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Brentford - what’s their secret?


WessexPest

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OK, it’s early days and all that but Brentford are second after what they must have thought was a satisfactory campaign last year too. A small club surrounded by more “attractive” options for (West) Londoners that seems to consistently punch above its weight. Never visited Griffin Park but by all accounts a joy of an away day.

I must confess I don’t particulary care for them given they are something of a bogey side for us (remember that playoff in 97?...)  and I know a fan of theirs who is an extremely irritating bloke (is it just me that has disdain for a team that have no obvious rivalry with us just because you know one of their supporters who happens to be a bit of a pillock?!?) but you have to respect them.

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Demanding but "clever" owner who also owns a team in Denmark.

Canny & experienced manager.

The draw of being in London.

Many other league clubs nearby to recruit from.

Excellent recruitment, particularly from overseas, including this season what they have previously been missing, a predatory goalscorer in Maupay.

They have been comfortable at this level for a couple of seasons more than us, so more "established".

Home form is scarily impressive.

Better than most of the "big name" teams. 

Should make the playoffs at least this season, after last season's disappointment on missing out.

 

After reading back that list, there are a few that could apply to us as well!

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15 minutes ago, awbb said:

They’re obviously a well run club but I don’t think you can overstate the advantage of being a team based in London, particularly West London nowadays. 

 

In what way is being a London based team an advantage?

In their neck of the woods there’s QPR, Fulham and Chelski all fairly local....

 

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31 minutes ago, awbb said:

They’re obviously a well run club but I don’t think you can overstate the advantage of being a team based in London, particularly West London nowadays. 

 

There's something in this but it's not enough on it's own - as QPR demonstrate. And as Brentford demonstrated prior to their current owner being involved there. Matthew Benham became majority shareholder in summer 2012 and Brentford's record since then cannot be unrelated, I wouldn't have thought. 

So, in answer to the OP, my answer/guess would be: Matthew Benham.

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I live in west London now, and so have gone to see them once or twice. 

It is so nice seeing them play without the stress of it being us. The way they set up makes anyone whonplays them look terrible. The two teams who played them looked like relegation form (one of those being Boro last season) 

But while their build up is stellar, they refuse to shoot unless they are within 10 yards of goal. They get into so many nice positions and just pass it to a defender. I think thats what the manager wants, but i can't help but think if they took more of their chances, they'd blow this league away. 

I think every single one of Maupauys goals have been inside 10 yards of goal

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4 minutes ago, Unan said:

Big draw for young male millionaires with a lot of money to spend.

 

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Catchment area for young players not quite good enough for the London Prem clubs. 

Indeed. It's easier for the clubs to get investment as well, not just from local sources, but generally foreign wealth in this country is in London as well. Their only disadvantage is the lack of available space and the cost of it for developing their stadia, which Brentford are dealing with now.

10 minutes ago, Robbored said:

In what way is being a London based team an advantage?

In their neck of the woods there’s QPR, Fulham and Chelski all fairly local....

 

I think I would argue that all 3 of those clubs have overachieved, comparatively, in their history, despite Fulham's basement dwelling.

I mean in "The Premier League Era" (because football didn't exist before it) the investment all 3 of those clubs have received is ludicrous in comparison to virtually every single other club of their size. 

1 minute ago, Moments of Pleasure said:

There's something in this but it's not enough on it's own - as QPR demonstrate. And as Brentford demonstrated prior to their current owner being involved there. Matthew Benham became majority shareholder in summer 2012 and Brentford's record since then cannot be unrelated, I wouldn't have thought. 

So, in answer to the OP, my answer/guess would be: Matthew Benham.

I didn't suggest it was, really, and it's incredibly difficult to quantify (for me, at least!) but I think this is my point: I would say QPR are overachieving (in a football sense). They're a pretty small club who basically have punched well above their weight for decades, but looking at it, purely recently, they have had a massive amount of money spent and wasted. Would they have had this cash if they weren't from West London? Where would they be if they hadn't had that money? L1? I reckon they'd be as bad as the Sags if they were based in Bristol. Even Brentford, for their relative size, I reckon they've punched above their weight for a long time and we're at an extreme point for them currently which is throwing it in to focus. 

