Thursday 24 May 2012

Bees Lose Another Defender

Me and Marcel Eger
So, once again in the close season we seem to find ourselves without yet another centre back. After losing Karleigh Osbourne on a free (such a shame) it seems that Marcel Eger has also decided to leave TW8. I thought that after signing Harlee Dean that Marcel would be an ideal partner for him, but it seems not. I'd like to be the first to wish Marcel Eger the very best in his future career - a lovely bloke whose Brentford career ended far too early.

On a much brighter note, we have signed two stunning young players with a future brighter than the sun. Who are they? None other than Harlee Dean and Adam Forshaw, from Southampton and Everton respectively. Hopefully these great new signings can push Brentford forward to the top of the league next season!

Monday 21 May 2012

Ten Easy Steps To Winning the Euros



With the domestic football season coming to a dramatic close in most European countries (such as Moneybags City looking set to win their first title and the Juve-mafia taking the Italian crown) there’s normally not much to look forward to over the summer. Maybe the odd friendly cup tournament, but that’s about it.  Thankfully, every two years there is an international tournament. The World Cup or The European Championships. This year, we luckily have the Euros, being held in the wonderful countries of the Ukraine and Poland. Of course, this is a joyous time for us fans, as it continues the football season far into our summer holidays. On the other hand, share a thought for those poor people in the world, who at this time of year are stressed, anxious and are as near to a mental breakdown as Charlie Sheen is everyday of his life. That’s right, I’m talking about the managers. Roy Hodgson, Giovanni Trapattoni, Joachim Löw etc.  Each one of these men has been charged by their country to win the Euros. But just how do they do that? Well, don’t despair managers of Europe, I have come up with 10 fool -proof ways to ensure Euro 2012 victory.

10. Plan Well in Advance

This may sound like common sense, but believe it or not many managers and football associations overlook this. The planning for the Euros doesn’t start as the season ends. Oh no. It starts the minute the team qualifies, back in October. Don’t be a fool and wait until you are on the plane to the Ukraine when you decide what formations you’re going to play or who’s going to play where. Lets’ face it; you probably aren’t as gifted or as talented as “the special one”, so this approach most definitely wont work. The planning doesn’t just fall down to the managers; their football associations have to do their fair share of the work too. Basically, what I’m trying to get at here is if you decide on your manager a couple of months before the Euros, things most probably wont go too well for you. Look at the likes of Germany and Spain, whose manager’s have been in place for what seems like 4534 years. Perfection takes time, so the planning is vitally important. If you’re still not convinced about planning well in advance, just look at Capello’s team selection the day of the World Cup matches in 2010. I’m sure you don’t want that kind of problems whilst you’re trying to win the Euros, so plan, plan plan! 

9. Total Football

Total football is a simple yet effective way of dominating the opposition whilst still retaining your shape and discipline. It’s important not to get total football confused with the Barcelona style of “tiki-taka” – total football means that every player can play in every position with the exception of the goalkeeper. Although, if you are manager of England, keep in mind Joe Hart’s last gasp header against Sporting Lisbon in the Europa League, it could come in handy in some games. Back to total football, and I hear you may be asking why this would win you the Euros. It requires enormous technical ability from each player, so having dead wood in your team is a no-no. Also, you may find that you have a hidden gem on your team, who may be far more comfortable playing in midfield than attack, or vise-versa. You never know, your 3rd choice goalkeeper may become the top goal-scorer at this year’s Euros as a result of total football. Obviously, as a result of the immense technical demand on your players as a result of total football, you may need to start at this year’s Euros and continue it on until the next one for it to become effective. Once again, it may take time, but just take a look at that nerdy girl that used to sit next to you in History. Back then she was an ugly, acne-infested nerd, and now she’s a supermodel. Good things do take time. 

