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The trip to Newcastle fast approaches. Three Thousand Brentford fans get ready to travel up to North East England by road, rail, air, boat (OK maybe not boat) for what has been unofficially designated the annual big game of the season for most Bees fans. Billy Grant touched base with Rob Clothier from Total NUFC to get the run-down on The Toon .. and how they are coping with life in The Championship

Are you enjoying The Championship so far?

Yes so far we have loved our time in the Championship. We have sold out our allocation to all our away fixtures and had some fantastic results – after the first couple of games that is! There is a real feel good factor around Newcastle United since Benitez took over.

Why do you think you seem to have acclimatised fairly quickly to the league whereas the likes of Villa this season and Wolves and Leeds in previous seasons have struggled?

I would have to say this is down to Benitez. He managed to convince a lot of our players to stay at the club. Rafa has experience of promotion in Spain and he plans so in depth for every game. No stone is left unturned. I think St James’ Park can be quite a daunting place for teams to visit due to the high attendances, size of the ground and atmosphere. It is surprising to see such low attendances at Aston Villa. Their fans have not got behind the team and turned up in numbers like we have.

You’ve spent some dough on players this season. More expensive than the average Championship signing. Do you rate the players you have bought in?

We have made some really good signings. Notably Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle. But most importantly I think, we have overhauled our defence and brought in the like of Ciaran Clark, Grant Hanley, DeAndre Yedlin, Achraf Lazaar and Jesus Gamez. Our defence was threadbare last season which ultimately ended up in relegation. Rafa knows that in the past, teams that have been promoted from the Championship have done so with a strong defence. So improving this area of the squad was key. Isaac Hayden has also been a fantastic acquisition.

Have you had to change the way you play to acclimatise to The Championship?

I think we have, because teams now see us as the big scalp they want to take during the season. Teams set up against us defensively to try and frustrate us, so we have a lot of possession in games and rely on Shelvey to pick out those killer passes for the wingers and front men to create the goal scoring opportunities.

Newcastle winger Ronaldo Aarons got arrested in a night club punch up after some men allegedly had a ‘bump and grind’ with his auntie. If these guys approached her without consent, this is obviously well out of order. However, in general … are there any situations … where you can see nothing wrong … with a bit of bump and grind?

Haha, well its hard to comment on what actually happened because the Police have not released too many details. It is of course unfortunate for the lad’s reputation and I have no doubt Rafa won’t be happy about the situation. But I think he’ll learn from it and grow up a bit. He has a lot of potential and if guided properly could be a great player. At the end of the day Rolando will just have to knuckle down and help bump NUFC back up to the Premier league by grinding out some results in the Championship!!

You’re scoring goals and defending well so you seem on course for promotion back to The Premier League. What could go horribly wrong for you?

I think if we lost Shelvey to injury or suspension this could hamper our fortunes as at present we don’t have a ready made replacement. I think Rafa will be more than aware of this as we approach the January transfer window. Other than that, its hard to see how else it could go wrong with the squad we have. As long as the lads keep the effort levels high and don’t get complacent.

3000 mighty MIGHTY Bees are on the march up to St James’ Park on Saturday. You lost to Huddersfield first game of the season. Like Huddersfield, we were tipped for relegation. Does this make you a tad nervous?

I have a lot of respect for Brentford. Passionate support, good manager and good players. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly nervous. But on the other hand, I am confident we will sneak a win in the match.

Can you give the travelling masses a couple of pub recommendations for a few beers pre-match.

Away fans often head to the bars near to Newcastle Central Railway Station. There are some decent bars there such as The Head of Steam and O’Neills. There is also a Wetherspoons called the Union Rooms near to the Central Station (plus more pubs listed below from the Beesotted research team).

Finally, give us a score prediction

I think this will be a close game. And I think both teams will score. So I’m putting my money on a 2-1 victory for the Toon!

Finally, can we just wish all Brentford’s travelling fans an enjoyable and safe trip and we hope you you enjoy your visit to St James’s Park (but not too much!!)

Billy Grant
@BillyTheBee99

Other pubs in Newcastle 

The Strawberry is opposite but gets heaving. Malcom McDonald is doing a chat post match chat apparently.

On Percy street you have Percy Arms and 3 Bulls Heads. All of these are more “pubby” pubs rather than bars but the crowd is good, loud and friendly.

Other bars would be Shearers, The Gate, The Vault, Fluid, Sam Jacks (gentlemans’ entertainment) and Beehive. All these are 5-10 mins from ground

Brentford fans have been invited to the Tyneside Irish Centre which is 2 mins from the ground. Friendly crowd. And a stone throw from the away terrace. Joe Allon is going to meet our crew in here for a few swifties after the match. We are planning to be in here at some time post match. See how it goes.

Other than the Irish Centre, the Beesotted Crew have their eyes on one these bars (all within a couple of minutes walk from each other and less than 10 mins walk from the ground):

Lady Grey’s,
Bacchus
Pleased To Meet You
The Bridge Tavern brewery (which also does great food)
Fitzgerald’s
Duke of Wellington
Old George
Crown Posada
The town wall
Alvinos – late night bar (2am)