The cat seems to be well and truly out of the bag that Alan Judge has made his way to St James’ Park today for a medical ahead of a surprise transfer to Newcastle United.
Crowd favourite Judge broke his leg following a horrendous tackle by Ipswich Town’s Luke Hyam in April, which snubbed out the midfielder’s dream of representing Ireland at Euro 2016.
Judge has been inspirational since joining Brentford from Blackburn in 2014 and famously ‘scored the goal that sent us up’, a fact that has been sung at nearly every Bees match since that unforgettable Good Friday against Preston North End.
It is not unheard of for a player to be transferred to another club while recovering from a broken leg – but it is unusual to say the least. Whether the move comes off only time will tell, but there must be a clear desire to leave/buy/sell if this one is to get over the line with so many fitness issues at stake. The player’s caliber before the break is unquestionable however.
Judge had been poised to move to Sheffield Wednesday in a £3m-plus deal before the last transfer window closed, with some late developments seemingly scuppering the move – so it would seem that Judge has been preparing to leave for a little while now.
But few players would turn down the chance to play for Newcastle United and the wage rise that would bring to a 27-year-old looking for a career defining landmark transfer deal.
Brentford fans were rightfully hoping for news of transfers coming in rather than quality players leaving – but if this one has got legs (no pun intended) – most fans will acknowledge that with Judge out of contract at the end of 2016/17, and with the player and his agent already looking elsewhere, taking a windfall now may prove to be good business, even though the loss of Judge will be a bitter pill to swallow and the money involved will unlikely be as much as it could have been before that Ipswich thug shattered his leg.
Dave Lane
@beesotted100
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
CastBox
Acast
TuneIn
Google Podcasts
Agree ,Dave. I love Judgey but we are/were unlikely to see him again until Christmas and he was unlikely to sign a new contract knowing that his big move was on again if he showed the form from last season. We would probably get only another 20 or so matches from him before losing one of our best ever players on a free transfer.
At least this will give us a week to complete another signing or two as the transfer fee will enable us to pay a loan fee or buy someone.
Good luck to Judgey, hope the move goes through for him, but as always I’ll be sad to see another top player leave our club.
Mixed feelings obviously.No one wants to lose their best player but that has seemed inevitable for some time now. Hopefully a reasonable fee is agreed with add ons linked to appearances & the Toon’s return to the Prem will soften the blow whilst giving the DOF’s enough money for Dean Smiths belated “present” !
Judgey has been incredible for us and is one of the finest players I’ve seen play for our beautiful club. So the likely scenario of him moving to a club in the same division, albeit a big one, is gutting if i’m honest. However in all but contractual terms I felt he had gone anyway, he never gave us less than 100% and deserves his big move, but well before his injury I could see that he didn’t want to be here anymore. We saw the rehab updates via his twitter feed and wished him well, but also noticed that there was no mention of the Bees or good luck messages to the team, and he wasn’t at GP for the 2 home games as far as I know either. It was over!
I have no angst towards alan or Newcastle, I hope the deal is fair to Brentford and I want to see him do great things in the future. He goes with massive thanks and affection and I hope we see him back at Brentford long after his playing days are over.
I also hope he appreciates what BFC have been able to do for him and his family. I think he is the type of person that will.
Let’s hope the process is done and dusted quickly and that we can get on with the task of making our club and this team stronger. It is all about Brentford for us, this is no time to feel sorry for ourselves – it is time to get right behind the team that faces up to a big challenge from SWFC on Saturday.
Enjoy the players – Love the club!
Well said rebelbee. Makes total sense, all of it. Totally agree that he was one of the stand out players last year but before that, under Warburton, very good too but he was merely one of about 6 greats that year!! Looking back, it was such a great side.
Like you also say, look what Brentford as a club done for him (& also his own hard work obviously) but he was put on the Championship scrap heap by Blackburn as not being good enough……and look at them these days!
Saddens me that pretty much entire team under Warburton 2 seasons ago have gone but it’s nothing more or less than what we have been told will happen under Benhams astute leadership. We are a settled Championship side playing in our 3rd consecutive season & in my 35 years or more, I definitely didn’t think that possible so hats off to where we have come from to where we are now.