8. Leave the WAGs at Home

A major problem for most guys is the distraction that females cause. It’s not their fault, how can you help yourself from being distracted when your wife is a 4-time winner of Miss. World? However, when it comes to a major footballing tournament such as the Euros, the WAGs have to stay at home. You really don’t want a fiasco like the 2006 World Cup with England, where the poor performance was blamed on the WAGs. It really isn’t worth the hassle. Sure the player’s may miss them. The media will most definitely miss them. You may even miss not having them to look at, but at the end of the day Mr. Manager, you are there to win the Euros, not look at supermodels. What does the term ‘WAGs” actually stand for? Well, cultural analysts from Uzbekistan suggest that it stands for “Wives Against Goals”, purely because if your star striker spots his supermodel girlfriend in the stand, he most definitely wont be aiming at the goal. 

7. Get the Country Behind You

The mood in your country before a major tournament is one of the most important things to sort out before you get on the plane. Your country needs to be excited, optimistic and 110% behind your boys for you to have any chance of doing well at the Euros. How are you going to do this? Well, getting on the good side of the media is probably the most vital thing you can do. The media controls public opinion. If the media says Britney Spears is a coke addict, then she’s a coke addict. If the media say that Ched Evans should never play football again, then he should never play football again. If the media say that you are the greatest thing since slice bread, then the public will think that. Also, the amount of fans you have out there following you will greatly affect the morale of your team. If you are manager of, let’s say Ireland, and your players walk out into a sea of green in their first game, their morale will be sky high, and they may go out there and demolish whoever it is they are playing.  Just make sure that’s in a footballing sense, we don’t want any nasty incidents occurring.

6. Do a “Suarez”

Before we go any further, no, do not be racist. What I mean, rather, is make your players so patriotic that they will do anything to win. You need to ensure that your players will put their bodies on the line in order for you to win, they need to take the ball in the head, neck or chest. Of course the Suarez incident in the 2010 World Cup can be seen as cheating, but he is a hero in his country as a result of it. Wouldn’t you like you or your players to be remembered in folklore for the next millennia? The players in your squad have to be so patriotic that they will kiss that badge before they go to bed every night, otherwise they wont be able to sleep.  Players like Saurez win tournaments, not just for their footballing skills, but also for their risk taking and their will to do anything to win.

5. Don’t do a “Zidane”

Moving on from being a living legend, we get to a “what not to do” at the Euros. Let’s state the obvious. Don’t get sent off. Don’t get banned for the final. What else? Oh, that’s right, don’t head-butt the opposition in the most important game your country has ever been involved in.  This would be possibly the most stupid and foolish thing anyone has ever done, apart from Ashley Cole cheating on Cheryl. Now that was crazy. But back to the point, getting sent off in the European Championship finals would put your country in the worst possible position, 11 vs 10. In a game where one goal is easily enough to win, you need all eleven men on the pitch in order to achieve your ultimate goal, which isn’t head-butting your opposite number amazingly enough. By all means, be the football side of Zidane, but for god’s sakes don’t viciously assault the man that’s marking you! 



4. Have a Delicate Mix Between Youth and Experience

Someone once said “You don’t win anything with youngsters”, and although not ultimately true you do need some experience mixed in with youngsters. Just like when you are making a cake, you need to mix the ingredients thoroughly. Now I may sound a bit like Gordon Ramsey, but my point is simple. The experienced players, the ones who have been there before, will know how to handle themselves at a major tournament. For the youngsters, this may be their first ever major tournament, and for some of them it may be their first ever time away from their mothers and fathers, and so they will need a father figure there to guide them. Just make sure they’re all CRB checked, just to be on the safe side. On the football pitch, this mix will pay off, as you will have the flair of the youngsters as well as the cool-heads of the experienced players. Hopefully, this will result in none of the younger players busting into tears when they miss from 0.34 millimeters out, because let’s face it, its bound to happen at some point. 

