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Brentford fans have seen many things. Carlisle Wembley defeats. Springfield Park Wigan on a Friday night. Big local derbies against, erm, Aldershot. Losing to Barrow and thinking, “maybe a draw would’ve been a fair result.” So you’d think, now that the club is riding high in the Premier League and living a dream few thought they’d even see in their lifetimes, we’d all be singing in harmony.

Not quite.

Although some still can’t believe they’re watching Brentford on Match of the Day instead of pressing red on Teletext and waiting an eternity for the League Two scores to update, others can’t quite shake the feeling that the whole thing might collapse at any moment – probably due to a dodgy zonal set-piece routine conjured up by an algorithm or a rogue heat map misunderstanding. Fuck me, don’t mention VAR!

As one Bee on the myriad Beesotted WhatsApp groups put it:

“All football fans have hope but we have faith too. I’ve always said we are a cult that believes in and trusts their leaders. Some of our fans just haven’t seen the light yet.”

Religion meets xG. Fact is that Brentford have been playing 4D chess while other clubs are still working out what colour the pieces are. Of course everyone is entitled to an option (before there’s any confusion) but that’s something that can’t be disputed, surely?

But even paradise has its prophets of doom. There are always some perched in the rafters, arms folded, waiting for the exact moment to yell “TOLD YOU SO” as the good ship Brentford hits an imaginary iceberg somewhere up the Grand Union canal. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

“There will be an old guard who, when the Americans or North Koreans take over [from Benham] and we go down in five years’ time, they’ll say ‘I told you so’ with glee. Some people’s happy place is other people’s misery.”

That’s football fandom in a nutshell, right there. A strange mix of trauma bonding and clairvoyance.

And let’s be honest – some of the noise online would have you believe Brentford had hired Keith Chegwin as head coach, not Keith Andrews.

As one fan mused, “I don’t understand why people are obsessing over his set-piece role when he’s had years of coaching and assistant experience. Like Frank did. He saw an opportunity.” But no, “apparently not scoring from a direct free kick in a season is now grounds for hysteria.”

And then there’s the dealings in the transfer market.

“Some fans are really losing their shit about Brentford selling a player they’d never heard of when we signed him… after losing their shit about that player when they were brought in to replace another player they’d never heard of.”

It sometimes feels like there’s a never-ending spiral of irrational rage. A footballing Russian doll of misplaced anxiety. But is that something we are all guilty of to some degree… knowing there’s often nothing to worry about, but worrying about it anyhow?

The problem, some would argue, is that we’re all experts now. Or at least, we all think we are, usually online. But having a strong opinion on something doesn’t mean you’re right.

“There’s a fetish for statistics, heat maps, pivots and Football Manager… people want to feel like experts on how the club’s run, on the pitch, in transfers.”

And when a club like Brentford goes completely off-piste – ignores the old-school rules of football management or instead promotes someone from within the system – it causes confusion. “Where’s his track record?!” some cry. And yet, if we’d hired a former World Cup-winning captain with no coaching experience, people would still cheer. Just because they’d heard of them.

“They want to sign the player who scores 25 goals a year, the defender who wins all his aerial duels, and the manager who guarantees staying up. Unless he’s a former playing great – then it’s fine. Even though it usually isn’t.”

Maybe the truth is that the club’s method is just too left-field weird for many people. A data-driven football experiment run by a reclusive betting genius doesn’t exactly scream simplicity does it?

“I like to think I have a decent understanding of football, business and psychology… but I still struggle to understand Brentford’s modus operandi. It’s just so different… but what we’re achieving is miraculous. We’re the mavericks of football, and I love that.”

Ultimately, whether you’re a ‘happy clappy’ Brentford monk chanting “Trust the Process” or an anxious wreck who’s convinced we’ll be playing Crawley in two seasons and yearning for the ‘good old days’ (mainly because they were young) we’re all Bees. And we all care deeply.

“Whether we like to admit it or not, football – and the club we choose – is part of our identity. In difficult times politically, socially and financially, football provides a much-needed release. My few hours watching the Bees each week are complete escapism.”

So yes, Keith Andrews is a gamble and, until there are wins on the table, plus a healthy smattering of points on the board, he will remain that. But surely we’ve all learned by now that’s how we’ve achieved success and how our owner’s unique insights have produced the conveyor belt of achievement we are living through?

And we can’t gloss over that, more often than not, it works. But even when it doesn’t?

“Even if we went down, the system and the foundations mean we’d be well placed to come up again.”

But, right now, we’re still in dreamland.

Despite all the noise – the set-piece obsessives, the armchair tacticians, the “back in my day” brigade and the doom-mongers glued to their Paddy Power accounts – most fans still have a quiet confidence.

Beesotted’s latest Twitter fan poll shows that even with all the uncertainty right now – new head coach, potential summer departures, and that ever-lurking fear of fifth-season-syndrome – almost 60% of fans still believe we’ll finish well clear of relegation next season.

The recent appointment of Keith Andrews as head coach has certainly sparked a debate. While many fans recognise the logic behind the move, others can’t get past his role in set-pieces or a perceived lack of managerial pedigree. “Can I possibly know if Keith Andrews will be a good head coach? No, but if it does go wrong, at least I can say I said it would.”

Ultimately, the faith-versus-fear dynamic at Brentford mirrors football as a whole. One side trusts the process, another demands certainty. “People are often afraid of the unknown.” And Brentford, by design, thrives in the unknown — pushing boundaries, challenging norms, and proving that there is another way.

Personally, I love there being another way.

Dave Lane

Thanks to my WhatsApp chums for answering my question yesterday…. Please share your own thoughts by leaving a comment in the box below.