Brentford FC v Ipswich Town
Saturday 26th October 2024 – 15:00
Brentford Community Stadium
Pre Match Thoughts - Mike
Well that went well didn't it !!! Hot on the heels of the disappointing showing at West Ham Town turned in another below par and uninspiring performance at home to struggling Everton, a game that was billed as a must win by a lot of Town fans turned into anything but as by the close we were comfortably defeated by One of our fellow strugglers. It wasn't only the final result that left us all deflated but also the manner of the performance which in truth wasn't great and has started to raise more than a few eyebrows among the Town faithful.
From a personal perspective Saturday began full of hope and expectation, it just felt right and that first win seemed to be on the cards, alas my positivity diminished while sitting in the pub prior to kick off as the team news filtered through at 1.45pm, the dreaded rumours that Jacob Greaves had picked up an injury proved to be correct and adding that to the absence of Axel Tuanzebe just felt like it was a bridge too far, then you look at the pairing of Luke Woolfenden & Cameron Burgess and it has to be said, it filled me with dread, at that point I predicted a Two Nil defeat and so it proved.
The early season optimism is very quickly evaporating, those early season draws that seemed so positive feel like a Million miles away, we needed a reaction after the West Ham drubbing but instead we got a bit of a damp squib of a performance which certainly had me feeling a bit like we are out of our depth at this level, Eight League games without a win doesn't sound good and the pressure is most definitely starting to mount.
I suppose you can take positives from the game if you look hard enough, we had a Golden opportunity to go ahead early on when Jack Clarke was played in but with the goal gaping he blasted high and wide with no composure whatsoever, he had time to take a touch too but instead lashed at it recklessly and the chance was gone. Having gone behind after yet another defensive howler had gifted them the lead we then get awarded a penalty and with it the ideal chance to get back on level terms but the dreaded VAR review decided otherwise as the decision was overturned and I have to say having seen it back it was correctly overturned as Clarke had not been fouled at all.
After that our chances were few and far between and going in Two behind following Everton's second goal not long before half time made the task virtually impossible and if we are honest Jordan Pickford barely had a save of note to make for the entire second period which for me was bitterly disappointing. Let's be honest Everton were not great, they did however seem far more streetwise than us and looked far more capable of grinding out a result than we did.
The same issues remain for me, playing Hutchinson in the Middle does not work, for the last Twenty Minutes or so he played wide Right and looked a different player, almost immediately he looked more dangerous and was involved in quite a bit going forward, again Sammy Szmodics was on the bench and used sparingly with little time to impress, I did feel Jack Taylor & Harry Clarke did well when they came on and looked better alternatives to O'Shea & Phillips who had been poor all afternoon.
I think it speaks volumes that by the close of play we had the majority of our League One side on the pitch and this after spending 100 Million is a cause for concern, the old guard looked far more up for it and far more effective, it begs the question, have we spent badly and are some of these lower league players adapting enough to life in the Premier League, I would question it at this moment in time. One player does not make a team but losing Greaves for a few weeks is huge and I genuinely do not see us winning a game in his absence as the back up defenders are just not good enough ans by the time Greaves & Axel return it could well be too late, the errors have not been coached out of our defence for Two years now and I don't see it changing.
I think we have NO choice but to switch tactics and formation etc, try something different, we are predictable and One dimensional and that has to change, Mckenna has been the Messiah for over Two years now but it will quickly be eroded away and forgotten if we keep doing the same old thing with the same old negative outcome, the days of worrying if we can keep hold of him are fast disappearing which I guess is a good thing, or is it, if we get say Fifteen games into the season with no wins questions will be asked and his position will be questioned, and rightly so.
All we can do is keep working hard and hope the improvement we need starts to manifest itself into performances. I never thought I would see to day that we head to Brentford thinking we have little chance of a result here but that is how I am feeling right now, they are no mugs and can play a bit too, Brentford is the type of club we currently aspire to be but at present we look a long way off that level. They currently sit in Mid table with Ten points from the opening Eight games and already have some positive results to their name, they recently put Five past Wolves which on the face of it may not sound anything special but what would we give for that kind of result against anyone right now ? We couldn't even do it against Wimbledon in the cup.
I really like Brentford's manager too who seems to have a good thing going there, Thomas Frank has worked wonders and has them playing some good stuff in the right way, Mbeumo has already plundered Six goals and with a 53% shot accuracy will be a real hand full for our generous defence, it worries me how our depleted numbers are going to contain him. Going forward we also need to be creating far more than we are and when those golden chances do come along we have to take them, something we are not doing at present, a combination of errors at the back and missed chances going forward is a recipe for disaster and this has to stop.
Let's be honest here though, this season was always going to be tough and a scrap for survival, 17th was always a realistic target, it is easy to criticise and find negatives but let's all remember what our hopes and aspirations were before the season, we as a club are learning, individual players are learning and most definitely still trying to adapt to life in the Premiership while at the same time striving to gel with their new team mates, our Manager is a rookie and still learning too, he hasn't done too badly in fairness but does need to lose that stubborn tendancy that seems to be there, I am certain he knows only too well when the time is right to try something different, for me that time is very much upon us. What we have to do though is stick with the boys and keep positive, anything less will make the job Ten times harder. I fear it will be another defeat this weekend but you just never know. COYB'S.
The Opposition – Brentford FC - Honours
League
Second Division / Championship
Champions: 1934–35
Play-off winners: 2021
Third Division South / Third Division / League One
Champions: 1932–33, 1991–92
Promoted: 2013–14
Fourth Division / League Two
Champions: 1962–63, 1998–99, 2008–09
Promoted: 1971–72, 1977–78
United League
Champions: 1907–08
Southern League Second Division
Champions: 1900–01
Cup
Football League Trophy
Runners-up: 1984–85, 2000–01, 2010–11
The Manager – Thomas Frank
League Table as at 22.10.2024
Form Guide
Brentford FC
14 Sep Manchester City 2 - 1 Brentford
21 Sep Tottenham 3 - 1 Brentford
28 Sep Brentford 1 - 1 West Ham Utd
5 Oct Brentford 5 - 3 Wolverhampton
19 Oct Manchester Utd 2 - 1 Brentford
Ipswich Town
14 Sep Brighton 0 - 0 Ipswich Town
21 Sep Southampton 1 - 1 Ipswich Town
29 Sep Ipswich Town 2 - 2 Aston Villa
5 Oct West Ham Utd 4 - 1 Ipswich Town
19 Oct Ipswich Town 0 - 2 Everton
Head to Head
Match Referee – Lewis Smith
BRENTFORD FC 1 IPSWICH TOWN 1
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