3. Don’t Concede

Easily said, not so easy to do. This may seem obvious to most people, but it was always going to figure highly on the list. If you don’t concede, you don’t lose. Simples, hey? A well drilled defence and an acrobatic goalkeeper who can spring like a kangaroo will most defiantly help the cause, but everyone needs to chip in. Think about a house: if the foundations aren’t correct, it will fall down. If the walls aren’t made properly, it will fall down. If the roof is top-heavy, it will fall down. The same can be said for your football team. Defence, midfield and attack all need to defend like the Brits defended Britain in World War Two in order for you to win a tournament. Especially tournaments like the Euros, where some of the most formidable attacks in the world are situated. 

2. Score

If you had half a brain cell, you could probably see this one coming. Not conceding is only half the battle, you need your team to get up the other end and bang some in. Goals can come from anywhere; a corner, a free kick or even a goal kick, so if you have selected the right players then you should find this part easy. If, however, you have selected someone like Emile Heskey, then you’ve pretty much had it on the goal-scoring front. You need to score like you’re back in high school and you are at the prom with the girl of your dreams. Scoring, in my opinion, is the most important thing you can do at Euro 2012. Apart from the crazy goal celebrations, but I’ll leave that up to the discretion of your players. 

1.  Be Spain

Finally, we have reached number one of my ’10 Easy Steps to Winning the Euros” and to be honest there is one sure way to win the European Championships. Simply be Spain: the reigning champions. Easier said than done maybe, but at the end of the day Spain have got to be the favourites for the tournament, and if any one of you want to win the Euros easily, then being Spain has got to be top of the list. Their passing style of football will pass the death out of any team it comes up against, meaning that they wont concede because they will have 99.99% possession. Also, they have the firepower up front to score bags of goals, with players like Llorente and Torres. The country is always well behind the football team, and the players put club differences behind them when they play for Spain. They most definitely have a mix between youth and experience, and have been there and done it before. Being Spain is definitely the most easiest and simple way of winning the Euros. 

So there we are. Your easy guide to winning the Euros is complete, and now as I’m sure Mr. Hodgson will be reading this he will get to work implementing my ideas into the England set-up for the upcoming Euros. I wouldn’t be surprised if the team had to learn Spanish in a vain attempt at implementing my number one step. At the end of the day, it will be interesting to see who does come out on top at this summer’s Euros. I just hope they give credit where credit is due and state this guide as the obvious reason for their triumph.


Tuesday 15 May 2012

Back on the Blog!

Just a quick message to say after a long absence from my blog, I am back! Which, rather ironically, coincides with the end of the season, so there may not be too much Brentford related stuff to blog about. However, seeing as it is 2012, there will be both the Olympics and the European Championships to write about (the latter I may even get to witness, if I somehow win the competition, which you can help me with!) But, nevertheless, a good summer of football awaits you and I, and I hope it doesn't fail to disappoint us!

I am hoping to blog more regularly on this now that the school year is coming to an end and because I wont have anything to do until the end of September! Apart from laying on a beach in Turkey... and getting burnt to a crisp. But thats for another time, for now, enjoy the previous entries!

Ryan

The FA (Fools Anonymous): The Unelected Dictatorship


The problem with an unelected governing body (or dictatorship if I am being politically correct), however large or small, is that it always seems to be run by clowns that would have more use asking the simple question “would you like fries with that?” than making rules over something that people hold very dear to them. Remarkably, I’m not talking about Cameron and his band of merry men, or Ahmadinejad and his nuclear-obsessed friends, but the FA. The FA, or Fools Anonymous as it is better known, seems to want to make English football the laughing stock of the world, and the decisions it has taken this year proves that.

“What decisions may these be?” I hear you asking. Well, lets cast our mind back to the start of this topsy-turvy season.

