[FM23] Bees of Brentford: A Taste of Honey

[warlock]

March 2025

A short month in terms of games played, but all of them important to our season. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a month I'd like to put behind us quickly.

We opened with an FA Cup 5th round tie against, yes, Brighton in a game that represented our last real chance of a trophy:

Having jumped into a 2-0 lead inside 40 minutes we were cruising, especially when they went down to 10 men midway through the half. Even when they grabbed a scruffy goal back in the dying seconds of the half I was confident we could push on and seal the win. Unfortunately, the lads went to sleep in the second half and we created little, while Brighton constantly probed at our defence. When Mac Allister bagged the equaliser with less than 2 minutes to go it was no more than they - and we - deserved. It was instant disappointment in the penalty shootout as Beljo opened our account with a tame effort that was saved and our FA Cup run was over for another year.

Man City were the next visitors to Brentford and, having won their game in hand, had just overtaken us to claim second place in the league. A win for Bees would have reversed the positions again but despite putting in an excellent performance we couldn't find a way to score:

I switched up the tactic to play more on the counter and it worked a treat. But our failure in front of goal has become a hallmark of our play in the second half of the season and this was another game that saw Toney hauled off on the hour. Sadly, and yet again, Beljo had little to offer apart from his 70th minute effort that was so far offside he was in a different postcode. In other circumstances a draw against City is no bad thing but I was disappointed with this one.

Thanks to a number of fixture rearrangements we had just two games remaining in the month. the two legs of our Champions League R16 tie against Liverpool, starting with a home leg. Since the counter-attack system had worked well against City I deployed it again:

Unfortunately, it was much less effective this time out. Liverpool were relentless and although we held them off for nearly 90 minutes, the pressure eventually proved too much and we conceded the killer goal.

Heading to Anfield for the return, I again tweaked the tactic, still looking to defend deep but opting for a positive mentality that, I hoped, would give us a better chance of finding the net:

And it worked, at least for the first half. We scored early and again, admittedly against the run of play, to take a 2-1 aggregate lead at the break. But I know from long experience against Klopp in this save just how often his teams become more and more aggressive in the second half, and they did it again. From the second-half whistle we struggled to contain them and when they eventually regained the aggregate lead after 70 minutes the result seemed like a foregone conclusion.

If there's anything to take from the month it may be that we finished with a two-week international break that might give the squad time to recover some fitness for the final push with 7 games remaining. We remain in third spot, 2 pts behind City and just 3pts ahead of Brighton. So while second is not iimpossible, we also run the risk of finishing fourth. We need a strong finish to the season.

Edited June 14, 2023 by warlock
Fumble fingers

[karanhsingh]

Rough month, especially the result against 10 man Brighton. I hope i can replicate that in my save! 

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

I hope i can replicate that in my save! 

I'd be happy to see it in your save, as long as it doesn't happen again in mine

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck for a strong finish. Tough run but end on a high if you can. What are your thoughts on Toney at the moment?

It's been a while since I saw a certain F. Torres scoring for Liverpool. 

 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

What are your thoughts on Toney at the moment?

He's been in horrible form since Christmas but there are signs that he might be recovering - since his brace against Porto he's found the net another 3 times in his last 6 games. But with just 18 goals from 37(4) appearances - not terrible in itself - this will go down as by far his worst season of the save. I don't want to get rid, but I'll need to bring in a striker to push him. Unfortunately, Beljo has not stepped up and Popovic is still too raw.

In other news, Rico Henry will not be moving on in the summer:

[Hootieleece]

39 minutes ago, warlock said:

In other news, Rico Henry will not be moving on in the summer:

oof! thats a rough one.

[warlock]

37 minutes ago, Hootieleece said:

oof! thats a rough one.

Yeah, not good. You worry about the long-term effects... RB Costinha missed 4 months of last season with a spinal injury and has never been the same since his return.

There's also the question of whether to bring in another LB - Rico will miss most of next season so do we go with a makeshift replacement (Esteve and Borset are left-footed CBs who can play LB) or sign his replacement at considerable cost and carry the burden of the fee and wages for a whole season.

I've just finished the 24/25 season and will do a full update tomorrow, but here's a bit of good news:

And another bit of bad news:

The prospects of us getting a homegrown player of Champions League quality are as distant as ever. This bunch were only signed to keep up minimal numbers in the u18 squad. The board have agreed to upgrade some of the youth facilities but there's a long way to go.

