Big Nick: Getting undue stick… Apparently Nick’s Half Decent

The Jury’s Inn or the Jury’s Out? Nobody could accuse beesotted twitter contributor 6musicChris of being negative, however the article that follows is pushing the envelope a little. Anyway, free speech and all that….

We’re all Bees fans, we all want whats best for the club and yet for some reason there is always a section of supporter that seem to question decisions made by Warby and Co. Whilst these fans are entitled to their views, after all football is a game of opinions, it creates unnecessary friction and creates a suggestion of a problem where one does exist.

So far so good 12 games in, mid table, for a group who have largely never played at this level before or some of those who have previously graced the upper echelons of the league pyramid, haven’t done so in a matter of years, others have a few fleeting moments in substitute appearances. Barring Norwich and Boro we’ve not been on the receiving end of any heavy defeats, and have even won a few!

Yet in the space of a week in which we’ve played out 2 stalemates, away to Uwe’s Wigan, which saw us gain a second clean sheet on our travels in The Championship. Then Sheffield Wednesday at GP, a team whose form away from home is much better than the results they’ve been getting at Hillsborough. Not scoring for 2 games doesn’t make us any less the attacking threat as we were deemed in the immediate aftermath of the Reading game.

Whilst social media has its plus points, it also has massively negative ones to, in this case any opinions that players may not be fit to wear the shirt spread like wild fire and immediately become the consensus view.

Last season it was Will Grigg who copped it in this way. He was pelted and termed a waste of money despite not getting a run of games from a mixture of injuries, knocks and international call ups. You don’t score 20 plus goals for Walsall the previous season and the next become a donkey. While Walsall’s system and style of play was probably different from ours, another factor contributing to Will’s perceived sub-standard showings was one of him being a human being and acclimatising to living in London for the first time twinned with the high profile position of being a professional footballer, which is a lot of for a young man to take on his shoulders.

In the era of fans demanding instant gratification it is a little perplexing that people find scapegoats the second goals aren’t scored in a small number of early season fixtures. This seasons target for people who like to make such knee jerk judgements of players is ‘Big’ Nick Proschwitz. A 6ft 3 giant with Championship experience.

For the best part of a year he was loaned out to Barnsley as injury meant his place in the Hull team was taken by others. Unfortunately for all concerned this means that the Giant German lacks some match fitness which only comes from regular game time. In the first months of his Bees career he has mainly featured as a sub, and mostly in cameo roles. His touch is often on the heavy side and pace may not be his strong suit, however, unlike most I personally think the big man should be given games, partnering him with Andre Gray would provide the sort of little and large pairing that often bares fruit, Nick has shown signs of being able to hold up play which would allow Andre’s pace to wreak havoc in opposing defences.

Reports suggest the coaching staff speak favourably of the Nick, and they know a thing or two about players, certainly more about what it takes than the majority of fans, and I include myself in this, after all they work with them day in day out. Let’s give Nick a chance. Returning to my opening paragraph we all want what is best for Brentford and instantly criticising a player based on fleeting appearances doesn’t help anyone.

Chris Horricks

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