The Beesotted Brentford Pride of West London Podcast

Still no wins after 7 matches. An unlucky draw against Aston Villa and an unlucky loss against Sheffield Wednesday. Bees fans are starting to get nervous with the team sitting in 23rd position.

The Beesotted crew met up yet again in the Cross Keys pub in Stamford Brook, Hammersmith to shoot the breeze and pontificate on whether Brentford were plain unlucky … or just rubbish in front of goal.

In the boozer this week:

Billy GrantDave LaneMartin The Dutchman Holland

0m - intro

4m 45 sec - Fans post match in the pub and the rain after the Aston Villa match and the Sheffield Wednesday match

12m 38 sec - Beesotted crew talk Aston Villa and Wednesday match. Ask what is the fine line between bad luck and poor finishing? Ask what would WE do differently the last few weeks? Pose the question are Brentford toothless. And pontificate whether someone is going to get a pasting very soon

49 min 43 sec - Beesotted crew look at Brentford’s dodgy runs over the past few years. Dijkhuizen’s poor start (8 matches) and Dean Smith previous two dodgy runs in 2016 (13 matches) and 2016/2017 (17 matches).

1h 11 min 46 sec - Beesotted crew talk Reading

1h 17 min 50 sec - END

#avfc #swfc #readingfc

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Brentford needed a win under their belt. And when they went 1-0 up with a Yennaris long ranger in a first half that the Bees dominated, it looked like Brentford were finally going to get the win they wanted.

But an injury time goal in the first half followed by a second half Wednesday goal ensured that the Bees once again went away without swim despite at times playing some great football.

We spoke to Wednesday and Brentford fans in the rain after the match

#swfc #brentfordfc

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Aston Villa were played off the park for large parts of this game but the Villa keeper was man of the match - saving at least three clear cut chances in the second half.

Brentford were to rue those misses as they failed to score.

We chat to Villa & Bees fans in the pub after the match

#avfc #brentfordfc

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Are Brentford Punching? Do they have the staying power to see off their rivals?

So the window has closed. But what impact did it have on Brentford? We lost some. We gained more. But the timing of our outgoing players made it feel like a bit of a body blow. For a while anyway.

This week we’ve gone for a change of style … we thought after last week’s madness of Deadline Day .. where there were literally grown men crying … with the sale of Jota to Birmingham, …. alongside Dean and Colin (this prompted not so much crying it has to be said) .. we thought we’d get in a man who knows more about Brentford’s signing policy and how we go about our scouting and signing than anyone else in the… er … pub.

Our special guest this week is James Tippett - author of The Football Code (http://bit.ly/2f55w2H) - which is out in all good bookstores today (Thursday 7th Sept). James used to work as an analyst for Smart Odds - which is Matthew Benham’s company which generates the stats which Brentford uses to identify players.

In the run up to the match against Aston Villa, James tells us why he thinks Brentford - with a weekly wage bill last year of £172k a year - and Aston Villa - with a week bill of just under £1m - will be a closer match than people think. He also gives us the lowdown on why Brentford’s league position (23rd at the moment) - using the analysis of expected goals - is way off where he and people in his world think it should be (8th).

How does Brentford go about signing players: http://bit.ly/2vKleec

#avfc #brentfordfc

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Final day of the transfer window. Jota to Birmingham. Dean to Birmingham. Colin to Birmingham. We knew it was too good to last.

The front end of the transfer window had Bees fans potty for the season. Highly rated Ollie Watkins. The lively Neal Maupay. Midfield general Kamo Mokotjo were just a few of the quality signings for Brentford earlier in the window.

But there was always going to be some disappointment with players not signing new contacts. And when Jota was spotted down at Fulham’s training ground a few days before deadline day, Bees fans feared the worst.

As it comes, that came to nothing as it seems like it was a ploy to get Harry Redknapp active and within 24 hours, Redknapp had bid for Jota, Harlee Dean and Maxime Colin to add to his ranks at Birmingham City.

Brentford fans were in uproar. How could we sell our players to our closest rivals?

 The Beesotted crew assembled at The Cross Keys pub in Stamford Brook to discuss the Deadline Day fallout.

In the pub:

Billy GrantDave LaneEdwood the HeadwoodRobin Hood (the Bee)

6m 34 sec - Jota. How gutting was Jota’s move from Brentford. Did the club do all they could to keep him? What happened his supposed Premier League move? Who spotted him at Fulham’s training ground? Why were the Fulham recruitment team fuming when they found out they didn't get the player?  How could Birmingham afford to play a player £40k a week in our league? Will Brentford be weaker without him.

37m 07 sec - Harlee Dean. Could Brentford have averted this sale? Will Brentford be weaker without him? How much of a downer will this be on the design room? Do Brentford have a natural leader to take over the captaincy? Who will the Centre Back combination now be?

1h 04m 34 sec - Maxim Colin. How big a blow is this for the Bees. Did we have to sell him (still not confirmed by the club) as his contract was until 2019? Did he have a buy-out clause? Will Dalsgaard step up to the plate or are we weak in this area?

1h 28 m 21 sec - Beesotted crew general deadline day stuff. Were Brentford wrong to sell key players to a rival? Will these transfers scupper Brentford’s Top 6 aim? Our best players leave at the first opportunity. Does this prove that Brentford are unable to compete financially in the Championship marketplace? Many fans were predicting playoffs this season (including us). Do fans have to reassess where they see the club in this division?

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With Brentford FC recently announcing changes in plans to the proposed new Brentford stadium at Lionel Road, Beesotted, BIAS (Brentford Independent Supporters Organisation), Bees United and the Griffin Park Grapevine decided it would be incredibly beneficial for fans and club execs to meet up to discuss the changes.

The forum would give an opportunity for fans to ask questions to the club on the rational for the new stadium plans as well as give the club opportunity to clarify a number of points which were unclear after the recent announcement.

And even after Matthew Benham’s recent statement - which went some way to clearing a number of issues - (http://beesotted.com/?p=22946) fans still felt that the forum was useful. They were able to get more understanding on how the ‘premium seating’ was going to work at Griffin Park. And were able to put pressure on the club to look at increasing the potential standing allocation from 1200 to over 2k fans - and possibly even more.

Most importantly, the club have promised more dialogue in the future over the next stages of designing the inside of the stadium.

On the panel:

Billy Grant - Beesotted (chair)Gemma Teale - BIASCliff Crown - Brentford ChairmanMark Devlin - Brentford CEONity Raj - Brentford Director and Smart Odds CEODave Merritt - Bees United Director

plus Trevor Inns - Griffin Park Grapevine - on the floor mic

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