Long-term Beesotted contributor and journalist, Jim Levack, expresses his concerns about the reaction some fans gave to Dean Smith’s second half substitution of Romaine Sawyers yesterday. Although these are Jim’s personal opinions, these thoughts were echoed by other Bees in the post-match Pride of West London podcast, which can be heard by clicking the link below.
It should have been a day of celebration where we rejoiced in Brentford’s rich heritage with some of the stars of yesteryear before taking another three points towards cementing our Championship status for another season.
Instead, we were left with a nostalgic reminder of former players and a rather sour taste in our mouths… and not because of the result.
It mattered not that Brentford lost to a Barnsley side that, on paper at least, they would have despatched comfortably if they’d got anywhere near their usual energy level and tempo.
I’m not that concerned by the defeat because Barnsley were probably worthy of the win and Brentford simply had “one of those days” when nothing quite clicked. That’s football and the harder you try to resolve it, the harder it gets.
But it was the reaction of a small section of Brentford supporters’ who cheered the substitution of Romaine Sawyers that ruined my day.
Sawyers didn’t have his best game – few apart from Yennaris and Clarke did – but in the absence of last year’s scapegoat Harlee Dean, the former Walsall man bore the brunt.
The cheers for Dean Smith’s change might as well have been boos for Sawyers, who, to my mind, never ever gives less than 100% despite the perceptions created by his languid style.
Just as with John Swift last season, a small bunch of empty vessels decided to make the most noise to the detriment of a quality young footballer finding his way in he game.
So when Brentford tried to sign Swift – let’s not forget he’s an England Under 21 – he, probably understandably, didn’t want to know. Swift had been a silly boy with an ill-advised tweet, but he was young and naïve. Sawyers’ only crime is to not be playing at full tilt within a dozen or so Championship games.
By his own admission he’s finding it tough to make the step up, but remember Brentford’s squad is pretty thin and he has been thrown in at the deep end, so it’s very much sink or swim. Mostly he’s swum fluently, so when he flounders slightly, it’s baffling that some of his own fans want to push his head back under.
For what it’s worth I think Sawyers is a quality signing. Big, strong and intelligent he reminds me of a player who also got stick back in the early 90s.
Many never saw the point of Ian Benjamin, one of Dave Webb’s signings, but his ability to hold the ball up, bring other players into the game and weigh in with the odd goal made him one of the first on the team-sheet.
I can recall at least three incisive forward passes yesterday where Sawyers’ tried to carve open the Barnsley defence. They were inches away from coming off. If they had, he’d have been hailed a hero and those same morons would have booed Smith for taking him off.
By May, Sawyers will be regarded as a mainstay of this team. Still only 24, he has a lot to learn about the Championship, but he’s intelligent enough on and off the field to be a quick learner.
But the handful of idiots who berated him risk destroying the close bonds created between fans and players during the recent treks to Newcastle and Derby.
I saw enough people around me incensed by the cheering to know that we are the majority. I hope Romaine realises that too.
Jim Levack
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Ian Benjamin Jim. Are you sure? We are talking an utter pants terrible journeyman footballer.
I get the impression with Sawyers that he is either awful or excellent. His second half performance yesterday was the former.
However, there is NO excuse for the reaction of some fans when he was substituted. Disgraceful.
A month or two back we had certain fans applauding Jonathan Douglas coming on, conveniently forgetting his assault on Jota. Some fans really need to reflect on that.
We now have a problem in that Sawyers is seen as Dean Smith’s man and this could potentially drive a wedge between him and a certain section of the fans.
Sawyers has been excellent in the last few home games after a couple of poor ones early doors. I was utterly dismayed to hear the reaction yesterday to be honest and therefore would like to back up what Jim says (minus the Ian Benjamin bit).
Regards
Gordon
Well said….utter morons. We have more than our fair share of village idiots these days
Spot on, Romaine won’t need telling it wasn’t his best game, he’s a bright boy. But how exactly is booing him off the pitch going to help him improve? He’s wearing our shirt and I’m sure he’s doing his best. Yesterday wasn’t it, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Support the lad and we’ll see him swagger about the pitch like he did against Reading and Preston soon enough.
And yes, Ian Benjamin did us a job.
Languid or lazy?
Not only 100% correct, but you are far too polite to the ‘idiots’ or whatever name they go by. A few years ago they were in their element at Brentford, but now with the Premier League not far away they would not understand or comprehend the progress that has been made – and will continue to be made at Brentford.
