I spent half time during the Colchester debacle complaining to my good friend and the editor of this site that the Brentford performance simply wasn’t good enough.
He told me to stop being a miserable git and to join the party… “we’ve gone up and it doesn’t matter. Just enjoy it”.
Well I’m sorry to be the prophet of doom in what has been a fantastic season, but the last 115 minutes of football have temporarily taken the lustre off things for me.
True, there’s been a right old knees up on the terraces and yes, we will be in the Championship next season.
But the end of the MK game and the 90 minutes at Colchester’s soulless new home were an embarrassment and insult to the 5,500 supporters who paid good money to watch it.
Unprofessional isn’t a word I’d ever use lightly but it came close to applying to many of the players who pulled on the shirts at United, a side that a normal Bees display this season would have beaten at a canter.
I did, I’m afraid to say, take most of my anger out on my two lads and write this after returning home from a five hour, 330 miles and £110 trip to watch the non-event.
We singled out three players who could have any pride in their performance against a Colchester side who simply wanted it more.
And my rage was eased slightly when I Iistened in to Mark Warburton’s spot-on analysis and picked out the same trio on Bees Player.
My lads felt I was being harsh, just as Mr Lane did, but try telling that to the fans of teams fighting for their lives near the foot of the table who will have been looking to Brentford to do the right thing.
Football does have a strange way of coming round to bite you on the backside. Who knows when we might need one of those teams we let down by Saturday’s no show to do us a favour?
The twittersphere is alive with rows about this game, with some saying it was “irrelevant” and others agreeing with me.
But I have never set foot on a football pitch not wanting to win, and I’m afraid to say some out there on Saturday looked like they were already slapping on the Ambre Solare.
I’ve got no problem losing 4-1 to Colchester, but I do have a big issue with wasting a whole day to watch a team that didn’t compete.
Don’t get me wrong, every one of the players in the squad have been magnificent this season and played their way to deserved promotion with some of the best football I’ve seen in 40 years at Griffin Park.
But take a look at Leicester and Wolves, who – on achieving the goal – have ploughed on ruthlessly picking up points while Brentford have stumbled to the end.
We saw another side to Mark Warburton in his post match interview and while his comment that players who weren’t angry after the 4-1 won’t be in the dressing room next season might appear a tad harsh, it’s exactly the kind of clinical standard you need to have any chance of competing in the Championship.
I’m prepared, now I’ve got it off my chest, to put it down as a blip – the players are only human after all – and I’m sure there will be a response against Stevenage.
But if there is a mental fragility in there, it needs to be long gone come next August.
Jim Levack
Could not agree more. The difference in performance of Leicester City and Wolves could not be in more stark contrast to Brentford, and the only things that can be questioned is the desire and professionalism since winning promotion. A fantastic season, but this shows that there is still work to be done. To add to the woes, we have had a fan allegedly hitting a Preston player, the Martin Connelly incident, a fight in the Griffin before the Preston game and supporters at a game laughing about a 4-1 defeat. The good reputation built by the club over this and last season looks like disappearing in a fog of over celebration. Getting to the championship has been worked for, yet many fans seem so amazed they can’t get over it. Was Russell Slade right with his comments?
I agree with some of your sentiment Jim but think some players may have just had an off day – McCormack plays at 100% even when we are three up for example normally
And I once witnessed you going ballistic 8 (eight) minutes into the first home match of the season with the scores at 0-0 . We went on to win the league
It’s been a great season. This team, unlike others before them, have earnt the right (and space) to have an off day
That said I hope we batter Stevenage
I thought I was the only one who found the day miserable but apparently this is not the case.
As I travel from Bognor Regis every match is an away game for me and if I am prepared to make the effort to turn up then I think the players have a duty to do so as well.
Thankfully I believe this is a one-off never to be repeated lapse and our esteemed manager will ensure we only see the real Brentford going forward, the one that has given so much pleasure to the supporters this season.
I mainly agree with you Jim. This was a Championship side playing a possible League 2 side. At the level we want to compete the players can’t afford to “not turn up for work”; we need that killer instinct if we are to survive in a new and very tough environment. I’m encouraged by Warburton’s reaction, his career path in banking has taught him the skills that we need if we want the success that we deserve. I’m 55 and have supported Brentford all my life, and this is the best season I can remember, I just want it to continue and hope that this is a valuable lesson we can learn from before next season. Onward and Upward!!
Didn’t Leicester lose their first game after being promoted 4-1? It only natural to have a post promotion hangover, Seems like a lot of fans who travelled had a great time I guess some people are never happy.
Great have a nice time, that’s how it should be, I agree with you Steve. But Leicester have started winning and achieved the championship. We let a two goal lead slip in one match and then lost 4-1 against a team at the foot of the table. Its a question of being professional and yes it could be just a blip, I agree, but this team will have to be at their very best next year. I remember 1992-93 only too well (after promotion). Won the championship and then bottom of the table the next year. How people can go to a game and say the result or performance don’t matter is strange. Brentford need to try their best to win every game, not just those that they pick and choose. Its the difference between success and failure ultimately. Wolves pressed on, Leicester did as well and that, at the moment, is a difference.
This comes over to me as just a little bit sanctimonious. “Stumbled to the end”? Since 5 October we have won every home game bar one and have a club record 91 points.
Having said that, there is no getting over the fact that Colchester wanted it more than us on Saturday but I do wonder whether the “party atmosphere” behind the goal acted as a distraction to the players?
I’m inclined to agree with Jim. I didn’t expect then to go all out and sun every 50:50, but I was expecting a bit of professionalism. Judging by Warburton’s comments and the subsequent apologies from players, I’d suggest that they know that they didn’t perform to anywhere near the levels that they should have done, which is therefore unprofessional. However, this is forgivable and so long as they attempt to put on a show for the fans against Stevenage, then it won’t matter one iota. If they decide to not show up, however, I fear that many fans will feel a bit aggrieved. For me, play the ones who want to be out there and give it their all. Trotta clearly didn’t want to be there, and nor did Saville. They must understand that there are consequences to looking as disinterested as they did. So if I was Warburton, I’d drop those two from the next game.
Dead right Jim, the Bees just did not turn up and it was quite honestly a disgraceful performance in front of three thousand Bees fans who had paid good money to see their team at least put in a shift. I don’t go to football just for the knees up I wanted to see us at least compete, but the teams guts were mostly to be found running out of their backsides. We should have been walloping teams like this, it’s tuesday and I’m still seething with anger about this game, promotion or no promotion.