As I alluded before, this is not to take away from them; Brentford are obviously a well run club and Benham deserves a lot of praise for his achievements with them but I simply don't believe that his life has not been made considerably easier thanks to their location.

 

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31 minutes ago, DaveInSA said:

I looked at some stats a couple of years ago when Brentford were walking through L1 and we weren't doing so well.

In 63% of games where they scored first, they won. We were at 24% and looking down both barrels.

They have a plan and they stick to it.

 

So we've improved more of the 2 since then :)

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3 hours ago, DaveInSA said:

I looked at some stats a couple of years ago when Brentford were walking through L1 and we weren't doing so well.

In 63% of games where they scored first, they won. We were at 24% and looking down both barrels.

They have a plan and they stick to it.

 

Yet our owner has been derided for doing just the same - albeit we are perhaps at an earlier stage of our plan's development than are Brentford.

45 minutes ago, Corsham Ed said:

One club I do admire. Somehow they have a knack of letting their good players go, but always have players to replace and just carry on as normal. 

This season we have done something similar, letting some of our experienced players leave and replacing with experienced players.

Spot on, although I suspect that over time we will probably see more of our departing players being replaced by our own academy graduates ( Kelly looking like Bryan's replacement) along with more experienced players. 

Again, when Flint, Bryan and Reid were leaving in the summer many were critical of the "plan", arguing that we can never progress by letting our best players go. Brentford seem to disproving that,  as do we currently, although I realise there is still a lot of the season left and our track record for half season boom and bust!

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53 minutes ago, Corsham Ed said:

One club I do admire. Somehow they have a knack of letting their good players go, but always have players to replace and just carry on as normal. 

This season we have done something similar, letting some of our experienced players leave and replacing with experienced players.

Well said and same here. Brentford and Walsall are 2 teams I respect - surrounded by bigger, more attractive clubs, but always hold their own and keep going with their loyal fanbases.

Brentford especially - always a cracking away day and we've always been made to feel very welcome in the pubs near the ground by their fans.

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11 hours ago, WessexPest said:

OK, it’s early days and all that but Brentford are second after what they must have thought was a satisfactory campaign last year too. A small club surrounded by more “attractive” options for (West) Londoners that seems to consistently punch above its weight. Never visited Griffin Park but by all accounts a joy of an away day.

I must confess I don’t particulary care for them given they are something of a bogey side for us (remember that playoff in 97?...)  and I know a fan of theirs who is an extremely irritating bloke (is it just me that has disdain for a team that have no obvious rivalry with us just because you know one of their supporters who happens to be a bit of a pillock?!?) but you have to respect them.

Is it Harmony hairspray ? 

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7 hours ago, downendcity said:

Yet our owner has been derided for doing just the same - albeit we are perhaps at an earlier stage of our plan's development than are Brentford.

 

Brentford started their plan pretty much the second Benham took over in 2012(?)

SL started off the 5 pillars after our relegation in 2013, so Brentford are at least a year ahead in terms of “time following current plan”

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It's nothing too complicated.. They are just a well oiled machine. They 'employ the right people in the right positions - Coaching, scouting, management... all are top notch and share a common philosophy/goal that everybody is working towards. They constantly identify good players, develop them, sell them on for a profit and then start again, slowly building a better and better squad. It's the old Southampton model who were the absolute masters at it when they went from League 1 to Europe in a few seasons.

I'd like to think we're getting there ourselves in that respect. When you look at us in the period 2010-13 when we had a divided dressing room (allegedly), no playing philosophy, cushy jobs for the boys and an awful transfer policy, and compare it to now,, we have made real progress.

It's very early days, but it's very pleasing how we've made an absolute fortune this summer on player sales, yet still look strong with the likes of Hunt, Weimann and Kalas slotting in perfectly to our system. Add to that, two young uns in Elliasson and Kelly breaking through and there's a hint of that well oiled machine I was talking about! We keep going like this and we''ll be in a position to keep developing, selling, and rerecruiting, whilst continually increasing our reputation and spending power. I think we're getting there, my only lingering doubt is LJ, but that's for another time.

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