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Chris Horricks pens his first article for Beesotted and asks Brentford fans to stay united and get behind the team as opposed to slagging off players and fighting amongst themselves

Social media. Omnipresent isn’t it?

For all the good it does in bringing fans and clubs closer together, there is a flip side. Namely, it brings fans closer to fans. Most of the time it is a good thing. However, when it goes sour, it goes sour big time.

Don’t get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Hell, I’m writing this as an opinion piece. The issue comes when instant gratification is demanded. Woe be tied if the team on the pitch, or individual players, don’t bring a constant flow of success and performance. Will Grigg for example. Yes we may have paid a comparative large transfer fee for him, and for one reason or another he’s yet to set the world alight or score with the regularity he did at Walsall.

But if one takes a step back and looks a little closer, who is Will Grigg? He’s a very young man, who until a few short months ago hadn’t lived in London – an environment and surrounding notoriously different to the rest of the country. The sheer scale must take some time to get used to for anyone, let alone a professional athlete, and even more so for footballers, whose every move seems to be put under a microscope and scrutinised. Add that to a string of Northern Ireland international call-ups, resulting in not being able to get a run in the team.

People who criticise players in situations like Will’s have very short memories. They were probably the same people who slated Clayton Donaldson when he first arrived and didn’t score as regularly as they would have liked. Look at him now. 50 goals later and a pivotal part of the team. Funnily I can’t hear the boo boys singing.

Fan? Supporter? What do they both mean. Surely part of being a fan should be to encourage and erm, ‘support’ the team they profess to be a fan of. Yet for some reason, even in the current sensational form and league position we’re in, there are still those not satisfied and question the very men that they are relying on to deliver the one thing everyone connected to Brentford Football Club has longed for since 1992.

How does slagging the team and individuals contribute towards this ambition? WE ARE THE RED AND WHITE ARMY, so the song says. Really?

What army worth its salt argues and fights within themselves. The Crewe away incident, which saw a small pocket of fans come to blows with each other, an incident which, in a twist of fate, featured in an article in Four Four Two, isn’t the Brentford FC I, and thousands like me, have come to know and love.

Please have some respect for yourselves, those around you, and the good name of Brentford … think before you act or post on social media about the team we all want to go up this season.

Chris Horricks
@chrishorricks31