We now find ourselves back at Loftus Road, home of Queen’s Park Rangers, which is playing host to the QPR vs. Chelsea game. Of course, everyone knows what happened on this day; the Red Lion regular John Terry racially abused Anton Ferdinand in front of the Sky cameras for all to see. But yet, the FA decided to deal with it in July, rather than at the moment. Who on Earth decided that this was a good idea? The only sane reason I can see for this would be if the FA got their favourite chimp from London Zoo to flip a double-sided coin on the matter. In this case, the trial got postponed until July. In Luis Suarez’ case, he gets a six match ban almost immediately. How does that work out? From what I can see, both cases are to do with racism, so both should be dealt in the same way, severely. No matter who you are, or who you think you may be, racism has no place in the modern game. Suarez, Terry and Sepp Blatter should all be tied up, possibly as piñatas at children’s birthday parties, and the children should be allowed to continuously hit them with a stick. I think that’s a quite minor punishment for something as serious as racism, but it’s a start. 

I now move onto the recent events of the FA unveiling Mr. Roy Hodgson as England manager. Firstly, huge congratulations must go to Hodgson on landing the job, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. I am a big fan of Hodgson, so I don’t think the FA made a mockery of the English game by appointing him. Far from it in fact. I do, however, believe the FA made a farce over how they went about finding an England manager. Let me ask you this, if you were a manager of a large company and you wanted to find your next employee, would you only interview one candidate? Does Lord Sugar only interview one candidate on the Apprentice? In the famous words of Margaret Thatcher, “No, no, no!” McDonalds doesn’t interview one person, not for the position of “bread slicer”, not for the position of “chip maker”, and not even for the position of “cleaner”.  So why should the FA?

It seems that English football is quickly becoming the laughing stock of the world, with racism not being dealt with, the FA being more concerned about money than performance and a team that only-had-three-shots-on-target-and-defended-for-175mins beating the best team in the world. But how do we solve it? Well, by George I think I got it.

The solution is simple, why not copy Parliament and elect the FA, and hold referendums on major issues within England, like the appointment of an England manager?

Before you start calling this a monstrosity and the most stupid idea since allowing Ray Wilkins to commentate on matches, have a think about it. We vote for a government who represents our best interests in Parliament. If we aren’t happy with what they are doing, we simply vote them out in a General Election. Everyone gets a vote, so everyone gets a say in how the country is run. Every constituency is represented by an MP who sits in Parliament, so that MP gets a say on how the country is run, who has in turn been told by his or hers constituency on how they want the country run. Now think about how this could be implemented into football. 

Every county has an FA. Middlesex has an FA, London has an FA, even Cumbria has an FA. How many of you actually know who the head of your local FA is? Why not use these as ‘constituencies’ and vote for a member of the local FA, just like we do in a by-election. Surely people would be happier with someone sitting as head of their local FA if they have voted them in? As a result of this, the candidates would have to go on the election trail, telling us what they would do if elected. Wouldn’t this mean that we were guaranteed to get improvements within our local areas, because if we didn’t we would simply vote them out and get a different candidate in. They would have to deliver. 

After all the county FA’s have elected members, then a carbon copy of Parliament could be set up at Wembley, where all the local FA’s come together to work in the best interests of the country. Not only would this give everyone a say, but it would make the system a whole load more democratic. At the moment, I feel the FA is more like Syria than Britain. Why should his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge be President of the FA? What does he know about the best interests of the common man’s game? Votes on the date of the FA Cup final, votes on whether England should apply to host the World Cup, votes on whether Celtic and Rangers should join the Football League. I still find it hard to believe why there are chief executives of major football clubs, such as Manchester United sitting on the board of directors at the FA. Wouldn’t this mean that they would favour things that would help them, rather than the game as a whole? The general opinion of the country would show through with democracy, rather than the opinion of a couple of highly paid men who think they can make a laughing stock of English football.  

This whole system would make the FA answerable to the people. I know a lot of people have issues and questions over the England manager affair, and I know that the FA does not wish to answer them. If we had an elected FA, then they would have to. It could mean that even normal people like you or I would be able to run for the local FA, and then maybe even work our way up. Local people like you and I who love football, and would make football the best it could possibly be.

