Mr. Bean and Friends do Brentford Proud

After a couple of days to calm myself down following the Brentford – Huddersfield match, I’m afraid I still find myself fuming at what is in essence a diabolical refereeing performance. It is such a shame when the man in the middle, who is meant to be both impartial and fair, gives an advantage to one side following his inability to spot a blatant foul by Alan Lee on our goalkeeper Richard Lee. What made this even worse was the unsportsmans-like conduct by A. Lee after the game. It’s simply outrageous when the biggest talking point after a monumental game is about the referee, the man who is simply there to officiate the game, nothing more, nothing less.

Right, now I have that sour point out of the way I can reflect on what I personally thought was one of the best Brentford performances I have seen in a very long time. In the first half I’m pretty sure that the team had swapped places with a certain Catalonian team as Brentford ripped Huddersfield to shreds (up until that diabolical refereeing decision). The midfield three of Jonathan Douglas, Dave and Marcus Bean was an inspired choice by Uwe Rosler as they dominated the midfield. It’s quite well known around TW8 that Douglas enjoys his NFL, and that was plain to see in his quarterback style of play, spraying balls left and right from just in front of the back four, causing havoc for the Huddersfield team. 

Now, people that know me will know that I’m not a great fan of Marcus Bean; sometimes I feel like he’s doing nothing more than running around like a headless chicken. That said however, I love it when someone proves me wrong, and live in front of the Sky cameras Mr. Bean did just that, playing out of his socks and putting in some absolutely stunning tackles that a certain Roy Keane would most definitely have been proud of. This certain performance once again brings me back to a sunny Dean Court in Bournemouth in a League Two clash where Mr. Bean ran the midfield, and ultimately helped us secure the 1-0 win that put us on the brink of the league. Mr. Bean’s performance at the Galpharm in that first half was rock solid, pressurising them high up the field and winning tackles. That’s the type of midfielder I want at Brentford, someone who will stand up for himself like Britain did to the Nazis in 1939. Bean is one of those players: a Spitfire to the Brentford artillery. 

I’m pleased to see Gary Alexander is starting to find the net and fill the void that we have in our strike force. After scoring another penalty and a great first time finish, Alexander has raised his tally to 9 goals for the season. Although it’s not exactly blistering form, his regular goal scoring in the past few weeks have been crucial to Brentford’s ability to take points from games, such as the MK Dons match. His ability in the air is also a great asset to the team, and his partnership with Clayton Donaldson seems to be coming along rather nicely, and which will hopefully blossom in the coming weeks as we get down to the business end of the league. 

After all the praise that I have been heaping upon the Brentford team in this article, it still has to be said that the current run we are on is still not good enough. I say this day after day after day, why can’t we transfer this blistering away form to Griffin Park? If the passing game isn’t working due to the pitch, or the weather, or because Malvin the Mole has made too many mole hills on the pitch, then all it takes is a simple change in play. We have the players to mix it up. We could easily play the running game with Myles Weston and Niall McGinn, or play the crossing game with Harry Forrester and Sam Saunders. Either way we have strikers in the team that can suit both types, the first being Mike Grella and the latter being Gary Alexander. I just wish that Uwe Rosler would fully utilise the players he has at his disposal!

My final note must go to two rather farfetched transfer rumours that I’ve heard today. The first one goes to a loan out for Clayton Donaldson, which I found rather amusing. The second goes to the potential signing of Patrick Agyemang. What kind of people get these crazy ideas? By the way, did you hear where Rooney is off to this winter...?

A Typical Brentford Week; the Transfer Rollercoaster

Another poor performance at home, Karleigh Osborne looks like he has packed his bags and is ready to leave, and Peterborough have pulled out of the deal for their striker David Ball. Another week in the life of a Brentford fan I guess.

The 0-0 draw at home to Walsall was a particular hard blow to take, especially after a blistering start with Marcus Bean denied by a fantastic save from the Walsall stopper.  Although a game to forget, we can pick up some huge positives, the first being a star performance from Leon Legge.  It is horrible to think that without Legge we would most likely be in the lower half of the table. Without Leon Legge’s towering headers and bone-crunching tackles I’d say we would easily concede far more than we do at the moment. Brentford without Legge is like Adam without Eve. Impossible to contemplate.

Moving on from Leon Legge, we are at a point in time where it seems that his centre-half partner, Karleigh Osborne, seems set to leave. This is a shame I think, especially seeing as Osborne came up through the ranks of the Brentford youth team, and you would hope that players may have a bit more loyalty than that. Osborne had the speed and strength that made him a superb partner for Legge, although he was vulnerable to the occasional lapse in concentration and fight with his own team mate (Bournemouth 13/4/09). All in all however, I wish Karleigh the best in the future as he is a fantastic player and person, and I am more than sure he will do well at whichever club snaps him up. I just hope to the footballing Gods that it’s not Charlton.

