Spread the love

 

Beesotted columnist Dan Leicester Bee Suh feels that, despite their poor scoring record, Crawley could prove tricky for the Bees

Last Saturday’s game against Notts County showed, though, what happens when teams come to park the bus and what can happen if we decide to switch off for 30 minutes in the second half.

County were no mugs, and despite his appalling flouncey haircut, Grealish was a genuine livewire with a lot of quality on the ball. Hollis, until he was sent off, seemed to have Clayton in his pocket. Brentford needed the extra space to really show what we could do, and the sending-off really ensured that the Bees bounced back from having only picked up 2 points from the 3 very tough fixtures away from home, not even scoring a single goal during this same period.

So, yet again, for Brentford, it should be another routine victory at Griffin Park. There’s no doubt that Crawley are in a spot of bother. They were play-off hopefuls not so long ago, but since beating Wolves at home, they have gone on a run of 5 straight losses, and if they don’t pick up their form soon, they could actually be sucked into the relegation spots.

Why?

Simply because they cannot score goals. 6 goals in the last 8 games, with their three top scorers jointly scoring less than Clayton, as Tubbs, Alexander and Walsh have only managed 14 goals in the league between them.

Clayton has 16, if you weren’t aware. Adams, Drury and Clarke show a healthy number of assists, but they simply lack goals, and are not clinical in front of goal either.

Assessing our home form, Brentford have scored 10 goals in the last 4 home games and we’ve conceded 2 goals. Crawley have scored 2 goals in their last 4 away games and they’ve conceded 5.

As has been the case all season, we do enjoy far greater possession. We get off nearly 15 chances on goal, with 5.63 forcing opposition keepers into saves. Whilst Button has to make 2.88 saves, as our defence continues to be mean.

Take out the 3-0 debacle at Rotherham, and we’ve conceded 2 goals in 7 games. And, whilst it won’t last forever, Tarky is still yet to see a goal hit the back of our own net whilst he’s been on the pitch.

Frankly, we SHOULD win. We have a mean defence and Crawley cannot take their chances, even if we let them create chances. Interestingly, Crawley have conceded at least one goal in 95% of their away matches and have conceded at least one goal in each of their last 16 away matches.

But, this is the fixture, for some reason, I fear the most. Make no mistake, their record against some of the better footballing sides is actually quite good. They’ve beaten Wolves, the Posh (but undoubtedly, that wouldn’t have been Fergie Jnr’s fault), Walsall, and Leyton Orient (apparently, they celebrated their win over the O’s, but only after they got home as they didn’t want to upset Russell Slade), whilst drawing against Rotherham and Preston.

These are no mugs and they tend to perform for big games. According to reports, their last defeat resulted in a heart to heart talk after the game between the players, where their players spoke honestly to each other…….we all know that this might not exactly work in Brentford’s favour.

My hope is that they are actually fatigued, having played alot of games recently, but for a one-off game, where they have nothing to lose?

Dan Leicester Bee Suh
@DanSuh_KF