Things Others Say About Brentford FC

[kaebess]

I think it's because the majority of commentators still don't actually get the heart of what we do: what I'd call "compounding." As we all know, Brentford 2027 isn't the result of one great transfer window, it's the sum benefit of constant steady improvement over a decade, never having to do a Spursy 'reset.' Look how our squad has built:

2016 - Henry
2018 - JDS
2019 - Jensen
2020 - Janelt
2021 - Ajer
2022 - Damsgaard, Hickey, Lewis-Potter, Yarmoliuk
2023 - Collins, Schade
2024 - Carvalho, Nunes, Thiago, van den Berg
2025 - Kayode, Kelleher, Milambo, Ouattara
2026 - Anthony, Furo, Sangare, Schuster, Wilson

Always improving, but always keeping a spine of the "keepers of the Brentford DNA" whilst taking the financial gains from Mbeumo, Wissa & Co. along the way to make it all possible. So impressive

The vast majority out there will only see the highlighted news which will be our sales of players. There is no news in players we have brought and improved and keeps on improving, through the clubs set up and coaching and their own want to improve. We all know how well KLP is doing with his overall game. There might be a few from Hull still following his progress but supporters of other clubs with have little to know idea on his progress since he signed.

 

[AB]

I think it's because the majority of commentators still don't actually get the heart of what we do: what I'd call "compounding." As we all know, Brentford 2027 isn't the result of one great transfer window, it's the sum benefit of constant steady improvement over a decade, never having to do a Spursy 'reset.' Look how our squad has built:

2016 - Henry
2018 - JDS
2019 - Jensen
2020 - Janelt
2021 - Ajer
2022 - Damsgaard, Hickey, Lewis-Potter, Yarmoliuk
2023 - Collins, Schade
2024 - Carvalho, Nunes, Thiago, van den Berg
2025 - Kayode, Kelleher, Milambo, Ouattara
2026 - Anthony, Furo, Sangare, Schuster, Wilson

Always improving, but always keeping a spine of the "keepers of the Brentford DNA" whilst taking the financial gains from Mbeumo, Wissa & Co. along the way to make it all possible. So impressive

I see how you’ve limited that timeline to players still here but it does rather erase the scale of the 2019 recruitment round.

I think we might see another 2019 if we get a huge fee for someone and feel we can invest to elevate the squad to top 4 (eg by buying 2-3 Sangare level players in key positions). But otherwise don’t need to.

 

[Brentford77]

I see how you’ve limited that timeline to players still here but it does rather erase the scale of the 2019 recruitment round.

I think we might see another 2019 if we get a huge fee for someone and feel we can invest to elevate the squad to top 4 (eg by buying 2-3 Sangare level players in key positions). But otherwise don’t need to.

Who says that has not just happened?

 

[brentford born & bred]

Indeed, we had years of selling our best players and investing wisely to get where we are, all whilst staying competitive and building the squad that got us up from the championship. Alot of other clubs fans don't have a clue about our journey though, not in enough detail to appreciate it anyways

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

 

[Jay Bee]

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

Yes
Had a sort of interesting conversation with a Leeds fan a while ago (sorry this a re hash of a post of mine from last year)

They were giving us credit because they more or less said "you have a system that works, regularly sell your best players and reinvest" but added "that would never be acceptable here" but they said that with a sense of pride rather than the bemusement I felt.

The idea that having a good strategy that might involve being patient for success is somehow a "small club" thing.... very puzzling.

 

[badgerbee]

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

As I said at the start of last season, how many other club's fanbases would have reacted like we did to the loss of Manager, Captain, Goalkeeper and top 2 scorers during the close season?!
Answer: None!!
In fact 90% of them would have gone into meltdown if just one of those things had happened.

While we (the fans) are lucky to have what we've currently got, the club equally (hopefully) need to appreciate how 'bought in' to the process we are.

 

[SH]

I see how you’ve limited that timeline to players still here but it does rather erase the scale of the 2019 recruitment round.

I think we might see another 2019 if we get a huge fee for someone and feel we can invest to elevate the squad to top 4 (eg by buying 2-3 Sangare level players in key positions). But otherwise don’t need to.

2019 was truly exceptional, but in their own ways—and in relative terms—2014 (Gray, Hogan, Jota, Judge, Odubajo); 2015 (Barbet, Bjelland, Colin, Vibe, Woods); and 2017 (Canos, Dalsgaard, Marcondes, Maupay, Watkins) were earlier examples of the model. The longevity of the 2019 cohort was the grand slam home run.

I think the compounding—footballing, cultural and financial—is what gets you there. The great thing is that we're coming off a fantastic 2026 in terms of financial numbers (pre-tax profit should be ~£60mn or so), and the Konsa and Pinnock monies (and Ollie?) are starting to chip away at '27. So the firepower is undoubtedly there...

 

[JANORAK]

Like an ant-eater, with my Jonny Lenin glasses on...

Dip in the Have Your Says on the BBC Sports page I do...

