The League Cup draw has handed Brentford a trip to the seaside – but this isn’t about deckchairs and candy floss. We’re off to Grimsby Town in the fourth round, and while at first glance it might look like a golden opportunity to sail into the quarter-finals, every Bee knows there’s a whiff of danger about this one. Call it a banana skin… or perhaps a slippery haddock.
On paper, we should fancy our chances. We’ve already dumped Premier League rivals Bournemouth and Aston Villa out of the competition, and if Keith Andrews’ side play anywhere close to their potential, you’d back us to keep that run going. But football isn’t played on paper – it’s played on a Tuesday night in Grimsby, in front of a sold-out home crowd who’ll smell the chance of another shock.
Let’s not forget, the Mariners were the talk of football after knocking out Manchester United on penalties. That result alone has the TV schedulers licking their lips – nothing excites the broadcasters more than the prospect of an upset, and they’ll be circling this one like seagulls round a bag of chips.
It’s the first time Brentford and Grimsby have ever locked horns in the League Cup, which adds an extra twist. We’ll be walking into an old-school ground, a proper football town, with all the jeopardy that brings. If we’re complacent, we’ll get battered – and not in the good fish-and-chip-shop way.
Hopefully the team can use the fixture as a springboard – but not off the end of Cleethorpes Pier (if they have one) straight into the North Sea! A win takes Brentford into the last eight of a major cup competition – something our fans would love to see. But the players will have to be switched on, move the ball quickly, and impose themselves early, or else we risk becoming the next headline.
Dave Lane
