That’s my fear. Huddersfield never seemed like a premier league team, even when they survived
The Championship 2019/2020
- Thread starter duffer
- Start date
That's cos they think you are their main rivals but really it's us they hate deep down
What does that mean?
I watched the final 20 minutes of Brentford match today, it’s good that they won. Still a hope for a completely new, fresh team in EPL next year. And they play attractive football, which is a good thing.
Still, I am afraid they will need to strengthen defence seriously for Premier League. Attack is Ok if they manage to keep their two best players (Watkins and Benrahma I think). So, we may sell them Jones for reinforcements...
Still, I am afraid they will need to strengthen defence seriously for Premier League. Attack is Ok if they manage to keep their two best players (Watkins and Benrahma I think). So, we may sell them Jones for reinforcements...
I think he means. Stink up the league. Huddersfield bought no value to the league despite everyone’s delight that they came up
Give them Rojo too
Well not in our philosophy to stink up the place in terms of the football we play nor in the way we recruit so no chance on Jones or Rojo coming to the club if we do make it
What about buying Lingard, or maybe Chong or Garner on loan?Well not in our philosophy to stink up the place in terms of the football we play nor in the way we recruit so no chance on Jones or Rojo coming to the club if we do make it
Don't do loans, as what's the point in paying a club to develop talent for them and slightly concerned Lingard won't pass our no "d***heads" policy though that might be a bit harsh on the lad.
Jensen looks class too. Assist for first goal was gorgeous. He’s young too. One for the future?
I would only consider Benrahma, think he is better than Dan James so would have been a useful bench option for us. Jensen wouldn’t get ahead of Fred and McTominay in the pecking order, with all respect...
Went to Spain, Celta Vigo, had a torrid time and was mainly played out wide. He has the talent but has been far too inconsistent this season to be looking at a move to a massive Premier league but give him another season with us and you never know...
As I have said before only thing Dan James beats Benrahma on is his pace - otherwise he is not fit to lace his boots
Agree with your views on Jensen, though I'd say give him a year and he'd be better than Fred but don't think he is the same type of player as McTominay so wouldn't displace him.
They probably have the best scouting and data team in the world. They have constantly punched above their weight on one of the smallest budgets in the Championship because their recruitment is far ahead of everyone else. Nice to see their work being rewarded.
Matthew Benham, their owner, is the founder of Smartodds (one of biggest betting syndicates in the world) and a pioneer of advanced performance metrics and data analysis in football. Ted Knutson, the StatsBomb CEO, also worked for Brentford and Midjylland (also owned by Benham) at one point.
Here is some additional background info on Benham and Brentford form an ITK:
Brentford are the single team we discuss the most and for obvious reasons, not only are they my team, but they are owned by Matthew Benham who also runs Smartodds, who have led the way in qualitative research and analysis on various football leagues from around the world. But it is the huge success that Brentford have enjoyed in competing at the top end of the Championship for multiple seasons on a tiny playing budget, whilst making a £100m PROFIT in the transfer market that has caught the attention of the greater footballing world and helped the growth in analytics. Other small clubs might try to copy Brentford's blueprint, but they are not going to have access to the (probably) hundreds of people that Smartodds employ, but the Bees are a fun, interesting and innovative team to watch and read about, and that is why dozens of knowledgeable football fans from all over Europe turn up every home game to watch a small club in a West London outpost.
It is more than that, it is not just the players that Brentford sign, but how they are developed at the club, with the Bees light years ahead of other teams in this regard and I include in that many, if not most of the big european names. Much of what has gone on behind the scenes has been along Premier League (and beyond) lines for many years and I was telling you back in 2012 -2013 when they were in League 1 that they were a third tier team only for so long and in name only. You were amongst the first to know all about Brentford and their innovation, now 8 years later there have been hundreds of articles on the club, some of which are good , but many of which still do not quite get it.