I fear I have to once again talk about Clayton Donaldson. In my last article you would remember that I announced I had complete faith in Clayton and he proved me right in the 2-2- draw with Tranmere, scoring an absolute screamer into the top corner from 20 yards out. Unfortunately, certain fans at Griffin Park seem to use the poor bloke as a scapegoat for the team’s sometimes dire performances, and although he did miss a good chance he was everywhere against Walsall, and in my personal opinion one of the best performers on the park. Brentford FC is a club in progress, and our players are also progressing, so we need to stick by them and they will come good for us. All good things take time. 

The lack of goals however is a concern for me, and it is still a shame to see Mike Grella not making the bench at the very least. We have a player in Grella who would run and run until his legs dropped off and yet we still do not fully utilise his ability. Also, the potential loan singing of David Ball was met with mixed reactions at Griffin Park, and I can see why. Ball may have scored 4 at Rochdale, but that is hardly prolific. I am not one of the dreamers that reckon we can get a player like Jordan Rhodes or Bradley Wright-Phillips but I am one that believes we can get better than David Ball. 

I do hate to do this, but there seems to be a lot of “fans” at Griffin Park that turn up to just boo. If the players are playing badly, they boo. If the ref is having a bad game, they boo. If we’re winning by 3 goals and their seat is cold, they boo. Cut it out. If you’re a fan of the club you would get behind your team instead of booing them. It’s quite simply disgraceful. 

Looking ahead to a very tough game at the Galpharm on Saturday, which is live on Sky. A very tough game at the best of times, but we have a sensational away record and I hope we can keep that going. Let’s just hope Rhodes doesn’t do what he did the last time he played in front of the Sky cameras!

Playing at Home this Weekend? Oh Dear.

Brentford’s first defeat away from home since August 13th came on Monday after a well battled game against league leaders Charlton, but I can’t help but ask why can’t this form be transferred to Griffin Park?

It’s easy to blame Uwe Rosler and his tactics, any one brain celled Neanderthal could do that, but I fear it’s far from that. In fact, I think it’s quite the opposite. Uwe and the players have more than proven, on their day, that they can play sensational football, and have also demonstrated that they have players that can run circles round opposing players, bombard the goal and dictate the game.

However, 1 win in the last 5 games just simply isn’t good enough, especially for a team that is intent on challenging for the play-offs. So where does the blame lie? Well, maybe a lack of confidence about playing in front of our own fans, a small minority of who seem to just turn up to boo the team at half time, might be the answer.

Clayton Donaldson, or “Donaldinho” to the Griffin Park faithful, has proved at Crewe that he is a mammoth goal scorer, scoring 28 goals last season. Unfortunately, that form just hasn’t transpired at Brentford, and seems even more so at Griffin Park. However, his impact of the bench just cannot be ignored, and despite the goal drought, I’ll bet my hat that we are a better team with him on the pitch then without, and it will only be a matter of time before the man comes good for The Bees.

In terms of youngsters, I thought we had a real gem of a player at the start of the season with Jake Reeves. The 18-year-old was a revelation in pre-season, and although young looked right at home with Jonathon Douglas in the centre of the park. Sadly, in my opinion, it was a shame to see him less and less on the team sheet and more and more in a suit and tie handing out sweets before the game, but hopefully we will see him back on the pitch in the red and white stripes sometime in the future.

Of course, it’s simple to charge the lack of goals and wins at Griffin Park to a certain Charlie MacDonald, and I’m certain this topic will come up again and again this season. I won’t get bogged down on the issue and will say only this: Charlie is gone, and it’s time to concentrate on Gary Alexander, Clayton Donaldson and Mike Grella and get behind them as much as we did with Charlie MacDonald against MK Dons.

Consistency is a major part of any play-off push, and I’m going to put it bluntly. We simply do not have any. America has more consistent diplomacy missions to North Korea than Brentford have football games. One week the team can play like Barcelona, the next like Accrington Stanley, or dare I say QPR? Consistence is key, and that applies both to the performances and the team selection.

Uwe made a huge mistake selecting Emmanuel Oyeleke in the middle of midfield against a powerful and well disciplined MK Don’s side. He may as well have pressed the large red “self-destruct” button on his office table. I don’t blame Oyeleke with what happened in that first half, but I know he is one for the future and I sure hope that hasn’t destroyed his confidence.

As a result of all these things, I just can’t see Brentford challenging for the play-offs. We are not strong enough mentally or physically, and I’m just sorry to say we haven’t got the players required for that – this season. I trust that Uwe Rolser was, and still is, the right man for the job at Griffin Park and that will show next season when he has been able to stamp his seal on the club. Until then we’ll have to be contempt for a mid-table or near-play-off finish, and just hope we can give more ‘sure of ourselves’ performance at home. Oh, and we will have to hope that Clayton Donaldson will find his shooting boots and silence his critics, as I’m sure many Griffin Park regulars and I would.