Talking About BFC

By Phil Andrews

With my single-minded pursuit of keeping my son Joe at school for the remaining four months – a commitment way above our means but necessitated by events elsewhere in our lives – my availability for attending Brentford matches has diminished to almost zero. By a happy coincidence however Joe himself, after a junior flirtation with Arsenal which cost me several items of the requisite kit during the course of his rapid growth, has matured into a fully-fledged Brentford season ticket holder in his own right and thereby, I like to believe, discharges my obligations by proxy.

But having been a supporter since 1965 I do nonetheless take a close interest in the fortunes of the team, and like everybody else have been excited by events this season, when a perennial lower league side (only one previous and very brief foray beyond what is today known as League One in the whole of my lifetime) has taken the Championship by storm, and brushed aside teams with the pedigree of Leeds United, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers in the course of what had appeared to be a realistic, if unlikely challenge for promotion to the Premier League itself.

Then came the bombshell. And it was a bombshell of such magnitude that even long-suffering Brentford fans are calling it – well, a bombshell. An article in the Times (that’s the real Times not the local paper of the same name – such is the respect that Brentford has achieved in the football world) revealed that Mark Warburton, the rookie manager who had delivered so much success on the field of play, was to be surplus to requirements at the end of the season. Taken by surprise by the leak the powers that be at the club wobbled, panicked, and issue a verbose, almost Cantona-esque statement saying not very much at all which only served to make matters far, far worse than they were already for shocked fans as well, perhaps, as for the players, who subsequently slumped to a very untypical 3-0 defeat by a poor Charlton Athletic side who had all but played them off the field.

AWKWARD SILENCE

An awkward silence ensued, until a couple of days later a more considered statement emerged from the club, to which both owner Matthew Benham and manager Mark Warburton were signed up. The truth of the matter was that Benham wants to introduce a radical new management system much used on the continent but relatively unknown here in the UK, and Warburton and his closest staff had felt unable to work with it as it ran contrary to their own footballing philosophies. And so the parting of the ways, when it happens, is to be by mutual agreement. Now fans are hoping against hope that “Warbs” hangs around to finish the job of getting the Bees promoted to the dizzy heights of the Premier League, but most of us are realistic enough to know that if a top team were to come in for him now it would be very difficult for him to resist taking up the challenge, knowing that his days at Griffin Park are drawing to a close.

For the benefit of Bees fans, or for that matter of mere voyeurs who may wish to be kept regularly updated on this story, my advice would be to visit BFC Talk, an excellent private blog by Bees fan Greville Waterman which is frequently replenished with eloquent articles and well-presented news and views from around the club. On this particular subject, as with many others, regular new features are posted to this site to relate and offer intelligent comment on all the latest developments.

If you are a Brentford supporter BFC Talk deserves your unqualified support. Especially so as it is a useful, not to mention probably the most articulate source, of regular post-match analysis.

It would be a brave punter who was to commit to a position on Brentford’s likely performance for the remainder of this campaign. An uninspiring if uncharacteristic wipeout at Charlton was followed by an impressively dominant performance against high-flyers Bournemouth and a walkover against no-hopers Blackpool in which the 4-0 scoreline flattered the visitors, which in turn was followed by defeat at the hands of a less than spectacular Birmingham side.

This year’s ongoing Brentford saga is a fascinating one on and off the pitch, whether you are an avid fan or a mere passenger. It is a blessing that we have the tools to keep us well informed.

Reproduced with acknowledgements to A Community In Action

LATEST - Brentford Set to Sign Key Rangers Midfielder

By Brian McLauchlin

Rangers midfielder Lewis Macleod is on the verge of joining English Championship side Brentford, BBC Scotland understands.

The 20-year-old is expected to travel south for a medical within the next 24 hours.

A transfer fee of around £1m has already been agreed.

Midfielder Macleod has been one of Rangers' brightest lights this season, netting eight goals in all competitions for the Ibrox side.