My only real concern, is that we have yet to unearth a real diamond to replace those who have left. I think we have potential greats in Woods, Bentley, McLeod (now he’s shook off injuries), Colin, Hogan & Egan but as yet, for me, nothing of that attacking force from 2 seasons back.
Wouldn’t it be nice, once the dust had settled & an admittance that the strategy itself was misjudged from the man at the top, Benham, over our recruitment policy last year, that one day in the not too distant future, a meeting of minds between Benham & Warburton might happen, an admittance that we as a club didn’t realise what a ‘man manager’ & people person he was, not to mention his unbelievable amount of contacts in European football, that we could ask him back to settle unfinished business and push again for what Benham stated he wishes to happen! (I don’t particularly care for Premiership football if I’m honest but Benham seems to for the stability & future success of the club as a whole).
What about it MB? Stranger things have happened & im not sure you’ll convince too many Brentford fans so far that the 2 DoF’s of football is a successful recruitment strategy so far either.
Have we come as far as we can under MB? Does he need assistance of a richer suitor to assist with club finances? How much longer can we survive using the buy cheap, sell big theory & how hard has it proved once our well known ‘moneyball’ plan is known to a selling club to try to buy that player? Is the stadium & the drive to Prem too much to do at once on his own? Has the success of the last 3 seasons proved a stumbling block to fans perceptions of where we should be?
Lots to ponder but I still enjoy the roller coaster ride but do fear that this team, totally decimated from 2 years ago, is weaker in almost every position to it & include that in our only remaining player, Harlee Dean, who has got slower & stiffer & really struggles each week to justify being a Championship player at the level required but no shocks to me that he seems to be now, THE only player not to have had an offer from a bigger club to move on! No shocks to me there! Managers must see something in him if he is now keeping an established international 28 year old defender sitting on our bench?? Baffles me though.
I would love us to improve again but these fairy tales of 1st place finish from Dean Smith & top 6 from the 2 DoF’s only leave me even more frustrated that it’s being incorrectly run from the top still. Pipe dream or not & I know they say never go back but to dream of having the pleasant, personable, no false promises of a hard working, classy going forward team under Warburton again, would be a dream come true but for now, I guess we support Dean Smith & those he chooses to represent us. I do fear a long season ahead. I hope our defence continues to improve, I mean we finally have a goal scoring centre back. Put Bjelland in alongside him & with Colin & Bentley too, no reason why not (barring injuries) & then it’s only about working out a way to score from open play or create chances of note without the slow build up play…..& we’re almost there. Sounds easy! I wish it was that simple.
I have been a supporter of Brentford for seventy years and I cannot understand why they are selling all there best players .all they (two advises)talk about is they are trying to bring in two wide players but they do not do any thing.about it let the manager take charge and get ridd of these two so he can get on with what he wants to do and get the bees bussing again.
We do understand the frustrations but there’s lots of what ifs with this one: What if he breaks down in training? What if he’s half the player when he comes back for a while? What if he refused to play building up to Jan window? What if he refuses to sign a new deal at BFC? What if we get absolutely nothing next summer when he is out of contract?
I get and share your frustration that we don’t seem to have landed the last couple of players or got that real buzz going. However, it makes no difference whether it’s the DoFs or the Coach doing the deals. The reality is we can’t compete on either transfer fees or wages.
This feels like the biggest wrench in a long time, which shows how well we’ve been doing in recent years as far as getting in great loanees for a season or building up replacements for the good players we have to inevitably sell.
Tark, Button and even Bidders didn’t feel like unbearable losses (tough though that last one was) but Judgey has been consistently special for us. Hopefully one of the newer lads will be able step up and our season will continue to build on the couple of wins we’ve managed so far.
Also, having no real idea of what Judgey’s affect is on his team mates, it’s hard to tell what impact this will have on the rest of the squad (he’s such a reliable force, I can’t believe it won’t be significant). Hopefully any move is handled smoothly and swiftly and his absence has minimal effect.
Stability needs to be the key now, a solid squad, a clear first 11 or 13 and some good old Brentford passing football.
We sell players to make end meet. It’s not hard to understand. That is coupled with the fact that when someone ‘wants away’ there isn’t much the club can do about it when the salary budget is comparatively low. And it’s low because our income is low.
