Next up we return to action after the increasingly tedious messing about with a World Cup qualification process that seems to make it more difficult to miss out than to qualify. We will be hosting Brentford in an 8pm at the Olympic. It’s an 8pm kick-off should you want to get down to your local to watch the game.
A quick word about the boycott. Whether you are giving it a miss or going is fine. Each must act on their own beliefs. I have heard mention of the word “scab” aimed at those who will be going to the match which is unacceptable and just the sort of thing that is music to the ears to those that have a vested interest in the status quo. Whatever your opinion, respect the opposition view. Percy has spoken.
So Brentford, then. It was a summer of no little upheaval for the Bees for whom this is likely to prove their most testing season since they got promoted five years ago. It started with the departure of manager Thomas Frank who, having kept Brentford up decided to embark on the altogether more difficult challenge of doing the same over at Tottenham’s Toilet Bowl Stadium.
Frank’s farewell prompted a number of high-profile departures. Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbuemo both left for points north whilst skipper Christian Norgaard hopped it to Arsenal. So new boss Keith Richards already had a rebuilding programme on his plate when he arrived.
They opened their season with a 3-1 defeat up at Forest, something that may bode well for us given who was in charge at the City Ground at the time. This was followed by a 1-0 home win over Villa, and a 2-1 defeat up at Sunderland.
A late, late equaliser from a long throw, something of a tactic for them, saw them pick up a point at home to Chelsea before their second West London derby in as many weeks saw them go down 3-1 at Fulham. Their last two saw them dispatch the Salford lot 3-1 before going down to the blue half of Manchester 1-0, again at home. All of that has left them in 16th spot with seven from seven.
On the transfer front, Daisy tells me that the first priority was to bring in Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool. The ‘keeper joined on a deal worth £12.5m and the Corkman is well-established as the Republic of Ireland’s no.1, which, with the current state of their group, means he is likely to be watching the tournament at home like the rest of us.
Midfielder Antoni-Djibu Milambo was the next significant arrival. The midfielder cost £16m to bring across the North Sea. He’s got Dutch caps at all levels up to Under 21 but has yet to trouble the selectors at full level. Apparently, as a kid one of the pals with whom he used to kick a ball about with in the street was none other than Crysencio “Jimmy” Summerville.
There’s been something odd going on in the papers regarding Jordan Henderson. There’s been a slew of journos all putting finger to keyboard to try and justify his inexplicable return to recent England squads. Tellingly these articles seem to be based on the premise that Thomas Tuchel should be trusted rather than promoting any of the merits of the player himself, which he has kept well-hidden at international level.
The latest scribe to comment on the midfielder’s summer move from Ajax was the Sunday Times’ Martin Samuel who, rather gushingly, praised the player for his ”bravery” in returning to these shores. Personally I’d have thought him a lot braver and a lot less of a hypocrite had he returned to the UK direct from Saudi rather than taking the rest of the year out in Amsterdam, thus protecting those tainted petrodollars from the clutches of HMRC.
Henderson arrived on a free. At the other end of the scale, they broke their club record to bring in Dango Ouattara from AFC Bournemouth for a fee of £42m including add-ons. The right-back/wing-back scored the winner in the opening day win over Villa and has been capped 33 times by his native Burkina Faso, of whom we shall speak more later.
And that later is now, as we move on to the Wild and Wacky World Of Association Football. Congratulations to Cape Verde who qualified for next year’s World Cup across the Atlantic. Daisy tells me that the island nation has a population roughly the size of Hull. One sincerely hopes that Cape Verde is slightly more pleasing to the eye than Humberside, given that that is where Daisy is dragging me off on our honeymoon next week.
Also from the African qualification groups there was heartbreak for the aforementioned Burkina Faso, who were enjoying their post-match celebrations having qualified for the play-offs by finishing second in their group. Or so they thought. However it seems that a change in the qualification rules that had followed Eritrea’s withdrawal from the competition meant that Nigeria went through instead.
To be fair, the CAF did communicate the change in rules to the nations. It was just that putting the details in the small print that nobody reads at the bottom of the federation’s email signature meant that nobody knew. Until about an hour into the Burkinabe celebrations. Still they can console themselves with the fact that they probably got closer than Wales.
