Announcement

[Sweepy]

With only six weeks to go until the new season, the staff at Brentford Football Club would like to apologise for not signing anyone.

Due to the chaotic finances, we believe that this is in the long-term interests of the club. Please don't get angry if we play some matches with 8 or 9 men AND with only Alan Julian as a sub (although occasionally Wally may request him to play outfield to ease the pressure on the other outfielders).

In all but name only, Brentford FC are now a park team, we are ashamed to announce. But don't let it spoil your enjoyment. See you at Tranmere on October 9... Try to get there, we're hoping to reach a century of visiting supporters - TARGET 100! lol

 

[bees66]

Funny post Sweeps you made me laugh.

 

[Edmundo]

Stop being a *****, Sweepy. Signings are usually made in the middle of July and often later, after several triallists have been viewed in action. At this time last year we had never heard of Ibu Sonko, didn't know that Leo Roget would be joining, or Jamie Fullarton come to that. And Rowan Vine was another complete unknown.

There's no reason why Brentford should bring forward the traditional season for signing new players, even if we could afford to pay them all a couple of months extra wages.

 

[nocoat]

Im going to Tranmere on August 9th Sweepy

 

[Sweepy]

Im going to Tranmere on August 9th Sweepy

I wish that I could be there.

But i'll be in Tenerife!

Stop being a *****, Sweepy.

And to think once upon a time the worst supporters were called was "thick prat". BRING BACK RON!

 

[Sweepy]

p.s. Did the 'scoops sign Cureton? I know, out of our payscale blah blah blah, but signings are going on. Well, in the world of football they are anyway.

 

[Gee Bee]

p.s. Did the 'scoops sign Cureton? I know, out of our payscale blah blah blah, but signings are going on. Well, in the world of football they are anyway.

Very few signings are going on, only speculation, most players have contracts until June 30th and so are not able to sign a contract until 1st July. Only the clubs with a bit of money and those that are gambling on a sh*t or bust season (QPR) have signed anyone of repute (not Cureton yet). So as Ed said this close season is no different to last closed season. 1st JUly onwards will see players on the dole and therefore clubs will be in a better bargaining position, BFC will also have a clearer idea on who is staying and what is left of the budget, as we may also get funds for Hunt to add to our budget.

 

[Banshee Mildew]

A point of order gentlemen!

Stop being a *****, Sweepy.

Er..... forgive me if I'm wrong but doesn't this constitute personal abuse against the GPG code of conduct! Therefore Ed should suspend, chastise or ban himself.

......"Remember attack the argument and not the person".

 

[Edmundo]

It's a fair cop. Consider myself warned. lol

 

[Ace Face]

I am happy the club is not in administration - thanks BU.

I accept we may not have the strogest squad next season and may be relegated, but we have to keep to a budget.

If the fans contributed more money to BU things could be different. £6000 per month - pathetic.

Sorry to say it again, but we can only spend what we have, no more overdraft left.

Aat the end of the day we could have signed six crap players. It is important Wall signs the right players.

We are not a park team and our youngsters need encouragement to help keep us up.

 

[swr22]

we are up a brown canal sans paddle as far as the money goes, and must reach a nicer part of river with suitable rowing equipment before we can sign half decent players

 

[Mr Tree]

exactly right, Bish and swr22 - sweeps, you're living in a dream world, your attempt at "humour" is not appreciated, so why not just go back to your armchair view of slating all our youngsters....

 

[Gee Bee]

exactly right, Bish and swr22 - sweeps, you're living in a dream world, your attempt at "humour" is not appreciated, so why not just go back to your armchair view of slating all our youngsters....

Here Here!

 

[Sweepy]

It's very hard to argue with the likes of Bish and Edmundo, for I know that their efforts for Brentford FC put those of mine (and many others) to shame. However, I will still argue my corner.

Bish and Eddy Baby know that I regularly offer suggestions, both in this forum and in person, and apart from a few of the BIAS chaps (including Bish to be fair) nobody can be arsed to listen. Fair enough - at least I offer.

On the subject of players. I'm not asking for Ronaldo. I'm not even asking for Leo Fortune-West! All I request is for us to go into the opening day of next season with Wally able to name 11 outfield players, and 5 substitutes. At the moment, one seriously doubts that this is possible. Of course i'm supportive of our players we have, for the love of god we have to keep every player we can - and that includes Foolarton!

