In my mind at least, the fascinating next phase to Brentford’s season kicks off at Cardiff City on Saturday – with the mouth mattering prospect of watching a resurgent Bees team focussed on reeling in the pace setters at the top of the division.

The early campaign sputtering form seems, for the moment at least, to be a distant memory, with the squad having emerged as a real force – the performances have been consistent enough, with chances-a-plenty and some great play – but it is only now that constancy of results is being rewarded.

I’ve said on the Pride of West London podcast many times that I question the worth of long unbeaten runs per se… amassing the maximum haul of points over a ten game period may not be harmed with a couple of defeats if you lose trying to win, against settling for a single point rather than risk defeat trying to grab an extra two points – that theory assumes you win the rest however. And it is only now that we seem to be strong enough in all departments to make that a reality… which, I admit, is a by-product of our unbeaten run. So what do I know?

So Cardiff this Saturday is a biggie and no mistake… Brentford are a match for anyone at this time. Confident, full of well deserved self belief and buoyed with individuals who are excelling on the pitch representing their countries as well as their club.

We go to Wales with little to fear despite the Neil Warnock factor… after all he is a man skilled at de-railing far better teams than the Bees. Defeat would not be the end of the world though, as long as we regroup and move on against Burton on Tuesday evening under the Griffin Park lights. But we will head west to win, I know.

The next phase of the season will also see the return of Sergi Canos, Lewis MacLeod and Alan Judge, with Emilio Marcondes finally joining from Nordsjaelland… and who’s to say that the January transfer window doesn’t see Dean Smith’s squad boosted even further if the play-off push remains realistic? Exciting times.

There’s also the matter of the ‘West London Cup’ to contest against QPR and Fulham in the coming weeks… two games that I personally can’t wait to see. Will we see the Bees continue to waive the victor’s flag in both games, or will the law of averages see them restore a bit of pride after seeing ‘little old Brentford’ rub their noses in it over the past few seasons? Either way we walk into both games confident and proud, knowing they’ll be scared of our football and far less dismissive… these games REALLY mean something to their fans now, whether they want to admit it or not!

Bring it on! Come On You Bees.

Dave Lane
@beesotted100

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