For those of you interested in the club and you all should be, as anything good in sport is always copied, I suggest you read this article written by David Anderson, a Brentford fan interested in analytics, it is basically an interview with Brentford's 24yo First Team Performance Analyst Joe Newton , who details his role, what a typical week entails and gives a unique insight into the how the club is run and where they opt to spend money .
Talking as we were earlier about development of players, head coach Thomas Frank spoke about this a little last week and the gist is that Brentford 100% believe that no other club can get more out of a young player and it is a complete process that starts with analytics highlighting a candidate, who is then scouted and a decision made on whether to try to sign him. If the decision is yes, they then meet with the player and his agent and I have heard that many of them are shocked at the next stage, which is very much a job interview for the player and agent and presentation for the club. First up, two senior members of staff attend, which in itself is unusual, it might include Frank, the two Directors of Football , or even the owner. This might last several hours, the player and agent are shown video film of how the club play, what demands there are for that role /position, film of the Brentford player currently in that position and what the prospective signing could bring to the party. Player and agent are expected to contribute throughout, to ask and answer question .
The Brentford group then detail the culture at the club and demands on the players both on and off the pitch, the work rate and ethic required, desire to improve and the togetherness at the club, this is viewed as important as the skill set of the player(s) and only those who will be a good fit, regardless of ability will be offered a contract. In fact, Frank said the club would sooner have a player with 80% of the ability they were looking for if he had 100% of the right attitude, rather than the reverse, with the mantra that "culture is everything". Everyone with the right mindset will improve as both a player and man at Brentford.
The process doesn't end there, if the two way interview goes well and the player ticks all the boxes and wants to sign, Brentford will then complete a series of background checks , including taking references from former teammates and/or coaches. When he finally arrives at the Jersey Road training ground, then the hard work starts !
I also watched an interview recently with Andy Scott who was a former Brentford player and head coach who finished as head of recruitment at the Bees before taking on the same role at Watford and who is now HOR at Swansea City. He was asked if there was a big difference between Brentford and Premier League club Watford and he said it was HUGE and not what you might expect ! Scott said at Brentford data and analytics were more prevalent, everyone was used to using them and all connected with the club "knew their job" ,that was not the case at Vicarage Road and Scott stated that the Bees operated on another level entirely. He was then asked about clubs copying Brentford and he answered that lots of teams have access to similar data and models, but do not understand the concept and foundations behind them and "never get it right".
Brentford have a three man frontline of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins know as BMW who pre coronavirus were probably worth £80m and two are likely to leave this off season, regardless of whether or not the Bees are promoted to further swell the transfer profit. Long term Mbeumo might be the best of the trio, but it is Said and Ollie who have the most admirers for now. Brentford will already have replacements lined up and plan 2-3 windows ahead, there are also another nine players at the club aged 19-21 , seven of whom will probably play top flight football either with Brentford or elsewhere. The production line of talent, talent spotting and development should keep moving along and is not dependent on any individual(s), regardless of how important they might look to outsiders, apart from Benham.
The new Brentford stadium at Lionel Road is now ready for the 20-21 season and the final game will be played at lovely old worn out Griffin Park behind closed doors, which is a bit of a nightmare scenario for me, my family have been attending games there since the early 1920's ( I haven't been going quite that long !) , my wife and daughters are season ticket holders and there is no chance for any of us to say a proper farewell . That is a bit of a downer so I will say the last game with crowds was a 5-0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday so positive memories of that, but we didn't know it was the last game we could attend at the time !
It is more than that, it is not just the players that Brentford sign, but how they are developed at the club, with the Bees light years ahead of other teams in this regard and I include in that many, if not most of the big european names. Much of what has gone on behind the scenes has been along Premier League (and beyond) lines for many years and I was telling you back in 2012 -2013 when they were in League 1 that they were a third tier team only for so long and in name only. You were amongst the first to know all about Brentford and their innovation, now 8 years later there have been hundreds of articles on the club, some of which are good , but many of which still do not quite get it.