I'm going to attack arguments and not people, as per Staines Bee's (fair) criticism of Edmundo. I know Eddy Baby realises I will just fight fire accordingly and not take too much offence! Also, he knows that I wouldn't be hypocritical enough to criticise his post on the grounds of the Code Of Conduct, knowing full well that I wipe my árse on the COC! So he is welcome to say i'm being a ***** if he wishes (as long as he doesn't ban me the next time I feel the need to give paz/banana/dan the fool an online slap. lol

On the subject of Dan The Fool, his post underestimates the seriousness of the satire I present to you. As stated earlier in this post, I am fully behind the lads we have signed on already. The signatures of Jay Smith and Kevin O'Connor are essential for the ongoing development of this new Brentford. But we need to get moving fast on things. In six weeks time we are playing Tranmere Rovers, but who can possibly guess who will be named in the matchday squad? Sorry if you don't appreciate my humour, Dan. Would you be more appreciative if I had posted in melancholic tone? I'm not happy with the present scenario and I will not pretend I am.

swr22 posts more positively. I do have difficulty sharing his optimism. As Edmundo said, we had not even HEARD of Sonko, nor did we expect Roget to sign. The problem is of course last season we did not have the dreaded £500 wage celing hanging over our heads like a menacing dark cloud. Somehow, I doubt there will be any mystery African winger playing in the Bundesliga 2. ready to join the bees this term. We get what we pay for - sadly, that is a side primed for Division Three, and nothing our current crop of young talent can do will change that.

I will await the influx of talent with interest!

 

[Edmundo]

Sweepy - there's no £500 wage cap, but there is an overall budget for players. The more is spent on one, the less there is available to pay the others. I really think you are worrying unnecessarily. We will have enough players and if Wally is astute in finding the right ones, we will be good enough for this division. The core of the squad is fine, I'm sure. The right man up front to complement Peters and/or Tabb is the key.

But to panic before June is out is not called for. Nor is suggesting our players are park footballers.

 

[Sweepy]

Sweepy - there's no £500 wage cap.

Good.

We really need two or three players that can go straight into the side and do a job. For anything less than £500 we would have been pushing it, so i'm glad and relieved that you have cleared that up.

The park team statement was a reference to the size and shape of the squad at the present time, not the individual players.

 

[Banana]

Don't worry Sweepy. My money's on having 11 players AND 5 substitutes available for the Tranmere game. Don't worry little one.

 

[West Ealing Bee]

Although I share Sweepy's concern about the lack of action at the club and the fact that we don't currently have a squad worthy of the name to start the season with I also realise that as others have said it is still a bit early for transfers and especially early for us.

I would expect that we will be looking at players and trialing players in our friendlies as well as looking at players in training, this isn't possible yet. If we find the right player for the right money we will sign them, I have little doubt of that, and obviously it is likely that very few will fall into that category.

However come the beginning of August when footballers are looking at the dole queue Brentford's offer might be more attractive, that will also be the time when loan signings will become available, as higher Division clubs work out their squads.

If we're sitting here in a months time with no trailists played in our friendlies and all of the currently unsigned players gone then I will be panicking big time, but I can't see that happening

 

[Gee Bee]

I'm sure also, that possible players have been spoken to, but these players will also be weighing up all alternatives. For instance if you were playing for Watford and got a £600 pw offer to go to Port Vale and £500 pw to go to Brentford, what would you choose? It isn't just the money but the possible need to move, lenght of contract and many other things. BFC couldn't announce they have spoken with or offered trials to certain players until they are certain the offers are likely to be accepted.
Most of the transfer news so far this season is speculative news. For instance QPR were supposed to have signed Gareth Ainsworth, however he is now in talks with Walsall. From the 1st training day for pre season I expect a few trialists to be involved and then a few firm signings just days before the season starts. Exactly the same as last season, it is an event that will now be seasonal, just like the players contracts.

 

[Mr Tree]

All I request is for us to go into the opening day of next season with Wally able to name 11 outfield players, and 5 substitutes. At the moment, one seriously doubts that this is possible. Of course i'm supportive of our players we have, for the love of god we have to keep every player we can - and that includes Foolarton!

you seriously seriously doubt we will be able to name 16 players at Tranmere ?? it's not gonna happen Sweepy, wake up a bit - there are a ridiculous amount of footballers out of work, released, etc thanks to this financial climate, so some will surely come to us. but we still need to have as good a squad as we can possibly get with our limitations, so why do u say it is essential to "keep every player we can - and that includes Foolarton"?? marshall and fullarton could be quite easily got rid off and better replacements would (hopefully) be found. Sorry, i just don't follow your logic

Oh, and when you say keep every player, do you mean Matt Somner too? You'd probably like that actually, so you could sit at home and slag him off more next season

On the subject of Dan The Fool, his post underestimates the seriousness of the satire I present to you. As stated earlier in this post, I am fully behind the lads we have signed on already. The signatures of Jay Smith and Kevin O'Connor are essential for the ongoing development of this new Brentford. But we need to get moving fast on things. In six weeks time we are playing Tranmere Rovers, but who can possibly guess who will be named in the matchday squad? Sorry if you don't appreciate my humour, Dan. Would you be more appreciative if I had posted in melancholic tone? I'm not happy with the present scenario and I will not pretend I am.

