The Football tourist

Wear Side Of Tears

***Black Cats Proved Unlucky for The Bees***

Long journeys to away games are par for the course for all football fans, especially Truro fans who got free food and a free programme for travelling to Carlisle this weekend.

I’m no stranger to such long hauls with 6 and 7 hour round trips a staple of my game days for this blog but this slog up to Sunderland was my longest haul of all, totalling 9 hours for the round trip, though it was nothing on one fan I spoke to on the Tyne-Wear metro who had set off from Portsmouth at 6am to make it to the Stadium of Light for kick-off.

That kind of journey feels worth every second when your team wins or even draws having given their all every second of the match.

I can’t speak for my fellow Bees fan from Pompey, but last weekend the travel felt hellish for me as I trudged home from the north east after witnessing one of the most hopeless performances I have ever seen from Brentford.

Throughout the first half we played like we were scared of what Sunderland can do and that any attempt to assert ourselves on proceedings would lead to a rout.

Playing a double defensive midfield pivot against a team that is newly promoted to the league sends out the message that we are full of fear and combined with a 3 in attacking midfield that seemed locked in immortal combat to beat Igor Thiago to be the furthest forward we left a gaping hole in midfield and were duly destroyed more thoroughly than the Romans at Cannae.

Given the freedom of Wearside to run the midfield Sunderland took a stranglehold on the tempo of the match and were able to torment us at will, with our only respite coming from a few punted balls forward that were held up well by Thiago.

The only real saving grave from the first half was that Sunderland seemed incapable of threatening Kelleher’s goal despite their overwhelming control of the momentum of the match.

In fact it was Brentford who had the ball in the net first, Dango Ouattara coolly slotting home from a flowing counter attacking move, only to see this opener chalked out for offside.

This was the best action of a truly turgid first half that left me gobsmacked that neither team made any changes at half time to try and breathe life into their performance.

It feels exceedingly harsh to single out any Brentford players from a parade of dross in that first half, but our ex-Liverpool trio of Henderson, Van den Berg and Kelleher were particularly below par throughout the first half.

Kelleher inspired no confidence in his defenders and seemed jittery every-time a home player advanced into the final third, Henderson’s legendary range of passes seemed to have evaporated and Van den Berg seemed to forget that we were in our away kit for this one, with every other pass ending up at the feet of a Sunderland attacker.

Miracles can happen though and we made it into the break without conceding, but whilst the performance improved in the second half the one thing that truly matters is the scoreline and that got markedly worse.

***Kevin Shade Could… A Golden Chance Wasted***

Before I get to the worst part of the day though lets touch on the good.

Brentford came out of the tunnel with a renewed sense of purpose, and midfielders now with enough discipline to stay in midfield, leading to some half decent attacking play from the men in Grey.

This new attacking intent from the Bees bore fruit in the 57th minute when Nathan Collins was wrestled to the ground at the back post by Renildo Mandava and the visitors were presented with a golden opportunity to take the lead from the spot.

Predictably this golden gift horse was passed up by Brentford and in a manner that was more embarrassing than that childhood nightmare of being asked to speak in school assembly and you look down to see you have no clothes on, yes it really was that bad…

Having won the penalty, our captains Collins walked away from the box and left his team too it, which wouldn’t have been so bad if any of the strikers had claimed the ball and stepped up to take the responsibility for this high pressure moment but none did.

The natural choices should have been either Igor Thiago or Dango Ouattara but neither of them showed the slightest interest in taking on this responsibility, with ex-England captain Jordan Henderson taking the ball under his wing instead and handing it to Kevin Shade.

Reflecting the mood emanating from the players a tidal wave of dread swept through the away fans and seconds later this dread was confirmed as Shade slid a weak shot way too close to Robin Roefs for any keeper to ever let past them.

Things would soon improve though and Brentford even took the lead with just 13 minutes to go till full-time with Frank Onyeka, who only returned to London this season after spending last season out in Serie A, crossing the ball onto the forehead of Igor Thiago to head home, just 6 minutes after super Frank was introduced to the action.

