gurujuan 8,088 Posted July 18 Brentford are a good example of a club with a clear playing identity Whoever the coach is, whatever the make up of the side, they play the same quick passing game. They like players who are comfortable on the ball, and don’t ever resort to Plan B, unlike us, where Plan B always seems to be our preferred option. I must admit, I do like the way they play, and the idea that this must continue, whoever is in charge It makes things much easier, if you find yourself in a similar situation to which we now find ourselves 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheEnchanter 18,076 Posted July 18 19 minutes ago, StudentOwl said: Won't disagree with you, it's a popular line, and I get your point... buuut... Difference is, I haven't said it any other preseason before. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think I'm some massive authority on the strength of the league... but I know for a fact that, internally, in my head I'm right (as we all think we are whenever we voice an opinion ) Point is, I'm standing by my assessment of Brentford and the league this season... never stuck my nose out like this before about either of them, but I just have a feeling. Absolute testicles about this 'weaker championship crap'. If its the weakest in years it's arguably harder because there's so many teams capable of fighting for those top spots. If the teams are closer together it probably means its tougher to go on good run, harder to stand out as a good team and not easy to gain consistency. If everyone only owns £1, are you really rich if you have £2? Or if everyone owns £100,000 are you really poor for only owning £99,999? Its the same analogy for the league. If everyones supposedly 'weaker' we aren't considered a stand out team ourselves so its just as hard as if we were considered a front runner in a 'strong' chanpionship. 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheEnchanter 18,076 Posted July 18 2 minutes ago, gurujuan said: Brentford are a good example of a club with a clear playing identity Whoever the coach is, whatever the make up of the side, they play the same quick passing game. They like players who are comfortable on the ball, and don’t ever resort to Plan B, unlike us, where Plan B always seems to be our preferred option. I must admit, I do like the way they play, and the idea that this must continue, whoever is in charge It makes things much easier, if you find yourself in a similar situation to which we now find ourselves People also like to highlight the fact that Brentford haven't yet made it to the Prem and that they arent much better than us in terms of recent league positions. But those people also forget that the way they run their club has allowed them to establish themselves league above their historical average whereas we are a league below where we expect and want to be. 7 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gurujuan 8,088 Posted July 18 1 minute ago, TheEnchanter said: People also like to highlight the fact that Brentford haven't yet made it to the Prem and that they arent much better than us in terms of recent league positions. But those people also forget that the way they run their club has allowed them to establish themselves league above their historical average whereas we are a league below where we expect and want to be. A decent point, yes Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yeadonowl 755 Posted July 18 Brentford do the same every year by selling all their best players Yes they make money by doing it but they always seem to just tread water This summer is no different, new goalkeeper, 2 new centre half’s and probably a new forward line You need some form of continuity for success 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheEnchanter 18,076 Posted July 18 4 minutes ago, yeadonowl said: Brentford do the same every year by selling all their best players Yes they make money by doing it but they always seem to just tread water This summer is no different, new goalkeeper, 2 new centre half’s and probably a new forward line You need some form of continuity for success Like I said above. Brentford are already having a lot of success. They play a league above their historicsl average. They are able to be comfortable in terms of FFP because they have a consistent production line and now they have reached a level where they can comfortably move into a new stadium. Their trajectory towards the Premier League looks a case of when not if. They've had to work hard at it being a traditionally smaller club and being in a city where they sit behind a lot of teams in the pecking order. 9 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sheriwozgod 2,802 Posted July 18 2 hours ago, Bluesteel said: Brentford, Bristol City, Huddersfield, West Brom, Leeds and Derby would be my initial guess for top six, in no particular order. We would have as good a chance as any if we could get a couple more in at centre half and central mid. Still think a bit of a reshuffle up front to bring in a winger/pact forward too. I think Warnock will have Cardiff in the top 6 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
full fathom five 3,359 Posted July 18 52 minutes ago, sheriwozgod said: I think Warnock will have Cardiff in the top 6 Unfortunately so do i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IWEDFM 1,148 Posted July 18 Brentford are extremly well run and go about their business the right way They sign young players with potential for next to nothing and sell them on for millions. Andre Gray, Hogan, Woods to name a few 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