I know that FIFA have a similar sort of system, but the heads of the national FA’s are the only ones who vote for the President. That is not democracy. Surely each individual country should vote for who they wish to be President, and then all the national FA’s put that person’s name forward for President, and then the results are tallied up. Also, I’m pretty certain that more than one person would like to be FIFA President, so I can see no logical reason why only Sepp Blatter has been running for it. It’s a joke if I’m honest. Sepp Blatter is the most corrupt, inept and idiotic man to have ever been involved in football. If democracy were to be incorporated into football, a man like this would never have a say in it.

Of course, there may be some problems with this system. For example, how would every football fan in England be able to register to vote? Well, once again it can take the same form as the electoral role. Obviously not everyone in England is a football fan, so it’d be up to the individual to register with their local FA, which could easily been done by using their websites. Using the FA’s FAN numbering system could even do this: a simple login that would then allow the individual to vote online. Sepp Blatter will most definitely be against this, seeing as it incorporates technology into football. But sod him. Technology is the way forward, and this would make football a whole lot better.  Wouldn’t is be nice if he fell of a ‘step-ladder’ trying to install goal line technology? How ironic would that be?

Another problem may be the length of time it would take the FA Parliament to make a decision on issues. But it can be said that there is plenty of time for decisions to be passed through, for example the England manager only has so many games a year, so the time length taken to appoint one wouldn’t have to be rushed at all. On other issues, such as the FA Cup final date, the decision could be taken at the start of the season, well before the FA Cup was due to take place. I don’t see time being an issue. As a famous television advert once said, “Good things take time”. 

Maybe this idea will be as revolutionary as the Arab Spring last year. Maybe people will look at the idea as fondly as they looked at the topple of Fascism and Communism. Or maybe the FA will simply ignore it, as they have ignored many good ideas before. The FA: Fool’s Anonymous. More than likely, I’m sure they’d like to remain anonymous. That way when things go wrong, the individual can stay out of the spotlight. It’s a shame that, everyone knows democracy works best. Unless you are David Bernstein, who obviously thinks dictatorship is. 

All Good Things Must Come to an End


 Some say, “All good things must come to an end”. Whether this be your love affair with your best friend’s sister, your Sunday league team going from winning 3-0 to being demolished 13-0 or Brentford’s play-off push, its true in all forms of life.  But it was fun while it lasted, and now Brentford can enjoy the last two games and look forward to next season and away trips to the likes of Portsmouth, Coventry and Swindon.  

There’s no point on dwelling on “ifs” and buts”, so I’m not going to write an article on things that I’ve seen posted around Twitter such as “if we had beaten Bournemouth” and “if we didn’t have so many loan players”. There’s no need for it.  It’s a bit like saying that if I looked like Channing Tatum then I could get any girl in the world. Realistically, that won’t happen. For a team that was aiming for a top ten finish, Brentford did extremely well to take the fight for a play-off place to the 3rd last game of the season, especially when our season looked finished after defeats to lower table teams. Overall, I’m very pleased with what Uwe Rosler has done and I cannot wait for the next season.

I believe that the time is right to release my shortlist for Brentford’s “Player of the Season”. With two games left, my mind wont change from what I’ve seen from the season as a whole, and as a result the player I have in mind has already shown to be a great player week in, week out.  So sit back, and enjoy the little review about the players I have shortlisted for the 2011/2012 “Player of the Season” for Brentford FC. 

1.    Richard Lee

Brentford’s number one and last seasons Player of the Season once again proved what an incredible goalkeeper he is this season with a number of clean sheets between the sticks. The 4 clean sheets in 4 games (Oldham, Bury, Hartlepool and Notts County) helped to propel us into the play-off picture. Richard’s top corner and point blank saves has proved over the course of the season just what a quality goalkeeper he is, and most certainly one of the best in League One.  His most memorable performance for me came at Griffin Park against Bury, where a string of amazing saves resulted in a clean sheet for Richard.


