more. The last three seasons of the Last Word : Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup; Tales from the football village and Ready. Steady. Go Again are also available in one combined volume as: 

Brentford Football Club – The Bees are going up. Season reviews: 2013/14, 2014/15 & 2015/16 

We did. And we still are ! 

Flemming has already got people intrigued

 

Richard Lee gives exclusive update on his move as Twitter goes ‘to war’

Was it Juniors Bees work experience time on the club twitter account yesterday?

As the news of Richard Lee’s move from Brentford to Fulham sunk in (and you can read his exclusive thoughts on this subject, which he gave last night, further on in this column), the club did it’s very best to make (trophy)friends and influence people.

The irony of joking only yesterday about a media team related ‘faux pas’ was not lost after multiple news sources picked up on our tête-à-tête in cyberspace with Fulham.

I have wondered previously who drives the club twitter account after the cringeworthy #trophyfriends and #Novemberkings (amongst others). Every effort we make to be taken seriously on the pitch is undermined by this sort of childish update off it. The only positive being that, whilst these were something I’d have expected Buzzette to come out with, at least they were nothing more than harmless embarrassment and certainly no malice involved.

But then there was Holt-gate. January 2015 saw Chief sports writer of the Daily Mirror, Oliver Holt, left somewhat frustrated by the response to his article on Stephen Hunt. It led him to publically question, amongst other things, “Is it a new kind of anti-PR that you’re pioneering at Brentford?” following (since deleted) feedback he would later describe as “a strange volley of tweets”.

But now we’ve gone(again?) and bettered this after taking a pop at Fulham, the club that we chose to loan Richard to. In what could be described as, at best a factual dig and at worst a direct taunt, the club Twitter account ran the headline..

Bees fire first shot

Don’t get me wrong, as a supporter I think it’s hilarious to see them struggling and I take a lot of pleasure from their predicament.The Loftus Road mob, too. But the difference is that I’m a supporter, not a professional football club.

To have a dig at a fellow team, when we are constantly preaching about respect on the pitch, seems a tad hypocritical. If for no other reason that these things have a habit of coming back to haunt you .

Still, whilst their one word response of “Bless” was as patronising as we had been at least that was an end to it. Five minutes of ‘fun’ that would pass by and that would be that.

Except it wasn’t – we only went and published another response. And to make it worse, a meme…..

Memes – bad enough at the best of times

Toes are curling now as I think about this. Any moral high ground had instantly been undone but, worse, turned the eyes of the media towards Brentford with a series of unflattering headlines.

“Brentford mock Championship strugglers Fulham”, said the London Evening Standard.

The Daily Mirror had a simple: “Brentford and Fulham go to war on Twitter”

The Daily Mail and even Get West London both ran stories referring to: “Brentford involved/embroiled in Twitter spat”.

There’s a common trend to the stories still dominating our news feed today

At a time when the club are pushing for the Premiership and need all the friends we can get (given our publicised ground issues should we make it), do we really want this to be the public perception of Brentford FC?

Perhaps I’m just overreacting but we’ve seen this sort of thing time and again. How hard can it be to keep things professional and ‘grown up’ on our social media?

At the least, if we are going to try and show a sense of humour then let’s do it without resorting to making fun of another club. A club who, don’t forget, will be keeping one of our players ‘match fit’ and whom we may need to call upon at the end of season should we make the play offs.

Even if that other club is Fulham.

Which brings us nicely on to the story that started all of this, Richard Lee’s loan move to The Cottage. Not surprisingly, this has generated all manner of reaction amongst supporters – some parts positive, others not so.

Football is an emotive subject at the best of times, let alone when you add in a club hero moving to our local rivals where, in all likelihood, he will see out his career. Whilst I may not agree with all that has been said, the real shame is that Richard’s great performances in five years at Griffin Park seem to have been overlooked amidst the noise.

People are, naturally, curious as to what has driven his decision to make this move and a lot of questions have been asked. I caught up with Richard last night where he was kind enough to provide this update for supporters as to what had prompted this:

Richard Lee speaks

Hello all,

A mixtures of messages over the past 24 hours which I was well aware would happen so rather than answer individual questions / criticism i’ll give you my thoughts as to why I’m making the loan move.

I didn’t make the decision to move lightly.‎ I’ve been a pro for 14 years and I am sad that it’s drawing to a close. I’m excited for the next chapter but I’m aware that once it’s over, it’s over.

Unexpectedly I’ve been offered one last challenge that excites me and I’ve decided to take it.

