Many Brentford fans have been left devastated that club stalwart, Sam Saunders, has left the Bees to go to Wycombe Wanderers. Gemma Teale is one of his fans – and gives a warm reflection on a player who touched her heart during his time at Griffin Park.
Its been a couple of days now since Sam left Brentford for Wycombe and there’s a lot of love for Sam Saunders knocking about at the moment, mostly focused on his manner, his looks, his shenanigans, free kicks from ‘Saunders territory’ and of course that song…
He is more than those things though, and more than just a good player whose skills are now better suited to fighting for promotion from League Two then consolidating in the Championship.
One of the things that has been bothering me for most of this season, and some of last, is the lack of spirit and the outright lack of character in the current squad. Somewhere we changed from going a goal down being the catalyst for an all-but-certain come back to all-but-certain defeat.
I’ve heard all the arguments about talent trumping effort, but for me, any athlete needs an inner steel, a never say die attitude, a way to keep going, to inspire. Sam has this in spades, and a huge personality to boot.
Sam is one of those players that lifts a team when he plays. Even if he, himself, isn’t the best player on the pitch, he bring the performance of the whole team up. He’s one of the players most responsible for the “never say die” attitude of the late League One / early Championship side – his injury just before the end of the “penalty” season that coincided (and arguably caused) with the loss of form and eventual heartbreak.
We like to think that everything new is better in football, and in life, and I think Sam always suffered in the eyes of managers and fans from being an ‘Andy Scott’ player rather than riding in on the unicorn of data. It’s as if everyone thought, as a club, we just had to be better than needing a player from that era – but Sam proved his critics wrong (and me right haha) over and over.
We certainly haven’t managed to replace his talent in dead-ball situations even now, and one of my favourite memories of Sam is him stood “warming up” at the corner flag, coaching his team mates.
Lots of things have changed since the Scott era, and even the Rosler and Warburton teams. I’m not going to claim Sam Saunders is a better player than Josh McEachran, or any of the others (well, not in writing anyway), but I do believe as a club, and a squad, Brentford will be much poorer for his loss.
So thanks Sam – for the goals and laughs – and the joy and for never giving up. Thanks for signing my shirt when we went up (and for the kiss!).
Good luck with the Bee team at Wycombe. We will miss you, and we should.
Gemma Teale
@TheAmazingGem
Sam is a class act (both on and off the field) and as with most footballers who have a job before getting into the football bubble (Sam worked on the London Underground) never took playing professional football for granted and always gave 100%. Brentford’s loss – a future Hall of Famer.
A very erotic review. Thank you.
Very sad to see sam go i could not understand why he kept being left out of thee team Good luck sam in everything you do you did us proud when you were alowed to
Good luck! Saunders; let’s hope your knee holds out and you get a long successful run, actually playing ( not mouldering, as you have , for too long , at BFC) for your new club, who have a good manager, ground, shirt, badge and spirit. You will do well!
Good luck Sammy S. Quality player, great character and always gives 100 per cent. You need players like him and Alan Macca who rally the troups when the chips are down. Could have done with that on Saturday. Hey ho…end of an era.
Let’s get him back as a set piece coach when he hangs up his coach.
What a wonderfully written cheerio to Sam. A huge favourite in this house for his absolute and utter dedication to our club.
And surely yes, once Sam’s boots are hung up, a return to GP in some capacity, would be beneficial for the club, our future players and our supporters.
Nice tribute to a very good player and great man. He’s been here through what will be seen as a historic time for a The Bees when we transitioned from a bit shit to a bit good. One of my favourite players from nearly 40 years support. Hope he sees success at Wycombe along with the forty-seven other ex-Bees in their ranks.