The second half of the season when Championship new boys, Sawyers, Hogan, Macleod, Bentley, Bjelland, McEacheran, Egan and Clarke, plus relatively new boys Woods, Colin and Yennaris become battle hardened and all start to realise their full potential, I doubt there will be a Championship team that will be a match for them.
What on earth will the ‘idiots’ do then? Hopeful go to give advice to QPR and Fulham because they are certainly not worthy of any association with Brentford.
This article feels about right in tone and content, from where I sit there were a few stupid cheers at the withdrawal of RS, I think others were not intending to vent at our player in this way – more ironic sighs at what was a totally depressing afternoon.
Romaine Sawyers is a good footballer who looks a bit short on confidence, his reaction says a lot about him, and he has my backing and will prove to be a fine addition to our team in time. The midfield area isn’t functioning well at the moment and he is taking some unfair stick for what he doesn’t do, rather than some balanced credit for what he does offer.
There is an air of complacency about our place in the division and it is right to bring this up – GP has lost it’s intimidating feel, all around me people are chatting, on their phones, or sloping off for an early beer – not fully engaged in the games like we were. Totally different on the road where the support has been excellent – the backing at Villa being as good as I’ve known it.
Take this league for granted on and off the pitch and we’ll be back to planning trips to Swindon and Peterborough.
We all need to up our game – players and supporters. Starting on Friday.
I don’t disagree with the sentiment in the slightest. ‘Supporters’ such as those that jeered on Saturday have no place at Griffin Park. However, I’m not sure highlighting what happened is the best course of action. You can’t fight ignorance so shouldn’t even try, and by writing a piece such as this you are simply giving credence to something that should actually be wholly ignored. Every club has morons and every player has the odd bad day (I could see why Sawyers was subjected to the derision) but highlighting both helps no-one in the long run. The good things are all that is worth filing copy on. Accept the bad days and take them on the chin and just simply ignore the knuckle-draggers.
A good performance at The Ra Ra’s is all that’s important right now. C’mon you Bees!!
Some supporters had the knives at the ready before he’d even arrived as he’d been dubbed ‘lazy’ by some Walsall fans. This tag seems to have stuck but he’s far from lazy. He covers a lot of ground and his movement off the ball is as good as anyone’s bar hogan. He does press the opposition and will track back when needed. So, basically this all boils down to the old chestnut ‘he doesn’t get stuck in’. Now he’s clearly not the worlds greatest tackler but he’s an attacking midfielder FFS.. No-one berates our CBs for not being able to thread an inch perfect pass through to hogan and nor should they.
If there is a criticism of Sawyers it’s that he’s not picking those passes quickly or often enough. He spends far too much time dropping deep to get the ball (possibly in a desire to be seen to ge ‘getting stuck in’) and really needs to be told to stay in the opponents half where he can do more damage. Hogan is always making the runs and sawyers has the tools to pick him out. A few choice assists would do him and the team the world of good…
By the way, I always felt Lee Thorpe was a really underrated player who got unwarranted stick from the crowd!!
I’ll get my coat…
Regards
Gordon
While sardonic cheering isn’t really on, I think the message was more for Smith than Sawyers. We’re suffering with injuries, an over-reliance on Hogan to score goals, an arguable lack of telling substitutions, and have the second-youngest squad in the division ahead of Barnsley, so it’ll be a great achievement if we’re in the top 6 in May.
My bigger-picture concerns: The rotation of the squad so far has been minimal compared to the rest of the division. Long-term, this will make for injuries, as the less battle-hardened and those recovering from injury will need time off, pending being able to keep their mouths shut, of course!
I and many around me have questioned the constant insistence of starting Macleod given he was going down in every match holding the same ankle that was previously injured. Now that we have a bit of a head start, I believe he needs time to sit out and fully recover and shouldn’t be starting until he has.
Where you have players languishing that need minutes on the pitch, the opportunities aren’t being taken. For example, at 3-1 up and crusing against Reading, do you not give Hofmann half an hour of competitive play? Sure, the generally underwhelming McEachran managed to get the assist for our 4th goal in his 6-minute cameo, but bigger picture it’s vital to get strikers on the pitch. Giving Kaikai, a loan player recovering from injury, 2 minutes at the end was meaningless.
