Brentford head in to Saturday’s home game with Brighton in quite stunning form. Through to the fifth round of the FA Cup (where an away tie with West Ham awaits) and ripping up trees in the Premier League. The Bees sit seventh in the table and remain hot on the heels of the Champions League chasing teams.
Anybody expecting them to fall away after a brutal run of league fixtures couldn’t have ended up more disappointed. Away wins at Aston Villa and Newcastle United were followed by last week’s visit from Arsenal.
The 1-1 draw there a game in which Keith Andrews’ side went blow for blow with the (current) league leaders. Indeed, but for referee Jon Brooks having a shocker, the Gunners would arguably have been down to ten men for the final push after Gabriel somehow swerved a second yellow for ploughing through goal-bound Dango Ouattara.
Then, Wednesday night happened. The Gunners conspiring to throw away a two-goal advantage at bottom side Wolves and ended up leaking the equaliser in the 94th minute. All of a sudden, the title out of their hands. The chants of ‘Second again. Ole, Ole’, which we heard in such wonderful style at the Gtech on Thursday, only getting louder.
The annual Arsenal meltdown once more providing the unintentional comedy of watching their fans self-combust as the team implode. Which, given the whining and moaning that has carried on long after their draw at the Gtech, is something I can only enjoy all the more.
Whilst it counts for nothing if the Bees don’t keep on doing what they have already done so well, that result at Molineux means they now sit the top of the Premier League form table over the last ten games. Keith Andrews going from strength to strength as he and the team look more and more confident with each passing game. Performing better than we have ever done at this level.
By contrast, look at the bottom end of the table. Historically big names who have spent way bigger than the Bees but now in real danger of taking a trip to the Championship. Vitor Pereira’s Nottingham Forest and Igor Tudor’s Spurs switching managers more often than a snake sheds its skin, yet to no avail. Now, in that awful position of waiting for West Ham to hit the skids once more. Yet Brentford stuck to the plan and didn’t panic after taking a while to find their feet. Look at how it has all played out.
That’s the bigger picture. Brentford know that a win on Saturday will finally take them above Liverpool, even if only for 24 hours. Keith has seen the benefits of picking a settled team, and with no obvious injuries from Monday night’s cup win at Macclesfield, I suspect it’ll be more of the same as that which has been doing so well in the league.
Kevin Schade is available for selection again following his red card at Villa, but such has been the form of KLP and Dango Ouattara, I think it would be harsh on either to be bombed out. Something which, incredibly, means Mikkel Damsgaard will also be stuck on the bench alongside Jordan Henderson and Nathan Collins.
It is a situation that is almost surreal, yet one can’t deny the form in every position at present. The performance against Arsenal saw a solid 10 out of 10 from everyone, and whilst I have no doubt Keith will put all sentiment on the back shelf, it would seem that he is unable to drop anybody from that side.
If the Bees are buzzing, the Seagulls are very much following the trawler and picking up whatever scraps they can at present. They’re at the lower end of that form table and are currently on a run of just one win out of the last 13 played. That, against Burnley, although they continue to pick up the points from draws (with six losses over that same period), no team has won fewer games since December.
To be honest, I’ve been getting to the point of seeing opposition form as something which turns out to be as much a red herring as anything if over-relied on. We smashed Villa and Newcastle whilst giving Arsenal the game of their lives. Prior to that had been the turgid visit of woeful Nottingham Forest. Yet it ended up being a game where their manager that month (check notes), Sean Dyche, brutalised his way to a 2-0 win over The Bees.
So yes, form is nice. Confidence is an amazing thing to have up the sleeve. Ultimately, though (cliche alert), it comes down to how eleven do against eleven when the whistle finally blows.
The man doing that will be Jarred Gillett, somebody who seems to have been on rollercoaster levels of form in recent Brentford games officiated. On the plus side, he’ll always have a place in my heart for sending off special agent Chris Mepham in ‘that’ play-off semi against Bournemouth, so we know there is very much good in there. Ah, Asmir Begovic. Where are you now?
He’ll be helped out by assistants Steve Meredith and Richard West. Paul Tierney is fourth official, Nick Hopton on VAR, and Assistant VAR duties go to one Stuart Attwell. Mr Tierney also had the dubious pleasure of being fourth official in that VAR-free FA Cup debacle at Aston Villa on Saturday. The panic at once more having to make snap decisions with the safety net removed was apparent to all.
As for Mr. Attwell…There are no words at present, so I won’t use any.
“Surely he can’t do too much damage from Assistant VAR?” opined one North Bank observer during a pre-match pint in the Black Dog last night. I’d love to think that was true, but fear he won’t be able to resist butting in. Fingers crossed, actually in our favour, for once.
The final point of note in the build-up is the James Milner factor. Should he make it onto the pitch, it would be a record 654th Premier League appearance, clearing the high-water mark set by Gareth Barry. It would be an incredible achievement, as much as anything else, when one thinks when this run started.
His Premier League debut coming back on 10 November 2002 for Leeds United in a 4-3 win at West Ham. That one, a game where Leeds scored four goals in the opening period, then, unusually, ended up clinging on for an actual win. The same weekend, Brentford lost 2-1 at Crewe in League Two, en route to finishing 16th in the fourth tier. Look at us all now.
Interestingly, of the 879 other players to make over 100 appearances at this level, Milner has featured in the same game as 878 of them. The only exception being the currently benched Nathan Collins. Keith Andrews won’t get sucked into the sentiment of the situation, but you can bet there’ll be more than a few eyes on the subs bench should either player not make their respective starting XIs.
Whenever it happens, and it will, Milner’s record is a stunning achievement. Fingers crossed that it adds another level of distraction to our opponents’ plans and Brentford can get on with they’ve been doing so, so well these last few months.
Bring it on and see you there.
