The Official 'How Will Brentford Stay Up This Season Thread…'

[Voice from the Braemar]

4 games and 4 defeats. Who did we play again?

Southampton and wolves…..2 teams who have dominated English football for the last 30 years or so….I’m just glad we managed a goal against these giants of the game

 

[Banana]

Southampton and wolves…..2 teams who have dominated English football for the last 30 years or so….I’m just glad we managed a goal against these giants of the game

Ah, see I thought it was Liverpool and Manchester United.... different ends of the glass.

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Of course he gives an opinion on who he'd like - as do all the coaches, he chairman and even Bob the Kitman probably. Same all of us reading the GPG. But neither TF or any of us actually decide who to sign.

You’re saying that you have as much say as TF has ??? Wow I’m impressed

 

[sonofabee]

Based on the bottom 4

Unlike prior seasons 35 Could be enough to stay up

So thats 3 home wins
And 3 other draws home and away

Sorted....

Who are we going beat with a goalkeeper who can’t stop a shot on target ?

 

[aawharris]

To be fair to @Voice from the Braemar - in previous seasons he has started these threads too early for me - but today the timing feels fair. I am now resigned to a relegation dog fight. We have enough spirit to stay up but it is going to be ugly. I love every player that pulls on the shirt, none of them are slackers, but only half of our team would make it into other mid-table PL sides.

They dont need to be good enough to be in a mid table side, they just need to be good enough to be in a 17th placed side after 38 games.

 

[Voice from the Braemar]

Ah, see I thought it was Liverpool and Manchester United.... different ends of the glass.

50% of the glass

 

[regp61]

We have just played 4 games in 11 days, 2 against the biggest 2 clubs in England, and still have a gap from the bottom 3.or 4.
We now have 2 weeks before the next EPL game and just need to tighten up the defence again like we did at the start of the season.
We still have a lot of tough matches to play and none are a gimme. Who would have backed some of the results from the last couple of
weekends. We do have to play a lot of big sides away but have potential winnable ones at home. Football is a mad game to predict and we
could lose at home to Burnley but beat Chelsea or something stupid like that. I think the break could do the players a favour and give Thomas
a chance to tweak things. I do think Raya coming back will give us a chance and he looks to be coming back earlier than we thought.

 

[WARFIELD BEE]

Raya is back soon though, no?

Not soon enough.

 

[KD]

They dont need to be good enough to be in a mid table side, they just need to be good enough to be in a 17th placed side after 38 games.

Agreed. And that would be a great achievement this season. Was just trying to find a short description of a team that wouldn’t be in a relegation dog fight.

 

[Twickenhamben]

Next 3 games: Man City away, Palace home and Arsenal away. City - write that one off. Arsenal has that feel of not turning up at a big ground, Palace look a decent side. Get nothing from these games and we are 1 win and 9 defeats, the worst in the league and heading into a few 6 pointers…. So we’re not in the mix quite yet but the next 3 games could change that.

 

[vcmazz]

we have 3 players starting for me who just aren’t good enough at this level….canos roeslev and Jensen

I'm on the fence at the moment regarding Roerslev, although without checking properly I think his name might be an anagram of 'Reserves'. Jensen, I can't agree. Not the best finisher, but then he's not a striker. A top, top player in my opinion. I think he'd slot into any Premier League team. And Canos is definitely good enough in his own position, just not great when covering other people's. Somebody has to do it but I agree, he's no Bob Booker. Relax, only Manchester City next and they couldn't even beat Southamp......... oh, hang on.

 

[vcmazz]

League One was so much less stressful wasn't it?

 

[Lionel Bart-At]

Step1: sign a world class midfielder and dead ball specialist.

 

[Hippobee]

Need to get the basics right. That means stop leaking goals and scoring. Football is a simple game, over complicated by many.

By that, a good start would be:

1) Get your best goalscorer in and around the box more. He will get more chances and goals.
2) Stop playing Canos as a wing back. He is out of his depth trying to defend against PL attackers.
3) Stop setting up so we are regularly outnumbered in midfield. If that means change from 532, then do it, until we've got personnel to do it better.

