Brentford match thread - As sweet as Tupelo honey

Any excuse to reference a Van Morrison song.

From nylons and a bus stop in Hounslow to the Premier League and a shiny new stadium in ten years. That’s the story of Brentford, transformed by the ownership of Matthew Benham since 2012. Benham has made his money in sports gambling and analytics, starting with Asian football gambling and has famously applied this data-driven analytical approach to the running of Brentford and FC Midtjylland in Denmark where he was the majority shareholder between 2014-2023.

It would be nice to describe this as a romantic fairytale but there is a hard unemotional edge to the story with lots of upset and several wrong turnings. Brentford are known for being very canny in the transfer market, having consistently sold their best players in the Championship days and replaced them successfully and making money. A different approach has had to be followed in the Premier League, where the club is in competition with the petrochemical brother and the Manchester United money machine, among others. Benham has also put in a substantial amount of his own money, with the club’s current debt to him being around £100 million. This isn’t just a story of prudent housekeeping generating the necessary money. Mark Devlin no doubt has a view, having been CEO between 2011 and 2018.

Managed by the amiable Thomas Frank, who guided them to promotion in 2021 and has kept them up ever since. Seen as a very good coach, with some debate about whether or not he could go onto to higher things. He puts great emphasis on profiting from dead-ball routines and, in the Premiership, they play on the counter-attack but will try and dominate tonight. They have used four different formations in five games, so how they will line up is anyone’s guess.

A restrained transfer window with gambling man Ivan Toney deciding to take the big bag in Saudi Arabia. Igor Thiago from Belgium is his replacement but is by no means Premier League ready. He is anyway out until the end of December. Yoane Wissa has been playing the striker role in the Premier League, supported by Bryan Mbuemo. They look very light here for the Premier League.

You are not allowed to play centre back for Brentford if you are under 1.9 meters in height, unless your name is Ben Mee, who will probably get an outing against us. I would expect to see Sepp van den Berg partnering him, although he played on Saturday. Younf Jayden Meghoma may get a run at left back. Fabio Carvalho was very good for Hull last season and is in line for a start.

This is not a game that is a priority for Brentford, although Frank said they were taking the competition very seriously. He said that the club captain Christian Norgaard would start. Having run Manchester City close, they will fancy their chances against Tottenham on Saturday, so I would still expect extensive rotation. Wissa was badly injured in the Manchester City game, and I expect Mbuemo to be rested. Kevin Schade played against Colchester and so will probably start. The young Ukrainian, Yarmoliuk will probably start in midfield.

A free hit for Orient and Richie Wellens has more or less promised rotation for this match. This probably means starts for Simpson, Ball, Donley and Sweeney. It may be too early for Jordan Graham to start. I would like to see Zech Obiero back in midfield but maybe that is asking too much of him.

In: Igor Thiago CF (Club Brugge, €33 million), Sepp van den Berg CB (Liverpool, €23.6 million), Fabio Carvalho AM (Liverpool, €23.4 million), Gustavo Nunes LW (Gremio, €12 million), Jaydon Maghoma LB (Southampton U21s €5.9 million), Ben Wylde GK (Fylde, loan)

Out: Ivan Toney CF (€42 million, Al Ahli), David Raya GK (Arsenal, €31 million), Fin Stevens RB (St Pauli, €600k), Thomas Strakosha GK (AEK Athens, free), Shandon Baptiste CM (Luton, free), Zanka CB (Anderlecht, free), Charlie Goode CB (Stevenage, free), Frank Onyeka CM (Augsburg, loan), Myles Peart-Harris Am (Swansea, loan)Saman Ghoddos AM (released), Neil Maupay CF (Everton), Ellery Balcombe GK (St Mirren, loan), Ben Winterbottom GK (Fylde, loan)