***Celebrating the High Point of Our Afternoon***

That’s one substitution that worked out brilliantly for Brentford, so now for one that worked out dreadfully from a far less suspected source.

Rico Henry has been one of the most consistent performers for The Bees since our return to the Premier League, but on this occasion his return to the pitch heralded the death knell to our lead.

His challenge on Habib Diarra looked a world away from the wrestling move laid down on Collins at the hour mark but it was deemed similar enough by the ref to result in a penalty, which Enzo Le Fee smashed powerfully to Kelleher’s left as the keeper dove right.

This set up the final ten minutes of Sunderland pressure on Brentford’s back line and in the 96th minute the pressure told when Enzo Le Fee tied Michael Kayode in knots on the left touch line before feeding it back for a deep cross to be delivered into the box, where it was met by Sunderland’s super-sub Wilson Isidor to flick home.

Why Isidor had the space to flick home a free header from 6-yards out is a question for the ages, as is how the ball then managed to squirm under an outstretched Kelleher, but all anyone in the home end cared about was that he had as they erupted in extasy.

***Stepping up to Erase Brentford’s Lead***

For those of us in the away end it was a different feeling altogether as we flowed down the stairs and out to the metro back to Newcastle and our connections home, one of disbelief and apprehension.

When you add this insipid performance to the tragedy on the Trent it seems that our away games this season are not ones we can expect points from and with our next 3 away games all being London derbies there could be some dark times ahead for Brentford fans still in the capital, with away day losses to be taunted by at work for weeks.

Obviously I hope this doesn’t happen and that we start to click on the road with performances and results to blow us all away, starting in 12 days time at that cottage around the corner.

First though we welcome the other lot in West London to our home this Saturday and I hope we have improved a lot over the international break or this could be a very long season.

Keith’s Start Seemed Solid

Any new start is going to come with challenges, but when it’s your first time that’s an Everest to climb. I’ve been finding that myself this month as I start a new job and am taking my first go at being the top Manager, where the buck stops.

It’s been an all consuming challenge for me, but it’s child’s play compared to the challenge taken on by Keith Andrews when he stepped up from set-piece coach to take over as Brentford Head Coach.

Not only is this his first Head coach role but it’s also at a team that was gutted over the summer losing not just Thomas Frank, who got them promoted to the top tier for the first time in 75 years, but also the majority of his fellow coaching staff and the spine of the players that took the team to 10th last season.

The players we lost include: First choice goalkeeper Mark Flekken, Defensive bastion Ben Mee (Meeeeeeeeee!), Midfield fulcrum and team captain Christian Norgaard and Attacking talisman Bryan Mbeumo, who was also our top scorer last season.

With Yoane Wissa also currently agitating for a move to Tyneside, it’s fair to say that it’s been a season of turmoil on and off the pitch that would be difficult for the most experienced Manager to deal with and here Keith Andrews is having to sort it out with no experience.

He’s done a brilliant job, bringing in Caoimhin Kelleher from Liverpool as our number 1 between the sticks and tempting the experienced former England captain Jordan Henderson back to English shores to add steel to our midfield.

The returns from long-term injury of both Aaron Hickey, after over 500 days on the treatment table, and Rico Henry bring an offensive threat on the wings and much needed confidence in defence, whilst also releasing Keane Lewis-Potter into his more natural attacking winger role.

Up front the recovery of Igor Thiago from injury, that kept him out of most of his debut season, makes it feel like a new signing to replace the loss of Mbuemo and left Keith with replacements in every area that now needed melding into a team that can win at the elite level.

**New Stadium, New League, Now a New Manager**

At half time on the banks of the Trent things looked exceedingly bleak, with 3 goals conceded that were each softer than the last and the first was already softer than the squdgiest marshmallow ever made.

However, the second half was a vast improvement with Igor Thiago even scoring a consolation from 12 yards, leaving the team with a positive to end the game on and use to propel them forward into the first home game of Keith’s management career, against Europa League qualifiers Aston Villa.

Signing Dango Ouattara from Bournemouth, for a club record £42.5m, to bolster The Bees attacking options was to pay off handsomely as the Burkinabe slotted home the winner just 12 minutes into his debut.

