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A look at the weekend news round up in and around Griffin Park and League One

Fixture congestion and weekend roundup
After the snowy weekend, fixtures are beginning to pile up for some of the promotion-hunting teams. Sheffield Utd may have to play 9 games in a month whereas Brentford also face a potential glut of games. The Sheffield Utd game has been rearranged for Tue 16th April with free coach travel for all Bees fans.

Of the games that did take place, Doncaster increased their grip on the top (72 pts) with a 3-2 win away to Scunthorpe. Manager Brian Flynn thought “their team ethic was tremendous”. Leapfrogging Brentford into 2nd place (67pts) are Swindon with a 0-0 draw at home to Notts County. They were denied 3pts after a stunning performance by County keeper Bartosz – hopefully not more of the same from him this Good Friday at Griffin Park. Bournemouth are up to third (67pts) after the 4-1 demolition of Bury. Eddie Howe said “recently we have struggled for goals. Hopefully, this puts us back on track”. Brentford are down to 4th due to their game-less weekend (67pts) but have one or two games in hand over all the teams above them. Tranmere got back to wining ways with a 3-1 win against Stevenage to move them up to 5th (66 pts). Sheffield Utd are 6th (65 pts) but have up to 3 games in hand over teams above them.

Brentford fans await Coventry City ground decision
Brentford fans are on tenderhooks waiting for the outcome of the current Coventry fiasco to see if the train tickets bought in advance for the match on Saturday 6th April will be usable. The rumour is Coventry will be turfed out of the Ricoh playing their remaining fixtures this season at another ground – Nene Park (Rushden), Hinkley, Walsall and Birmingham City have been touted as possible match venues. An impending court case on Tue 26th March will possibly see the club go into administration. The owners of the Ricoh stadium claim that Coventry owe them in excess of £1mill in back rent. Apparently the club lost £6m last year and its assets are worth minus £54 million. How any reputable business can get itself into such a mess is beyond us. Coventry have recently moved their back room staff out of the Ricoh and have plotted themselves up at the training ground. Rumours are rife that an American Billionnaire Preston Haskell is lining himself to buy not only 50% ownership of the Ricoh but also the club itself.

Southend sack Sturrock – then being him back for Wembley
Southend have sacked managed Paul Sturrock after a poor run after their FA Cup and Johnstone Paint cup runs. Phil Brown is set to take over. However, as a sweetener they have offered Paul the job of leading the team out at Wembley for their forthcoming Johnstone Paint Trophy final against Crewe. Rather strange …. But honourable gesture from Southend. I’m sure Andy Scott would have given us rave reviews on his punditry spot against Orient if we had done the same to him.

Crawley town up for sale
Apparently moneybags Crawley Town are up for sale. Their current owners are completely incognito and no-one seems to know too much about their background. The club is looking for more investment to try and expand the fanbase. Brentford striker Paul Hayes is currently playing for Crawley. They have stated that they have “no chance” of getting him on a long term basis.

Hermann pays for his mates to come to England
Ex Bee Hermann Hreidersson is bringing his Icelandic team IBV over to the UK in April to play against Portsmouth with all the funds going towards the Pompey supporters trust. Apparently, Hermann is covering all his teams travel expenses out of his own pocket.

Westley is back .. Hello .. Helloooo?
Brentford fan’s favourite (well second favourite) hate figure has been made favourite to retake his role as manager of Stevenage after being sacked by Preston. Graham Westley walked out of Stevenage to join Preston a year ago and according to Preston fans forums, was universally seen as allegedly their worst manager in recently history

Cheap trains
For those who have not booked your train travel as yet, a Midland rail groupsave for 4 people will cost £7.50 each return to Bletchley for the MK Dons game. Kids are £1 on top of that. Coventry is £14 each return on a groupsave 4 but at present we’re not sure where we’re going to be playing so hold off buying tickets to Coventry for now.

BillytheBee
@billythebee99