As much as I’m enjoying the day to day activity of training and winning the odd development game I play in at Brentford it doesn’t really give me a huge buzz. I’m doing all I can as a third choice ‘keeper but I don’t feel hugely part of what has been an incredible season and now I feel I have an opportunity to be more involved and make a difference somewhere. ‎I’m grateful to Fulham for offering me that chance.

If certain people are going to ‘disown’ me and disregard my achievements to date then I’m sorry you feel that way about me. I’ve always given everything to Brentford and will continue to watch our games for years to come – If I get turned away at the door then i’ll just have to live with that.

I’ve been heartened by the positive messages from friends, fellow pros and those who know me.

I’ve got just over a month left that will hopefully offer up some excitement and a nice challenge. I’ll then return ready if needed, as sharp as possible for the play offs if that is to be our destiny.

I do this with no spite towards Brentford FC – ‎I’m doing this for me.

Rich x

No Chiles and no smiles but what awaits the Bees?

Brentford travel to Carrow Road today for a Championship encounter in a weekend that is already threatening to spill over into fever pitch levels of excitement. After the tepid pain of the third round, things got off to a bang last night as Louis van Gaal and his Manchester United side were held to a 0-0 draw by League 2 Cambridge United in the FA cup.

It was a stunning achievement and whilst (cliché alert) I can console myself that, at the least, we are free to concentrate on the league part of me was massively jealous that we are next up against Norwich City in the Championship rather than Arsenal in the Cup.

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.

Adrian Chiles and team fall victim to a rogue sprinkler

Is this a sign of the impending apocalypse?

Whilst this column is, primarily, about Brentford (and there’ll be more about the Norwich City game over the weekend) we aren’t afraid to look at other ‘issues’ in the world of football. And with Aston Villa due to entertain our Championship rivals Bournemouth in the FA Cup on Sunday, they don’t come much bigger than what could play out at Villa Park.

The regular reader will know of my interest in football jinxes.

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.

The apocalypse approaches… possibly

A night of surprise (and horror) as an exciting weekend awaits

And just when the top of the Championship table couldn’t get any tighter, it did after Brighton and Hove Albion beat Ipswich Town 3-2 at the Amex last night. Brighton who, despite our victory, ran Brentford close on Saturday did the Bees a massive favour. It is one that means another win at the weekend, when we visit Norwich City, will take us to within a point of the second and third placed teams.

To be quite honest, I’d forgotten all about that game as a night of channel surfing in our house (briefly) saw the horror of Mrs. Brown’s Boys winning ‘Best Comedy’ at the National Television Awards before I was able to switch to the football.

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.

Bees dunk Brighton as the albatross becomes a canary

Three fortunate points or well deserved? That was the question after full time at the Amex where Brentford recorded another league win, this time against Brighton and Hove Albion. With the majority of the teams around us, including a shock for Norwich City (given their ‘guest of honour’ – more later), also triumphing it keeps things very much ’as you were’ at the top of the Championship table.

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.

The Albion mascots – I feel like I’ve cheated on Buzzette

View from the terrace (erm, padded seat) – And Toral must score…

Clem was looking over his shoulder at the drop zone before kick off at Carrow Road

No trains. No Clem. No Judge? Bring it on!

Brentford travel to Brighton and Hove Albion today for one of the most hotly anticipated games of the season. When the Championship fixtures were released last year, this was one of first dates many of us looked for. A day out at the seaside in the sunshine and a short hop down to the South Coast were the fringe benefits to look forward to from this trip. Not to mention a new stadium with Brighton’s impressive looking Amex.

Instead, as popular music’s Meatloaf almost sang, one out of three ain’t bad.

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.

Manish confirms Brentford’s job has become that bit harder

This is Saunders territory. And an apology to Doctor Who

I need to begin today’s column with an apology following yesterday’s piece on the contretemps between Daily Mirror chief sport’s writer Oliver Holt and one Brentford fanatic (something the Mirror man was very sporting about later). Specifically to West Bromwich Albion, Gerry Francis and fans of BBC sci-fi. The article included a picture of the newest addition to the Baggies’ coaching staff, comparing him to ‘late 60’s Doctor Who’.

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.

Time to look in the mirror ?

So in the end, despite the other rumours flying around which we mentioned yesterday, it was midfielder Josh Laurent who joined Brentford, signing for the Bees on an 18 month development squad contract from QPR for the usual ‘undisclosed fee’. Josh, whose thoughts on signing can be heard on Beesplayer, adds even more competition to our midfield and certainly gives further evidence of the club’s desire to build for the future.

The other Bees update to catch my eye was not as clearly publicised.

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.