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 5^th 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 28^th 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? 

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.