Match preview: Brentford v AFCB
Podcast Interview: Beesotted
Twitter: @Beesotted @Billythebee99
I had the good fortune to spend a bit of time with Billy who writes and hosts the Beesotted podcast for Brentford fans. Brentford have suddenly started to pick up form and are just a place behind Bournemouth now and go into this game knowing a win could put them n the automatic promotion places. So, Bournemouth couldn't have asked for a much harder game to finish 2020 with.
You can catch the Beesotted Pre-Match preview podcast hereBEES: The win against Newcastle was great. Many Bees fans were a bit disappointed when they saw the starting line-up - with Thomas Frank opting to play many of the so called ‘second string’ (I prefer to say squad out of respect) players who had got us to this stage of the competition.
Fosu - a winger - and Thompson - our sub left back - were playing in the full-back positions. Mads Bech Sorenson - who graduated from Brentford’s B-team, has had a fair amount of first-team game time recently in the absence of Pontus Jansson - at centre-back.
And with first-teamers Ivan Toney, Josh Dasilva, Matthias Jensen and Christian Norgaard all on the bench.
But the gamble paid off - getting the squad rotation that the team has so massively needed after an arduous season whilst also getting the win - Josh DaSilva coming off the bench to net the winner.
We’ve had a slow start to the season as per usual. But it’s been steady. And although it hasn’t been as pretty as last season (with players like Said Benrahma out of the side, he will always be hard to replace), we have been a lot more assured. Chiselling out results against teams who last season, we would have lost to. Like Cardiff, on Saturday, who went 1-0 up with a genius goal. And were in danger of bullying themselves to a win with their long throws and free kicks bombarding our goal.
Last season we lost around a quarter of our matches 1-0. This season we seem to have got our heads around the opposition 'nicking a goal against us’.
So, yes the Newcastle game was a good distraction from the league. But ironically, it didn’t fully involve many of the players who play in the league week-in-and-week-out. So it allowed us to be fresh for the Cardiff game three days later.
BEES: That Preston game was weird. Early October. We were 13th going into the match
I remember it well because I hooked up with a load of Preston fans who had travelled down from the Northwest the day before to watch their non-league club Corinthian Casuals (they are the Northern Casuals) play Dulwich Hamlet in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup. They were not expecting anything from the Bees game as Brentford had beaten them in every match bar one draw at Griffin Park going back to 2011.
Norgaard went off injured after 20 minutes. Little did we know we wouldn’t see him again until the Newcastle match. And little did we know at the time how much his injury would affect the side. It took us weeks to find a proper balance in midfield after Norgaard went injured.
We were 2-0 up at half-time. We fell apart in the second half with Preston winning 4-2.
We never ever fall apart like that. And fans were quite worried that we were losing the plot after losing in the playoffs to Fulham.
It took a month or so for Brentford to find their feet - trying out different combinations in the midfield positions.
Towards the end of November, when we played Barnsley away and QPR at home, one player really started to come into his own. Vitaly Janelt - bought late in the transfer window to little or no fuss at all. He pretty much snuck under the radar. And when he was asked to fill Norgaard’s shoes, not much was expected from him if truth be known.
But he has more than exceeded expectations. He has been tremendous. And does what it says on the tin. A formidable central defender. No messing. Whose job is to break up the opposition play. Win the ball back. And feed the attacking midfielders and forwards.
Our home form has been OK, because we’ve cut out the losses that we had last season. Around 25% of our matches were 1-0 losses. We’ve managed to turn those losses into draws. Our record is two wins and three draws in our last five home matches which is so so. Could be better.
Saying that, away from home we are formidable. Second in the away form table - just behind Norwich. And overall - home and away - we’re the form side in the league.
But as you know, that means nothing long term. One bad result. One injury. One piece of bad luck. Can change everything.
BEES: The style of football Brentford plays was decided by the owner Matthew Benham way back when. Like back in 2010. And ever since then, we have employed the right coaching staff, support staff and players to play that style. So, Thomas Frank coming in hasn’t changed the style of our play. He would have been employed because he complemented our style of play.
Saying that, Thomas Frank was bought in from Denmark half-way through Dean Smith’s reign to become one of his assistant head coaches. The idea - Frank could add valuable tactical elements to Brentford’s game working alongside Smith. Frank also had two years to learn what the Championship was all about. Rather than bringing him in fresh from Denmark when a vacancy came up.
When Dean Smith left, Thomas Frank was able to seamlessly slip into Smith’s shoes. His succession had been planned two years in advance. Even though in his first 10 matches he won only one game (I think it was) and lost pretty much all the rest, because according to the stats, Brentford was performing as expected and were deemed as being unlucky for getting the results they got, there was no chance Frank was going to get sacked - despite pundits saying it was on the cards.