We have to sell to stay afloat and so Alan Judge must depart for as much as we can get in the circumstances. Good luck to him. A bees legend for sure
Bottom line is Judge has wanted out for a while, so given the circumstances this is probably decent for all parties as long as we don’t get shafted by Newcastle and we reinvest ALL the income on someone like Watkins who is younger and has potential of a higher sell on ratio.
I’d say £1.5m plus another £1.5m in add ons would be fair, but since when have we ever got a fair price for players?
The saddest thing for me is that the days of giving something back to a club that has stood by you and supported you through a serious injury are gone… which is why Scott Hogan’s attitude is such a huge breath of fresh air.
Id say we got a good price for tarki, bidwell, odubajo, Dave and gray.
I think Scott Hogan is in a different position to Judgey. This is probably Judgey’s last chance to earn big money at a relatively old 28 (in football terms). Hogan has a bit longer and also has not really proved himself at Championship level yet. I doubt a club like Newcastle would enquire after him. He’ll be off too in due course I expect. Maybe he’ll prove me wrong and repay the club with Connoresque loyalty to the club but I doubt it.
RebelBee sums it up for me. As far as I’m concerned all debts are paid on both sides and if we can get a decent price for him great.
I’d be more worried if I were a Newcastle fans tbh given they have no clue how well he will recover.
I also think while Judge was a big player for us, and you want to have those players on your side, at least we have had the time to start to get over him on the field already. Better this way than watch him play without his heart in it.
Whilst we all will be disappointed to see him go we should not overlook the fact that our best run last season came following his injury. I feel Woods Mcleod & co will make us every bit the force we have been over the last few seasons.
Wherever he goes (or stay’s) I wish Judgy all the best I hope he not only gets back to the level he was at but attains the improvement that was still in him. I remember that Allan Mansley was never the same after his broken leg but medical science has come on since the 1960’s
Like it or not the only possible way to success is the Benham way. Brentford unfortunately is a small fish in a big pool (but we all still love the Bees) because from 1946 until Benham gained control Brentford had been badly mis-managed.
The outcome is quite simply, an uneconomic home ground, a very small supporter base, a shambolic administration, a small mentality club in survival mode, etc, etc.
We now have a well managed club, but with limited resources compared to other Championship teams and worse when compared to the Premiership Clubs – despite the 100 odd million invested by Benham.
So, Benham’s task is to build building a club on and off the field capable of Premier League football whilst overcoming the legacy and the inherent problems of 60 years of decay. The decay affects everything and a total rebuild is in progress – and that takes time.
It is also quite wrong to criticise a player for wanting to double his income. I am sure everyone who supports Brentford would change jobs if an offer of double wages was received. All we can ask is that whilst playing at Brentford they give their best every day and never allow their standards or motivation to slip.
Agree with much of that David, but I can’t agree that the entire post war period prior to MB’s arrival was all about mismanagement. That’s harsh on some good guys who more than did their best – Martin Lange to name just one. I don’t accept that we have a very small supporter base either, maybe when compared to a club like Newcastle, but we are a bigger club than many of our own realise. A Glasgow Rangers fan said to me recently that any club with a 40K record attendance playing in a town of only 20K+ residents is an important and significant club. Benham sees the real potential and has brought BFC back to life. I trust him to keep us safe and ultimately to push on, and urge others to do the same.
Losing a great player feels like a family loss, but when the emotions pass we should accept that it is the club that we love – imagine not having Brentford! If AJ goes we have to dust ourselves down and get to GP on Saturday in big numbers, throw the emotion and passion behind those that want to work hard and do well for the club – including the owner.
I think there is a lot of over-reaction over this. Judge was always offski but has given us many memories. Goodbye and good luck (although not in the games when we play you TM).
Maybe Holloway was ITK about this transfer when making his Championship predictions. Or maybe, just maybe, the likelihood of us finishing 22nd is still the same as me starting the month of May living with Sofia Vergara.
I’m confident we’ll still be fine to be honest. Although, to quote the social media kids, #soznotsoz if I do end up with Sofia and the Bees return to League One.
I think we all know that if Judgey had not had his leg broken and performed at the Euros he would not be here now anyway. Only disappointment is what the price tag would have been with a fully fit player who showed his strength in France.
It is what it is and the contract clock is ticking. He’s been a good servant.