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The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “cliff crown”

A Very Wet Brentford Performance.Brentford 0 Walsall 1


As Brentford fans some weeks are best forgotten and it is better to remove those bees coloured spectacles and see the game for what it was. Brentford were comprehensively beaten by a hard working and decent Walsall side.

An excellent turn out from Walsall that filled the away end.

Fans arrived mostly by car but the potential was there to arrive by boat if they wished, and with such a wet game that might have been a good option. IMG_1179IMG_1178

The first half ended 1-0 to Walsall which is how the game ended but it was totally one-sided. The second half was better for Bees once Alan Judge came on, but frankly they never really seemed likely to score with the exception of one excellent save from the walsall keeper.

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Why were Brentford so bad? Conspiracy theorists will no doubt argue that the cup is not important or maybe that transfer speculation had upset the side. I don’t know, maybe both are true. But the reality was that Walsall were the better side, their work rate was higher , their players seemed technically better. The five players brought in from last week did nothing to suggest they should be chosen next week. The swirling rain made watching even from Row G a rather wet experience. The plus point was the introduction of Marco Djuricin half way through the second half.

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Hands on head time maybe?

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The Bees fans on Twitter formed their views of this game which align with mine above. What we learned for sure was that Bees have no strikers. Midfield needs strengthening . But above all the worry that it was not the result but the performance that is most of concern. Players like McCormack did not perform. Swift looked undone by the physical attention of the Walsall players. Hoffman just looked poor really, not a championship player.

Brentford Sack Marinus Dijkhuizen. Some Thoughts


News emerged a few hours ago that Brentford had sacked Marinus Dijkhuizen after only 8 games in charge. The reasons may be fairly clear.  Not only poor results ( for which he cannot be soleley to blame), but the insipid manner of the performances with a lower work rate and tempo than under Mark Warburton gave cause for concern very early on. Visually Marinus failed to motivate from the touchline, often giving the impression he was simply a spectator at the game rather than an active component to what was going on on the field. Any coaching that was done,and their was precious little evidence of it, came from his coaching assistant. His failure to bond at all with the fans was also notable.

in hindsight at the Bees forum last week, not only was the atmosphere flat, suspiciously so, but the lack of obvious communication between Marinus and Rasmus Andersen, Phil Giles, Cliff Crown , was obvious to the watching eye. they hardly spoke to each other and some of the questions that were addressed to others normally might have gone to Marinus. This was both before the forum, during and after. The bond I hoped and expected to see between coaching staff was absent.  Again in hindsight, a dead man walking. Crowds were also falling, and after 3 sustained seasons of increased crowds with incredible support for the players, this was starting to vanish. Numbers of away fans were frankly minimal compared to last season. Atmosphere at home games was nothing like last year. Put simply we have gone backwards. Where we have exciting talent on the bench, Sergi Canos, there were reasons/excuses why he did not start a game. The interaction between players and coaching staff at games looked poor and minimal. A few tweets from senior players also caught my eye, sometimes what they did not say as much as what they did.

There will be debate over this, and already comment has been made that we do not want to be ” another Leeds” but if something is wrong then it needs to be changed. Marinus seemed an intelligent and likeable man, but did he motivate me or inspire me,  not at all, and one wonders if that at the end is the simple aspect that was wrong. Brentford fans demand clear high work rate on the pitch, they forgive mistakes, but will not forgive insipid performances. I wish Marinus well, but do imagine that the Football League is not the right place for his talents and maybe a return to Netherlands might be the best option.

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen and Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen and Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Brentford Bees Forum With Manager and Sporting Directors


An excellent forum was held where all questions were answered as best as reasonably they could. The only difficult moment was a late question again about Mark Warburton and his departure. The fans were given good updates on all aspects of the club. These were maybe the main points:

  1. Promotion to Premier League within 3 years. This is Plan A. There is no Plan B
  2. The new ground should be ready, just, for start of 2018-19 season
  3. Signing a couple of players on loan has not been ruled out to cover injuries
  4. We need to remember than until we move ground we are limited by the small turnover in comparison to other Championship clubs. Last season Brentford turned over 8 m £ in comparison to a Championship average of 17m £
  5. Although signing many EU players, players in the Football League are on our radar even down to Conference level
  6. Football league rules do not allow differential pricing of games for away fans. The example cited of Leeds charging £24 for a junior away ticket for example could not replicated at Griffin Park
  7. The squad is stronger than last season.