2.    Sam Saunders

Sam Saunders has been given a new lease of life under Uwe Rosler, resulting in him and his twinkle toes bagging a very healthy 9 goals. The wing play that Sam Saunders has exhibited this season is nothing short of superb, right up there with some of the best in League One, which is a far cry from the old Sam under Andy Scott.  Also, because of Sam’s free kick technique, which he is rumoured to have taught David Beckham, we have become a serious force from dead ball situations this season. Sam Saunders has definitely been one of the most consistent players this season. The best of Sam Saunders’ free kicks came against Leyton Orient, where he whipped the ball into the top corner, leaving the keeper with absolutely no chance. Simply beautiful.
  
3.    Jonathan Douglas

Signed from Swindon in the summer for a free, Jonathan Douglas has proved to be a midfield general for Brentford this season, playing in every league game so far. Tenacious in midfield, Douglas may not score many goals but has certainly put in a fair few thunderous tackles over the course of the season. His ability to break up the play and spread the ball like a quarterback has been a great asset to Brentford today, giving us someone we can rely on in the middle of the park. A comparison to Paul Scholes of Manchester United or Scott Parker of Tottenham most certainly springs to mind. 


4.    Shaleum Logan

Coming to Brentford from Manchester City can definitely be seen as a shock to the system, but Shaleum Logan adjusted to life at TW8 very quickly, with a memorable first appearance at Griffin Park against Yeovil, scoring on his debut. After injury early in the season, it showed how much Brentford needed the right back, and ever since his return to the squad he has been ever-present, putting in big performances over and over again. Although a right back, Logan has contributed very handily to the overall score tally, and scored at very important stages in the season.  In conclusion, a very solid first season for the right back.  


That’s the shortlist for my “Player of the Season” for 2011/2012. Unlike the PFA Player of the Year awards, I cannot offer a large trophy or vast amounts of money, but I can offer a well done. So here it is, well done to all four of the players I have shortlisted. As a fan, its very satisfying when our players perform as well as these four have, putting in massive shifts throughout the season. I’m sure there are many fellow fans out there that will disagree with my choices, but lets put it this way. These players have performed admirably throughout the season, and seeing as they are all permanent players I find it very difficult to argue against naming any of them as “Player of the Season”. All four of them have been great ambassadors for the football club, and I cannot wait to see them again next season, hopefully aided by even more fantastic players.  


My “Player of the Season” for Brentford Fc 2011/2012? Well, I think that’s simple really. My “Player of the Season” is Jonathan Douglas: the anchor in midfield. I really dread to think where our midfield would have been without him this season, although he hasn’t scored many goals he has broken up countless opposition attacks as well as spreading the ball for numerous Brentford assaults. I’d say Douglas is a huge contender for League One’s signing of the season.  

Finally, a quite sad and gloomy look towards the end of the season, with games against Sheffield Wednesday and Chesterfield left. Although it’s still mathematically possible to get into the play-offs, it is highly unlikely, so I look forward to a good performance (one hopes) against Wednesday and hopefully a very enjoyable day out in Chesterfield for our first visit to the B2Net stadium. It’s a shame the FA have once again overlooked League One and Two and so we find ourselves playing at the same time as the FA Cup final. As I find myself writing this paragraph about the coming end of the season games, the cliché comes to my head again. “All good things must come to an end”. All that’s left to say is: “Goodbye League One 2011/2012, hello Euros 2012”. 

The Fabled Five Finals


The phrase “cup final” is normally thrown about by football fans without actually thinking what the phrase means. To some, the FA cup final at Wembley is the ultimate “cup final”. To others, a last game of the season relegation dogfight at a ground where the pitch is more sand than grass would be worthy of the title.  But recently, the term has taken on a completely new meaning to the Brentford faithful.