In short, play people in their correct positions.

 

[badgerbee]

Must admit I'm getting a bit worried.

Still to play City, Chelsea, Arsenal and United away, and as much as home games v Burnley and Newcastle 'could' give us the points we need, defeats would really drag us into it......

Bookies seem to agree.
10/1 to go down a week ago, 6/1 tonight.....

 

[Comic Book Guy]

Getting away from the playground 'Who is the bigger badass' contest, we need to beef up the squad(CE a great start obviously), and for the love of everything holy stop playing it back and be aggressive from the off of games like us fans know we can. Not giving the opposition so much space would be a nice start also.

I have faith in this squad, but realism is also yes we need to start getting some form or we will have a real scrap on our hands.

Come on you

 

[RAF_Patto]

Everyone needs to stick together right now, fans and players alike.

Between us and the bottom three are a team called Everton, full of venom and toxins from the board down. That is the kind of environment which will take a club down, we must be stronger than it and ensure they keep getting knocked. Our FA Cup game against them, IMHO, serves as a chance to really give another hammer blow and send them even deeper into trouble.

I do think we'll stay up, just, but f*** me, I do not want a final showdown with either Everton or Leeds at the end of the season......although Sky will love it.

 

[Doovster]

Losing games, which we haven't generally been used to for the last 7 years or so, has certainly spiced up the GPG.

The last week or so on here has been as good as it has been for years

 

[Bridge Bee]

There was every chance in this league that we could go on long losing runs. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened before now.

But I think Thomas has been over hyping performances. We’ve not been good for a while. The form table can’t look great and we need some momentum going in to some big games in March.

 

[Doovster]

Definitely in a relegation scrap now IMHO. I think we need that mentality in order not to get complacent.

Hopefully the return of Raya and DaSilva with an incoming CE plus maybe one more, with a bit of luck, will see us turn our current form around.

 

[JCMcBee]

..... we're teetering....I reckon MB knows it....twist....incoming....and as Doovster alludes to......big players at our club coming back soon.....great escape it's not....yet.......Palace is big though.

 

[RAF_Patto]

I guess in response to the thread title, the answer is "win more points than 3 other teams".

Can we close this now?

 

[Invipai]

It's been a bad week for us, but so what. We know were good enough compared to Norwich, Watford and Burnley when she points in them.

For sure we need points on those sorts of teams next season onwards, but for now we just need to carry on with our current playing staff and win some games. We should be ok, but keep faith!

Either way. keep your support!

 

[Hullbee]

I'd be perfectly prepared to do so - but I have no idea who you are because you hide behind a pseudonym. And why am I weird in thinking like the majority?

he is the most tanned and orange looking bloke at our games and has been for years

 

[Wise old Bee]

You really think I’d even bother with that weirdo if I knew he was in his 80s ? from now on I just feel sorry for him….there was no need for him to be that rude in the first place…some manners wouldn’t go amiss no matter what age he is

Id expect better from you too

I'm always the essence of reasonableness here. I do get a little tired of people jumping down Larry's throat every time he posts. I realise some people find his posts annoying, although there are plenty worse, but I feel a little tolerance should be shown. He was out of line to call you what he did but you had no need to pull him up by misrepresenting his original point. I don't know Larry but he is knocking on a bit and his wife is in a care home. Some of the responses he gets are shameful.

 

[SmiffyBee]

Voice is game but I can see him giving his newspaper to some poor unknowing barsteward when he realises who big Lazza actually is whilst approaching.

Voice won't be inside.
He'll be in the car park with some cans

 

[CRitch87]

relegation scrap it is, 4 wins looks a stretch right now! f*** the percentages we all know how we are playing

 

[BuzzingBee95]

“ How will Brentford Stay up this season”.

By having More points than the bottom three.