Seems to me, and my long nose, that those fond of 'being in the Know'...in the now...

are all talking up the Bees....

A "strong" team... a "well-run"....a "smart"...a fan's dream...team....

Seems most of the mentions are those made by the impressed...

I was taking my ant-eater notes, as you do...of the team - Brentford FC...

and was aware of many other types ...taking note too...

‘We haven’t seen a spanking like that at home, since the days of Cynthia Payne’(!!!)

 

[Bee(h)Iver]

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

It's not just the fanbase but sometimes the owners and board.
A great example is Villa, with their endless complaints about being denied the ability to spend money. They have very quickly forgotten they only came up via the playoffs 2 seasons before us. After a perilous first season back in the PL they decided that building up slowly wasn't for them...after all they are a big club. So they spent a fotune on building an expensive squad on high wages rather than be patient and have a structured plan.
The result? They have won a trophy but they play fast and loose with their finances and are now going through a painful rebuild as they ship out the highest earners.

 

[GuyBee]

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

This by far and away our secret sauce (on top of Mr G and Mr B etc).

The likes of Oxford and Lincoln* might have it, West Ham, Qpr, Sheff Weds etc etc etc never will.

* though both took players on loan. We stopped doing this after our first championship season iirc, outside of keepers)

 

[Ghost]

The idea that having a good strategy that might involve being patient for success is somehow a "small club" thing.... very puzzling.

The average big club fan is just a history merchant.

At least Spurs' monumental under achievement is putting a chink in the armour of the "top 6" dick measuring narrative in the media.

 

[TorbayBee]

This by far and away our secret sauce (on top of Mr G and Mr B etc).

The likes of Oxford and Lincoln* might have it, West Ham, Qpr, Sheff Weds etc etc etc never will.

* though both took players on loan. We stopped doing this after our first championship season iirc, outside of keepers)

The Oxford owners cannot raise the financial bond to cover the season hence their transfer ban

 

[AB]

Yes
Had a sort of interesting conversation with a Leeds fan a while ago (sorry this a re hash of a post of mine from last year)

They were giving us credit because they more or less said "you have a system that works, regularly sell your best players and reinvest" but added "that would never be acceptable here" but they said that with a sense of pride rather than the bemusement I felt.

The idea that having a good strategy that might involve being patient for success is somehow a "small club" thing.... very puzzling.

The really funny bit of that is that it is what Leeds actually has been doing since they binned off Bielsa.

They cocked it in 22/23 because they’d been hoodwinked by Marsch’s RedBull Ted Lasso impersonation and had recruited using the Raphinha/Phillips money with too little regard for the need for at least some of the players to be ready for immediate action in a relegation fight. But almost all those players went on to either become current PL regulars or be sold for profit to good PL or Euro big league clubs. Unlike other clubs whose fans bask in ancient glory, their actual ownership since then has continued buying quite carefully and without aiming for big names (other than literally as with Muharemovic).

Similarly, Villa fans are going completely tinfoil hat about SCR being some Big 6 cartel designed specifically to stop them getting too close. While in the background they’ve just offloaded a load of players with 2 years left on their contracts for top dollar while buying some v promising younger players. Their squad v Brighton was very poor but most of those players won’t be near a starting spot by the end of the international break and their fans will be hailing Emery’s genius “despite the cartel” rather than seeing it all as stuff their owners have planned and organised around. They seem genuinely to think it would have been better that they’d have been allowed to offer Konsa £250k a week to stay.

 

[Gawain]

Similarly, Villa fans are going completely tinfoil hat about SCR being some Big 6 cartel designed specifically to stop them getting too close.

That would be the same SCR that (ahem) a certain Aston Villa FC voted for, their vote being necessary for the 14 vote bare majority it needed to pass?

(Same applies to Newcastle United FC and their whingeing fanbase too, btw)

 

[CattedownBee]

My Twitter algorithm today is many accounts talking about how well run a club we are and that we can make a run for UCL this season I think our big struggle will still be teams that let us have a lot of the ball and are difficult to break down. The squad is the best we’ve ever had so I’d take any form of Europe

 

[brentfordfc4ever]

To say we're no longer under the radar is an understatement. Feeling excited but nervous......

Lose to Leeds and they'll move on.

 

[martinlofnes]

I would add to this that many of the legacy clubs have a fanbase that do not have the patience to allow a slow build to success. The pressure from the entitled fanbase then in turn leads to many clueless owners take poor decisions both in appointing managers and buying players to try to achieve quick success without any sustainable plan, rinse and repeat.

I feel like I’ve been well trained by Brentford. I don’t panic if we sell top players, I’m fine if a new player doesn’t play much in their first year and when we sign someone new I’m trying to work out who is getting sold who they are replacing

 

[whyteleafebee76]

Rare to see any proper analysis on tv these days but that was genuinely interesting

Not a fan of Carra but that is an excellent piece of analysis.

 

[rallyingmick]

View: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdxWyMAp/


Dunno how to share links

 

[Freebee]

View: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGdxWyMAp/


Dunno how to share links

Worked for me.

