Paging Agent Devlin……

Well this is about as big as a ‘neutral’ game gets. With Brentford not playing Stoke City until Saturday lunchtime, Huddersfield Town have the opportunity to do both us and themselves a huge favour when West Bromwich Albion visit tonight. The maths are simple. The Baggies are one point ahead of third placed Bees with two games to go. Town are three points above the relegation zone. Anything but an ‘away’ win puts destiny in our hands after reeling in those above us over that hot streak of eight successive wins. It will also see Leeds United promoted after their own defeat of Barnsley last night. There’s only one team I’ll be cheering for this evening. And with all due respect to Romaine Sawyers…. 

Tuesday night was undeniably horrible. Had Fulham won at the Hawthorns, Brentford would have finally grasped the control we’ve fought so hard to snatch away from a team who have been in the top two pretty much all season. Whilst there was no specific support or cheering of The Cottagers, it was more a case of desperately hoping for home defeat. Preferably via an o.g. Instead, a 0-0 was the next best thing and means West Bromwich Albion have no margin for error this evening.

What a night it promises to be. Leeds United fans will, I am sure, for once be in agreement with us. If not in regards to the merits of Said Benrahma’s foul avoidance technique or their crying to the EFL about Thomas and his whiteboard, then certainly about intended results this evening. For 90 minutes we will be supporting the same team. Possibly.

And what a night it promises to be. Huddersfield Town. A team I’ve only ever loved. A club with a rich history and one we’ll be desperate to see stay up. Sir Patrick Stewart. Jodie Whittaker. Cricketer Ryan Sidebottom. Our Graham. Or is it Marco? Former Maxïmo Park keyboard player Lukas Wooller. They’ll no doubt all be cheering on their team in front of the TV.

How often can it be said we’ve shared a metaphorical couch with Doctor Who and Captain Picard? Fingers crossed that Town can ‘make it so’ tonight. Sorry. Sorry.

 

Maxïmo Park – quite magnificent live. And great taste in football from the keyboard section.

But wait, there’s more….

Reece Dinsdale. Harold Wilson. Our own much loved former chief executive Mark Devlin, now performing the role at the John Smith’s Stadium. Let’s hope he and his crack team have a special hashtag ready for full time.

Clearly, Mark still has a soft spot for the Bees – that can be the only reason he was back as recently as January for our own hammering of the Loftus Road outfit.

The list of recognisable supporters is a long one. Even Bobby Madley was reported to be a fan of The Terriers. Apparently he also supports Huddersfield Town. Sorry. Sorry.

Griffin Park, January 2020. And the goals flew in…

This is that all important crunch point. Where the only thing that matters is the result. West Brom won’t care if it’s a turgid 0-1. We’ll be cock-a-hoop for any combination of draw or home win. Entertainment is secondary. Stress levels will be through the roof.

Sitting through our own game with Preston on Wednesday was all kinds of angst – the final quarter hour especially. But at least we were the ones controlling maters. Now, our fate is in the hands of somebody else. This is THE game to sit through if for no other reason than surely we aren’t going to be getting any favours midweek when the Loftus Road mob travel to the Midlands.

The realist in me can’t see West Brom missing out on any more points. Sure they’ve dropped four more in the last two games alone but now they know what they have to do.

Sure, Leeds United are as good as up, meaning that all of a sudden there’s only one ‘automatic’ spot available but that won’t play on their minds. That won’t build the pressure.

Sure, with Wigan Athletic scoring goals for fun and having already surged 12 points clear of the bottom three (the amount of points they’ll be deducted on Wednesday night), their likely safety makes the Terriers even more reliant on getting something out of this one…

This is no way as cut and dried as the table suggests. Who could forget that final round of games in the 2014-15 season? Derby County somehow choking an unchokeable position, missing out on certain play-offs after hitting self-destruct at home to Reading. Likewise Ipswich Town at Blackburn as Brentford reclaimed our own top six spot at full time. Sometimes, the results do go our way. West Bromwich Albion have it all to do against a team fighting for their lives.

