aBee

It doesn’t have to be that way. But I’ll reserve judgment on Ipswich until 26th October. Our wins have come against the current bottom three so I’ll have a benchmark for them. Palace were far better than Southampton and Wolves. Then again, you lot beat us at Gtech in 21-22 so who knows?!

We had the feeling Dean Smith didn’t particularly want him and didn’t play him in his best position. He also had quite a lot of time out injured. In his final season he was offered a new contract reflecting that he wasn’t going to be a regular first team starter. He played very well the remainder of the season including scoring in the play offs. Well enough that it felt a little sad that he was off and I think he hoped he’d done enough to get a new offer. Friends who are Hibs STs say he was excellent for them last season and they’d have loved him to stay. He seems a v nice guy and I think he’d do well in the Championship again if he fitted a position you need. 29 is hardly ancient and it doesn’t hurt to have a senior player who’s won a play off final.

Yes, it’s notable that after their 3-3 on the opening day and being hammered by Boro in the League Cup Farke has made a point of getting Leeds to fight very hard for clean sheets. I was at the game v Southampton and despite the scoreline and the very clear analysis on MotD could see there being potential hope for Martin’s approach. I think Armstrong and Brereton are not really good enough to score enough for them but otherwise the tweaks they need are coachable. Passing out from the back is fine as long as there’s an openness to a longer ball out when (as with the first two goals) all 5-6 defensive players in your own half are being pressed hard. That relies on the attacking players moving and positioning to receive a longer ball. They also need themselves to be coached to press harder so a long ball doesn’t just get turned over to give away possession. I think it’s doable and the tactical switch Martin made to win the play off final suggests he’s not quite as rigid as he sounded in his post-match interview.

I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone outside this messageboard suggest there’s any serious interest from Brentford in buying Sargent. I’m not sure he fits the profile for a central striker for us at all. More of a Leeds fit if anything. Though as our Toney replacement managed to injure himself in our first preseason game after scoring twice and will be out until December who knows? Fortunately Wissa is pretty decent. I am wincing at the sums we’re spending but as I understand it assuming the Toney sale goes through if we finish 13-14th we break even this season.

Not necessarily. He’s very much a player who needs to feel wanted and appreciated. When he first joined Brentford he did so in the face of a higher wage offer from Brighton. When he then joined Brighton he accepted a lower wage than we’d offered for him to extend. Back in 2019 when that happened, we were offering much lower wages than Norwich did. We’re still quite low payers (albeit by PL rather than Championship standards) so wouldn’t have loaned him at a silly wage and Everton may not have needed to up his Brighton wages by very much. If you can afford Barnes’ wage as having been in the PL long term, it wouldn’t be obviously impossible.

Marcondes is pretty decent without having really established at either Brentford or Bournemouth in the Championship. He did score a nice goal in the 2021 play off final and was popular with fans. Fit and with a good run of games he is capable of being very dangerous. Friends who are Hibs ST holders said they’d love him to join them permanently and iirc he scored their goal of the season. You could do much worse for a free transfer. We got the impression Dean Smith didn’t think too much of him so that may be a positive too. Also, you guys should look at a deal for Neal Maupay. I think he’d score a lot in the Championship again and getting around 10 a season if not at Everton in the PL is a reasonable return for a player who Dyche would drive to you if he could bear the 5 hours in the car in his company. You have pace elsewhere so his lack of it wouldn’t be a big problem. Also he’s fun and we all need a bit of that when watching our team.

Do you think Truss will get re-elected?

In 1997 the Conservatives got c27% of the 18-24 vote. So yes, while younger people tend to be more left, there’s usually a significant minority who aren’t. Combine that with lower turnout at that age group and you don’t need lots to change their views radically as they age to see higher levels as they age. But having dropped below that level of support overall, let alone in the youngest demographic there is a serious long term problem. One which proposing compulsory national service is unlikely to do much to remedy.

Is he injured? Bizarre to take him off to leave that utter past his not great best donkey to lead your attack.

Well, the new Brentford ground has about a 17k capacity and means we’d be sustainable in the Championship so as to not need the c£8m a year funding to cover operating losses on a bottom third Championship budget we had at Griffin Park. But a bigger capacity doesn’t wash its face now in the PL as the TV money dwarfs possible gate money. Once regular player profit came and leaving the new ground cost out Benham has said he’s not put a penny in since 2016. Rothschilds are looking for investors for him and valuing the club around £400m so a decent return. Getting to the stage of doing more than surviving safely and being consistently top half is the next big jump but we’ve not spent a moment in 3 seasons in the bottom 3. Which i still barely can process having seen us scramble a 90th minute equaliser away at Accrington.

Come on, another half to go. Couple of quick goals and they’ll crumble. I’ve got a quid on you guys to go up.

That £170m sounds a bit high but anyway that is over more than a decade and includes building a completely new stadium as well as ignoring over £100m of profit on player trading and about £25-30m of profit from Brentford’s first two PL seasons. The losses subsidised before the new ground were not ones Norwich would have had in the same circumstances as Carrow Road generates a lot more ticket and commercial revenue. Take that and the new ground out and Benham’s funding drops a lot. It takes us to being near the same level as Norwich’s baseline but without several years of PL money pre 2021. A large chunk of Bloom’s investment in Brighton is also for the Amex and they’ve had an even bigger profit on player trading particularly in the last couple of years.

Yes. Igor Thiago from Club Brugge. 22 year old Brazilian. Big fast lad, 26 goals in 38, scored a nice one running from his own half against Fiorentina in Conference League SF this week.

I think giving it a go is at least as much about attitude and approach as it is about spending money, and spending money is about spending it well. Both Luton and Burnley have in different ways given it a go, which is why along with Forest’s points deduction one of them still has a chance of staying up. Sheff U gave up before the start by letting themselves be demoralised by selling Berge and Ndiaye. But I don’t think either is so good that with the same attitude they’d have done noticeably better had they kept them. It’s like how (sorry) when you went up last Farke basically said before the season started he wasn’t expecting to pick up any points until Watford. Or, slightly more understandably after a 9-0 humping how Parker threw in the towel for Bournemouth who then sacked him and stayed up comfortably enough with the same squad and a manager who hadn’t admitted defeat. The exception to this is Fulham (grr) last season where Silva complained his squad was too bare but actually still set up to compete. Forest if anything show simply chucking money at it isn’t giving it a go having scraped into 16th last season above another overspender in Everton and now at best hoping for 17th even if their points deduction is completely overturned. They could still go down even if it is. If anything, I think their spending spree, despite being based on Marinakis believing it should take them into top 7 contention, undermined them having the right team cohesion and attitude to succeed. Also, an attitude of “we can do this” makes for watching a battle for 17th or above much more fun than a more realistic “we’ll be lucky not to finish bottom”.

IIRC Swansea managed a 5 goal swing to pip Forest to 6th in 19-20. Good luck to you guys though. I’ve put a quid on you going up at 5-1 so hope to be able to buy a pint to celebrate you making Leeds cry on the telly at my local.