For those of you interested in the club and you all should be, as anything good in sport is always copied, I suggest you read this article written by David Anderson, a Brentford fan interested in analytics, it is basically an interview with Brentford's 24yo First Team Performance Analyst Joe Newton , who details his role, what a typical week entails and gives a unique insight into the how the club is run and where they opt to spend money .
Talking as we were earlier about development of players, head coach Thomas Frank spoke about this a little last week and the gist is that Brentford 100% believe that no other club can get more out of a young player and it is a complete process that starts with analytics highlighting a candidate, who is then scouted and a decision made on whether to try to sign him. If the decision is yes, they then meet with the player and his agent and I have heard that many of them are shocked at the next stage, which is very much a job interview for the player and agent and presentation for the club. First up, two senior members of staff attend, which in itself is unusual, it might include Frank, the two Directors of Football , or even the owner. This might last several hours, the player and agent are shown video film of how the club play, what demands there are for that role /position, film of the Brentford player currently in that position and what the prospective signing could bring to the party. Player and agent are expected to contribute throughout, to ask and answer question .
The Brentford group then detail the culture at the club and demands on the players both on and off the pitch, the work rate and ethic required, desire to improve and the togetherness at the club, this is viewed as important as the skill set of the player(s) and only those who will be a good fit, regardless of ability will be offered a contract. In fact, Frank said the club would sooner have a player with 80% of the ability they were looking for if he had 100% of the right attitude, rather than the reverse, with the mantra that "culture is everything". Everyone with the right mindset will improve as both a player and man at Brentford.
The process doesn't end there, if the two way interview goes well and the player ticks all the boxes and wants to sign, Brentford will then complete a series of background checks , including taking references from former teammates and/or coaches. When he finally arrives at the Jersey Road training ground, then the hard work starts !
I also watched an interview recently with Andy Scott who was a former Brentford player and head coach who finished as head of recruitment at the Bees before taking on the same role at Watford and who is now HOR at Swansea City. He was asked if there was a big difference between Brentford and Premier League club Watford and he said it was HUGE and not what you might expect ! Scott said at Brentford data and analytics were more prevalent, everyone was used to using them and all connected with the club "knew their job" ,that was not the case at Vicarage Road and Scott stated that the Bees operated on another level entirely. He was then asked about clubs copying Brentford and he answered that lots of teams have access to similar data and models, but do not understand the concept and foundations behind them and "never get it right".
Brentford have a three man frontline of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins know as BMW who pre coronavirus were probably worth £80m and two are likely to leave this off season, regardless of whether or not the Bees are promoted to further swell the transfer profit. Long term Mbeumo might be the best of the trio, but it is Said and Ollie who have the most admirers for now. Brentford will already have replacements lined up and plan 2-3 windows ahead, there are also another nine players at the club aged 19-21 , seven of whom will probably play top flight football either with Brentford or elsewhere. The production line of talent, talent spotting and development should keep moving along and is not dependent on any individual(s), regardless of how important they might look to outsiders, apart from Benham.
The new Brentford stadium at Lionel Road is now ready for the 20-21 season and the final game will be played at lovely old worn out Griffin Park behind closed doors, which is a bit of a nightmare scenario for me, my family have been attending games there since the early 1920's ( I haven't been going quite that long !) , my wife and daughters are season ticket holders and there is no chance for any of us to say a proper farewell . That is a bit of a downer so I will say the last game with crowds was a 5-0 defeat of Sheffield Wednesday so positive memories of that, but we didn't know it was the last game we could attend at the time !
I make no excuses about writing about Brentford (yet) again, they are the team I know best and are perhaps the most interesting one in world football given how they are run, which is unlike any other club and whilst the cat is out of the bag now in that regard, we have been way ahead of the media and I have been supplying details of the revolution taking place at Griffin Park for 6-7 seasons. You can now read countless articles on the Bees and their "moneyball" approach, which it is not, it is quite a bit more than that, but is a good enough name for the media to use and as close as they are likely to get.