In attendance answering questions were

  1. Mark Devlin
  2. Cliff Crown
  3. Marinus Dijkhuizen
  4. Rasmus Ankersen
  5. Phil Giles
  6. Peter Gilham

As a small bit of background Rasmus ankersen and Phil Giles are the co-directors of football at Brentford, Cliff Crown the chairman, Mark Devlin CEO and Marinus Dijkhuizen the manager.

  • Phil Giles  worked at Smartodds – a company owned by Matthew Benham which provides statistical sports modelling services – for eight years and had been their Head of Quantitative Sports Research since 2010
  • Rasmus Ankersen was Chairman of FC Midtjylland the Danish Superliga team owned by Matthew Benham and author of a book ” The Goldmine Effect”.
Marinus Dijkhuizen and Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen and Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Cliff Crown at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Mark Devlin CEO Brentford FC   at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Mark Devlin CEO Brentford FC at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles  at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen and Phil Giles at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Marinus Dijkhuizen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Rasmus Ankersen at Bees Forum 2015 Sept

Jack O’Connell signs for Brentford FC from Blackburn


Seems that Sky reckon the Bees have paid around £200,000 for the 20 year old 6ft 3ins 85 kg defender  from Blackburn Rovers.He has had two loan spells with League One side Rochdale this season, making 20 appearances and scoring three goals.His only appearance for Blackburn was the Capital One cup defeat by Scunthorpe in August. Other loan spells have been at Rotherham and York. He has also been capped at England under 18 and under 19 level. In total he has made 59 league appearances in his career before the 2014-15 season. This season in 20 appearances in all competitions at Rochdale he has scored 3 goals, the first of his career with only 2 yellow cards. In the 2013-14 season he played 45 games, with 4 yellow cards and 1 red card. And in 2012-13 in 23 games he had only 2 yellow cards.

So in 88 games as a central defender he has only had 9 yellow/red cards, an impressive statistic. Blackburn Rovers signed Jack O’Connell in the summer of 2011-12.He went on to make 35 appearances for the Academy and Reserves sides in an outstanding first year that saw him play a key role as Rovers reached the final of both the FA Youth Cup and the Academy League. Then headed out on loan to Rotherham, York and Rochdale.

Brentford Fans Forum. A photographic record


Enough has been said about the excellent forum and the transparency with which questions were answered. There was also restraint shown by the fans in not asking any negative or difficult questions that also may have been on their mind. Please enjoy a few basic photos all sadly I Phone standard but nonetheless may give a view to those who were not there of what it was like.

The atmosphere was great, supportive and at times amusing, with the witty Peter Gilham in charge as always. Cliff Crown looking every inch a Premiership chairman. Honest and meaningful answers. David Weir looking like and sounding like a football coach. Great evening.

photo 1-1 photo 1-2 photo 1-3 photo 1

Mark Devlin

Mark Devlin

photo 2-2 photo 2-3 photo 2 photo 3-1 photo 3-2 photo 3-3 photo 3

David Weir

David Weir

Cliff Crown laughs at Mark Warburton budgetary ideas

Cliff Crown laughs at Mark Warburton budgetary ideas

photo 4-3 photo 4 photo 5-1 photo 5-2 photo 5-3

Mark Warburton

Mark Warburton

Brentford 2 Stevenage 0. Farewell to League 1 and Hello Fulham.


Too late to write much. But a real celebration today of all that is good about Brentford football club. In truth a meaningless game but one which meant everything to Bees fans. Farewell to League 1. Having watched Brentford for 51 years this season has meant a lot to me and surpasses any of the previous achievements. Brentford have gained promotion and equalled a club record since 1930 of 28 wins in a season. This is not the time to reflect on the season, that will come, but today we saw a decent game with a decent result 2-0 to Brentford. We saw good celebrations  and we hope that we did not witness any farewells to Marcello Trotta, George Saville nor Alan judge. We long ago forgot they were on loan. Just enjoy a few photos to remind us of a great day. action Bees Bees2 Bees22 Champagne Momen2t Champagne Momen22t Champagne Moment goal IMG_8233 IMG_8270 KOC KOC2 top of game Tr5otta Trotta Trotta2

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