With a win now under his belt in the Premier League Keith led his team down to the beach for a midweek League Cup tie against Bournemouth with soaring confidence and it shone through in a defiant display of defensive excellence and clinical finishing, winning 2-0 despite having just 34.5% possession and managing just 2 shots on target.

A shots on target conversion rate of 100% and back to back clean sheets in your 3rd competitive match in charge is an incredible record for a manager at any level and even more so in the biggest and best professional league of the world’s most popular sport.

Having seen this transformation in such a short timescale, a mere 10 days from game 1 to game 3, and hearing the insightful understanding Keith Andrews displayed of his team’s strengths and weaknesses during his press conference after the Forest game I’m feeling exceedingly confident in Brentford’s hopes for the season and that I’ve made the right call in committing to an 8 hour round trip to Wearside to see my team in action.

Whether I’m making the right decision there will be seen on my first day in my new store the day after returning from Wearside, but no matter the outcome on my own ability to remain awake it will be worth the travel to see how much further The Buzzing Bees have improved this week.

Come on Brentford!!!!

This was written before I took the tip to Wearside and saw The Bees in action against Sunderland, a blog about which will be coming soon but has been delayed by both work commitments and how painful the experience is to relive.

Sarina ‘The Wizard’ Wiegman

Men’s football is littered with history makers that have burnt their way into the public consciousness and now we have one name that will be forever imprinted into that consciousness from the Women’s game…. Sarina Wiegman!!

Born in the city of the ICJ mere months after the moon landing, Sarina has brought justice to Women’s football by achieving a feat just as incredible as Apollo 11’s crew when thy took the first steps on uncharted soil, leading England to a major trophy on foreign soil!

Before the coming of Wiegman, England’s Women’s team were mired in mediocrity under first time international manager Phil Neville but that mediocrity was about to be burnt to ashes as Wiegman The Wizard transformed England into Double European Champions.

The Wizard took over as leader of our national team fresh off the back of guiding her native Netherlands to back-to-back finals in her first 2 tournaments as an international manager, winning their first international trophy at their home Euros in 2017 by beating the Danes 4-2 in the final.

That was an incredible turnaround in the fortunes of a team that had 4 of the 5 games preceding her appointment and would be backed up 2 years later with a run all the way to the 2019 World Cup final in Lyon.

Despite the disappointment of losing the final 2-0 to the USA, it was still an incredible run for a team that had looked on it’s last legs before her appointment.

Confidently dispatching traditional heavyweights of Japan in the round of 16 before cruising past Italy and sneaking past Sweden showed just how much of a difference Sarina had made to the Dutch game and provided ample justification for the announcement of her addition to the statue garden of the KNVB, the first time a women had ever been granted that honour.

There must have been many broken hearts across the Netherlands when it was announced before the 2020 Olympics that the Wizard was leaving to take over the national team of an underperforming island nation nearby.

At the 2023 World Cup The Wizard would lead that nation to their first ever World Cup final as reigning European Champions, but that’s skipping ahead a little so lets first discuss a little of that European success.

England were a mess when Wiegman took the helm and they didn’t look much better in the first game of Euro 2022 as they snuck a 1-0 win from under the noses of the Austrians at Old Trafford in a disjointed display in front of 68,871 passionate home fans, including myself.

Like with all great teams they just needed a little bedding in time and by the end of their next match it was clear they were the team to beat, having swept Norway aside in emphatic 8-0 fashion.

A 5-0 drubbing of Northern Ireland 4 days later set them on their way to the knockouts as one of the favourites for the title.

Sure it took extra time to beat Spain in the quarter-finals, but Sweden in the Semis proved a much easier battle to win, before it was back to extra-time and a 110th minute winner from Chloe Kelly at Wembley to send the nation into raptures and secure our first major trophy since Alf Ramsey’s world beaters of ’66.

Now back to 2023 and that World Cup Final run which saw England win our first Women’s penalty shoot-out, dispatching Nigeria 4-2 from 12 yards after a goalless game.