He scored the only goals as Rangers secured 1-0 wins over Premiership sides Inverness Caledonian Thistle and St Johnstone in the League Cup.

SCOTLAND SQUAD

Macleod received his first call up to the Scotland squad for the Euro 2016 qualifier against Republic of Ireland and the friendly against England in November.

He was also named the Scottish Professional Football League's young player of the month for November.

Having broken into the Rangers first team in the 2012-13 season, Macleod made 26 appearances that term and then 21 appearances in 2013-14, netting five goals.

If the deal goes through with Brentford, he will be joining a side currently sixth in the English second tier.

The Bees are managed by Mark Warburton, with former Rangers defender David Weir his assistant.


Reproduced with acknowledgements to BBC Scotland.

English Teams Await their Fate in Champions League Draw

England's remaining three football sides in the Champions League draw will learn tomorrow (Monday) who they will be playing in the last 16 of the tournament.

Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City all went forward to the knockout stages, although troubled Liverpool were despatched to the Europa League following a 1-1 with Basel last week. Everton, Tottenham and Celtic are also involved in the last 32 of Europe's second cup.

The draw will take place at 11.00am GMT in Switzerland. The other teams included in the draw are Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Porto, Juventus, Basel, Bayer Leverkusen, Paris St-Germain, Schalke and Shakhtar Donetsk.

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The action gets underway on Tuesday evening as the fight for second spot in Group B goes down to the wire at Anfield, where Liverpool go in search of a win that would see them progress to the Last 16 at the expense of Basel. Elsewhere, Arsenal travel to Galatasaray needing a win, and for Borussia Dortmund to lose to Anderlecht, to top Group D.

On Wednesday, Man City will secure their passage to the next round if they beat Roma at the Stadio Olimpico and CSKA Moscow fail to defeat Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. At Stamford Bridge, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea host Sporting having already topped Group G.

On Saturday, attention turns to the Premier League where the evening kick-off sees Arsenal entertain Alan Pardew’s Newcastle at the Emirates. Sunday sees the highlight of the weekend’s action take place at Old Trafford as Man Utd and Liverpool renew rivalries in the afternoon’s early fixture.

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Just the Ticket...

...though next year's fixture between the two will probably be just a touch more expensive.

Is Winning 100 Caps Still a Big Deal?

By Ben Carter

Wayne Rooney became the ninth English footballer to win 100 caps last weekend when captaining England to a 3-1 victory against Slovenia. A few days later Yaya Toure reached the same landmark for Ivory Coast. Is it easier to do this now than it was a generation ago?

Some of the world's greatest players played surprisingly few games for their national team.

Dutch legend Johan Cruyff's international career spanned 12 years in the 60s and 70s - the same length as Rooney's career to date - but he only played 48 times for his country. Portuguese forward Eusebio's career lasted 13 years, at roughly the same time, but resulted in just 64 caps.

Meanwhile, the two best players of the current generation - 29-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and 27-year-old Lionel Messi - have already won 117 and 96 caps respectively for Portugal and Argentina, and look set to win many more.

How do you explain the discrepancy?

One reason is that fewer international games were played in years gone by. In the 1960s, England played about 10 games per year, whereas now it plays about 12. Over Wayne Rooney's career, to be precise, England have played an annual average of 11.9 games.

This is partly because there are more countries - thanks, for example, to the break-up of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union - and partly because tournaments are getting bigger. For example, 32 teams played to win one of four qualifying spots for the European Championships in 1972 whereas 54 teams will try to win one of 24 berths in the 2020 Euros.

These changes led to England playing 49 qualifiers between 2000 and 2009, compared to 31 between 1970 and 1979. It's no coincidence then that 273 of the 309 players to have reached 100 caps - or 88% - played during the 21st Century.

So what if the greats from the past had played in an era where national teams average nearly 12 games a year?

PROJECTIONS

Our projections show that Pele and Maradona would both have comfortably reached 100 caps had they been playing today, although Cruyff would still have fallen short.