And so to us. Well we were always going to be up against it at Arsenal and fears about the officiating were borne out right on the first minute when Niclas Fullkrug was fouled in the box with no result.
We didn’t create anything throughout the game and we can be glad that we weren’t playing anyone really good – I don’t recall Alphonse Areola having to make too many saves in the second half as shot after shot went into the sky. The penalty? Well, contact was outside the area and any contact inside came as the result of a rather obvious dive. One to file under “would it be given at the other end?”
The bright spot? Well the arrival of Callum Marshall for the ineffective Fullkrug was pleasing, though one does wonder if the youngster’s Premier League debut might have come as a result of someone just saying “get Callum ready”.
For this weekend, we will welcome back Tomas Soucek to the ranks of the available. Since his dismissal a few weeks ago I have noted something like seven or eight challenges that were worse than the one that gave the potato-salad kid an enforced three-match break. None of which resulted in anything worse than a yellow card.
One can almost see Donald Trump taking over PGMOL and announcing that his employees were the best in the world, fact. Which actually is pretty much Howard Webb’s stance anyway. Much like Donald Trump, the rest of the world looks on and laughs.
Fullkrug is likely to be out having torn yet another muscle. Given that he spent his time in the Arsenal game being, shall we say, less than mobile, the question that immediately leaps to mind is "how"? Still, the German’s absence may mean more opportunity for Marshall who looked lively coming on as a sub for Northern Ireland against Germany in midweek. Young George Earthy is still on the sick list but other than that, NES has a full squad to choose from.
So to the prediction. This is a difficult one to call. On the one hand they have zero points on the road and are still coming to terms with the changes of the summer. On the other hand, we have zero points at home and are still coming to terms with the changes that amended the changes that occurred at the end of last season. So it would appear that a draw is on the cards. Except...
I dunno, I think that this is the match that will be a turning point. NES had about 30 seconds to prepare for Everton away, Arsenal away was a hiding to nothing so this is really the first proper match where there has been a chance to get things sorted out.
Yes, the international break has been an interruption of sorts but at least this time everyone has come back unscathed (not counting Fullkrug, whose glass thigh gave out in training before he even got to duty-free at Gatwick). So this is one of those games where one has one of those feelings. And with that in mind, one is going to go for a home win this time round.
It’s Daisy’s birthday while we are on our honeymoon So the £2.50 that I was going to spend on her present will instead be going on us to prevail by two goals to one. And if the bet loses, I’ll just tell her that I simply forgot to pack her present. Job done.
Oh and finally just a quick nod to one’s slightly more learned and talented writing colleague Mr Walker of this parish who has been feeling a tad under the weather of late. More than ever around here one needs fellow scribes who are able to express views in an intelligent manner without needing to annoyingly split infinitives all over the place. Get well soon, sir.
Enjoy the game!
When last we met at the Olympic: Lost 0-1 (Premier League February 2025)
Awful first half. Changes made at the interval. Much better second half spoilt by the time-wasting, feigning of injury, diving etc for which the Bees have developed a reputation over the past few years. The deserved draw was denied when Bowen got cleared out in the box, only for the spot-kick to be denied by the incompetence of referee Darren England and the corrupt VAR system which didn’t want to make their mate look stupid.
Referee: Andrew Madley
After that imaginary foul he saw over at Chelsea the other year to deny us a point I asked the rhetorical question as to whether they drug test referees. After the Cootegate scandal (from which PGMOL seem to have escaped any responsibility) we now know that they don’t. Which is a shame as it would at least provide an explanation as to some of the more ludicrous decisions PGMOL’s morons come to. Another official who can’t tell a dive from a teapot and, on past form, the visitors will play on that.
Danger Man: Igor Thiago
Four from seven for them this season. Three more than anyone else in their side.
Percy and Daisy’s Amazing Brentford Fact Of The Week Type Thing
You know you’re in trouble researching these things when no.2 on one of those "12 must know facts about the area" things on the internet is the fact that the local football team play in red and white stripes. The town gets mentioned in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a dystopian novel set in the future where social engineering and technology are used to keep a strict social hierarchy in place, much in the same way as PGMOL uses VAR to keep the so-called bigger teams at the top.
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