Goodnight folks, close thread

 

[Mike]

…and before all the know nothing about football lot on here go on with their usual bedwetting insults and we aren’t going down because we are Brentford and somehow entitled to stay up cos we got 23 points etc etc etc….let’s just remember we were 6th at Xmas and dropped straight into relegation in 93….we are now in a relegation battle and anyone who thinks we ain’t needs to give their head a wobble….we are right in it

we have 3 players starting for me who just aren’t good enough at this level….canos roeslev and Jensen…..and forss too…..we need better if we are to stay up….I hope TF is looking at some fresh faces to bring in as we need more quality

gonna be an exciting last few months

IMHO you are right. I think most supporters would agree with you. It’s not disloyal to speak your mind. Particularly when it is so unpopular on this site. It is a sign of loyalty and shows that you care. You want the club to succeed. Simple as.

 

[CRitch87]

…and before all the know nothing about football lot on here go on with their usual bedwetting insults and we aren’t going down because we are Brentford and somehow entitled to stay up cos we got 23 points etc etc etc….let’s just remember we were 6th at Xmas and dropped straight into relegation in 93….we are now in a relegation battle and anyone who thinks we ain’t needs to give their head a wobble….we are right in it

we have 3 players starting for me who just aren’t good enough at this level….canos roeslev and Jensen…..and forss too…..we need better if we are to stay up….I hope TF is looking at some fresh faces to bring in as we need more quality

gonna be an exciting last few months

I make you broadly correct

 

[NorthamptonBee]

The momentum of promotion, new ground, high energy and our ability to go toe to toe with better sides than us has gone. We actually have been dealt some poor luck with injuries and covid numbers down, put out some sides that on paper shouldn't have got any points, let alone wins v Watford and Villa. Players are coming back and yet we're not performing or doing enough to win games bar the first 45 v Man U.
We have wiggle room with the excellent start but that is being eroded, my hope is that if CE comes, JDS recovers well, Rays puts on his gloves again, that's 3 excellent new additions who should all help to unlock defences, drive us forward, turn oppo defences and one keep out a few of these saveable goals we're conceding.
Ivan has been terrible since Covid but the signs have been better in the last two games, might be massive with these huge games against teams below and around us coming up. Soton away was rock bottom, Man U was a relief after the Anfield no show, yesterday we competed well until the head smash and drone incident, stayed in the game v a good Wolves side and had an awful bit of keeping costing us one or maybe three points.
The new and returning faces will lift us and it's going to get scary but I'm expecting us to go again and the table is one win away from looking good, every promoted team struggles as we're years behind Wolves, Brighton and Villa etc, even Norwich and Watford have had recent Prem cash and bought and paid big, we couldn't get 7 quality players in this summer to match what we're facing each week, we have to stay up and get possibly 3 or 4 next summer and get to the desired level.
The start, the fresher players coming back, the home games on paper with the aways at Norwich and Watford make me think we can get the 4 or 5 wins we need, this team has maybe overachieved and perhaps a CE type injection makes us do that again, it's not blind faith, I've seen some shoots of something and our season starts again after losing to Man City.

 

[upnorthbee]

I think the truth is we've done bloody well to get 23 points up to this point.... and we need our first 11 all fit to really stand a chance of winning against 3/4 of the teams in this league. Most clubs in this division have a first 11, and then another first 11 spare if that 11 are injured... we don't have that luxury.

Honestly, I expect it to go down to the last few games of the season and I wouldn't be surprised if the game against Leeds is a proper scrap to stay up. I truly believe that anyone who doesn't think we're in a relegation battle must have not seen us play for the past couple of months. I reckon it's going to take a bit of luck to stay up too... Newcastle will stay up, Norwich are hitting form and were better than us last season (let's be honest) so i'm guessing it's Burnley (having sold their striker), Watford and one other... hopefully it's not us.

And by the way, it's always going to be like this in the premier league so we best get used to it! (I for one don't mind a good scrap!)

