Also known as: The Bees
Ground: Griffin Park
Capacity: 12,300
Year Formed: 1889
Website: www.brentfordfc.co.uk
FootyMad Site: www.brentford-mad.co.uk
Manager: Dean Smith (since November 2015) P: 30 W: 12 D: 5 L: 13
Odds to win the League: 33/1. Odds for Promotion: 9/1 Top Six Finish: 100/30 Odds for Relegation: 8/1 (as of 31st July)
2015-2016:
League (Championship): W: 19 D: 8 L: 19 F: 72 A: 67 GD: +5 Points: 65
Home Record: W: 10 D: 4 L: 9 F: 33 A: 30
Away Record: W: 9 D: 4 L: 10 F: 39 A: 37
Pos: 9th
Top Scorer: Alan Judge/ Lasse Vibe (14)
Worst Discipline: Alan McCormack (10 yellows)
FA Cup: Third Round (lost 1-0 Walsall)
League Cup: First Round (lost 4-0 to Oxford)
Last Five League Positions: 9th (Championship), 5th (Championship), 2nd (League One), 3rd (League One), 9th (League One)
Head To Head v Barnsley: W: 23 D: 19 L: 11
Last season v Barnsley: N/A
Last Meetings with Barnsley: 11/3/06 Brentford (Ricky Newman 12, Lloyd Owusu 22, 85 pen) 3-1 Barnsley (Tommy Wright 68) 27/8/05 Barnsley (Michael Turner og 24) 1-1 Brentford (Lloyd Owusu 25)
Last Five Results v Barnsley: won 3-1, drew 1-1, drew 1-1, drew 0-0, won 2-0.
Meet in 2016-2017 on: Saturday 22nd October at Griffin Park & Monday 17th April at Oakwell.
View From The Terrace:
Nick Bruzon
Level of Interest:( I.e Now and then, Every other week, season ticket holder etc)
Season ticket holder.
How has pre-season gone for you so far?
Well we haven't had the mass outpouring of FFP related quality players witnessed this time last year. Whilst we've lost our captain and LB to the Loftus Road mob and GK to Fulham, the in door has seen some very positive business indeed. We've got two players in Andreas Bjelland and Lewis MacLeod coming back from long term injuries that caused them to miss almost the entire previous campaign. Chuck in Scott Hogan who began his return in the final quarter of the campaign after missing 18 months and they are, metaphorically speaking, almost like three new signings.
On the pitch, results have been a mixed bag. But don't let stats fool you. With players returning from injury and new signings to bed in, it has been more a period of acclimatisation. Likewise one which has seen some of the youth set up being given a run out as well as experiments in formation. We've long been accused of not having 'a plan B'. Well, what we've been looking at is definitely different.
Are you pleased with the signings your club has made?
See above. Daniel Bentley was wanted by a whole host of clubs whilst Romaine Sawyers likewise. He looks quality already although his singing isn't up to much.
But CB John Egan is the one who really interests me. More so as it is a position where we were, relatively, quite strong. Sounds like he is going to be quality
What realistically are you aiming for this season?
The first target is always survival. To be approaching a third season in the Championship, for a club whose default setting for most of the last 35 years has invariably been mid tier 3, is no small achievement.
Yet the arrival of owner Matthew Benham has seen us build some exciting, young teams who finally left that accursed division at the denouement of 2013/14. Since then we've come 5th and 9th in the Championship. Arguably on merit rather than 'punching above our weight' - something else that, like no Plan B, we've also been accused of.
So whilst staying up is key, a certain level of expectation is also now there. And understandably so. Personally, I'm calling us to finish 6th
Which player has past his sell by date?
Actually, if you look at the squad we've only got 5 or 6 players left from the selected 18 who began Championship life against Charlton less than 2 years ago. And of those, it would be fair to say that Irish international Alan Judge would surely have been snapped up but for the horrific leg injury he suffered at Ipswich towards the beck end of last season. 'Past his sell by date' not really a line that applies to an evolving squad
Have you got the right manager in charge?
The first rule of Brentford is that there is no Brentford manager.
The second rule of Brentford is that there is no Brentford manager.
We have a head coach , several specialists and two co-directors of football whose role is heavily geared around identifying transfer targets, amongst other things. Our last manager was Mark Warburton and that ended in a well documented difference of opinion in regards to the role and an amicable parting of the ways.
The Bees ended last season on a tremendous run of form. Fair play to head coach Dean Smith for getting the best out of them after a New Year 'mini slump' that saw us flirting with the edge of the relegation pack in March. Thankfully, that fickle mistress rebuffed our clumsy advances and we ended up where we probably should have done.
Dean also followed on from both the doomed 'Marinus experiment ' (Dutch coach Dijkhuizen rather than any form of prog-rock band) and October's manger of the month Lee Carsley. He absolutely deserves his chance, I'm backing him as, more importantly, is Matthew Benham. And not in a 'vote of confidence' style....
What advice would you give him?
The table hasn't truly taken shape until 10 games in. Don't panic if things don't start at 100mph. Besides, the last two seasons have seen us take time to build momentum but, once we're rolling.....
Oh, and this season please DO remember the importance of the Loftus Road game
Who do you see as your key player?
Scott Hogan - goals. Andreas Bjelland - Danish international Centre Back. Sam Saunders - dead ball specialist, wing wizard and general crowd morale
Who would you most like to beat this season? QPR away. It's a derby, of course, but so is Fulham. Yet over the last two seasons we've taken 10 points out of 12 from Fulham. Feasting at the Craven Cottage all you can score buffet has been a delicious experience and one I hope continues.
But if performances against Fulham (and long may that continue) have been tasty then QPR away was a very bitter pill to swallow. For reasons still unknown he chose to start the most important of games without a striker on the pitch. An experimental 4-6-0 formation in the most fierce of local derbies was only going to end one way. Frankly, a 3-0 defeat flattered us.
Revenge WILL be sweet. More so as they signed our captain Jake Bidwell in preseason.
Where will you finish? 6th
How do you rate Barnsley's chances next season and where do you think they will finish?
Impossible to say. And that's meant with no disrespect. Nobody fancied us to come 5th upon our first season in the Championship - we were odds on for an immediate return to League One. Likewise, look at how well Preston North End did last time out after their play-off victory.
Make survival your first goal and just enjoy the wild ride. Anything beyond that is a bonus.