Now, of course, i wish to attack the argument, not the person here

No-one is happy with the present scenario Sweepy. But us eejits living in the real world have at least realised that it's essential, and building for the future at least helps ensure that we'll ****ing have one. Unfortunately, to acheive long term goals we're having to sacrifice with regards to our playing squad - it would appear we are not building for a promotion push this season But what would YOU rather, sweepy? The continuing existence of Brentford is the key thing, and thanks to that c*nt Noades, it means we'll have to be patient with regards to the team. It's no use moaning about QPR signing players and us not - we've got to look after number one. There will be players about - the football climate is changing, as Gee Bee says. Wake up Sweeps....

 

[Paul O'Brien]

One the summer merrygoround has seetled down, there will be dozens of players without jobs; some of them reasonably good ones.

However, the odds are that for the next few years, any players we sign like this will be short-term signings - i.e. they'll sign for a year and maybe some even on a month by month or match by match basis - while they wait for other options to come along. That means that for the next 4-5 years we'll be buying short-term to fill in the gaps and we're unlikely to get our money bacvk on any of these players. We may even see some more of our youth players being signed up after their apprenticeships are over.

Shame is that, if we could afford competitive wages, we could attract players to sign decent (ie 3-years or so) contracts in the current climate, because many players will look for some form of security, and have the possibility of selling them on at some point.

I wouldn't worry about the lack of new players; most signings have always tended to be in July/August as players consider their options, friendlies get under way, the fottballers' and directors' holidays finish, etc. That's why for years the first couple of friendly games were so eagerly anticipated.

 

[Ace Face]

Sweepy - I know you mean well. But please do not panic.

Our priority is staying out of administration and so far BU have done it.

The future of the club has to be fought for and we must do this by downsizing to a players budget of £11k per week.

Next season we will have 20 players made up of kids and a few good pro`s. Unearthing a raw talent is much more enjoyable than signing a reject from Watford.

Lets model ourselves on Crewe and get our diamonds in the shop ready for sale.

 

[Sweepy]

Of course the talk of retaining of Sonko has tempered my level of pessimism somewhat! Shame we can't offer him longer than a year's contract.

 

[PAZ]

Lets model ourselves on Crewe and get our diamonds in the shop ready for sale.

Completely agreed, but Crewe play sh*t hot 19 year olds who more than hold their own where as we play 20 or 21 year olds and everybody says they're too young and inexperienced to produce the real goods, and it's true.

 

[Sweepy]

Completely agreed, but Crewe play sh*t hot 19 year olds who more than hold their own where as we play 20 or 21 year olds and everybody says they're too young and inexperienced to produce the real goods, and it's true.

It's not often I agree with you Paz, but what you say is true. We have some extremely average youngsters at Griffin Park (Hutchinson, Somner, Hughes) who may in time turn out to be solid Division 3/Conference players. We do however also have some half decent youngsters in the form of the two Jays who may turn out to be something at this level. But we also have some promising youngsters, like Sonko, Peters, Smith and O'Connor - who should find themselves playing at a higher level as they develop as players... if they are patient.

It is true what you say about Crewe though, and we have to accept that we have not done enough in the past to promote ourselves as a club which develops young talent. Even our best players cannot possibly compare to some of the exceptional talent that has come through the ranks of Crewe over the years.

With good promotional sense of a successful youth policy (which has improved over the past five years), we can establish ourselves as a club youngsters wish to launch a successful career with. We should have a noticeboard in Stripes, or another area of the ground where players access, with pictures of past players who have gone on to successful things (Deano, Gayle, Hermann) and have a sign above saying "BELIEVE".

Let new players coming through the door know that Brentford is the club to come to if they want to succeed.

