It feels like an absolute eternity has passed since Brentford last kicked a ball in anger. They’re back in action this weekend away at West Ham. Nick Bruzon previews.
The Bees very much sitting outside the tent looking in whilst just about everybody else has got on with the business of football over the last fortnight.
That’s the price paid for FA Cup capitulation. The downside of an early exit being that instead of mixing it in the fourth round, Thomas Frank and his team have had to be content with time at the training ground. The plus points being that, firstly, Liverpool stepped into the spotlight of shame as the most high profile team to exit the competition at the hands of our own David, Plymouth Argyle.
Perhaps, more importantly, it has given a time to recharge. We already know Ethan Pinnock is fit again. Although it will be far too soon for Aaron Hickey, at least he is now ‘back on the grass’. If Rico Henry has recovered from missing the home reverse to Spurs way back when, all the better.
There will be all ears on Thomas Frank’s press conference on Friday to see what updates, if any, he has to offer. There has been little news out of the Gtech in the last week or so. In part, symptomatic of us having to sit on the sidelines whilst the FA Cup, Champions League and even that final Merseyside derby to be held at Goodison Park played out.
The major talking point for Brentford being whether goalkeeper Mark Flekken will have recovered after missing out last time through injury. Reportedly absent with a side-strain although Thomas using post-match to say he expected his number one to be fit again for the West Ham match.
Let’s hope so. After that initial period of settling in following the departure of David Raya, Mark really has shown the fans his prowess between the sheets. He’s currently sitting third in our own game-by-game search for player of the season whilst his ability as a shot stopper has been well documented by those players of the internet’s Fantasy Premier League game.
The really exciting prospect comes in the right wing-back position. Could Thomas give Michael Kayode a first start for The Bees or will it be more a case of building him in to the team from the bench? With Kris Ajer once again fit, the later option would feel more likely but one thing you can say for sure is that the twenty year-old really stood out his debut.
Physicality combined with speed and a killer long-throw make him look like a really exciting prospect for the future. I have no doubt he will get a look in at some point over Saturday afternoon and if last time out is anything to go by, it won’t be long until that position is his own.
As for West Ham, their recent form has been less ‘electric’ and more ‘flat battery’. They’ve only won once this year, losing four out of the last six league games and exiting the FA Cup at the same time as Brentford. Yet with the memory of Julen Lopetegui fading fast, after the first-half of the season had “not aligned with the club’s ambitions” (their polite way of saying, sh*t), it has been all change.
Graham Potter is now at the helm whilst any lingering worries of relegation are, surely, gone. The dreadful performances of the bottom three see them well adrift now. Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton surely doomed, even though there are still fourteen games to go?
With Wolves above that group still eight points behind the 16th placed Hammers, our hosts can build for next season. Free to reminisce about Trevor Brooking’s header and their 1966 World Cup win in a pressure free-environment. Which, of course, makes them a most dangerous team to face. They won’t go down and there’s nothing to lose by releasing the shackles.
Still, that’s on them. For Brentford it is a case of being ’game on’ once again. Spurs a distant memory and all the joys of a trip to the 2012 Olympic Stadium now upon us. Mmm, kettling.
The only other potential downside being that the officials in this one read like a Stephen King book. Referee Darren England being joined by Graham Scott on VAR. With Steve Martin as fourth official, let’s hope none of these three amigos turn in to the jerk.
Assuming not, it should be a cracking afternoon. However you get there – whether by trains, (err) boats or automobiles – enjoy!
