Another fine performance tonight away at Arsenal. If he keeps going like this he'll do maybe one more season at Brentford at most before he moves on to a bigger club.
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Another fine performance tonight away at Arsenal. If he keeps going like this he'll do maybe one more season at Brentford at most before he moves on to a bigger club.
Yes, as long as none of the big clubs watch his Ireland performances.
With Virgil Van Dijk rested by Liverpool today, Nathan is the only (outfield?) player to have played every minute in the premier league this season. Would be a nice record to have if he can complete the season that way.
Tets - any idea the last Irish player to do that?
looked it up recently actually, it was Stephen Ward in 2011/12 for wolvesQuote:
Originally Posted by elatedscum
Played the full 90 today to complete a full, interrupted season in the Premier League. Didn't miss a minute, the only outfield player in the league to manage that.
Great achievement.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Also he's the first Irish player to do it since it went to five subs in a game. I think the addition of the extra two subs makes it even more of an achievement than it was previously, as you're obviously more likely to be subbed off now. Just shows how well regarded he is at Brentford that they will likely have subbed off half their outfield starters in most games but didn't sub him off once.
Thomas Frank rumoured to want to take him with him to Tottenham,Romero meant to want to leave Tottenham this summer so could be a good move and another player playing Champions League football…..
Kelleher is roaring WFT lads somewhere really loudly, I wait five years to pick my move and now this ?Quote:
Originally Posted by joey B
I hope he stays put. Having Collins and Kelleher together for preseason and the first 6 weeks of the league would be huge for our qualification chances
Frank is just a cog in the Brentford wheel though, they have a specific type of manager that they go for - someone who coaches and leaves the business of transfers to others. They'll have someone similar lined up to replace him that fits their model.
He's there since 2016 and in his present role since 2018, he's the reason they are in the EPL also. And at no time in their history have they been achieving like they are now, so he's quite an important cog, the previous cog was Dean Smith, before him Lee Carsley and Mark Warburton. What you are coming out with reminds me a lot of the pre Laudrup era guff that Swansea came out with, just before it all went really wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
I wouldn’t call it guff to be fair. While it’s really difficult to assess just what impact Frank leaving would have on Brentford, the club does seem to be extremely well run and has a really clear and solid operating model based on data and sound transfer investments. With the disclaimer above about you never quite know, I’d see it more in the Brighton vein than Swansea…Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
There is NO comparison between Brentford and Swansea, none.Quote:
Originally Posted by SkStu
After six successful seasons in the PL when they were comfortably mid-table (Martinez, Rodgers etc), Swansea's principle individual owners shat on the (minority) fan owners, and sold out to two Americans for a massive personal profit. The next season Swans finished 15th, and were relegated in 18th the season after (2017/18). They squandered £79m of parachute payments without finishing higher than 4th, before sliding down the division when the money ran out:
https://www.theguardian.com/football...wnership-ideal (Paywall)
The two Americans finally sold up last November, finally ending an "eight-year tenure of disappointment and decline" [sic]:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football...s/ceqxpv0n2vqo
By contrast, Brentford's Matthew Benham is still in charge after 13 years, and while he is open to outside investment, he has already turned down a number of offers, since he couldn't be sure they were right for the club.
People should write them off at their peril.
TF is, indeed, hugely important, but he's hardly "the" reason they're in the PL. This is a collective effort, with Mathew Benham and Phil Giles being at least as important as TF, if not more.Quote:
Originally Posted by CraftyToePoke
Of course Benham and Giles are quite open in admitting that it would only take one bad/unlucky season to see them go down again, but there is presently no sign of that happening, Thomas Frank or no.
Oh and btw, while their present achievements are outstanding, this is actually the club's second Golden Age, the first being during the 1930's under Harry Curtis, when the club spent 5 seasons in the (old) First Division, including finishing 5th in 1935/35, i.e. London's top club. Unfortunately this spell was interrupted by WWII, so that they got relegated in the first season after the war - another crime to be added to Adolf Hitler's charge sheet.
The more ya hear about Hitler, the worse he gets !Quote:
Originally Posted by EalingGreen
Seems from this BBC interview that NC won't be going to Spurs with Thomas Frank:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/articles/cdr57l3vd38o
Basically he'd like TF to stay, but if he doesn't, Bees will have a plan to replace him. While he's looking forward to working with Kelleher next season.
(It may also be that with NC having signed a very long contract recently, Bees have set a higher transfer price for him than Spurs are prepared to pay? Or at least Spurs feel they can get better value elsewhere? For myself, I'd hope it could be a sign that Romero is staying, even if that still seems unlikely)
If and when he's moving on from Brentford he should be aiming higher than Tottenham anyway. Champions League football next season has the feel of a bit of a one off, they're a mid table side these days.
Really?Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
They finished 5th in 2023/24, two points off 4th/Champions League.
Not saying they'll repeat that next season, but it's a bit early to be writing them off (imo).
Yes, that's just how I see them, unlikely to be a top 6 side going forward. Where they finished this year was a one off, but I don't see them as a consistent Champions League side, they just don't spend enough to match the big guns and some other teams spend smarter as well.
To be fair, they should be competing for champions league football every year, they have 9th largest revenue in world football. Right manager ,some decent signing and there's no reason they shouldn't be competing for the top 4/5.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
OK, so I might have to walk back this comment if they go and give the job to Keith Andrews!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Collins named as Brentford captain. There might only be about six Irish players in the Premier League this coming season, but half of them are club captains as things stand.