Brentford are about to play their 6th season in the second tier of English football in the last 65 years, that is 1992-93 and the last four, so, for most supporters, these are the golden years, but they "know" where the club is ultimately heading and that is most likely eventually into the Premier League , in a new stadium and effectively debt free beyond what they owe to owner Matthew Benham, with a blueprint for them to be self financing. This is in stark contrast to less than a decade ago when there was a very real possibility of the club having to sell Griffin Park, ground share elsewhere and probably do so in non league football, this turnaround is the true extent of the "debt" to Benham.
For those of you with an interest in football beyond what happens on the field of play, there is a fantastic breakdown of the club's finances for 16-17 by the respected Swiss Ramble blog on this page.
In that season, Brentford had the third lowest revenue stream, two of the other bottom five were relegated, the Bees finished 10th , they have been top 10 in all four seasons in the Championship on effectively a bottom three budget each year, money talks in football, Brentford have very little (champions Newcastle United had a revenue stream 7 times greater) and have to do things differently. Some clubs were clearly operating beyond their means , even in those 16-17 accounts it was clear that with halved parachute payments and not having achieved promotion that Aston Villa would have to "find" an additional £45m to stay within their FFP shortfall , Brentford were £18m within it and are run properly and with respect for the "rules". Some clubs sail close to the wind, others glide right on by and eventually will have to pay the price and there are huge problems at Villa and other big names currently.
Benham has so far put £106m into the club, as I understand it , about 40m is in shares, the rest in interest free loans which could be asked to be repaid with 12 months notice. Around 30m has been spent on the new stadium (land purchase and legal fees), again my understanding is that the builders will take over Griffin Park and the land surrounding Lionel Road (the new stadium) which will be used for commercial/property development, in return, they will build the LR stadium which the club/Benham will own . Things change and you can never say never, but I do not believe Benham will request any of this money until the club are in the PL, unlike individuals bankrolling other clubs, he has supported the club since childhood and has put plans in place, not just for now, but five and even twenty + years down the line, including after his passing ( he is still only in his early 50's).
In these notes I will touch upon some background information which is perhaps been less well covered in the media . Benham runs probably the biggest betting syndicate in Europe, owns Smartodds and Matchbook and also (probably) a share in one of the major asian bookmakers and has other interests in Asia which are very hard to pin down. By the nature of his core business, Smartodds, everything he /they do is secretive, but it gives Brentford access to data few other clubs have and an owner far more knowledgeable than any in the game and probably beyond what most head coaches know. In simplistic terms, the playing side of the club is run by committee, Benham, head coach Dean Smith and the joint DOF's Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen who are both "non " football people, Giles is a maths and statistics graduate who has a PhD in statistics and came from Smartodds, Ankersen is a motivational speaker and author, a "high performance expert" who is also chairman of FC Midtjylland, another club owned by Benham. Already you see that Brentford are not run on traditional lines.
Where Brentford do spend money is in areas that other clubs neglect and/or undervalue and they are not averse to making tough decisions, they ditched their academy after heavy investment, because that was just leaving them open to exploitation by the biggest clubs and went instead for a B team who play only friendlies against some of Europe's biggest clubs . Here they focus on recruiting young players aged between 17 and 20 who have been released by academies in the Premier League, as well as talent from “undervalued markets” overseas, using their analytics department to target these. This has already been a huge success, with Chris Mepham breaking into the first team and Wales senior side last season and the Bees having already turned down an offer of circa £12-14m for him after just 20 first team appearnces ! There are several others including, but not exclusive to Ellery Balcombe, Marcus Forss and Mads Bech Sorensen who are rated almost as highly and have been, or are about to be, upgraded to the first team. Balcombe for example is a goalkeeper with limitless potential, he doesn't turn 19 for another three months, has already been called up to the England U21 squad and has just been given a four year contract, the first of similar length since Mepham.