Why’s that? Well, most teams have one cup final a year if they’re lucky. However, Brentford have had 5 cup finals in a row this season. 5 games to see us into 6th place and fire us into the play-off picture. Hartlepool, Notts County, Stevenage, Sheffield Wednesday and Chesterfield. Our cup final won’t be played at Wembley like last season, but rather at the traditional Griffin Park and the amazing B2Net Stadium.  As a fan, this is fine by me.

Let me give you a scenario and ask you a question. It’s May, and your team are in the relegation places in League One but you had a day out at Wembley for the Johnstone’s Paint trophy final. Would you consider this a “successful season” simply because of a Wembley appearance? Or would you rather that you were out of the cup competitions by December, but had a chance of gatecrashing the play-offs come the end of May because of a great run of games? Well, the latter is the predicament that Brentford find themselves in this season, and what a fantastic place to be.

Normally, a league game lacks excitement, and it tends to feel like ‘just another game’. Our 5 cup finals has changed that feeling completely. I don’t tend to get pre-game nerves, at the end of the day I feel as though we have many games left to gain back the points we may have dropped. That’s changed in the last few weeks, as every Brentford fan knows full well that a loss is no longer acceptable, and to be fair a draw isn’t much good either. Only a win will do. The excitement, thrill and thought of the unknown just isn’t applicable to most league games, but is to these end of season match ups, and the atmosphere round Griffin Park couldn’t be better.

Which is strange. I recently purchased a fanzine from outside of Griffin Park entitled “Thorne in the Side” to see how other fans were writing about the season. What a shock I was in for. Rather than seeing intelligent discussion about whether Niall McGinn has been fully utilized or if the new signing Stuart Dallas will be a major coup for us, it was full of hate and distaste for Uwe Rosler and his Brentford team. This was not a fanzine. It was as though the most miserable, boring and brainless people in the world had assembled to simply slag off people that have done better than them. Or, to me, it seemed as though the “authors” of the fanzine were stuck in the past, constantly referring to past players who they seemed to think “played with some heart”. This coming from the people that seem to think the only player that had done something this season was Kevin O’Connor, even though he has been injured for most of it. It was neither intelligent nor well thought out, but the biggest waste of money ever.
Moving on, I have to once again sing Uwe Rosler’s praises. As seen in previous articles, Rosler has been up and down more times that a yo-yo in the views of some Brentford fans, which has been completely unjust. The signing of Clinton Morrison has been an act of pure genius, and has coincided with our great run of form. Why may that be? In my personal opinion, it’s because of the vibe that Morrison brings to the dressing room. Any one that has seen Clinton Morrison will understand full well when I say the bloke is a bit of a character. Its because of that, however, that the dressing room has seemed to pick up after slumps at Orient and Bournemouth and all of a sudden find themselves in the play-off picture. Its remarkable that one simple signing can produce fruits like this. If it hadn’t, mind you, I’m sure the authors at the ‘fanzine’ would be slating him for not scoring yet. Football is a strange, strange world unfortunately. 

The Notts County game at the weekend was one of the best games I have been to all season long. Of course, the crowd had swelled as a result of it being such a huge game, meaning an increase in the amount of ‘”floating fans”. This didn’t harm the atmosphere however, but made it a million times better. For once, all three sides of the ground were singing in unison, aided by a small army of children in the New Road stand that sang Brentford songs when no one else was. You could see the benefit of this to the players on the pitch, who played some very slick football that Barca would most definitely be proud of. We were the better side for most of the game, and it’s a huge shame that we came away from that game with a 0-0 score line. How Sam Saunder’s freekick was cleared off the line by the defender’s head when it should have nestled in the top corner is beyond me, but nevertheless it was a thoroughly good game. I just wish the 7000 fans that were there would come every week; our players seem to love the attention.

Although this season has been very much up and down, I believe it is vital that we remember that Brentford is a club in progress. Rome, or Manchester United in this instance, was not built in a day. Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t immediately make Man United into the fantastic team they are now overnight, and its crazy to think Uwe could do that with Brentford, who have a tiny, minuscular budget, which is smaller than even Shaun Wright-Phillips. However, with the eye that the management has for talent, I think next season will most definitely be a fantastic season for all connected with Brentford Football Club.  Let’s hope that we have a cup final and a promotion to enjoy!