Hopefully for Brentford an Irish manager, an Irish captain and an Irish goalkeeper doesn't mean a relegation battle.
First Irish captain under an Irish manager since Gary Breen and Mick McCarthy at Sunderland in 2005/06
Pete O'Rourke reporting that Brentford are lining up Coventry City centre back Bobby Thomas as a potential Collins replacement, as they're expecting interest in Collins before the end of the transfer window.
I could of course be wrong, but I would be astonished if BFC sold NC this window. Maybe Thomas is being seen as a future replacement for 2026/27, say, so they want him in before then to get him accustomed to the set-up? Or might agree a season-long loan back to Coventry?Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Anyhow I was at the Villa game on Saturday and NC was very accomplished, in keeping with the rest of the defence. While Kelleher had surprisingly little to do, bar one (excellent) reaction save with his foot from close range.
"Twenty two, twenty two, Nathan Collins,
Twenty two, twenty two, I say,
Twenty two, twenty two, Nathan Collins,
Playing football the Brentford way"
Brentford fans after five mins of yesterday's 2-2 draw at home to Chelsea.
First half, Chelsea dominated possession and territory, but BFC were quite happy to let them do so and hit them on the break - leading 1-0 at H-T was quite deserved.
Second half was very different - CFC made 3 substitutions after the break, some tactical tweaks and the BFC defence was suddenly stretched hard, after having been comfortable earlier.
With CFC able to bring on Cole Palmer after 55, then Garnacho after 79, it show you what quality they had, yet even after going behind 2-1 late on, they didn't panic and (just about) deserved their injury time equaliser (6 mins of injury time, after the worst case of faked "injury" by gk Sanchez I've seen since Carlos Valderama at Italia 90!).
Anyhow, NC was very solid, as was Pinnock alongside, with Van Den Berg the pick of the defence with a great display. Kelleher was excellent too, while Keith Andrews looks to have got his selection, tactics and substitutions spot on - that's now 3 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats for Bees against CFC since promotion to the PL.
Reached 200 club appearances at the weekend against Wolves
Scores against Everton - Brentford 3-0 up now, and up to seventh in the league, which is a European spot.
Andrews may know what he's doing there after all.
As do all the rest of the people at that club, incl those whose job it is to identify, train and appoint a new Head Coach, whenever the time comes.Quote:
Originally Posted by pineapple stu
Interestingly, whenever a new Head Coach is to be recruited externally, he will be told that he can only bring one Assistant with him, after which they must work with the coaches who are already at the club. This ensures continuity and the maintenance of the "house style" throughout the club, right from Academy through to the First XI.
And when recruiting internally, then they already have knwledge of what he can do and v.v. Which is why people get misled by the fact that KA was "only" their Set Piece Coach. Fact is, knowing that Frank was going to go sooner or later, they'd had their eye on KA for some time as someone worth having at the club for possible future reference. So that when it looked as though he would be starting his first Manager's job at MK Dons, they spoke to him to see if he'd like to move to Brentford instead. At which point the only vacancy was for a SPC, the previous one having just left (for Arsenal?) i.e. coincidental.
Anyhow, they obviously both liked the look of each other, but even then, when Frank did leave, KA wasn't a "shoo-in" for the job, since he still had to pass the interview, in preference to two other external candidates.
So maybe it shouldn't have been such a surprise that he's slotted in so easily, even allowing for the fact that Frank then took a number of the Bees' backroom staff with him to Spurs.
Based on what I've read previously of how Brentford operate, what EG has posted there looks to be on the money. Being Brentford manager is quite a different role to being a manager at most clubs and the house style as mentioned is everything. It's great that he's a good fit and is doing well, but it shouldn't necessarily be taken from that that he'd automatically be a great manager at another club. It's more that he's a positive cog within a very well oiled machine at Brentford than that he's necessarily any kind of managerial genius in general.
Brentford are a very well run club but given the players they lost in the summer I felt they would struggle this season. Credit has to go to the club and to Andrews (who I was sceptical about - although I will say that when I met him he did come across as a very smart guy) - he may be just a cog in a well-oiled machine, but he is a very important cog.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eirambler
Hands up too. I always felt he was more style than substance but there’s no denying what he’s achieved so far this season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jolly Red Giant
Serious contenders for a champions league spot at this point. I'm already looking forward to Andrews managing Ireland down the road if he keeps this up
What's going on with Collins? Dropped to the bench now for 3 of the last 4 games. Granted he was brought on at half time today but pretty worrying stuff for our captain
Edit: he was brought on due to an injury and apparently was immediately at fault for the second Brighton goal. I didn't think we'd be talking about an O'Brien/O'Shea defence but here we are
Your answer may lie in his complete brain fart for Brighton's second a minute after he came on...
Dropped again...do we really want our main CB to be a player that hasn't played for 2 months by the time the playoff rolls around? Scales and O'Shea playing week in, week out with no reported major mistakes
Give Coleman back the captaincy. I know he hasn't played at all but I think we're past worrying if Seamus will show up when he's wearing the green
Back last night and given captaincy. Kelleher also back after missing the last game on micro paternity leave. Clean sheet for Brentford.Quote:
Originally Posted by rebelmusic