Brentford went down by 2 goals to 1 at the John Smiths Stadium against a very lively and organised Huddersfield side who were well worth their victory.
From the very first minute they caused problems for Brentford with their fast-moving high pressing football – creating a dozen chances over the 90 minutes whilst limiting Brentford to a mere handful.
Disappointing.
Unsatisfactory.
Two words that sum up Brentford’s opening performance against Huddersfield in Yorkshire.
The signs were there in the pre-season matches that Brentford hadn’t quite got their act together. The performances did not have the intensity, cohesion and spark the fans expected – with the team scoring a total of 5 goals in 6 matches against a mixture of lower-league opposition and international teams.
That was dismissed by many as ‘usual pre-season fare’ with the notion that ‘performances don’t matter so much. Pre-season is more about getting the players fit’.
If you read the FanStand article with Terrier Cass before the match, he was enthusing about how his team came through their close season – beating a load of lower-league teams before losing 2-0 to Liverpool in what was, by all accounts, an enthralling encounter. They then drew against Werder Bremen and beat FC Ingolstadt in Austria to conclude a successful pre-season.
Yes we know it’s very early days. And it’s a marathon not a sprint.
But we also know how important it is to come out of the traps sprinting. Or else – if you are not careful – you could be dragged into the mire … with the team starting to lose confidence.
Last season’s start is very much still etched in my memory banks. It was awful. And fitness was professed as one of the main reasons why we started so badly.
So it really does depend what our end-game is as to how deeply you read into this loss.
If it is another season of mid-table consolidation – which is totally fine but let’s just make that objective very clear from the very start – then we can sit back, take results like this on the nose and hope that everything starts to click into shape over the coming months.
Most fans would be happy with that.
But the problem we have here is when then barometer – which has NOT been set by the fans but by the Head Coach and the Directors of Football – is raised.
At the recent fans’ forum, Dean Smith and Phil Giles told folk that a top 6 finish was the target this season.
No pressure then!!
So, in light of that prediction, Dean Smith’s post-match comments do make me slightly concerned … already.
Not a moan.
But I’m trying to take a balanced view on things, based on what I have seen over the past few weeks and also up at Huddersfield.
To be fair, Smith doesn’t seem overly happy with the way the start of the season has panned out. He absolutely coated our performance at Millwall. He has made it very clear that he hasn’t quite got the full complement of personnel he requires. And he has also highlighted the fact that he has had to deal with injuries to key players.
But to be fair, things could be a lot worse.
Going through his post-match comments below:
We didn’t deserve to win. They were brighter and created more chances than us. We lost it sloppily.
We certainly didn’t deserve to win. It was worrying that Huddersfield beat us at our own game. Pressing high. Passing the ball around. Picking up on our mistakes. Being first to the ball.
We weren’t winning balls enough. We were allowing them to break easily. We weren’t winning the ball high. They were closing us down too easy and we weren’t dealing with it.
All these things which are normally the hallmark of ‘The Brentford game’.
Fans on the terrace and also on the above described Brentford as still being in pre-season mode. Whereas Huddersfield were well and truly ready for battle.
They looked a good three weeks ahead of us in their campaign. Which is slightly worrying seeing as we have had a whole pre-season to prepare for this match
We had players coming out of long-term injuries who couldn’t play the full 90 minutes.
Yes we had Josh McEachran back for his first full game since March (the 1-0 loss to Blackburn) and Nico was brought on in the second half. But to be fair, the whole Huddersfield team seemed a lot fitter and up-for-it than our team – which is a real worry. Im sure Dean Smith would say that was an unfair criticism. But then maybe not reading his comments.
Is Dean saying our fitness regime isn’t quite up to scratch? Is he saying that Huddersfield who – like us last season – brought in a raft of new players were still able to get them fitter than us and able to gel in time for the new season?
I’m actually not sure here.
To be fair, you could immediately see the difference once Nico came on for Josh McEachran. There was more pace to our game. Maybe it’s a co-incidence (and this isn’t a scapegoat … but it is a fact) that McEachran’s injury at the back end of last season didn’t see him feature in the end-of-season run which saw us lose just one match (to Playoff winners Hull) in 9 games – winning 7 of those in the process.
McEachran is a big ‘the jury is out’ player and will really need to pick up his game to get fans on board. He also dosesn’t seem the type of player to throw into a match like this with a Huddersfield team playing with their tails up.
Again in the podcast, the question was asked – why pick McEachran as it had been proven time after time last season that Woods and McEachran in the middle just does not work? Is that because we have no other options?
And if so, that again is worrying. If Nico is the main man for the job – and I believe the midfielder will almost definitely be one of the first names on the team-sheet when he is fully fit – and we DO have a injury in that position, then our options are minimal to say the least.