 

[Balders Bee]

The momentum of promotion, new ground, high energy and our ability to go toe to toe with better sides than us has gone. We actually have been dealt some poor luck with injuries and covid numbers down, put out some sides that on paper shouldn't have got any points, let alone wins v Watford and Villa. Players are coming back and yet we're not performing or doing enough to win games bar the first 45 v Man U.
We have wiggle room with the excellent start but that is being eroded, my hope is that if CE comes, JDS recovers well, Rays puts on his gloves again, that's 3 excellent new additions who should all help to unlock defences, drive us forward, turn oppo defences and one keep out a few of these saveable goals we're conceding.
Ivan has been terrible since Covid but the signs have been better in the last two games, might be massive with these huge games against teams below and around us coming up. Soton away was rock bottom, Man U was a relief after the Anfield no show, yesterday we competed well until the head smash and drone incident, stayed in the game v a good Wolves side and had an awful bit of keeping costing us one or maybe three points.
The new and returning faces will lift us and it's going to get scary but I'm expecting us to go again and the table is one win away from looking good, every promoted team struggles as we're years behind Wolves, Brighton and Villa etc, even Norwich and Watford have had recent Prem cash and bought and paid big, we couldn't get 7 quality players in this summer to match what we're facing each week, we have to stay up and get possibly 3 or 4 next summer and get to the desired level.
The start, the fresher players coming back, the home games on paper with the aways at Norwich and Watford make me think we can get the 4 or 5 wins we need, this team has maybe overachieved and perhaps a CE type injection makes us do that again, it's not blind faith, I've seen some shoots of something and our season starts again after losing to Man City.

Pragmatic optimism. I can sign up to that. Well said Sir & didn't resort to X, Y, Z aren't up the Premier League.

 

[Balders Bee]

IMHO you are right. I think most supporters would agree with you. It’s not disloyal to speak your mind. Particularly when it is so unpopular on this site. It is a sign of loyalty and shows that you care. You want the club to succeed. Simple as.

Not sure anyone can claim VOTB speaks for 'most supporters' unless you know something I don't. I don't even think he'd claim that.
He's got an opinion you share- I don't think it helps anyone to bang on about 'popularity" or 'loyalty' both very subjective terms. Honest views are to be welcomed & debated & generally are on the GPG.

 

[hanworthbee]

I do agree with voice that we are in a relagation battle that wouldn’t have been much of a surprise back in aug

def need some reinforcements as we have some players in the squad who aren’t good enough for the PL, the two keepers, Baptiste, Forss, canos at anywhere except right wing and much of the bench and add Toney to that who’s been cack for ages.

 

[gbems92]

i think weve done well to be where we are, i curse our luck more than anything. The injuries to key players , excactly like today, two players colliding when we were in the groove, how often do you see that happen

 

[South Acton Bee]

Cant be bothered to read this whole thread . still recovering from the Liverpool train one

but at a guess no body in the team yesterday is good enough and we doom ?

 

[BudleighBee]

It's been a bad week for us, but so what. We know were good enough compared to Norwich, Watford and Burnley when she points in them.

For sure we need points on those sorts of teams next season onwards, but for now we just need to carry on with our current playing staff and win some games. We should be ok, but keep faith!

Either way. keep your support!

You may have had a point here except that we lost to both Burnley and Norwich, so we have yet to show we are better than them. A cracking start followed by 11 points from 16 games. We are right in it, but if we can get back if we can recapture the spirit we had at the start. The team needs support at the matches and much less individual criticism. From what I see all are giving 100%.

 

[Herbert]

Another thread to sit back and enjoy with the popcorn

It's getting all pat k, banana, rebus again.

Have they all changed their names on here ?

 

[I'll Bee Damned]

There was well over £100m of player out there in yellow yesterday and well north of £500m in blue in the week, not to mention hundreds of EPL games between them.
We are going to have to punch above ourselves every season for the foreseeable if we are to stay in this league.
We need to be competitive in these sorts of games, as we are being according to Xg stats.

The key to staying up though, will be taking points off those around us which means lifting our games for the likes of Leeds, Newcastle and Burnley at home rather than saving it for Man Utd, Liverpool and Man City.

 

[marvelous007]

We need to get a point or more from the Palace game and then avoid defeats against Newcastle (big game), Burnley, Watford and Norwich. We also have Everton (last away game) and Leeds still to come.