[warlock]

May 2025, end of season

With our last hopes of a trophy gone in April, all that remained was to finish as high as possible in the Premier League. If Man City endured an unlikely collapse we had a mathematical chance of claiming second place but, in reality, we were battling Brighton for 3rd and 4th.

Where to begin with that? On one hand, we didn't lose. On the other hand, we weren't really convincing, relying on two last-gasp equalisers against Leicester and Chelsea, two teams we should have been beating with Leicester deep in the bottom half and Chelsea perennially disappointing in mid-table. On a third hand, I was happy to take a point from Newcastle away. And on a fourth hand, we enjoyed rare goals from Beljo, Mbeumo and Toney. And we finished the month on a high, although it required a harsh half-time team talk to inspire the win away at Leeds.

Into the final month and our final three games, and - just like that - we suddenly remembered how to play football:

Burnley and Forest have been the two worst teams in the division this season, but Burnley were still fighting to avoid the drop and this was exactly the kind of game we had been struggling in. Now, we cruised to victories in both, and finished our season in front of the Bees faithful with a handsome win against Arsenal. Even more pleasing, Toney was back to his best, claiming four goals in these three matches. Who can understand footballers and form

It goes without saying that City did not collapse, but what about those Seagulls?

Brighton didn't collapse, but they did stumble and we claimed our third consecutive finish in, um... third! My career is flatlining .

Despite the documented recent struggles, our best players are the obvoius suspects:

Missing from that list is the excellent Mikkel Damsgaard who contributed 10 goals and 5 assists, and 19-year-old Lucas Bergvall who scored 4 from central midfield after joining the club in November. To nobody's surprise, several of those players are currently wanted - Dortmund are after Seimen and Damsgaard; Monaco want Mbeumo; and Atletico Madrid are keeping tabs on Ajer. Elsewhere, Norwich are interested in Lewis-Potter and I'd be happy to sanction that move; and Villareal are tracking Lienhart who has been inconsistently great and garbage so will be allowed to go if we get a decent offer. I want to move on RB Costinha, GK Raya and DM Norgaard, too.

Financially, we're in great shape and the board have given me £65m for the summer transfer market, although the wage budget is a little tight, hence why I'd like to move on some of the current squad. Seimen has a £60m release clause and I'd like to get rid of that but he'll likely want a big (deserved) pay rise from his current £61k a week.

For now my shopping list includes two RBs (I want to move Ajer back to DM where he'd replace Norgaard), and a backup GK. I also need to make a decision about the striker position and whether Beljo still has the potential to step up, as well as the unresolved issue of Henry's long-term injury and what that means at LB.

[SteinkelssonFM]

Despite the final two blocks of fixtures you had another great season with the bees, in terms of wing backs is Ewijk still playing his trade in Holland? 

Would definitely be a Brentford type signing. 

How are you finding that fluid system? Do you think any tactical tweaks will be made? 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Would definitely be a Brentford type signing

My scouts have been flagging him for a while, but they say he's behind Costinha in every department except pure speed. But he may be one to think about.

As for the tactic, the performances and results since Christmas have made me question every bit of it . But I'm trying not to tinker too much. One change I have made is from the twin mezzalas - the CML is now an AP on attack, purely to get a bit more out of Enzo and play in him in his natural position. Seems to have paid off - he had 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 8 games.

Depending on what happens with the fullbacks, I'd like to experiment with an anchorman at DM. If I can find FBs who can be more of a threat going forward it would give us better width, I think.

Edited June 15, 2023 by warlock

[warlock]

A couple of points of interest from our end-of-season review and analysis.

Brentford in attack:

The 'dribbles per game' is a feature of the tactic, which has 'dribble less often' selected as a TI. I prioritise "purposeful possession" in my tactics and always instruct my teams to dribble less because, in my experience, much dribbling results in us giving the ball away. The one area of concern for me is the 'shots on target ratio', which has been a bugbear since Day 1 of the save. I know a SoT ratio of a hair under 40% is pretty good but I'd still like it a little higher and I've tried everything to make it happen - WBIB, lower tempo, 'shoot less often' PIs on the worst offenders - but to no avail.

