OLLIE LIFTS THE LID ON SECRET OF BEES’ SUCCESS
IAN Holloway cottoned on faster than most.
“There’s a lot of brains about what Brentford are doing,” said the Millwall boss after seeing his side beaten 3-2 at the Den on November 8.
“They’ve invested in the academy and put that way of playing into their players. Their manager has spent five years putting this structure in place and he’s got ways of explaining it from top to bottom.
“They’re not little old Brentford any more and everybody should start looking at what a fantastic job they’re doing.”
Brentford and their boss Mark Warburton probably cursed those words. They’ve been more than happy trundling along under the radar.
But if anyone dismissed the words of Holloway, nobody could fail to notice last weekend’s victory over Fulham, a fourth straight win that sent the Bees up to fifth and signalled a monumental change in the tide.
It isn’t even five years since Brentford were in the basement and their West London neighbours were playing in a European final. A rivalry once bitter had become so rarely contested that an entire generation didn’t even understand its significance.
Only when Brentford put their illustrious neighbours to the sword did you truly realise how far Warburton’s men have come. While Fulham thrashed around in the Premier League, swapping managers like stickers in a desperate annual bid to stay up, Brentford were planning a decade ahead.
Now an academy is in place, a stream of players coming through, a new stadium on the way.
Like Bournemouth, they are a beacon of stability and intelligence in an industry too often dominated by short-term stupidity. WITH Cheltenham
in wretched form, the sack-ingof Mark
Yates after fiv e years charge was probably in
inevitable. But for all the struggles cam-paign,the44-year-old
of the current with nothing should be remembered
but fondness. WhenYates took over, nowhere but the Cheltenham were
going Conference. Since reached two play- then he has
offs – inc luding despite being forced one final –
to rebuild his squad single summer. every That’s a good record stan-dardsbyanyone’s and any League Two
side looking for a stead y hand
could do a lot worse. Paul Buckle
has a lot to live up to.