Don't get me wrong, it's fantastic achievement taking points off the big clubs like Liverpool, Arsenal and West Ham but we all need to put in a shift in the above games. Otherwise it could be 1993 all over again.

Hopefully we have Raya and JDS back plus CE. Christians life and football experience will also help our younger players too. Also, I'm still hoping we get a decent right back in to add to the squad. That is how we can avoid relegation.

 

[BEEm us up Scotty]

Bookies seem to agree.
10/1 to go down a week ago, 6/1 tonight.....

15/2 now. Ladbrokes must have heard about Eriksson. Anyway had a bet. This will GUARANTEE we will stay up.

Brentford15/2
Relegation
Premier League 2021/22
16:00, 22 May

Stake:£25.00
Potential Returns:£212.50
Bet Receipt: O/191273186/000017109:33 - 23 Jan

(If by any chance we are relegated, winnings will go to a charity).

 

[grepo]

League One was so much less stressful wasn't it?

Much more fun and you could just turn up and buy a ticket on the day. Accrington Stanley, Morecambe and even Gateshead away, all in the snow or freezing cold. Let's chill a bit, enjoy where we are right now and be confident in our management and team to give us a few more years of stressful survival in the top flight of footy and the dream of perhaps even one day playing in an international competition. On to Goodison Park and a chance of reaching Wembley. COYB's, I'll love and support you wherever we are.

 

[brooks]

There's no doubt we are being dragged into the relegation arena with our lead over the bottom three being chipped away. How desperate a situation it is will be clearer when we see what the teams below us do with their games in hand.

 

[SH]

We took 12 points from 9 games with David Raya in goal. If he’s back in a month, in time for the run of Newcastle-Norwich-Burnley, we’ll still have 12 games left to get the dozen required for safety. Simples.

 

[Johnny5]

Aside from Eriksen's undeniable quality and filling a creative void for us, feel his introduction will boost morale and lift those around him. I've given some (probably unfair) stick to Sergi and Jensen of late in the heat of the moment but would love to see them playing at their best when CE is in AM berth. We'll be ok.

 

[YorkBee]

I must admit I am getting a little bit worried, Its beginning to feel a little bit like the season in what became the championship when Biggar took a huge wedge to keep playing until we were pegged back in the final game and we went back down. The injury gods don't seem to be with us at present. with freak injuries coming into play ( Jensen and Henry yesterday for instance) I do agree that the midfield needs some fresh impetus, hopefully Josh coming back and the never ending story of CE having a positive ending. But I do have faith and optimism that come the final game of the season we will be 4 points clear of the bottom 3 as the goal difference has taken a bit of a hammering over the past few games. But as others have said in this thread its going to make for an exciting end to the season albeit at a different end of the table to which we have been coming used to over the past few years. Tears or Cheers? I am still in the Cheers camp at present.

 

[nocoat]

Notts county was certainly not the final game. We had Barnsley and Bristol city after them at least - possibly more

 

[Wise old Bee]

Notts county was certainly not the final game. We had Barnsley and Bristol city after them at least - possibly more

There are some parallels with that season. We lost a key player, Big Tel, in the opening game and although we picked up a bit when he returned later on in the season our form from the New Year on did for us in the end. We still have enough ability to be safe but, at the back of my mind, there is the nightmare scenario of needing something from the last game of the season which brings back memories of Bristol City away in 93, Reading at home in 2002, and Doncaster in 2013. Sorry to be such a ray of sunshine, I will try to think of Rhodes scoring against Bournemouth instead.

 

[marvelous007]

There are some parallels with that season. We lost a key player, Big Tel, in the opening game and although we picked up a bit when he returned later on in the season our form from the New Year on did for us in the end. We still have enough ability to be safe but, at the back of my mind, there is the nightmare scenario of needing something from the last game of the season which brings back memories of Bristol City away in 93, Reading at home in 2002, and Doncaster in 2013. Sorry to be such a ray of sunshine, I will try to think of Rhodes scoring against Bournemouth instead.

Benstead and Chris Hughton also got injured that season (If I remember correctly). Fortunately we have not sold Ivan and bought a Murray Jones.