Decamping to Sydney for the rest of the tournament we dispatched Colombia and the hosts Australia in quick succession to make it 4 finals in 4 tournaments for The Wizard, maintaining her 100% record of making finals as an international manager.

Losing that final 1-0 to Spain denied England and Wiegman their first World title, but set them up beautifully for revenge in Switzerland this summer when they faced down the same opponents for the European title at the weekend in yet another final for The Wizard.

Making that final in Basel made it 5 out of 5 for The Wizard Wiegman and 3 in a row for England.

No other coach in football history has made it to the finals of 5 consecutive major tournaments before and to do so with 2 different nations, that were both struggling to secure any positive results before she came in, shows just how magical The Wizard’s effect can be on whoever has the good fortune to have her leading their nation.

To win 3 European titles in a row as a newbie to International Management and become the first Manager to make 5 finals in a row in football history can only be down to magic right? or maybe just incredible skill and planning.

Long may The Wizard grace our national team with her presence in the dugout.

Mentality Monsters Make History

Sometimes a game is so drenched in history that even those who hate the sport with a passion are compelled to watch it, tonight was such a game.

My entire extended family was watching as The Defending Champions battled The World Champions for the European Championship 2025 Title in Basel.

2 years ago England fell at the final hurdle, seeing Spain swan out of Sydney with the World Cup Champion’s Trophy and with 8 of the team that started that day lining up at kick-off, against 6 of the same Spaniards, the hunger for revenge will have been strong.

Unfortunately for the Lionesses things started out like a case of Deja Vu as once again Spain took the lead with just over 20 minutes gone, Mariona Caldentey rising highest unmarked to head home from point blank range.

Unlike 2023 though, this England team don’t know when they’re beaten and having trailed in both knockout games till the final throws of normal time before coming back to win, it’s fair to say that this time the comeback felt inevitable.

The scorer of the first comeback goal in the round of 16 conquering of Sweden was right back Lucy Bronze who scored the decisive penalty in that shoot-out with a fractured tibia, an injury she had been playing with throughout the tournament till a knee issue in the other leg forced her off in the 106th minute of the final.

With mentality monsters like that in your team the rest of the world doesn’t stand a chance, Bert Trautmann would have been proud.

The introduction of Chloe Kelly, in place of the injured Lauren James, just before half-time added some much needed energy to the England front line and the introduction of the hero of Wembley made all the difference when the winger laid on the sumptuous cross for Alessia Russo to nod home just before the hour mark.

Whilst there was to be no 96th minute goal from Michelle Agyemang nor a 119th winner from Kelly herself, the timings of their crucial strikes in the semi-final against Italy, there were moments where both team’s supporters had their hearts in their mouths.

It always looked likely to be heading to the 12-yard lottery, but when Salma Paralluelo shanked an effort wide of the post from point blank range in the dying minutes of extra-time it also seemed set in stone who would win that lottery and so it proved to be.

Starting the shootout in full England style Beth Mead’s opener was ruled out for a double touch and her retake was saved, followed by Patricia Guijarro slotting away Spain’s opener without breaking a sweat.

From there though it was all downhill for England as Hannah Hampton became a national hero by saving the next 3 Spanish penalties whilst Alex Greenwood and Bronze’s replacement Niamh Charles smashed it home to leave captain Leah Williamson the chance to seal the deal. That chance was passed up so that the hero of 2022 could be the hero once more, a true captain’s move.

When Chloe Kelly steps up to the spot you know there is only one likely result and even under the pressure of a Euro final she did not crumble, sending the nation into the stratosphere of ecstasy. Kelly said in January that she just wanted to feel happy playing football again and if this historic moment didn’t do that for her then there’s a chance she’s in the wrong profession.

So we did it the hard way eh, but all that matters is that we managed to become the first England team ever to defend a major title and the first England team ever to win a trophy away from the hallowed turf of Wembley.

Every time they seemed down and out throughout the tournament the Lionesses came together as a pack and tore their opponents apart with the ferocity of a team that knew this title was rightfully theirs.