He since turned it around and has gone from strength to strength.
It’s not all been plain sailing. He’s been at times slow to make changes and very much sticks to his guns to see things through. Which can be admired in one hand. And can be frustrating in other hands.
But he has made Brentford more defensively sound than any of his predecessors, Dean Smith, Mark Warburton and Uwe Rosler.
But to be fair to him, he stuck with players like Sergi Canos when it looked like he was misfiring this season. Jensen when he looked a tad shaky. Marcondes who had a poor start to life at Brentford but Frank really believed in him and he has had some fabulous moments in the last year.
So, fair play to Frank. He knows his onions.
BEES: I can’t say I was happy no. We all loved Ollie Watkins. But this is all part of being a Brentford fan. From selling Andre Gray back at the end of that season when we made the Championship playoff semi-final when Bees fans were gutted. Since then, we have always replaced a key player sold for someone better. Upfront we went from Gray to Scott Hogan. Lasse Vibe. Neal Maupay. Ollie Watkins. Plus we also sold the likes of Jota. Said Benrahma. Ryan Woods plus loads more. And of course Chris Mepham.
It makes it hard for you as a fan to get a real relationship with a player when you know he is going to leave after spending just two years at the club. But we’ve got used to it - I’m sad to say. And to be fair, it’s really helped us to keep us financially on an even keel.
The player sales over the last fie years has made us I believe around £100m in profit - some of which we still have to spend in the January window (we haven’t spent the £20m Maupay money or a lot of the £28m Watkins money and then there is another £20m to come from West Ham for Benrahma).
I would love Ollie still to be here. But he’s doing well in the Premier League. And we bought in Ivan Toney who could finish the first half of the season with 20 league goals.
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order
BEES: Hmmm. We should have beaten Norwich. They got a lucky deflected equaliser in the final couple of minutes.
We hammered Watford 0-0 in the first half - we really should have been two or three up by half-time. The ref spoiled the match sending off Ethan Pinnock. We still got a draw but Watford weren’t all that.
Preston blew us away in that second half scoring four goals. They had the better of us all match.
Stoke also had our number in the first half going three up. But were hanging on for dear life in the second half as we got two back and pushed for an equaliser.
Blackburn looked lively in the 2-2 match at our stadium.
But I would say Preston out of all the teams we played so far.
BEES: Toney is your archetypal striker. Put the ball in the box and he’ll get you a goal. Header. Poachers shot. One-on-one with the keeper. He’s very different to Ollie Watkins. But a great striker. And also works so hard in defence to. So, he’s like having 12 players in your side.
CC: Are Brentford capable of finishing in the top two this season or do they need to add to their squad to be able to really make a charge on the top two places?
BEES: We started slowly as we always do. But we’re warming up nicely. And the squad is coming together at the right time. We’re going to be top six going into the second half of the season. We’re so far unbeaten in 15 matches. And we have the league’s top striker. We also have players coming back from injury like Norgaard and Janson. And players coming into form like Canos, DaSilva and Mbeumo.
I’ll be surprised if we didn’t strengthen in the window. Possibly in one of the full-back positions. And also bring in a winger.
But I really do think we can push for a top-two place - assuming we do not get hit by injuries.
With Norwich, Bournemouth, Watford, Swansea, Boro gathering steam, possibly Blackburn and us, it’s going to be a fascinating battle.
CC: How are Brentford likely to line up for the game?
BEES: Our first eleven normally picks itself.
Dalsgaard. Pontus Janson. Pinnock and Henry will play in front of David Raya in goal.
Frank does like to rotate the midfield with Marcondes. Jensen. Dasilva. Norgaard filling the three midfield spots.
Upfront I would be surprised if it wasn’t Mbuemo Toney and Canos. With six-goal Marcus Forss on the bench.
- it's available now for £11.49 as a paperback - visit Amazon to order
CC: What is your score prediction?
On the Beesotted Pride Of West London podcast this week, which you kindly did the match preview interview for Peter, I predicted a 2-0 win for Brentford. We need to start winning home matches and I’m hoping with our first team all finally back on the pitch, this will be the match that we really step up to the plate.
CC: Many thanks for Billy for his absolute mountain of football knowledge on the Brentford team and for sharing his Beesotted thoughts with Cherry Chimes. Brentford are playing well and I can see why Billy is predicting a win for the home side. But while Bournemouth have not been winning all the time they have been keeping clean sheets and you have to go back to the Preston game when a team scored more than one against the Cherries' defence and in away match it was Rotherham who last managed that. I'm confident that Bournemouth can score against the best defence and best home record in the Championship, and I think we'll make it difficult for goal-machine Ivan Toney. So, a 1-1 prediction is how I see it. Like the Billy though, I know Bournemouth need to keep the wins coming if they are to catch Norwich City.