Nice words apart from him saying we don't have any outstanding players

 

[Ghost]

Worked for me.

Nice words apart from him saying we don't have any outstanding players

Yeah second highest goal scorer behind the cyborg is bang average innit

 

[Canterbee]

Yeah second highest goal scorer behind the cyborg is bang average innit

Everyone watched the Brazil Morocco game and consequently Igor remains under the radar of many footballing fans. If he puts up the same numbers as he did last year however that will surely change.

 

[Cham]

View: https://youtu.be/mQ2HmnCutzM?t=2243&is=U7j9wpUhqU41OCnT


Great words from DMac

 

[GlasgowBee]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

 

[beeeehive]

Brentford lack the quality of Barcelona and PSG shocker, helpful insight by Rooney

 

[alikat]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

Well that's more than a minute of my life that I've just wasted!

 

[Invipai]

'Class from Rooney' while he says that challengers teams have to be good in possession. It's all incredibly vague, as I imagine his dressing room instructions to the players were. I also don't think we're the best example this season given we've already shown we can play.

 

[Jay Bee]

A couple of funny things after the Diouf signing got the "here we go" yesterday

 

[jbee]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

Don't really have a problem with anything he's said there tbh.

 

[Untouchable]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

If the press is so easy, makes you wonder why everyone doesn’t do it perfectly every time…

 

[beenthere]

Pearls of wisdom there from Roony. I guess this level of insight and erudition are what convinced various clubs that he was their man.

 

[Kingston Bee]

Same bloke who said we would be relegated a season or so ago. There is a trend here.

 

[beeeehive]

If the press is so easy, makes you wonder why everyone doesn’t do it perfectly every time…

Getting the press right against quality opponents is very hard and dangerous, he's just waffling a bit and then mentioning Barcelona and PSG alongside Brentford is just stupid.

 

[North London Bee]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

Oh dear!

 

[GABS]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

He got sacked as manager from a club we just humped 1-6. Imagine the scoreline if he was still in charge

 

[SH]

Rooney being Rooney, it's probably expensive his success as a manager. This is the sort of crap that makes me want us to emulate Leicester and f*** over the "elite" clubs...no one has a right!

View: https://x.com/liverpxxl9/status/2092281692543234469

Compare that with Carragher on Monday night explaining in granular detail how our very specific (and unusual) high press of 2+2 on the edge of the box created the chance for Ajer to feed Jensen for Janelt's second

 

[VitaminBee]

Don't really have a problem with anything he's said there tbh.

The problem is he's getting paid f*ck knows how many thousands of pounds to appear on that podcast, just to say teams with higher quality players play at a higher quality...

And of course finds a way to be condescending to all the non-'big' clubs while he does it.

 

[Gazza Bee]

I hold zero interest in Rooneys tactical opinions - unbelievable player, sh*t coach

 

[jlove]

Let's get to the International Break, when we'll be 5 PL games in against a variety of EPL sides, plus EFL Cup games, and then we'll see where we are and what others think about that. There's a chance we may get some sensible analysis in amongst the usual sea of dross.

 

[Greybeard]

Legacy clubs like Birmingham might not be part of footballs future but they are a significant part of its history. You can understand their fans getting sore when their beloved club is obsolete.

 

[cm_851]

You may want to move this Mods but just came across a "what might have been" from a transfer a few years back


View: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17U7d3LimV/


Interesting to hear Lyle Foster talk about how close he came to signing for us and just how much we bent over backwards to do a deal with Charlton. Fair to say he is not happy with how they handled it.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

You may want to move this Mods but just came across a "what might have been" from a transfer a few years back


View: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17U7d3LimV/


Interesting to hear Lyle Foster talk about how close he came to signing for us and just how much we bent over backwards to do a deal with Charlton. Fair to say he is not happy with how they handled it.

I listened to this, found it interesting.

 

[Edmundo]

The failure to sign Taylor led us to try Watkins at CF.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

The failure to sign Foster led us to try Watkins at CF.

Didn't we sign Maupay instead? Can't recall. Watkins spent his first season wide and wasn't that good. Carried an injury iirc.

 

[Edmundo]

Didn't we sign Maupay instead? Can't recall. Watkins spent his first season wide and wasn't that good. Carried an injury iirc.

My memory is deeply unreliable but I thought Taylor was intended to replace Maupay. You're probably right!

 

[Les Beeavinu]

My memory is deeply unreliable but I thought Foster was intended to replace Maupay. You're probably right!

Or possibly wrong!

 

[stevil]

Didn't we sign Maupay instead? Can't recall. Watkins spent his first season wide and wasn't that good. Carried an injury iirc.

That was the summer we sold Maupay.

 

[Les Beeavinu]

That was the summer we sold Maupay.

Fair enough, I struggle with what day of the week it is tbh!

 

[Edmundo]

Also, it's Taylor, not Foster!

 

[stevil]

Fair enough, I struggle with what day of the week it is tbh!

Thursday (I think).