We’re looking for pace. We need wide players. Sawyers and McLeod playing wide isn’t their game
Dean Smith sounds frustrated here. He obviously knows what he needs to get the team playing the football he wants. And he has been very vocal in saying that he hasn’t quite got it. So he has had to make do with what he has.
Having to play players out of position is always a bug-bear for fans. And surely the players themselves.
This comes back to recruitment once again. And a point we have brought up again and again on the podcast. Have we reached a glass ceiling in terms of where we are (an established Championship side) and what players we are able to bring in (due to finances)?
Have we raised our game so much that we are now struggling to complete the deals for the player we need to get us to another level?
Yes, we know that many British teams wait until August – sometimes for the bun-fight in late in August – to release players, which doesn’t really help pre-season preparations. But surely every team has this problem. Not just us.
Is it a case of Brentford going back to Europe where the players are cheaper and you can pick them up earlier in the summer – as Huddersfield have obviously done?
We lost Jota last season. And fair play to Rob Rowan, he struck a deal with Liverpool to bring in Canos.
Unfortunately, we were unable to snag him at the end of the season.
So at the start of this campaign, the same problem remains – finding players with pace prepared to run at defenders. But this would not have been a surprise. No doubt we will have been looking for months to cover this position.
Huddersfield seem to have most of their bases covered this pre-season. And, unlike us last season, the players they bought in from Europe in the summer seem to be pretty much match-ready.
Word on the street is we are after Ollie Watkins from Exeter. That hasn’t materialised as yet. Maybe he’s coming back on the players coach with us on Tuesday night.
Whether or not we get Watkins, or other signings, what to me is more worrying is the fact that players like Chelsea’s Tammy Abrahams – who I’m sure was touted with a move to Brentford within the last 12 months – gets a move to Bristol City – netting two goals on his debut.
Also I have to ask, how do Huddersfield manage to get hold of midfielder Kasey Palmer from Chelsea – who scored the winning goal with his first touch of the ball – “from under our very noses”? He plays in the exact positions we are looking for – as a No 10 and also on the left wing.
Then there is Ipswich, who we play next week. They signed Rotherham’s Young Player of last season – winger Grant Ward – from Spurs in the summer after a season on loan to The Millers. The fee was reputed to be £500k. He comes on in the second half against Barnsley and scored a hat-trick in 39 minutes.
Then of course there is John Swift – highly rated by the Brentford staff last season as a rough diamond – but we were unable to get a deal over the line when we tried to sign him in the summer due to various ‘ridiculous’ demands. He scored on his debut for Reading.
Surely, all these players must have been on our summer radar?
Is it a case of cementing the relationship with Premier League teams so that your Abrahams and your Palmers and your Wards are an option for us to turn down before they take a trip down the M4 to Bristol or up the M1 to Huddersfield or up some single-track lane to Ipswich?
Moves like these should be our bread and butter. Or have we decided – as was discussed on – against going for loaning players for a season, building up their profile and have no chance of signing? Instead preferring to either build up our own players. Or sign a player (like Watkins .. or dare I say it Ward) who we can develop AND then reap the benefits of his increased value.
This, to me, would have been a very valid question to have asked at the Fans Forum last week (which I was unable to attend) which – the common consensus was – in reality came a month too early. Brentford had not played any competitive matches for fans to formulate any real opinions at that stage.
There’s a fantastic spirit in the team
At least I can take this as an upside. Team spirit is absolutely crucial. And can win you points even if your side is performing poorly.
One of the main things I was hoping for from pre-season was the team went to Germany and came back super-fit (which doesn’t sound like it has quite happened). And the team would bond as a unit like our promotion-winning and Premier League Play-off teams did (which is sounds like it has happened).
From that I suppose I can take heart.
So where do we go from here?
We have a match on Tuesday against Exeter in the League Cup. Dean Smith has already hinted about making a raft of changes for this game.
But hold on … apparently we’re not fully match fit and not quite ticking. So surely, the best way of getting fitness and getting the team to tick is by playing football.
He should know all about that from the debacle when his old team Walsall came to visit in January.
Or have I read this wrong?
Then we then have Ipswich next Saturday, who scored more goals in their first match of the season – against newly-promoted Barnsley – than the total amount of chances we created against Huddersfield.
It sounds like they are also way ahead of us in their season preparations. And they managed to nab a winger for what sounds like a reasonable fee, whereas we’re struggling.
We know their game very well. Big, strong and organised – mixing half-decent football with a more direct game.
To be fair, we are going to have to do much better next weekend to make sure we don’t come a cropper to Mick McCarthy’s boys.
This is less of a rant and more of a reality check.
When the powers that be predict a top six finish, it’s a matter of fact that we need to come into the season better prepared than this.
Yes we’ve had a bit of bad luck. But everyone has bad luck. It’s swings and roundabouts.