Thorpe Park? Forget That; Lets go to Griffin Park Instead!

Rollercoasters. You either love them or hate them. Some would consider a day out in the gut-splattering, upside-down, teenage haven of Thorpe Park an ideal day. Others may not. If you are the latter, then I suggest you do not come to Griffin Park any time soon. We can offer more thrills and spills than Thorpe Park, Chessington and that mouse’s funfair over the pond combined.

Here’s what I mean: after losing three games on the trot and already looking as if we had gone on our summer holidays, we’ve turned into the form team, winning four on the bounce. Thankfully, we’re nearly at the end of the ride, but I just cant help but think where we would be without the inconsistencies. At the time of writing we are five points off Carlisle in sixth, a team that we made look like Beddington Terriers. We also just beat MK Dons away, and they’re meant to be the 5th best team in the division!

Without a doubt some of the football played in the first half last night against Oldham Athletic was (I’m sorry to use the cliché but there’s really no other way to describe it) Barcelona-like. The ball was pinged around from Douglas to Dave like a small man is between the crowds in rush hour on the Underground. It was magnificent. Why pay £50 at QPR to watch a team of useless, overpaid, Twitter-holics play rubbish football when you can pay a third of that to watch the Bees play total football? Shaleum Logan was running down that wing just like Dani Alves (far better in my opinion, cause the lad can defend too) and Sammy Saunders was hitting free kicks just like Xavi. We were too much for Oldham to handle, and that was reflected in the 2-0 score line.

Now we find ourselves at the business end of the season, or if you’re on a rollercoaster the bit that makes you want to puke your guts up for the next 4 hours.  6 games left to ultimately decide whether we end up in the end–of-season-lottery or the rubbish pile. 6 cup finals if you want.  I’m very sure the team are well aware that we cant really afford to drop points if we want to be in the play-offs, Clinton Morrison will undoubtedly have already told them about 45 times, but we can do it. Teams that tend to do well in the play-offs come into form at about this time in the season and carry that momentum through with them, and as sure as anything some of our players are most definitely coming into form. A certain Mr. Clayton Donaldson, who I stood up for whilst he was going through his rough patch, has proved me right and has started playing like that striker we bought from Crewe, big and powerful and able to score bags of goals. Worryingly, it seems that Donaldson and Fernando Torres mirror one another’s performances, as they are both starting to look like their former selves. I say worryingly because we all know Torres gets injured when he plays well, and as much as I don’t like the Spaniard I do not want to see our man Clayton get injured by mirroring him! With him and Clinton Morrison up front, I think we have a strike force that can do damage to even the best defences. That will be tested when Sheffield Wednesday come to visit on the 28th April.
Although I’m going on about our chances in the play-offs, I have to be realistic and look ahead to the prospect of another season in League One. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing in all honesty.  Its only Uwe Rosler’s first season at Brentford, let alone in England and he has proven to be a top class manager, even if some of the grumpy fans at Brentford call for his head every second game. Our budget is far smaller than some of the teams in this league, and for us to be able to beat them, and beat them convincingly is credit to his management. We’ve also gone from playing Andy Scott football, which for those of you that haven’t had the pleasure of witnessing this is giving the ball to the goalkeeper who in turn lumps in down the field for a striker to head down and then score, to playing one touch football on the ground. It worked for Brighton under Gus Poyet, and it looks like it’s working for us under Uwe Rosler. I wouldn’t be surprised if Barca come in for Uwe if Pep Guardiola leaves them at the end of the season. I’m sure he would stick with us though.

Finally, with the season coming to a 124mph sudden stop that sends your lungs through your ribcage, it looks to be a very nail-biting time to be a Brentford fan. But hey, isn’t that what it’s all about?