VITAL QPR assesses Friday night’s opponents, Brentford.
Queens Park Rangers and Brentford are neck and neck in the current Championship table and it’s a fair indicator as to where both clubs are at present. It wouldn’t unfair to suggest that Brentford are in fact progressing far quicker in their relative ambitions than Rangers.
The Bees have been buying in young talent and selling on at a profit – substantially so in terms of full-back Jake Bidwell, who in all likelihood won’t be available for this fixture for QPR. Dean Smith then raided League One for talents such as Romaine Sawyers and Rico Henry from former club Walsall and reported QPR target Daniel Bentley from Southend United.
It would be fair to suggest that the Bees have bounced back after a blip last season – the dismissal of Mark Warburton was bizarre to say the least, and the subsequent appointment was even more eye-brow-raising with Marinus Dijkhausen getting the boot within months. While caretaker Lee Carsley was successful, in particular with a win over QPR, he ruled himself out and the appointment of Smith appears to be bringing about a revival at Griffin Park.
A young manager with plenty to prove, a successful mobilisation of young talent being sold on at a profit and a new stadium on the horizon – there will be more than a few green eyes staring out towards Middlesex from West London as Rangers attempt to rebuild, albeit potentially on a larger scale, what Brentford are likely to achieve in the coming years.
Founded: 1889
Nickname: Bees
Ground: Griffin Park – 12300
Manager: Dean Smith
HONOURS
Second Tier
Second Division – Champions: 1934-35
Third Tier
Third Division – Champions: 1932-33 (South), 1991-92
League One – Runners-up: 2013-14
Fourth Tier
Fourth Division – Champions: 1962-63,
Division Three – Champions: 1998-99
League Two – Champions: 2008-09
RECORDS
Record Attendance: 38678 v Leicester City (FA Cup, February 1949)
Record league victory: 9-0 v Wrexham (Third Division, October 1963)
Record league defeat 0-7 v Swansea Town (Third Division, November 1924)
Record Buy: £2,100,000 – Andreas Bjelland from FC Twente (July 2015)
Record Sale: £6,000,000 – Andre Gray (July 2015)
Record Appearances: Ken Coote – 559 (1949-1963)
Record Goals: Jim Towers – 162 (1954-1961)
GOALS: Scott Hogan – 8; John Egan – 3; Lasse Vibe – 2; Harlee Dean – 1.
YELLOWS: Ryan Woods – 6; Harlee Dean – 5; Maxime Colin – 4; Romaine Sawyers 3
REDS: Lasse Vibe – 1
1 – Daniel Bentley
2 – Maxime Colin
3 – Callum Elder (on loan from Leicester City)
4 – Lewis Macleod
5 – Andreas Bjelland
6 – Harlee Dean
7 – Sam Saunders
8 – Nico Yennaris
9 – Scott Hogan
10 – Josh McEachran
11 – Philipp Hofmann
12 – Alan McCormack
14 – John Egan
15 – Ryan Woods
16 – Jack Bonham
17 – Konstantin Kerschbaumer
18 – Alan Judge
19 – Romaine Sawyers
20 – Josh Clarke
21 – Lasse Vibe
22 – Rico Henry
25 – Sullay Kaikai (on loan from Crystal Palace)
29 – Yoann Barbet
30 – Tom Field
31 – Jan Holldack
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