The mentality needed to create comebacks so often and go again days later is monstrous but that’s what England had and they now go to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil as double defending European Champions. World Champions next? with mental strength like this don’t rule anything out…

State of The Game

Once in a lifetime events are rare in everyday life, but even rarer in football.
Some that spring to mind are an 18 year-old Pele inspiring Brazil to their first World Cup, Johann Cruyff unleashing Total Football in 1974 with The Netherlands, Crystal Palace winning the FA Cup and of course England winning the World Cup.

Now we are bearing witness to another, the creation of an Independent Football Regulator (IFR) for the top 5 divisions on English Football.

The IFR is being set up by the government with the aims: ‘to protect and promote the financial soundness of regulated clubs, to protect and promote the financial resilience of English football and to safeguard the heritage of English football’.

The majority of their job appears to hinge on ensuring that owners of football clubs are more like Brentford’s Matthew Benham and a lot less like the messes that have happened recently at Charlton, Reading and Hull.

The IFR will have no influence on the ‘on-pitch’ side of football, but will be introducing financial regulations that will aim to stop any more clubs going the way of Bury, including the ability to include parachute payments in any solutions to the financial stability of clubs in dire need if necessary.

They will hope to avoid the use of those payments through the regulations they will implement, including a new owner’s and director’s test to ensure clubs are in the care of people who deserve to protect these most important of community assets. Lets hope this new test is more effective than the EFL’s current one.

Fan engagement is another big focus of this bill and the IFR, with clubs now to be required to ‘consult their supporters on ticket prices as well as any proposal to relocate their home ground’. That requirement to consult supporters on ticket prices will be welcomed across the country with the current cost of living and the long standing ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ campaign.

How many of the other innovations of the new IFR will be similarly welcomed remains to be seen, but for anyone hoping this announcement will bring swift and sweeping changes to the financial structure of English football will be disappointed.

The first substantial regulation changes won’t come into effect till 2027 as the IFR has been given till the end of 2026 to compile and publish it’s first ‘state of the game report’.

Once that report hits then the real work begins and it’s on contributing to that report and ensuring it reflects the true experience of the everyday fan and not just the prawn sandwich brigade that should now be our focus.

Brentford’s Boot Room

So now we know who is going to be filling the huge boots Thomas Frank left behind in the Gtech dugout and just as when the great man took over from Dean Smith, Matthew Benham has delved into the boot room for our next great Head coach.

For anyone unfamiliar with the idea of a ‘boot room’ it was first popularised by the succession of successful managers that led Liverpool FC from the appointment of Bob Paisley as Bill Shankly’s successor in the summer of 1974 to the shock resignation of Kenny Dalglish in February 1991, all of whom had been part of the club for years before their appointment as team manager.

Having seen how successful the promotion of Thomas Frank was in propelling Brentford into a golden age, Benham is now trying to make use of Brentford’s boot room by promoting Frank’s set piece coach into the head coach role.

Keith Andrews is the man that has been trusted with ensuring Brentford’s journey in the Premier League and one that most people outside the club will never have heard, but he spent last season as our set-piece coach and has obviously show enough competence and ambition in that role to be given this great opportunity.

This is Andrews’ first head coach role, though he has served as Assistant coach for both the U-21 and Senior Republic of Ireland national teams, so the proof will be in the results but we owe it to him and the club we love to give him time to adjust to the role and turn a difficult situation into a successful one for the club. After all, Frank’s move into the dugout saw a drop off in form that saw us miss out on the playoffs in his first season before everything he has achieved since.

Andrews has a heap of football knowledge from his 15 years and 413 caps (all comps) as a defensive midfielder across all 4 leagues of the English Professional football pyramid, or the 92 as it is sometimes known.

The teams he played for were: Wolverhampton Wanderers, Oxford United, Stoke City, Walsall, Hull City, Milton Keynes (twice), Blackburn Rovers, Ipswich Town, West Bromwich Albion, Bolton Wanderers, Brighton and Hove Albion, and Watford.

Having played in so many parts of the country and having done so as a defensive midfielder should at least set him up well for his first huge task as Head Coach, replacing the outgoing Christian Norgaard.