Scouting operations are run by the increasing influential technical director of football Robert Rowan (another non fooball man) who offered this insight: “We have a good understanding of what kind of player can be successful in England. Part of our recruitment process is identifying different leagues where the physical qualities are often overlooked in favour of the tactical qualities, whereas in England if you are physical you have a good chance of being a good player. The tactical side of things can be taught and we are confident we can provide an environment where they can learn those skills. It’s a lot easier in those undervalued markets to take a player and put him into our environment for the longer term. Our job is improving the understanding of all the markets that are out there and trying to identify potential stars.”
Everything is done properly and for some time way beyond a level expected of what was then a League 1 side and now established Championship club, more along the lines of the best in the Premier League and there has been big investment in the Medical, Conditioning and Logistics department and that has proved beneficial in terms of players avoiding injury and massive fitness levels which was something we have often spoken about.
They have an extensive Performance Analysis team bigger than most top six PL clubs and they go through every players performance after games and sometimes even at the half time break if they have spotted something important and this is done not just with the first team, but at B level.
They also analyse opponents and opposition on an individual basis, they report to the manager and coaching staff on this during games and after the match, before doing a fuller analysis of the fixture. They work 24 hours straight through after the game between them, to have individual player and team analysis ready for Monday morning, this is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative information and more subjective tactical analysis of strengths and weaknesses.
Dean Smith has got a lot of the credit within football circles for the way Brentford play (the Bees have always played very attractive attacking football and Benham has demanded that is unchanged) and results achieved in relation to budget and, has been targeted by a number of bigger clubs who would offer him far more money, but less security. Smith fits into the Brentford set up well, is happy to concentrate on what he does best and enjoys and is content to be part of a team, he knows he will not be sacked due to results, as everything at the club is performance, not results related and if the team play up to defined levels, results do not have to follow, this is also fairly unique I would say in modern football. Of course, if you play well results will eventually turn in your favour.
Should Smith opt to leave, assistant coach Richard O'Kelly would move too, Thomas Frank would almost certainly step into the role, he is former head coach of the Denmark U16/17/19 teams and Brondby. Frank has been with the Bees for 20 months, has extended his contract recently and with a MA in Sports Psychology fits the Brentford mould and he has been increasingly active on the touchline with Smith during games ( I sit just behind the dug outs).
The Bees have just paid a fee for (quite unusual) and high salary to secure the services of Spanish goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña from FC Nordsjaelland, Cana is incredibly well respected and was wanted by other bigger teams, his training sessions are innovative and intense and you have never seen a goalkeeper training video with over 100k views on youtube before ! This is him working with the Brentford keepers at the Jersey Road training ground. I have been told unofficially that the idea is for the club to bring in a largish number of young goalkeepers for him to work with and develop with the aim not just of fulfilling Brentford's needs, but with sale value, again, inventive thinking and unlike anything at any other club.
The signing of Caña was typical of how Brentford do business, very little is leaked in terms of their dealings and when it is, the deal is usually already done and dusted and/or interest has been dropped. Witness the recent signings of Said Benrahma from Nice and Erzi Konsa from Charlton for close to £7m total. These are huge sums for the club who were operating in the 0.5m- £1.5m range until last season, but their policy of "only" signing youngsters who they could develop and sell on has paid massive dividends and to showcase that , the Bees transfer deals over the previous 20 months to the end of last season were circa +£25m, at champions Wolves -£60m . These have enabled Brentford to move up the ladder and they are now looking at a much wider market and higher level in which they can shop in. Konsa was part of the England team who won the U20 WC and the U21 squad who won the Toulon tournament this season, Everton and Brighton had made approaches, but he chose Brentford (who acted quickly) where he can play, develop and knows the club will not stand in his way down the line.
