New Brentford ‘keeper sees red as Tuesday just got better

No sooner have Birmingham City left Griffin Park than Brentford are preparing for the next home game – a Capital One Cup tie with Felix ‘nil points’ Magath’s Fulham team on Tuesday. Whilst, no doubt, there’ll be further build up to the Fulham game in the next column, for now here’s a chance to catch up on those other things that there simply wasn’t enough space to write about following the draw with Birmingham (along with an 11th hour bonus).

My feelings on referee Robert Madley have been well documented in the past and, disappointingly, these were proven to be spot on as this fusion of Stroud, Biggar and Attwell once again showed all the decision-making ability of a tombola.

View from the terrace – David tells Madley to button it, as Tony troops off

The one positive for me is that at least I wasn’t alone in this opinion. Any thoughts of “Could it have just been me?” were dispelled with a read of Greville Waterman’s BFCtalk column on the subject. A very therapeutic piece for those of you seeing red about the card happy man in black.

Still, at least Robert wasn’t alone in having a stinker on Saturday. The BBC didn’t even have the excuse of having had to make a snap decision. I’m not sure which match their correspondent was watching but on returning home I read their website with amusement. Specifically the part of the match report that described how goalkeeper Tony Craig had been sent off – although at least substitute ‘keeper David Button had made some smart saves.

Not even West London’s leading journo called this transfer swoop (the BBC have, since, corrected)

I wrote on Saturday about Natalie Sawyer and Hayley McQueen’s ALS ice bucket challenge. Later that day footage emerged of Matthew Benham completing his own, following a nomination from the Slough Town bound Alan Judge.

 

I’ve also had to rise to the challenge, following nomination from Luis Adriano. You can catch the wobbly action, some of the worst shorts Brentford have ever worn and the next set of nominees (and do feel free to encourage them along) here. Warning:it does involve some slipped pecs and paunch.

Sunday afternoon saw a thumping 4-0 win for Tottenham against the Loftus Road mob. A four goal defeat mirrors that suffered by Fulham the day before and gives a wonderful sense of symmetery to the bottom of the Premiership and Championship tables.

The BBC have, at least, got the tables right. Enjoy

Interestingly, Monday morning sees the Daily Telegraph reporting that Fulham boss Magath only has one game left in which to hang on to his job. You can read their story, here and then think on about the significance of what that next game is….

As one correspondent put it, “Tuesday just gets better“.

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A challenge to Beesotted, BFCtalk and the Brentford media team

On Saturday, rather than the traditional pre-match tub-thumping, the Last Word took things seriously (well, as serious as it gets) to talk about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Specifically, the one that had been performed by Brentford fan Natalie Sawyer (with her fellow Sky Sports presenter Hayley McQueen).

Not only has Matthew Benham since risen to the challenge laid down by Alan Judge but yours truly has also been on the receiving end of that icy gauntlet. Luis Adriano, fellow blogger and author (you’ll find his excellent work, Penalties, on Kindle) was the man delivering that clarion call to a charitable soaking.

I have, duly, accepted. And instantly realised three things.

1 – That a trip to the gym may be in order. Truly, the pecs have slipped.

2 – That whoever designed the Chad brand vinyl effect shorts of Brentford’s 91/92 promotion season didn’t know much about fashion. Or comfort.

3- Most importantly, that however silly you feel or look participating in this act of outdoor showering, the cause remains a noble one

Oh, there is a fourth thing. As this new found tradition dictates, I can also nominate. And so, in turn, I follow Luis Adriano’s literary line of thinking and challenge.

Billy the Bee – the face of Beesotted (please note: Beesotted has other faces)

Greville Waterman – fellow blogger and responsible for the excellent BFCTalk

Mark Chapman and Chris Wickham from the Brentford FC media team. You’ve read their match reports and programmes – who wouldn’t want to see the video?

So here it is. My lardy effort. Billy, Greville, Chappers and Chris – I’d love if you could accept. Given the amount of other Brentford related faces to have participated so far, think what a great spread it might make in the next programme.

More importantly, it’s for a great cause.

 

 

Billy, Luis & Greville point the way to the future as video gets nasty

Are you travelling to Blackpool tonight? Hats off to all those Brentford fans who can make what is a round trip of just about 500 miles on a school night. Moreso, just a few days after our last away game – the narrow reverse at Bournemouth.

Sadly, for yours truly, a second trip to the seaside was just one cheeky request too far that I didn’t even try and put past ‘the boss’. Away games are becoming a pleasure I slowly reacquaint myself with after my becoming a father meant a trip beyond TW8 last season was as rare as a Will Grigg goal celebration.

That said there were, and still are, plenty of ways to stay in touch with what Brentford were doing – whether before, during or after the game. And I don’t so much mean the ‘official’ club news or those deconstructed / recycled interview stories and double transfer swoop rumours that seem to account for 80% of what we could read in the local press.

Those other sources still exist and have, by and large, only got stronger. The Beesotted team clearly lead the way. Their website is regularly updated with news, reports and articles by a number of contributors whilst ‘Billy The Bee’ is a staple feature at Brentford games, conducting interviews with fans for the following day’s report.

But that’s just the start. There’s this site of course (for those of you who like your Brentford commentary a bit leftfield) whilst Greville Waterman has launched his ‘BFCtalk’ blog this season.

Greville’s really is a labour of love that touches on both the present as well as delving into the past in a series of features that, like this one, appear to have taken on a life of their own as daily updates are now the norm.

There’s even an Italian blog for those that like the continental opinion. I’m just waiting for the Spanish equivalent to now start.

Then, of course, we’ve those old favourites in the GPG or, for those who like things a bit less feisty, the Beesotted ‘Vital Football’ page.

That’s before we even get to e-books. As our reader is probably well aware, last season’s heroics have been turned into ‘Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup’ whilst Luis Adriano takes full credit for his excellent work, ‘Penalties’.

Just two of the e-books out there, right now

The very convoluted point I am trying to make in all of this is that these days there is no need to rely on those traditional sources of news – the club or the local rag. Tonight, for example, I’m going to be using radio, Sky Sports news and the multiple Twitter streams for updates.

So it was with great amusement that I read recently that the Premiership are threatening to prosecute fans for sharing goal action via social media. How they’ll police this I have no idea. Even Getty Images have given up trying to do this and now make their work available for free to bloggers.

More to the point, are they that scared of a few shaky videoclips / screengrabs that would make ‘Fancam’ look like an Oscar winner? Putting aside the licensing or greed arguments that both sides have already come out with, I’m simply approaching this from a view of ‘embracing change’.

Like it or not,social media is here to stay and people use it. I’ll still turn to legitimate sources to review the action even had I already seen a goal via ‘knock off footage’.

For me this was evident during the World Cup where ‘Vines’ kept me bang up to date on all those goals I’d missed whilst ‘coming in from work’, which I then watched in full when I finally reached the sofa.

As is evident with the written word (where, for example, Bournemouth use four or five volunteers to help make their stunning programme) there are a lot of fans out there who love the beautiful game and will do anything they can to promote it.

So, instead of going after Joe Public for sticking a clip of the TV on YouTube, it would be great if the football authorities could try something similar and work with fans.

I’m sure cash and contracts will ensure this never happens but, at the least, why not salvage their image a little bit and give off the impression of a collective who are now in the 21^st Century rather than sitting, suited and booted, in some smoke filled backroom with their hands in a velvet ball bag.

The Bournemouth programme – more volunteers than covers