So, with the words “top 6 target” still ringing in people’s ears from the fans’ forum, and bearing in mind we still have a few weeks to go until the transfer window slams shut, we all wait with baited breath to see how Brentford evolves over the next few weeks.
Billy Grant
@BillyTheBee99
Brilliant Billy hope that Dean and Matthew read this one.
I have a feeling that we may be digging into the B team sooner rather than later this season.
Excellent summary Billy. As you state a number of factors could potentially leave us ‘off the pace’
I suspect there have been a number of niggling injuries among a large number of players.
To see some loans completed, you naturally question “why not us?”
And while the ‘transfers from Europe’ exercise was a step to far last year, I would have though one or two from Europe this summer to settle in and develop would have been done. Hopefully not a case of the ‘baby out with the bathwater’.
I have sympathy with the DofF’s. They I suspect must feel frustrated at not getting more ‘over the line’.
I am sure MB must be seeing this too and more and will do the best for the club. In MB we trust!
I have no problem with the way we scout players – I think any way we can identify the appropriate player the better. I am just nervous about the competition having caught up with us to a certain extent and are competing with us heavily.
Saying that we did pull in Sawyers, Egan and Bentley – three highly respected players – in the summer so we done well to get these guys over the line.
I agree with you with regards Europe. And I don’t think they have abandoned the idea of signing a player from anywhere if he is good enough. If we need to bring in a flair player, maybe looking back at Europe is the answer – especially if we are facing too much competition from UK-based players. Maybe Germany as opposed to Portugal or Denmark as the type of football they play and their culture is closer to English – so in principal the transition should be easier.
With regard the B-Team I hope you are right. Maybe, with the increased cost and competitor for players, the need to have a more focussed route of progress into the A-team was required.
It would be great if we could fast-track some of these players into the first team squad. If so, many of these arguments will disappear pronto. Personally, I would much rather we were developing our own Sergi Canos or Kasey Palmer.
Completely agree with all of this. It was blindingly obvious yesterday that we desperately need someone with real pace who can go past people on the wing. Given that we are struggling to sign someone, why on EARTH are we practically kicking Gogia out of the door without giving him the opportunity? Same thing happened at the start of last season when it became obvious Andre would go, but we sold Grigg anyway. We then spent most of last season saying we needed another striker. I don’t get it.
Don’t start me on Will Grigg Ali. If you listen to the podcast regularly, you’ll know that I’m actually Will Grigg’s agent. And I still believe that he would have been a better option off the bench than what we have at the moment. Can you imagine bringing a 10 plus goal striker off the bench – that’s when you’re really talking top 6
Very interesting article Billy – I don’t normally respond to such articles but having been a Brentford supporter since my father introduced me around the late 1950s and certainly a season ticket holder until illness stopped me going to matches last year, I feel I should write a couple of things I need guidance on. It hinges around the job description of two of Brentford’s operatives Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen Firstly Rasmus Ankersen, a “job share” with Midjyland is not ideal. How much of his focus is on The Bees, I wonder ? His body language at the recent Fans Forum was not good in my view. Laconic, disinterested,I’m not sure which but I was unimpressed. As for Phil Giles, on a recent podcast somebody said he was growing into the job. Well he may well give straight answers but I remain unsure of his credentials to do this job. His qualifications to hold this vital position are sketchy indeed. A Toon Army member & employee of Matthew Benham is as much as most people know. A Football man, er.. well I’ll come back to you on that one. The bottom line is we are grossly under prepared for a new Championship season. No wideman, only 1 reliable forward, (I’m discounting Hoffman btw & an ever growing list of injuries.) Not great & while we pontificate, decent quality wingmen are being snapped up from under our noses. The DOF’s have known what is required for some time & have palpably failed to address the problem. It’s just not good enough on their part!
Thanks for your reply Derek and I hear what you are saying Derek. I think the whole ‘football person’ thing is a mismomer. I really do believe in ‘best man for the job’ and too many times, companies become entrenches in what has been done before .. and never diversify. I bet there are one or two excellent people working in advertising … or banking .. or doctors … who would make excellent Directors Of Football … and thousands and thousands who would be rubbish .. in the same way that there are hundreds of people working as head coaches and directors of football and other roles who are quite frankly rubbish … but are there before it is deemed if you have a football background you know what you are doing ….
Rasmus – and I wrote this elsewhere – I actually believe confuses the Director of Football role and the club would be better to look at these roles and separate them or rename Rasmus. Yes he deals with stuff but his involvement in player recruitment – from what I can gather – is nowhere near as involved as Phil Gilles. He is part of the jigsaw along the line yes … but from what I can gather Andy Scott has much more involvement .. as do the scouts and analysts. Doesn’t stop Rasmus from suggesting players (you or I could suggest players) or his view to be asked on a player. But the reality is … Phil Gilles controls the player recruitment side.