Brentford will not stop anyone from moving regardless of length of contract, as long as their valuation is met. The £12m + for Mepham was well short and it would take substantial money to sign him or Ollie Watkins . They have sold John Egan and Florian Josefzoon for a combined £7m this week, the two new guys are kind of already replacements in situ. They do not need to sell anyone this season, infact, they could gamble and spend considerably more should they wish and remain within FPP, that would not really fit the model, but if they started well and that is overdue , they might opt to gamble in the next window and look to seal promotion in their final full season at GP, with the move to Lionel Road set to take place mid season in 2019-20.
Brentford are about to play their 6th season in the second tier of English football in the last 65 years, that is 1992-93 and the last four, so, for most supporters, these are the golden years, but they "know" where the club is ultimately heading and that is most likely eventually into the Premier League , in a new stadium and effectively debt free beyond what they owe to owner Matthew Benham, with a blueprint for them to be self financing. This is in stark contrast to less than a decade ago when there was a very real possibility of the club having to sell Griffin Park, ground share elsewhere and probably do so in non league football, this turnaround is the true extent of the "debt" to Benham.
For those of you with an interest in football beyond what happens on the field of play, there is a fantastic breakdown of the club's finances for 16-17 by the respected Swiss Ramble blog on this page.
In that season, Brentford had the third lowest revenue stream, two of the other bottom five were relegated, the Bees finished 10th , they have been top 10 in all four seasons in the Championship on effectively a bottom three budget each year, money talks in football, Brentford have very little (champions Newcastle United had a revenue stream 7 times greater) and have to do things differently. Some clubs were clearly operating beyond their means , even in those 16-17 accounts it was clear that with halved parachute payments and not having achieved promotion that Aston Villa would have to "find" an additional £45m to stay within their FFP shortfall , Brentford were £18m within it and are run properly and with respect for the "rules". Some clubs sail close to the wind, others glide right on by and eventually will have to pay the price and there are huge problems at Villa and other big names currently.
Benham has so far put £106m into the club, as I understand it , about 40m is in shares, the rest in interest free loans which could be asked to be repaid with 12 months notice. Around 30m has been spent on the new stadium (land purchase and legal fees), again my understanding is that the builders will take over Griffin Park and the land surrounding Lionel Road (the new stadium) which will be used for commercial/property development, in return, they will build the LR stadium which the club/Benham will own . Things change and you can never say never, but I do not believe Benham will request any of this money until the club are in the PL, unlike individuals bankrolling other clubs, he has supported the club since childhood and has put plans in place, not just for now, but five and even twenty + years down the line, including after his passing ( he is still only in his early 50's).
In these notes I will touch upon some background information which is perhaps been less well covered in the media . Benham runs probably the biggest betting syndicate in Europe, owns Smartodds and Matchbook and also (probably) a share in one of the major asian bookmakers and has other interests in Asia which are very hard to pin down. By the nature of his core business, Smartodds, everything he /they do is secretive, but it gives Brentford access to data few other clubs have and an owner far more knowledgeable than any in the game and probably beyond what most head coaches know. In simplistic terms, the playing side of the club is run by committee, Benham, head coach Dean Smith and the joint DOF's Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen who are both "non " football people, Giles is a maths and statistics graduate who has a PhD in statistics and came from Smartodds, Ankersen is a motivational speaker and author, a "high performance expert" who is also chairman of FC Midtjylland, another club owned by Benham. Already you see that Brentford are not run on traditional lines.