 

[Mr Tree]

Sweepy - i don't disagree with you deliberately y'know, but i think you're wrong AGAIN!

i think Brentford probably have one of the more succesful youth policies in the lower league, and certainly at times last year about half the players involved in some games had played YTS Level at Brentford. YTS programmes generally don't produce a lot of players of league standard - i think Brentford's is an exception. Of last year's squad, off the top of my head, Alan Julian, Matt Somner, Lee Fieldwick, Michael Dobson, Jay Smith and Kevin O'Connor have all got great opportunities of having a 10-year lower league career, maybe even better. It is harsh just to write some players off as Conference standard already, as they're young and in a position where they're having to learn very quickly.

Though I may be tempted to agree with you on Eddie Hutchinson (NOT a product of our youth system, i hasten to add)

Oh is that you berating Matty S from your armchair again Sweepy?

We are naturally gonna have a problem attracting talent - our catchment area is London, lots of young kids, talent here and there, and 10-15 league clubs in and around. As a young kid with a bit of talent in the LB Hounslow/Hillingdon or Spelthorne areas, are you gonna get excited about signing for Brentford when the prospects of Chelsea, Fulham (premiership), QPR (recently Premiership), Reading (div 1) are around?? I think you have to give credit where it's due to our youth system, but some people are always up for a moan

 

[Sweepy]

Sweepy - i don't disagree with you deliberately y'know, but i think you're wrong AGAIN!

Sorry, I stand corrected. We have produced more top-flight players over the past decade than Crewe.

 

[rebus]

Sorry, I stand corrected. We have produced more top-flight players over the past decade than Crewe.

I don't know what point you are trying to make. The Crewe model will not produce the amount of cash it has previously, due the collapse of the transfer market.

In my opinion, our model should be to produce footballers' good enough to play in the Second Division for Brentford - if we get any transfer fees resulting from this policy then that is a bonus.

The current work by Geoff Taylor and Barry Quin has brought outstanding results, with more on the way. I can think of at least three third-year scholars that could do a job for us later this season if injuries and suspensions kick-in.

 

[Sweepy]

I don't know what point you are trying to make. The Crewe model will not produce the amount of cash it has previously, due the collapse of the transfer market.

In my opinion, our model should be to produce footballers' good enough to play in the Second Division for Brentford - if we get any transfer fees resulting from this policy then that is a bonus.

The current work by Geoff Taylor and Barry Quin has brought outstanding results, with more on the way. I can think of at least three third-year scholars that could do a job for us later this season if injuries and suspensions kick-in.

All of the above, I agree with fully, regardless of the spin Dan The Bee tries to put on my posts.

 

[solobee]

I'd worry more about the style we play than the players.

Last year at times we showed a lack of energy, enthusiasm and effort that surprised me. We had a young side who at times appeared just to drift. I don't mind being beaten/relegated if we attempt to play decent football.

Crewe maybe out of our league, but what about teams like Colchester, who were excellent.

 

[Jimbee]

Crewe maybe out of our league, but what about teams like Colchester, who were excellent.

:rofl:

 

[Mr Cynical]

I'd worry more about the style we play than the players.

Last year at times we showed a lack of energy, enthusiasm and effort that surprised me. We had a young side who at times appeared just to drift. I don't mind being beaten/relegated if we attempt to play decent football.

Couldn't agree more. At the moment the chances are that we probably won't be competing seriously in the top half of the table, so the only way to get fans to keep coming regularly is by having an exciting, attacking, passing team. These days you can see quality football pretty much every day of the week on satellite/cable so where's the incentive for people to come down to GP if they get bored out of their skulls for 90 minutes each week?

I would like to see us really go for it all the time. I'd much rather see a team going for the throat but losing by the odd goal in 7 than a team scraping out a 0-0 draw by playing long ball and relying on the odd penalty to win us matches..

 

[Amsterdam Bee]

The current work by Geoff Taylor and Barry Quin has brought outstanding results, with more on the way. I can think of at least three third-year scholars that could do a job for us later this season if injuries and suspensions kick-in.

Who are the potential nuggets in the youth system then Mark? And what positions do they play?

This is excellent news. I love seeing the progression of our younger players.

 

[Mr Tree]

It's not often I agree with you Paz, but what you say is true. We have some extremely average youngsters at Griffin Park (Hutchinson, Somner, Hughes) who may in time turn out to be solid Division 3/Conference players.

i'm sorry, what spin was i putting on Sweepy? You agreed with a comment labelling our players rubbish, and talk about the young talent (SOMNER :mad1: ) in disparaging terms

My point was, how do you expect us to be like Crewe exactly? And how dare you attack our youth system when it is one of the best in the country, especially considering the circumstances and competition under which it operates