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Brighton FA Cup draw

 

Brentford have been handed a home tie in the FA Cup third round, against Brighton & Hove Albion.

The two sides met at Griffin Park this season. Moses Odubajo, Andre Gray and Jonathan Douglas sealed a 3-2 win for the Bees.

The match approaches with a question mark surrounding manager Sami Hyypia’s position. Having only won 1 game in the last 16, the word on the street is saying Hyppia may not even be in charge when the Seagulls meet the Bees in the New Year – some fans backing a campaign to #BinTheFinn.

Needless to say, Brentford fans would rather Hyppia stay in charge and are considering a counter movement –  #SaveTheFinn

Also in the third round draw, AFC Wimbledon host Liverpool, Hull play Arsenal, and Manchester United will travel to either Accrington Stanley or Yeovil.

The Brighton game will be played on Saturday 3rd January.

Toumani Diagouraga signs new deal

Toumani Diagouraga has signed a two-year contract extension with Brentford.

The French midfielder was a serious doubt for a place in Mark Warburton’s championship squad. After being loaned to Portsmouth last season, where he excelled, Coventry tried to convince him to join them but he told the boss he would rather stay at Brentford and fight for his place.

After getting a break this season, Toumani has excelled with some stunning performances in midfield – with some observers calling him Brentford’s answer to Patrick Viera.

Mark Warburton was full of praise.

“Toumani is a player that has worked tirelessly to break into the team. We are delighted with the way he has responded.”

Huddersfield scout-fest

Brentford’s 2-1 defeat in Huddersfield was watched by no less than seven Premier-League scouts.

Not only was there an Arsenal scout to watch on-loan Jon Toral but there were scouts from Burnley, Everton, QPR, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United as well.

Alex Pritchard was one player on their radar with Swansea and West Brom showing a keen interest as well as Wolves. Brentford are apparently preparing a bid to sign him in January – a few of up to £2m being mooted.

On top of that, there were also scouts from Blackburn Rovers, Brighton, Cardiff City, Ipswich Town, Wigan Athletic, Wolves, Norwich City, Birmingham City, Rotherham United and League One Sheffield United.

Nothing like a five match winning streak to bring them all running. Hopefully, the Blackburn and Ipswich scouts will not have learned as much as they would have liked.

You can hear the Brentford and Huddersfield fans’ post-match reaction right here.

Brentford centre-back debate heats up

Brentford fans have been torn this week as to who the centre-back pairing should be.

Fans took to social media to debate whether club captain Tony Craig should be dropped.

The debate appears to be whether the centre-back partnership should be Craig-Dean, Craig Tarkowski, Tarkowski-Craig, or Tarkowski-Dean.

As Craig is club captain, dropping him would take a hefty amount of courage from Warburton. At the same time it, has been asked whether the team would benefit from a shake-up in the defence.

 

Manager change at Orient

Leyton Orient have appointed Fabio Liverani as their new manager on a two and a half year contract.

Former boss Mauro Milanese, who took over from Russell Slade who left in a cloud of smoke for the hills of Cardiff,  will return to his role as sporting director.

Liverani will be hoping to turn around Orient’s season. They are currently sat in 19th place in League 1, following play-off final heartbreak last season.

Trotta on the market

Marcello Trotta is on the market. Kit Simons has finally agreed to put the Fulham striker on the transfer list January.

The Italian put in a transfer request earlier in the year in an attempt to force a move to Brentford but it was turned down by cheesemaster Magath.

He is currently on loan at Barnsley where he has scored one goal in two appearances. Previously he scored 12 goals in his 37 appearances last season for the Bees.

Brentford U21s lost to Ipswich

Brentford U21’s lost 3-2 to Ipswich on Tuesday afternoon with goals from Louis Hutton and Tyrell Miller Rodney.

The Bees, who were 2-1 up, included James Tarkowski as well as recently injured first-teamers Sam Saunders, Nico Yennaris and Richard Lee in their side.

Wolves’ owner punished by FA

Wolves’ owner Steve Morgan has been charged by the FA for his aggressive actions on Saturday, as his side lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth.

During the game referee Mike Jones sent off two Wolves players. Wolves have confirmed they will appeal.

Morgan allegedly confronted Jones after the game to press him about his decisions.

Morgan has until Thursday to respond to the charge, although he has already apologised.


Blackburn travel to Griffin Park

Brentford host Blackburn this Saturday in what is the final home match before Christmas.

With 1,300 Blackburn fans expected to travel, this is the first game of the season at Griffin Park where the away team will fail to sell out their allocation.

Few could have predicted we would go into a game at this stage of the season firmly lodged in the play-off places.

A win this Saturday could take Brentford 2nd in the table, if other results go their way.

Brentford will … and won’t be looking forward to the return of striker Jordan Rhodes, who played such a key role in the Division 2 promotion season of 2008/9.

Brentford will have no fresh injury concerns.