But it's Eusebio whose caps figures increase the most. During his lengthy Portuguese career the national side only played 72 times and he played in 64 of those games, scoring 41 goals. We project that he would have won 138 caps had he been playing today.

Of the four English players who earned 100 caps in the last century - Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore and Peter Shilton - Wright, who was the England captain from 1948 to 1959, emerges from our recalculation on top, with a staggering 147, while Shilton, who holds the record for most actual England caps at 125, comes out with 142. This is because Wright played 97% of the games for which he was eligible, compared with Shilton's 57%.

Another reason why players today earn more caps is that these are now awarded to players who appear as substitutes.

There were no substitutes in World Cup games until 1970, so before this only 11 players per game could be awarded a cap.

Two substitutes were introduced to all international games in 1988 and this was upped to three in 1995. Up to six substitutes are now allowed in friendly games, so a team can theoretically award 17 caps per game.

When Scotland and England met at Celtic Park on Tuesday, both teams made all six permitted substitutions - once those players stepped on to the pitch, they earned a cap.

UNTHINKABLE

International managers have a changed mindset and the whole culture has shifted from 30 to 40 years ago, when the likes of Sir Alf Ramsey would nearly always pick his first-choice team even for friendlies. There are also requests from clubs these days to perhaps give a player 45 minutes or an hour in an attempt to keep him fresh for club commitments, resulting in more fluidity in selection.

West Bromwich Albion recently unveiled a statue to their legendary attacker Tony Brown. England teams had such a familiar look, and manager Sir Alf Ramsey a tried and trusted first eleven, that he won only one cap, against Wales in 1971. The idea of a player of his calibre winning a single cap these days is unthinkable.  


Reproduced with acknowledgements to BBC News Magazine.

Betfair Offering 4/1 for Man City to Beat Spurs (and Money Back if they Lose!)

Further to our recent article about the craze for offering wildly enhanced odds, Betfair have this weekend provided a perfect example with their special price of 4/1 for Manchester City to beat Tottenham Hotspur.

Plus, if City actually manage to lose the fixture, Betfair will refund your stake.

This price is not available on the standard website, but can be obtained by clicking here. Fill your boots, but remember to read the Terms and Conditions first.

Ethics Investigator Seeks Culture Change at FIFA

FIFA's independent ethics investigator Michael Garcia has called for fundamental culture change at world football's governing body, calling for "greater transparency" in the way in which the organisation conducts itself.

"The investigation and adjudication process operates in most parts unseen and unheard," he commented, adding that "leadership that sends a message that the rules apply to everyone" was needed.

"That's a kind of system which might be appropriate for an intelligence agency but not for an ethics compliance process in an international sports institution that serves the public and is the subject of intense public scrutiny."

England's Victory Makes it Nine Points from Nine

England have won all nine points from their first three qualifying games for the European Soccer Championships in 2016, but some questions remain following a laboured performance in Eastern Europe against Estonia.

What are the prospects for a team which scrapes to a 1-0 win over the world's 81st-ranked footballing nation that played with ten men for nearly half the match?

How does a 19-year-old become so tired after playing for 45 minutes against what was little more than a pub team that he needs to be rested for the start of the next match?

And is Wayne Rooney, heading as he must surely be for the accolade of being England's all-time top scorer, the Real Deal?

One can look at the Rooney question either way. He was anonymous for most of the match, and squandered at least one open goal as he also did against San Marino. But, as one could equally point out, he was the only player on the pitch to put the ball in the net. What is more, 43 goals don't lie. In fact his goals per game ratio is fairly similar to that of Bobby Charlton, whose all-time record of 49 England goals he is chasing.

Of course it is considerably inferior to that of Jimmy Greaves or Gary Lineker. The latter scored five more goals in 19 fewer games. What is more, the strikers of old did not enjoy many opportunities to fill their boots against the likes of San Marino, Andorra and the Faroe Islands (and now Gibraltar).

All-time great or just the best of a mediocre bunch? You decide.