VIEW FROM THE STANDS

Last season was dreamland for Brentford, to quote the late, great Tony Gubba. Every pundit was defied with the Bees putting in a stellar performance and not being far from a top- 10 finish.

This season will be different because we’re no longer the surprise package. People now know we can deal out a few bloody noses along the way. Just ask Chelsea.

Our key player will be galloping left- back Rico Henry. How he wasn’t called up for the post- campaign Nations League matches was as baffling as how atrocious England were.

Our most underrated player is Mathias Jensen. In the shadows of fellow Danish Christians Norgaard and Eriksen, he’s no less vital.

I’m least looking forward to playing Newcastle. The butt- kissing of Saint Eddie has conveniently overlooked the Saudi blood money. Horrific regime. Horrific decision to embrace it. Let’s not pretend otherwise.

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that he’s a top, top manager. There’s zero pressure on him. He’s got passion, tactical diversity and an ability to adapt our paper- thin squad.

If he left, he should be replaced by me. That’s how likely it is to happen.

The pantomime villain will be Kurt Zouma. “That’s how your cat felt,” was the chant after he was kicked off the pitch just half an hour into West Ham’s defeat at Lionel Road. Fans never forget.

The one change I’d make would be getting supporters who’ve only recently jumped on the bandwagon to cut club suits some slack. Our Twitter ‘ experts’ forget we’ve reached this point on a net transfer spend of -£ 52m over the past five years.

We’ll finish top 10.