The season that keeps on giving – from Lineker to Lebouef (via Old Trafford)

With no League One action or Brentford news yesterday (beyond more idle speculation not worth dignifying with a comment) I was left to watch the Capital One Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Sunderland.

The result was a fantastic one for Sunderland – albeit after one of the worst penalty shootouts in recorded history. Three misses and only three on target, out of ten taken, is woeful from two Premiership teams. But then so is the decline of Manchester United. Watching them trying to break down the Black Cats reminded me of a weak kitten trying, and failing, to bust its way out of a damp paper bag.

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.

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Farewell Farid. Hello Alan. Plus something very special from the sticker book.

I wrote yesterday about the brief moment I thought Brentford had signed X-factor judge Louis Walsh. Of course, we hadn’t, but just hours later we then went and secured a real ‘Judge’  – midfielder Alan – on loan from Blackburn Rovers.

Nominated as the 2012/13 League One player of the season, his record speaks for itself and is anything but criminal. That said, given yesterday’s similar story about Sam Saunders being put forward for December’s monthly award (and rightly so), I imagine that at first the Blackburn man will have to be content on the bench.

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.