Where Brentford do spend money is in areas that other clubs neglect and/or undervalue and they are not averse to making tough decisions, they ditched their academy after heavy investment, because that was just leaving them open to exploitation by the biggest clubs and went instead for a B team who play only friendlies against some of Europe's biggest clubs . Here they focus on recruiting young players aged between 17 and 20 who have been released by academies in the Premier League, as well as talent from “undervalued markets” overseas, using their analytics department to target these. This has already been a huge success, with Chris Mepham breaking into the first team and Wales senior side last season and the Bees having already turned down an offer of circa £12-14m for him after just 20 first team appearnces ! There are several others including, but not exclusive to Ellery Balcombe, Marcus Forss and Mads Bech Sorensen who are rated almost as highly and have been, or are about to be, upgraded to the first team. Balcombe for example is a goalkeeper with limitless potential, he doesn't turn 19 for another three months, has already been called up to the England U21 squad and has just been given a four year contract, the first of similar length since Mepham.
Scouting operations are run by the increasing influential technical director of football Robert Rowan (another non fooball man) who offered this insight: “We have a good understanding of what kind of player can be successful in England. Part of our recruitment process is identifying different leagues where the physical qualities are often overlooked in favour of the tactical qualities, whereas in England if you are physical you have a good chance of being a good player. The tactical side of things can be taught and we are confident we can provide an environment where they can learn those skills. It’s a lot easier in those undervalued markets to take a player and put him into our environment for the longer term. Our job is improving the understanding of all the markets that are out there and trying to identify potential stars.”
Everything is done properly and for some time way beyond a level expected of what was then a League 1 side and now established Championship club, more along the lines of the best in the Premier League and there has been big investment in the Medical, Conditioning and Logistics department and that has proved beneficial in terms of players avoiding injury and massive fitness levels which was something we have often spoken about.
They have an extensive Performance Analysis team bigger than most top six PL clubs and they go through every players performance after games and sometimes even at the half time break if they have spotted something important and this is done not just with the first team, but at B level.
They also analyse opponents and opposition on an individual basis, they report to the manager and coaching staff on this during games and after the match, before doing a fuller analysis of the fixture. They work 24 hours straight through after the game between them, to have individual player and team analysis ready for Monday morning, this is a mixture of qualitative and quantitative information and more subjective tactical analysis of strengths and weaknesses.
Dean Smith has got a lot of the credit within football circles for the way Brentford play (the Bees have always played very attractive attacking football and Benham has demanded that is unchanged) and results achieved in relation to budget and, has been targeted by a number of bigger clubs who would offer him far more money, but less security. Smith fits into the Brentford set up well, is happy to concentrate on what he does best and enjoys and is content to be part of a team, he knows he will not be sacked due to results, as everything at the club is performance, not results related and if the team play up to defined levels, results do not have to follow, this is also fairly unique I would say in modern football. Of course, if you play well results will eventually turn in your favour.
Should Smith opt to leave, assistant coach Richard O'Kelly would move too, Thomas Frank would almost certainly step into the role, he is former head coach of the Denmark U16/17/19 teams and Brondby. Frank has been with the Bees for 20 months, has extended his contract recently and with a MA in Sports Psychology fits the Brentford mould and he has been increasingly active on the touchline with Smith during games ( I sit just behind the dug outs).
The Bees have just paid a fee for (quite unusual) and high salary to secure the services of Spanish goalkeeping coach Iñaki Caña from FC Nordsjaelland, Cana is incredibly well respected and was wanted by other bigger teams, his training sessions are innovative and intense and you have never seen a goalkeeper training video with over 100k views on youtube before ! This is him working with the Brentford keepers at the Jersey Road training ground. I have been told unofficially that the idea is for the club to bring in a largish number of young goalkeepers for him to work with and develop with the aim not just of fulfilling Brentford's needs, but with sale value, again, inventive thinking and unlike anything at any other club.
The signing of Caña was typical of how Brentford do business, very little is leaked in terms of their dealings and when it is, the deal is usually already done and dusted and/or interest has been dropped. Witness the recent signings of Said Benrahma from Nice and Erzi Konsa from Charlton for close to £7m total. These are huge sums for the club who were operating in the 0.5m- £1.5m range until last season, but their policy of "only" signing youngsters who they could develop and sell on has paid massive dividends and to showcase that , the Bees transfer deals over the previous 20 months to the end of last season were circa +£25m, at champions Wolves -£60m . These have enabled Brentford to move up the ladder and they are now looking at a much wider market and higher level in which they can shop in. Konsa was part of the England team who won the U20 WC and the U21 squad who won the Toulon tournament this season, Everton and Brighton had made approaches, but he chose Brentford (who acted quickly) where he can play, develop and knows the club will not stand in his way down the line.