Mark Devlin, if you are reading (unlikely, let’s be honest) then here’s hoping Cliff has slipped you a half and half scarf. Certainly, I’ll be supporting two teams this evening with Brentford the ones who could really benefit from the right result. Let’s be honest, there’s nothing ‘neutral’ about any of this….

Here’s hoping the pressure isn’t too much

 

Nick Bruzon

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One out of three ain’t bad. Ian Holloway does it again as Huddersfield make it so (sorry).

That really is it. Football is over for the season. Congratulations to Huddersfield Town who made it up to the Premier League after beating Reading on penalties. For the Royals, a return to Griffin Park awaits as they endured a pain us Brentford fans know only too well – play off capitulation.

In truth, the first ten minutes aside, it was a dreadful game. Huddersfield came flying out of the blocks and looked like they were going for broke. Yet after missing two gilt edged chances from Izzy Brown and Michael Hefele it soon settled down into a game of cat and mouse. Cagier than a cage fight between Nicolas Cage and Xander Cage, it was two and half hours we’ll never get back.

But frankly, who cares? Whether you win on penalties or in a 4-3 goalfest, the net result is the same. Promotion for one side and tears for the other.

So football aside (and largely because there wasn’t any) what did we learn from yesterday’s game? Well, apparently Patrick Stewart was there. Yes, I know, you probably missed it too.

The Star Trek and X-men actor being to Huddersfield as Rhino from the Quo or Cameron Diaz (allegedly) are to Brentford. And once the cameras had picked him up, that was it. We saw as many shots of him as we did of Reading fans crying. Yes Sky, we get it – there’s Picard. Again. All we needed was a ‘make it so’ pun for a full house.

What a miss from Izzy Brown

We learned, once more, that penalties are a most wonderful thing for the neutral to watch. Yet for the players and fans the most painful of all ways to decide promotion. Unless you are on the winning side in which case seeing your fate revealed at the exact moment of that one, decisive kick must be the most incredible feeling ever. Again, something us Brentford fans can’t really relate to. Play-off success (8 doomed attempts so far) or promotion sealing penalty kicks being something that we don’t overly talk about.

But the real talking point to come out of it was that Ian Holloway is to making pre-season predictions as Donald Trump is to tact and diplomacy. We’ve already mentioned his efforts for Sky TV on these pages many times. Holloway, not Trump. Indeed, they form much of the thrust in the current 2016/17 Championship season review. That’s available now on e-book, with all proceeds going to the Community Sports Trust.

But a focus on Holloway is no surprise given his prediction of Brentford to finish 22nd, and the narrative:  “Brentford are regressing. Mark Warburton got them punching above their weight. They still haven’t replaced Andre Gray and Alan Judge will be missing for the start of the season. They could be in trouble”.

Well, that one was thrown royally back in his face. We did the double over QPR, including a 3-1 win over his side at Griffin Park, as the Bees finished 11 points and 8 places above the not so super hoops. Our own management had immediately poo-poo’d his prediction at the fan forum and how great to see the confidence rewarded.

But for Huddersfield Town, he predicted even worse. They came out at 23rd in his table and his own summary of their fate was: “I haven’t seen much progression from the club during the back end of last season. David Wagner is pretty inexperienced and if results turn, then they may struggle to turn things around”.

If 22nd to 10th was a mile out, then 23rd to the Premier League was  his failng to hit a barn door with banjo in a brewery. An incredible miss on the punditry front.

It was a point well made in the aftermath of Huddersfield triumph. Not by the fans but the manager, who offered “Ian Holloway , all the best for the next season” . And the team, chanting “There’s only one Ian Holloway” as they celebrated in the dressing room.

Hey, at least Ian got basement club Rotherham United right. One out of three ain’t bad, I suppose.

😂😂😂 Man just burned Ian Holloway on live TV #Legend pic.twitter.com/Ru8rYUQ2O2

— JMichael (@m1897) May 29, 2017

Congratulations David Wagner. Congratulations Huddersfield. Tough luck Reading. We’ll see you at Brentford next season.

And, as noted earlier, season 2016/17  is now available for download on e-book in the retrospective: Welcome Home, King Jota (Brentford FC season review 2016/17)

Priced at just £1.99, all sales are being donated to the Brentford FC Community Sports Trust.

Likewise any sales from the previous titles – Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup (2013/14), Tales from the football village (2014/15) and Ready. Steady. Go Again. (2015/16) – are also now going to the BFCCST.

Containing the least bad of the blogs from May 16 to May 17, you can pick it up, here. It’s all for a great cause and, hey, you may even enjoy it, Unless your name is Ian H…..

Nick Bruzon

With a jinx lurking, can Dean make it so when Huddersfield visit?

What an afternoon it promises to be at Griffin Park. Huddersfield Town are the visitors as Brentford look to make it 13 points out of the last 15 and increase upon a goalscoring record that has seen us nab 20 goals in the 8 games since Scott Hogan departed. With the Terriers hitting the back of the net 14 times over the same period, this could be one to keep the scorekeepers busy and little Italian restaurants (by Brentford lock) in the public eye. With Brighton joining Newcastle United at the top of the Championship table following last night’s 3-0 win over Derby, nothing but a win will do for our third placed visitors.

So what can we expect? Short of any midweek injuries after our fine win at Nottingham Forest, surely Dean Smith has no choice but to name the same starting XI. Jota continued to grab the headlines but the incredible run from Sergi Canos to set up the second was my highlight of the highlights whilst Lasse Vibe continues to flourish up top since the departure of Scott and got two more goals.

There will no doubt be expectation on the terraces for Jota to prove a point after missing out on the Championship player of the month to Aiden McGeady of Preston. The Spaniard’s five goals, two assists and bucketloads of exciting play being deemed secondary to three goals, four assists and keeping North End within optimistic distance of the play-off pack.

Personally, I can only imagine Jota’s motivation being enjoyment rather than revenge or point proving. Since his return from that loan period with Eibar, he more than lived up to his word in that emotional farewell letter. Not only has he returned but he has come back bigger and better than ever. He gives the impression of a man who plays for the sheer fun of it and boy do the fans lap up his enthusiasm.

With Sergi Canos doing the same on the other flank (thanks to Alex Neil for sanctioning that sale and just not playing Sergi before his own departure form Norwich yesterday) these remain exciting times at Brentford. “I think it is a fun team to watch” he said yesterday. Spot on, Sergi. Here’s to more of the same today.

As for Huddersfield Town, what can we expect? Well, if the Bees were disappointed about our lack of award for Jota, we’ve been handed a massive boost by Terriers’ boss David Wagner being named manager of the month for February.

David Wagner is the latest to face the ‘Manager of the month’ jinx

There can’t be a football fan the land over who isn’t aware of the supposed jinx/curse (call it what you will) that accompanies this award. Pick up the honour, lose your next game.

With Brighton adding to the pressure last night by moving 9 points clear of third placed Huddersfield, could the weight of this trophy further crank up the tension for the Terriers? Forget David. Once that award is presented Wagner of X-factor fame would have more chance of coaching a winning team than the recipient of the trophy.

Wagner – remember him?

And what of the other big name for Town? Well, if it was a case of Brentford saying #WelcomeGraham last week (Gooch, that is, in the Bees player commentary box), could there be more star names making the trek to Mark Burridge’s lofty perch today?

Sir Patrick Stewart is, of course, an avid fan of Huddersfield Town and not averse to visiting Griffin Park. Yet with promotional duties for the new Wolverine film, Logan, currently occupying his time in the States, it seems he’ll be missing this one out (unless, of course, he’s hot footing it across to Heathrow on the overnight red eye).

Instead, we’ll have to be content with shared tweet of the week (at least, it was until that BBC news video went viral) for those wanting a glimpse of the man best known as Captain Picard or Professor X.

As for the Bees, can we make it 4 wins out of 5? Here’s hoping Dean Smith can make it so.(I’ll get my coat)

At 3pm, we find out. See you at Griffin Park.

Sir Patrick Stewart – somewhat harsh from Shaz

Nick Bruzon