glynnb 1,446 Posted July 18 2 hours ago, gurujuan said: Brentford are a good example of a club with a clear playing identity Whoever the coach is, whatever the make up of the side, they play the same quick passing game. They like players who are comfortable on the ball, and don’t ever resort to Plan B, unlike us, where Plan B always seems to be our preferred option. I must admit, I do like the way they play, and the idea that this must continue, whoever is in charge It makes things much easier, if you find yourself in a similar situation to which we now find ourselves Is that our Plan A then ? Watched Crewe Alex v Witton Albion on Tuesday and Crewe had Plan A B C D and E and managed to switch through them easily. However, they are League 2 which means none of their plans are that good. Stendal or Puel as manager for me by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Quist 2,050 Posted July 18 3 hours ago, gurujuan said: Brentford are a good example of a club with a clear playing identity Whoever the coach is, whatever the make up of the side, they play the same quick passing game. They like players who are comfortable on the ball, and don’t ever resort to Plan B, unlike us, where Plan B always seems to be our preferred option. I must admit, I do like the way they play, and the idea that this must continue, whoever is in charge It makes things much easier, if you find yourself in a similar situation to which we now find ourselves They were on a losing run last year and changed style mid season. They always played 4 at back and went to a back 3. This is why guy who is training with us. lost his place in side. Read comments by manager he has documented how he changed shape of team Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nevthelodgemoorowl 10,454 Posted July 18 5 hours ago, Ronnie Starling said: Brentford also have the luxury of being in London and attractive for the young players of the big London teams to go on loan without the need for relocating. Handy if they want to go to the flower show. Not so handy if out on loan at Palace or West Ham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Great Big Galaa 2,945 Posted July 18 3 hours ago, sheriwozgod said: I think Warnock will have Cardiff in the top 6 Make that Top 2. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Great Big Galaa 2,945 Posted July 18 5 hours ago, Bluesteel said: Brentford, Bristol City, Huddersfield, West Brom, Leeds and Derby would be my initial guess for top six, in no particular order. We would have as good a chance as any if we could get a couple more in at centre half and central mid. Still think a bit of a reshuffle up front to bring in a winger/pact forward too. I think Cardiff are certainties to go straight back up as they have the best manager in the division. I can’t see Leeds being as strong this year. Brentford and Bristol City are 50/50. IMO Huddersfield will be nearer the bottom than the Top. As for West Brom and Derby a lot depends on how quickly the new managers settle. As for us, we’ve got a set of early fixtures that give us a chance of a decent start but as we know with Wednesday there are no guarantees Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
akbuk 572 Posted July 18 Can't see us being out of the top 6 all year 1 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fuzzy logics 1,206 Posted July 18 49 minutes ago, akbuk said: Can't see us being out of the top 6 all year Depends who we get in...without any strong leadership we will be prone to inconsistency. Still need 2-3 players in imo. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wilyfox 16,685 Posted July 18 1 hour ago, Fuzzy logics said: Depends who we get in...without any strong leadership we will be prone to inconsistency. Still need 2-3 players in imo. This is my worry. I hope all the manager & legal stuff isn't drawing DC's gaze from what really needs doing. 3 weeks until deadline. We should be putting finishing touches to our squad. Doesn't matter who's in charge if we don't have a squad with all the ingredients to do well. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
swfc1983 2,443 Posted July 18 3 minutes ago, wilyfox said: This is my worry. I hope all the manager & legal stuff isn't drawing DC's gaze from what really needs doing. 3 weeks until deadline. We should be putting finishing touches to our squad. Doesn't matter who's in charge if we don't have a squad with all the ingredients to do well. I was quite pleased that Bullen was talking about adding a few players and addressing the squad imbalance when questioned in his interview. Think it shows we are still planning to be active fingers crossed. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wilyfox 16,685 Posted July 18 6 minutes ago, swfc1983 said: I was quite pleased that Bullen was talking about adding a few players and addressing the squad imbalance when questioned in his interview. Think it shows we are still planning to be active fingers crossed. From what I heard in his interview, he seemed keen to pass on that side of things. Non-committal on McEachran. Said that was a decision for next manager to make. Didn't flesh out the Joao situation either. There are players we need in and some that seemingly want out. Someone has to start making those calls. A new guy would not have time to assess what he's got and recruit within 3 weeks, even if appointed today. Clock is ticking for DC whether he likes it or not. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suzuki_San 2,538 Posted July 18 38 minutes ago, wilyfox said: This is my worry. I hope all the manager & legal stuff isn't drawing DC's gaze from what really needs doing. 3 weeks until deadline. We should be putting finishing touches to our squad. Doesn't matter who's in charge if we don't have a squad with all the ingredients to do well. As I said in another thread, our legal team don't do recruitment! And vice-versa. It's easy to do more than one thing at once. We all do it every day. You're doing it now. Breathing heavily and reading. And now smiling. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites