Cod Almighty | Diary

Bye bye Brentford

4 August 2020

Yesterday saw the players we have return to training. The Telegraph informed us that manager Ian Holloway has lots of irons in the fire and that he would not be panicked into buying the wrong player.

The chairman, in the same article, explained that Town would be sticking to the £1.5m salary cap, regardless of the decision taken by the Football League on Friday. If the maximum is reached, based on the figures in circulation, it would represent an increase of approximately half a million pounds on last season. That Holloway has the nous and contacts to exploit his budget wisely is more reason for optimism.

When the signings do begin to arrive we can only hope that the fan base trust his judgement. We have to accept where we are and the kind of players we can hope to attract. Too often signings are dismissed on their records for other clubs and other managers. There are so many factors that go into a player being a success: the manager's ability to man manage; the players around them; confidence; playing week in week out; and sometimes just needing to feel loved. I'm sure the fans of FC Halifax were not over enthused at the arrival of Nathan Clarke from Grimsby, a club which barely sustained it's League status, but he went on to captain them to the play-off semi-final and make the Conference team of the season.

Tonight, Wembley will stage it's fourth play off final in front of an empty stadium. 
Whoever wins tonight will join the self-appointed "World's greatest league"™. That Brentford are in contention brings two thoughts to mind.

Casual Diary has always had a bit of a soft spot for Brentford. It's just one of those random football things. Maybe it's because we both played in stripes, or that we regularly inflicted heavy defeats on them at Blundell Park. Maybe it's because games against them often seemed to be televised. It certainly isn't for enjoyable trips to Griffin Park. The pre-match niceties were sound, with a pub on every corner of the ground and not-too-threatening locals. I have however never seen us win in visits dating back to an early season defeat in the 1971-72 Championship season. That we repeated it in 1979-80 maybe an omen to lump on, if we ever meet again, and lose early doors.

And there's something I never thought I'd write: "if we ever meet again." About Brentford! Brentford last played top flight football the season before Town's last dalliance in 1946-47. In the intervening 73 years they've mainly bounced around the lower reaches of the Football League. Should they be successful, and I hope they are, they will become the 28th club to reach the top flight since the On Digital catastrophe. To put that in perspective, in the 16 seasons since Town last played second-tier football 40 per cent of the club's who we played against or were below us have experienced top flight football. The lowest placed were Swansea and Hull, once 21st and 13th placed in the fourth division. Town meanwhile have spent nine seasons in Division Four and six outside the Football League. Still, if it wasn't for John eh?