Also .. and I wrote this in a recent article on our recruitment system … the person at the top has to be a people person. Organised – dealing with a lot of administration .. speak to a lot of agents .. and oversee the whole recruitment process. It’s not nearly as glamorous role as people think. When we asked Mark Warburton if he would go back to DoF he said ‘No way. Thats not for me. I don’t want to spend my time speaking to agents and doing paperwork’ …
A lot of the players who come through the scouting system Phil doesn’t even see. There may be say 100 players who start at the bottom of the system .. being scouted and analysed and who go through the mill .. the best say 6 would come to Phil … who would then, with his team of people (including Dean Smith) decide on whether to make a move or not …
What Im saying is our system works only if our whole scouting system is solid from top to bottom. Mainly from the bottom. Because if we are missing these players at the bottom of the system, they will never get to the top.
Once these players get to the top and the club like them, it is up to Phil and co to do the deal.
And this is where I throw the question in. Are we able to close these deals??
To be honest, I’m less worried about us finding the players. I’m sure all the three players who were in this article (not including Swift) were on our radar. It’s whether we are able to deliver the deal. I’m not sure if financially we are able to compete. There is nothing we can do about that. But if we put our hands up and say “we can’t compete financially” then we will have to once again take a different approach.
Maybe we have to go a league lower than we are looking at the moment. Maybe we will have to balance up between looking abroad and at home. Maybe we may have to do some creative deal-making to get loans in. Maybe we would have to look at creating a relationship with one to two or three teams where, in exchange for finance and expertise, we get first dibs on their players.
I’m not sure as I’m not in the thick of of it here. But I do know something about creative deal-making as a small independent. And for me, if this is an issue, this is maybe where we should be going.
It’s too easy to blame personnel in my books. To be a bigger problem is more the limitations we have to do exactly what we want. It was easier in Division 1 as we were off-radar there.
In The Championship, if you are doing anything right, all eyes are on you.
Thanks for your response Billy and you make some valid points but the bottom line is the DOF’s are not securing players according to the needs of the Coach.No amount of rhetoric can disguise the fact we have not replaced Messrs Jota, Dallas or Canos & 2 of the 3 have been gone for over 6 months.Anyway keep up the good work you are doing for our beloved Brentford FC
I’m not so sure things are much different from the start of last season, as we are burdened with lots of injuries and the team sounds as if it is a bit undercooked.
For whatever reason we seem to be finding it much more difficult to recruit players these days. If this is down purely to money, fair enough and I accept it. If not, then questions have to be asked of the DOFs. I personally would like to see a ‘football man’ in one of these roles – football as an industry is inherently suspicious of ‘outsiders’ and in our situation it is imperative that we have someone with wide connections throughout English football, something the previous two incumbents definitely had.
Finally, as you say Billy, making predictions of top six finishes is not that clever really, especially as the team is clearly lacking in some areas with the season already started.
Early days I know but the way this division has started it seems likely to be the most competitive since our arrival. I can’t help thinking our 9th placed team would now struggle, so we’d need to improve fast simply to stand still. When I saw Josh McEachran KK & Clarke, plus the new players stepping up a level on debuts in the starting 11 on Sat it did hit home. I think many of us glossed over the departure of Bidwell and Button, seeing their replacements as more than adequate. Maybe in time, but not from day 1. And what is it with all these injuries?
I think I do understand the plan better now, but the key element is its implementation, both in terms of scouting & closing deals, and then getting the most out of the team on the day. Work to do on both fronts at the moment, plus we have to find ways to move on the misfits from last summer’s business (Gogia, Hoffman, and possibly even KK and McEachran).
What is vital is that we all pull behind the club and support the team – this season could go one of 2 ways, but we’d mostly all be satisfied to retain our place in the championship come next May. If we do our job and get down to GP in big numbers and roar on every point it will be OK. Hostile GP where we do our bit and others will have to step up and do theirs.
What I would like to know is why given the considerable sum that we have received from player sales during last season,were we unable to come up with the £2.5Million that Liverpool wanted for Sergi Canos.
If we can’t afford that sort of sum for a player that we know is tried and tested both at BFC and in the Championship , then YES we are in serious trouble.
Oh and at £750,000 Mceachran has to be the biggest waste of money in the club’s history “!!!
Thing is folks don’t forget it’s Behams money funding the bees ,before he came along we didn’t have any ,just debts.
£2.5M is a hell of a lot for us but I dare say MB may be willing to go for it in certain conditions. The issue will be the wages & compliance with FFP & Canos much as I loved him isn’t in our reach.
I’ve no issue with MB steering clear of these mad fees / wages. The DoF’s & DS gave to use their knowledge & contacts to find players that fit our model.
If Gray goes for £30M our sell on would be a game changer.