Whilst a lot of praise has been deservedly heaped on our attacking players over the past 4 seasons they have only been able to express themselves so freely because of the incredible solidity of our defence. Norgaard was a huge part of that defence and in Andrews we have the right man to find the perfect replacement, either in house or from the wider football world.

This appointment also seems to have had a positive effect on the possibility of Bryan Mbuemo staying with us, or at least not leaving us for a huge step down in his career at Old Trafford.

No matter what the future holds for The Mighty Bees under Keith Andrews we owe it to him and the club to place our trust in the call they have made, they’ve got most things right for a decade now after all…..

This is the view of a Bees’ fan living up north and who has only managed to attend the Gtech 3 times so far this calendar year and I’d be interested to hear the opinions of those of you closer to the action.

Half A Decade Confirmed

When I started this blog in September 2021, with the aim of keeping it going as long as my beloved Brentford remained in the Premier League, I didn’t dare hope that I would be continuing it for half a decade but with the Bees now busy preparing for their 5th season in the top tier I spose I’ll have to make it through till at least May 2026.

I’ve rarely been happier to be wrong.

I doubt many of us would have expected back then that we would be preparing for that season without a manager currently at the helm and in danger of losing our two most influential attackers to ‘bigger’ clubs.

Today though we found out the order in which our new leader will face the challenges of his new role and, spoilers for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet, our starting run of home games is terrifying.

Our first 6 home games are as follows: Aston Villa, Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle United which takes us all the way to November 29th and our first home game against a team we should beat in Burnley (Red Devils excepted). The next few home games are easier, before we end 2025 by welcoming Thomas Frank back to the Gtech.

That will be our second meeting with Spurs in December though as we tick off our trips to North London in the space of 3 days at the start of the month. We will round off our journey around our London rivals with a trip to Stamford Bridge on January 17th 2026 after opening that journey with a trip down to the local cottage on September 20th 2025, with the return derby at the Gtech kicking off our run-in on April 18th 2026.

That the first in a run of 3 London derbies at home to sign off what we hope will be another successful season at the top table for the Bees.

If we need points come that run-in our fortress will be the place to pick them up as our awful run at home to start the season is mirrored by a similarly terrible run of trips at the end of it all. Old Trafford is our destination on April 25th, then we pop across town to the Etihad on May 9th before ending our season at Anfield on May 24th.

That’s a legendary trio of stadiums to visit in just 4 weeks, but we are now 5 visits deep and have hope to head to them next season safe in the knowledge that we will be back again in the 2026/27 season.

For anyone looking to visit the Stadium of Light whilst it’s at the top table with us, mark down August 30th in your diaries. Sunderland’s stadium is historic and glorious and whilst I am unlikely to make it there myself I can’t help but envy though among our incredible fanbase who make the 574 mile round trip.

Whilst for those among us who wish to visit the new Everton stadium in Bramley Moor Dock, it’s how we start off our 2026 on January 3rd.

That long rip to Merseyside comes off the back of a relaxing Christmas at home, with Bournemouth coming up from their beachside home to visit (and lose) before we end 2025 with the aforementioned return of our prodigal son, the man who took us into the promised land and in whose huge footsteps our new manager must soon tread.

For the health of the club I hope Matthew Benham and his team continue their immaculate recruitment record, that stretches back years before our promotion, and find the right person to fill the gargantuan boots left behind.

Now we know when we will face each enemy next season I’m impatient for it to start.

A full fixture list for Brentford FC can be found here

Bring on 2025/26!!

Frankly… GOOD LUCK!

So my fellow Bees, the day we knew would come is now upon us.

The great Thomas Frank has left us for North London and the lure of Champions League football next season, taking his full coaching staff with him.

Thomas will forever be a legend in our part of West London for not only taking us up to the promised land but for doing so through the playoffs and then keeping us in the top flight for 4 seasons on the trot, without us ever once looking over our shoulders at the drop.

What Mr. Frank has achieved here at Brentford, on one of the league’s smallest budgets, will never be forgotten and is unlikely ever to be surpassed. Unless whoever replaces him can take us from the edge of the European place into Europe itself.

