Dean picked our fit and, in many cases, rested ‘home’ first XI so no argument yesterday with selection, although Ollie and Romaine have been under par for a few games now. In the event, three of the front six (Ollie, Romaine and Said) were miles off the pace and Mc & Mac not at their best either. Add in goalkeeping howlers, the Reading anti-football and pathetic ref and I’ll take a point and Top 6 all day long. What I can’t fathom are the inability to make changes before the 65th minute and leaving no-one up at corners when we have pace to burn on counter-attacks. Similarly, we never vary play with an occasional (and I stress occasional) long ball over the top or switch things tactically, e.g. to five at the back. I know there’s ‘the Brentford way’, and thank the Lord for that as it’s given me the best football in my lifetime, but every team we play knows how we set up and how we play. We’re innovative in so much, but strangely tactically/strategically inflexible during the 90 mins. On selection, both Ollie and Romaine deserve to be ‘rested’ now, but I guess unlikely with Said suspended. Time for Dean to prove his worth.