Brentford will not stop anyone from moving regardless of length of contract, as long as their valuation is met. The £12m + for Mepham was well short and it would take substantial money to sign him or Ollie Watkins . They have sold John Egan and Florian Josefzoon for a combined £7m this week, the two new guys are kind of already replacements in situ. They do not need to sell anyone this season, infact, they could gamble and spend considerably more should they wish and remain within FPP, that would not really fit the model, but if they started well and that is overdue , they might opt to gamble in the next window and look to seal promotion in their final full season at GP, with the move to Lionel Road set to take place mid season in 2019-20.
This is also worth a read: https://footballbh.net/2019/05/28/brentford-championship-tactical-analysis-statistics-analysis/
I'm a little bit biased as I've been following them for years but Brentford might just be the most interesting club in world football.
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I really hope Brentford come up. Regular Championship viewers I got a question. Who do you make favourites Brentford or Fulham?
Nothing against Fulham as a club but I’ve seen them in the PL for ages. Brentford would be fresh.
Nothing against Fulham as a club but I’ve seen them in the PL for ages. Brentford would be fresh.
Brentford will be favourites by at least a quarter of a goal.
The bees certainly stung the Swans in the first half. There'll be a team from west London in the Premier League next season as Fulham are nailed on to make it to Wembley as well.
Cheers! @Pagh Wraith
There will be even if Cardiff make an astonishing comeback and go up.
Does anyone know whether there is VAR in place for Championship playoff final at Wembley?
Norwich are making quite a lot of early moves. They've just signed Dowell from us on a perm - interesting as it could open up a move for Cantwell.
1-1 two goals in 2 minutes
Odd goals! Cardiff could have been called for an obstruction foul during the corner and horrible defending by Cardiff allowing the pass to go past at least 3 players, none of whom attempted to clear the ball or intercept.
Good, this.
Too close to call. I hope football is the winner.
Football and Cardiff. Neil Harris has a more rounded belly than Scott Parker.
Too close to call. I hope football is the winner.
Football and Cardiff. Neil Harris has a more rounded belly than Scott Parker.
Fulham are going to bottle this...
Is 1-3 a win for cardiff on away goals ? or do they not have away goals in playoffs, especially now, with no crowd?
Cardiff have scored two, silly.
Really odd to see a player slip and shank a free-kick up in the air and not have a crowd going "waaahaaayy"
I look like an incoherent numpty now that matey has edited his post.
The silence from the players made it more awkward.
True haha. Everyone is like "let's just move on quietly"
For Christ's sake, not Cardiff again. Bad enough having WBA.
We're going to have Brentford in the Prem.
I once had a girlfriend from Tongwlais in Cardiff. She was insistent we went to see the homecoming show of 80's hair metal monstrosities, Tigertailz, at St David's Hall in Cardiff city center.
There's a close up of my disinterested teenage face, not rocking out, on a youtube video ripped from the accompanying VHS release from the band way back when.
There's a close up of my disinterested teenage face, not rocking out, on a youtube video ripped from the accompanying VHS release from the band way back when.
'You're not a lady, you're a love bomb, baby.' they sang.
She was smitten.
Looking back it's hard to find a better lyric about love bombs.
She was smitten.
Looking back it's hard to find a better lyric about love bombs.
So it’s Brentford vs Fulham in the playoff final.
Very strange to have the disturbing memory of Tigertailz dredged up on the caf of all places.Most of us Brentford fans for the day in question then I guess. Fulham and Brom would be very boring promotions.
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