Every Brentford fan owes a debt of gratitude to the Danish mastermind and I hope he receives a raucous reception when he returns to the Gtech next season with his new team.

Personally I wish Thomas Frank the greatest success at his new team next season, except when they play the mighty Bees of course…

***You Will Be Missed Here, Mr. Frank***

Given the state of his new charges over at White Hart Lane, he may be in need of all the luck he can lay his hands on.

Tottenham Hotspur are the big national banter club for a multitude of excellent reasons, not least of which is the fact that the only teams they managed to finish above in the league last season were the worst bottom 3 in living memory.

Spurs have also just sacked the first manager since Terry Venables, 34 years ago, to capture a major trophy for their moth-ridden cabinet. If securing their first European title since 1983-84 wasn’t enough to save Ange Postecoglou from the sack then it boggles the mind to consider just what Mr. Frank will have to achieve to keep his new job.

This impossible task is made even more daunting when you realise that Spurs lost 22 of their 38 games last season and won a mere 11, no team outside of the bottom 3 either lost more or won less…

Even as visionary a manager as Mr. Frank will face a gargantuan task to turn that around and fulfil the pie-in-the-sky dreams of the club’s top brass of turning them into perennial challengers for every title going.

Such delusions of grandeur are rife within the Spur’s hierarchy and must surely be part of the reason why they have only managed to stick with a Manager for more than 2 seasons since parting ways with Martin Jol way back in 2004.

To add his name alongside Harry Redknapp and Mauricio Pochettino in the annals of managers to last at the Lilywhites, a long run in next season’s Champions League and a return to the top 4/5 must be the ludicrous goal for Thomas next season.

There’s only one thing I can say to that Mr. Frank……GOOD LUCK

London Leading The Way

As a proud Londoner currently living up in the frozen wastes of the north, also known as Manchester, with an overwhelming passion for football that infuriates the friends I’ve made up here, there are few things in the universe that bring me greater joy than seeing a team from London smashing other teams off the park.

This last month has been the greatest time for me since I started this blog and here’s why:

May 14th, Edgeley Park: Stockport County, huge favourites in the League One playoffs after finishing 3rd in the regular season, lose their semi-final on penalties to a Leyton Orient team that had snuck into the playoffs on the final day. Many County fans will point Orient’s controversial opener in the first leg as when the tie turned against them, but they still came into the home leg knowing that it was winner takes all and couldn’t get it done when it mattered most. Under pressure it was the Londoners who refused to wilt. They stood strong and led their fans to Wembley.

May 17th, Wembley: Manchester City are nailed on favourites to win the FA Cup and save their season against a Crystal Palace team that haven’t won a single major trophy in their entire 164 year history. Palace score in the 16th minute and hold on to lift the trophy, despite having just 21.7% possession, condemning the 4-times reigning Premier League champions to a trophyless season in the process.

May 21st, Estadio de San Mamés, Bilbao: Manchester United lose the Europa League Final to the ultimate banter team in not just London but all of European football 2 seasons after Spurs lost their talismanic striker, who many felt had carried the team for years, to Bayern Munich. Turns out the Spurs can go completely anti-Spursy, it just takes them losing their talisman and coming up against the worst team to occupy Old Trafford in more than half a century.

This season Spurs weren’t much better than them in the league so maybe the Londoners can lead them both back up the league table next season.

May 25th, Wembley: Leyton Orient, conquerors of Stockport County, are beaten in the Playoff final by Charlton Athletic. The first of 2 Playoff victories for teams from south of the river.

May 26th, Wembley: Back to back victories on the hallowed turf for teams from south of the river as AFC Wimbledon score in first half stoppage time to overcome a team that had led them in the league by a clear 15 points at the turn of the year. The Saddlers’ abysmal form in 2025 had seen them drop out of the automatic promotion places and now the True Dons had shown them just what their slacking off had cost them. Wimbledon returning to the third tier after 3 seasons in the basement tier of the EFL. A move that sends them a league above the franchise that stole their club in 2001.

