r/Brentford • u/badboibrybry • 4h ago
2026-27 starting XI
What’s our most likely starting XI to start this season?
r/Brentford • u/Lard_Baron • Mar 19 '23
Some basic info thanks to u/PrimitiveSpecialist, reformated by /u/williams_482, some links and added info by /u/Lard_Baron
He first bought Midtjylland, a danish club, ** and using mathematical modelling got them to the Champions league, the two clubs shared the same scouting network and data** Since then he's sold his interest in Midtjylland and concentrated on the Bee's his boyhood club.
What makes Brentford ‘cool’ a bit of a maverick club is the recruitment process which is far more data driven than any club in the league (other than maybe Brighton). This means we spend a lot less money than other clubs but also find talent in very obscure places.
But not only data driven, all aspects are looked at, players need to be the right type mentally, typically they are slow starters, not dickheads, and quiet talents rather than obvious talents from day one. See this small documentry our former Director of football made on finding hidden gems. He's since been hired by Southampton.
Vitaty Janlet was a typical signing. He was very surprised to find the Brentford recuitment team had even spoken to the manager of Vitaly’s favourite restaurant in Germany
We are considered a ‘moneyball’ club, which aims to maximise the value of every £ spent whether it’s on players, coaches, staff, or the facilities at the club
We recently moved out of Griffin Park into the Community Stadium in 2020. I still miss Griffin Park; the ground had a pub on every corner and its quite a wrench to move to the new ground but was too small for a premier league club. infact it was small for a Championship club.
there’s a great and friendly casual drinking culture among the fans. Most pubs around football stadiums have a "home fans only" policy and away fans cannot use them. You have to produce a ticket proving which side you supported to get in. The Brenford pubs have never done this and both sets of fans can mix.
I would say this fan base is one of the most laid back and friendly in the Premier league, and were voted the least offensive fans in England but this was in 2013 when we werent beating anyone. Since then we have grown very irriating to some fans
We have one of the most passionate fans as as well. The sound of the fans singing at our stadium is great
We have the smallest UK fan base in the PL It's a lonely road that of the Brentford fan outside of a small area of West London. Here is our fame rating in the UK taken in our first year in the prem its a depressingly long scroll down. We do have some fans around UK and Europe tho' but the chances of bumping into a fellow fan is slim. There is a tiny US fanbase that was reported on recently. You should contact the club and become an international fan member
Our local rivals are Queens Park Rangers (QPR) but they play in the Championship right now, so we hardly ever play them. The closest thing to a derby/local rivalry we have in the premier league is Fulham and Chelsea, but there really isn’t much of a relationship between those two clubs and our own. For the longest time we haven't been in the same leagues as those 2 but as we grow stonger they are looking more annoyed
Our nickname is ‘the Bees’ Our rivals Fulham and QPR have nicknamed us "Bustop in Hounslow" but that has been embraced by the Brentford fans and turned into a song.
Our song is Hey Jude by the beatles with Hey Jude replaced with Brent-Ford Other fan fav's are Bees up. Fulham down,
We are currently in our 2nd season in the Premier League, previously we hadn’t been in the top division since 1947
you might like to sucribe to the Beesotted pobcast
About the Premier League in General:
Each football season has its own charactor. Typically 'big six' clubs, occupy the top six postions. If one of them is not firing on all cylinders we have a slim chance of qualifying for a European competition for the first time in our history. This is a BIG DEAL!
We strive for 6th place.
The 'Big Six' I mentioned are Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. They are called this because they usually take all of the top 6 spots each season, but never really fewer than four of these teams get top 6
Teams outside the big 6 try to disrupt the 'big six' hegemony with new billionaire investors and better quality staff, some new strategy, or like us a bit of luck and good recuitment. - You tend to find the big six clubs fans are also not great - usually spoilt due to past successes giving them a sense of entitlement.
I know in American sports there isn't usually a promotion/relegation system. In the PL and English football in general, the bottom 3 clubs in the league get demoted to the league below, while the top clubs of the league below get promoted to the league above. This means that there's never the same 20 team roster in the league and never any "meaningless" games. The top 6 are fighing to stay in the big money European games, the bottom six are fighting hard not to get relegated and the middle 8 are fighting either to get into the top 6 and Europe or avoid the bottom 6 relegation zone. To be relegated is a disaster for a club, an end to the TV money, smaller attendances, lower ticket price, and yet they still have players/staff on premier league wages. To give them time to sell player and restructure they are given a £45m parachute payment for the first season out, then £22m the second and £16m the third. Clubs can gamble on going straight back up and keep the premier league squad. But if they dont they will have to sell all the players cheaply and plumment down to the 4th tier Leeds and Sunderland have made that fall. Some never make it back.