So yes, I have question marks over Smith’s general squad usage, particularly in circumstances such as giving a start to an impact sub like Saunders who was well off the pace on Saturday, ahead of those who are raring to go and have more minutes in them such as Kerschbaumer.
Smith has said that Kerschbaumer needs to earn his place in the side. I believe he did as much at the back end of last season when he took great advantage of the injury to McEachran and put in some quality performances, reflected in his contributions to the positive results. Where we have a lone striker who thrives on balls to feet and into the space beyond the defence, Kerschbaumer’s main strength lies in this area. Yet time and again it’s McEachran who’s awarded the 15-minute cameo, largely passing sideways and backwards when the demand is for incisive forward play.
Sawyers has shown glimpses of that kind of quality, mainly as one of those players we seem to occasionally sign who plays his better football when he doesn’t have time to think. His one touch or first time balls have sometimes been excellent and exactly what’s required. However, time to control the ball and pick a pass often sees him trip over it, play the easy short one, or give it up easily to the opposition. Purely my opinion, but he hasn’t yet shown the consistent quality which seems to earn him first place on the team sheet every week. Yes it’s a tough division, yes it’s a huge step up from L1, but I do wonder exactly how much development as a player he’ll get under Smith, as there may be that level of overfamiliarity where he isn’t pushed as hard as some of those who aren’t Smith’s signings.
On McEachran, will he turn out to be a class player? No idea. He hasn’t shown enough for me and definitely smells like the ponderous Dutch league he was previously playing in. For £750,000, I hope he does progress!
Staying afloat over the next few years is going to require the acquisition of cheap players and their improvement to sell on, as we did with Gray, Odubajo, and Judge, for which we should send Ipswich the invoice. What concerns me most of all is the seeming lack so far of any of these players actually developing under Smith. Hopefully it’ll all come good, but it won’t surprise me in the slightest if we hear the phrase ‘transfer embargo’ in the near future as FFP comes knocking.
Maybe some of the cheers were of the “things can’t get much worse, let’s stick the Hoff on” variety!!!
I actually cheered to see a fresh pair of legs coming on for some change of plan and another striker to hopefully do something about the 2 goal deficit. Few players had a reasonable game and I was pleased DS was trying something when we often complain Scotty is on his own. I’m not confident of The Hoff’s ability, but thought this was a game where even he should be given a chance.
My cheer was more “Yes, let’s get the Hoff on a try and get something out of this”
Mine and some others cheers were in no way directed at Romaine, but I accept we may have been in the minority.
I was not that suprised to see the reaction to Saywers sub. In his defence I am not sure he is being played in his best position (not sure where he would be best employed!). It feels that he is trying to fill hole while Judge recovers from injury. However, Sawyers overall contribution is just not good enough, he must make more effort when we are not in possession. He rarely gets close to a player to put them under pressure, make a tackle or track runners effectively from midfield. Going forward he often left Hoogan isolated, not supporting attacks or getting in box for crosses. One instance he was standing on the halfway line during a breakaway, we were losing the game with 20 minutes left on clock!!! Combined with giving the ball away when not under pressure meant he got jeered, and I have no issue with fans sending that message of disapproval to the the manager as he clearly can not see Sawyers is a passenger in most games (granted the manager does not have a lot of options to play with off the bench). The fans are not idiots, just frustrated with a players attitude. Personnally if a player is trying to do the right things but makes mistakes I can forgive that or put it down to a bad day at the office. In Sawyers case he has only shown glimpses of talent (Great finish at QPR) and has contributed little in games it is just not enough to forgive the distict lack of work ethic. Does he not think of his team mates, who have to carry him? If he puts in more effort I am the sure fans will recognise his and get behind him. C’mon you Bees!
As he just showed against Birmingham in our third straight home defeat in a row, SAWYERS is a complete waste of space, we are playing games with 10 men.
He’s not a defensive midfielder, he’s not a wide man, he doesn’t create goal scoring opportunities and he doesn’t score gals.
So Dean Smith what exactly does he bring to the team ???
Thank you for taking Smith and Sawyers off our hands. Sawyers hardly ever won a ball in the air slowed the game down to a crawl rarely tackled and when he did it usually resulted in a foul. I wouldn’t expect Smith to drop him as at Walsall he went six months without a goal but the golden boy only failed to play when injured or away with st Kitts and Nevis.