May 28th, Tarczyński Arena, Wrocław: Chelsea made it 6 of the best for the greatest city on Earth with a late flurry of goals to secure the UEFA Europa Conference League title against a dogged Real Betis team in Poland.

Cottagers Comeback

2025 has been one giant mess for me and because of that it had been 5 months since I last made it south to see my beloved Bees in action. Things are still a mess and may be for a while yet, but there was never any question of me missing the final home game of the season.

When the local rivals come to your backyard, you turn up to support your team in taking them down, especially when a loss would allow them to complete their first league double over you since 1939.

Brentford had been in tremendous form during the run-in too and shooting for their 5th win in a row as Fulham rocked up to our Hive and not that I’m superstitious at all but…. maybe I should have either stayed away or at least followed my normal pre-game routine.

Normally I catch trains to Kew Bridge Station, getting in at least 45 mins before kick off, grab a programme and head to my seat, picking up a pizza and a drink on the way. So, for this huge Derby showdown I got a lift from my Uncle, arriving less that 30 mins before kick off and grabbed a hot dog and a drink on my way to the seats. That may sound trivial to some, but sometimes you have reasons to do things and veering away from my traditions came back to bite this time.

The visitors took the lead thanks to Raúl Jiménez’s point blank header that crossed the line by squirming under the diving body of Mark Flekken.

In truth they were good value for their lead, but should have been down to 10 men just 4 minutes later as Kenny Tete was being run ragged by Kevin Shade on the Bees’ left wing and deserved a second yellow for a pull back identical to the one that had seen him yellow carded in the 14th minute. The ref waved away the host’s protests though, his backbone having evaporated in the 6 intervening minutes.

Going 1-0 down just 16 minutes in galvanised the hosts though and a minute after seeing their rivals get away with a huge one they had drawn themselves level, Bryan Mbuemo sweeping home after his excellent pressing work had won the ball back high and Yoane Wissa had slid the ball through into his path.

Mbuemo was clinical then, but proved to be far less so from 12 yards. Handed the chance to fire Brentford ahead from the spot, when Shade was taken down in the box, he saw Bernd Leno drop to his right and palm the ball clear of the goal in his first failure from the spot in his Brentford career. At the time it seemed not to matter, with Fulham hardly getting a touch of the ball let alone a kick, but it would come back to haunt the home fans before the final whistle.

As the game careened towards the break Brentford finally took the lead they deserved as Wissa proved his poachers instincts to tap home a Christian Nørgaard header on the goal-line. The skipper will want the credit for it but as Wissa wheeled away not a single home fan cared, we were beating Fulham and that’s all that mattered.

It clearly matter to Marco Silva in the visitors’ dugout as he made the changed that flipped the game on it’s head, first bringing on captain Tom Cairney at half-time and then unleashing Harry Wilson with 23 minutes left. These substitutions proved to be inspired as just 3 minutes after introducing Wilson to the fray the visitors had ruined the hosts’ party and taken a 3-2 lead.

Two goals in as many minutes did the trick for the visitors, starting with Cairney rising highest 6 yards out to meet a sumptuous cross and nod home. The equaliser finished off a good team move, but the winner was pure solo virtuosity.

Wilson collected the ball deep on the right, then slalomed his way around the red and white shirts all the way to the centre of the pitch, 30 yards from goal, before unleashing a sweet strike that curved its’ way into the top corner and far beyond Flekken’s reach. It was a beautiful goal worthy of winning any match, just a shame it had to be the one that lost my beloved Bees the big derby.

Completing the double over us for the first time since 1939 leaves Fulham able to overhaul us by bettering our result at Molineux when they host the wounded Mancunian beast at Craven Cottage on the final day.

To have lead for long periods of the game against your bitter rivals, who should have been reduced to 10 early doors, is an extremely bitter pill to swallow but that shouldn’t take the shine off what has been the best season in our history.

Lest we forget, we have easily secured survival and can now look forward to a 5th straight season in the top tier. A decade ago we were licking our wounds after losing the League One play-off final to Yeovil Town and now we go into the final day disappointed to only have an outside chance of qualifying for the Europa Conference League next season.