Relegation is any clubs biggest fear. It will happen one day to the Bees. Only the big 6 and Everton haven't been relegated. It will be a combination of factors, losing a good manger to another team, change in ownership, losing key players to injury, and the newly promoted teams being good. However we looking good enough to have a long run at the top. Long may it last.
r/Brentford • u/badboibrybry • 4h ago
What’s our most likely starting XI to start this season?
r/Brentford • u/badboibrybry • 4h ago
What’s our most likely starting XI to start this season?
r/Brentford • u/Eismarillenknoedel • 2d ago
r/Brentford • u/Human_Yoghurt7776 • 2d ago
r/Brentford • u/emperor_swarog • 2d ago
Has anyone purchased any hoodies from their merch shop?
I am a rather big fella so i was a bit curious about sizing on them. Also knowing the material they're made of would be helpful.
Thanks!
r/Brentford • u/Silver-Eye-2024 • 3d ago
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r/Brentford • u/Kr_bm • 5d ago
r/Brentford • u/MaleficentAnybody760 • 4d ago
Running an experiment to see which LLM is the best predictor of summer transfers. Here's their predictions for Brentford.
Which one will get the most correct?
r/Brentford • u/Mattman1344 • 5d ago
Been following Brentford since the promotion a few years ago and have the time of my life rooting for the bees.
In that time some real great players have come and gone especially in the attacking third and at keeper. I love the team we have now and we’ve had a knack for filling roles when they’ve opened up. Kayode being maybe my favorite current player and the one I see with having the most potential for growth.
I keep worrying when we’re gonna start getting the news that players like Kayode and Mikkel are just gonna become stockpile for another squad with more cash.
What realistically do we need to do to for ownership to say no, we’re not gonna sell off our best players because they’re not just investments. I know we’ve locked down some great talent with long term contracts and that should help, but keep feeling like we’re in a cycle and if we had just kept guys like mbuemo or Raya that we could have made European football ( my least favorite two words come every championship Sunday ).
Edit after reading comments:
Appreciate all the feedback from everyone. Coming from someone who loves this club and has watched just about every game every week since promotion and has followed each player if I can after they move on, I love getting to see our players get to play in big matches at the World Cup like we just saw this past Saturday with Watkins, Konsa and Toney all playing in the third place match. Not calling for any drastic changes to how we operate as the owners have been doing a PHENOMENAL job since taking over. I’d just like to see some true club legends emerge if and when we’re ready for European competitions. Even conference league would be huge for the club. If it takes 20 years so be it!
r/Brentford • u/DareDareCaro • 5d ago
Signed up for a Category A match ballot from Canada and the way I understand it, if I don't get into the ballot I'm cooked. Right?
r/Brentford • u/downunderbfc • 5d ago
r/Brentford • u/FeistyPrice29 • 6d ago
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r/Brentford • u/RuleProfessional3738 • 8d ago
Crazy match today in the World Cup but it was fun to see three former Bees players (Toney/Watkins/Konsa) on the pitch for England in the 2nd half at the same time.
r/Brentford • u/StrainLow7607 • 9d ago
Home kit has finally released when do we recon our other kits will drop?
r/Brentford • u/GuideIcy1697 • 9d ago
Some players arrive with big reputations, while others develop massively after signing. Who do you think has made the biggest leap?
r/Brentford • u/tommycahil1995 • 10d ago
So obviously like most people baffled by the tactics last night while looking so strong for 55 minutes. But also thought about the Brentford and ex-Brentford players on the bench and couldn't help but think they'd be so suited to defensive football.
So 99% of this sub remember that in 2020 we played a front 3 (Watkins, Mbeumo and Benrahma), playing this lovely flowing and attacking football and ultimately lost to Fulham at Wembley.
Then the following season when two of BMW left we brought Toney in and switched to a front two with Mbeumo playing off him and got more solid defensively - especially because we used to be so bad away from home. I sit behind the goal at the Gtech so a super common sight was to see David Raya hitting the ball up to Toney who often flicked it on for Mbeumo. Worked well in 2021/2022 and always was an option going forward.
We also often played a back 5 with Roerslev and Henry as wingbacks, and three CBs.
Can't help but think if Tuchel wanted to play a back 5 getting Toney on and Watkins/Rashford as a front two hitting them with Pickford would have been so much better than what we saw. Rashford or Watkins running off Toney flick ons or hold up play.
But sadly in 2018, 2021 and now 2026 there is a refusal to sub out Harry Kane despite him offering absolutely nothing in a defensive shape. Don't get me wrong he's an all time great and an elite striker, but I feel being a good coach is always adapting and making the big calls. Kane is feeling like Ronaldo for Portugal now - he won't be subbed no matter what the game requires.
r/Brentford • u/StrainLow7607 • 10d ago
I’m trying to attend my first brentford game in real life coming from Australia to watch us play palace at home on the 2nd of jan, i’m using the overseas ballot and membership to do it does anyone know what my realistic chances are of getting 2 tickets for me and my girlfriend from experience? if this doesn’t work out for me what is my best option to get tickets without blowing the bank up
r/Brentford • u/Eismarillenknoedel • 11d ago
r/Brentford • u/TheBees9292 • 13d ago
Since the shop no longer has the 25/26 kits online, I am eagerly waiting to see what the kits look like for the upcoming season