Defensively, I'm very happy - the tactic is intended to produce theses sorts of numbers because we're not overly aggressive in the press and 'stay on feet' has been a mainstay of my FM tactics for years. In combination that approach means we block passing lanes (hence the high numbers for blocks and interceptions) and don't give up many freekicks in dangerous areas, while winning a high percentage of tackles when we do commit.

[Hootieleece]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

Defensively, I'm very happy - the tactic is intended to produce theses sorts of numbers because we're not overly aggressive in the press and 'stay on feet' has been a mainstay of my FM tactics for years. In combination that approach means we block passing lanes (hence the high numbers for blocks and interceptions) and don't give up many freekicks in dangerous areas, while winning a high percentage of tackles when we do commit.

I get a similar defensive graph with my Preston Team, but I do press a bit and also have the "Stay on feet" TI. I find that a lot of teams try longballs over the top or if they are top teams pick my Mid-Block Press apart.

Which type of teams do you encounter with Brentford?

[john1]

Another excellent season apart from few blips!

[SixPointer]

Three third places in a row. Don’t think you would get many Brentford fans complaining about that!

Will Toney remain again this summer?

[warlock]

9 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Which type of teams do you encounter with Brentford?

The only teams we have consistent problems with are those that play the relentless, high-press systems, especially Liverpool and Man City. We don't yet have the player quality to work around the press, and Toney is probably the only forward player capable of holding up the ball under pressure. I have tried a few different approaches including a specific counter tactic that worked well against City but failed against Liverpool. We haven't conceded to many long balls behind the defence, and there's a certain pleasure to be had in watching City hoof balls up to Haaland in an attempt to break us down.

[warlock]

31 minutes ago, SixPointer said:

Will Toney remain again this summer?

I hope so and think he will. No doubt due to that long dry spell there are no expressions of interest at the moment, but a striker that can bag 20 goals in a bad season will do nicely for me. I'm looking for another striker who can give us something a bit different, maybe a tricky little speed merchant to change up the threat.

[SixPointer]

5 hours ago, warlock said:

I hope so and think he will. No doubt due to that long dry spell there are no expressions of interest at the moment, but a striker that can bag 20 goals in a bad season will do nicely for me. I'm looking for another striker who can give us something a bit different, maybe a tricky little speed merchant to change up the threat.

A striker with something a little different gives you a whole different tweak when coming up against certain systems or oppositions defenders think it’s a wise move. Helps play become less one dimensional 

[Jogo Bonito]

Another excellent season to finish 3rd again! I agree it would be great to keep Toney, his record is excellent for you. And it makes sense to look for a slightly different option as a striker, but the downside is that it might just be an an injury to Toney and you could prefer to replace him with like-for-like. A tough call.

How much is Hojlund's value? If affordable, he may give you something special - and being Danish I am sure the club would welcome him warmly. 

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

How much is Hojlund's value?

Sadly he went to Spurs in the summer of '23. Now valued at £100m-plus. Definitely not affordable.

My inclination at the moment is go with what we have. In terms of "something different" in attack, we still have Mbeumo, who is rated just behind Toney as a striker, and Roony who could, I think, rapidly adapt to the role. I've also brought in Michael Olise from Palace so we are rather over-loaded at AMR

[warlock]

In terms of Mbeumo giving us something different in attack, we just played this pre-season friendly against Almeria:

Have to say, I'm happy with that and Mbeumo was excellent leading the line. I think I'm looking at Toney as first-choice striker, Mbeumo behind him; Roony as first-choice AMR, Olise as backup; and a toss-up between Damsgaard and Szoboszlai at AML. Looks like a pretty good front three, whichever combination we play. On the other hand, we open our season away at Anfield - I suspect I'll not be so happy after that .

[SixPointer]

7 hours ago, warlock said:

In terms of Mbeumo giving us something different in attack, we just played this pre-season friendly against Almeria:

Have to say, I'm happy with that and Mbeumo was excellent leading the line. I think I'm looking at Toney as first-choice striker, Mbeumo behind him; Roony as first-choice AMR, Olise as backup; and a toss-up between Damsgaard and Szoboszlai at AML. Looks like a pretty good front three, whichever combination we play. On the other hand, we open our season away at Anfield - I suspect I'll not be so happy after that .

Plenty options in attacking areas! Allowing you to pick and choose certain types of players against opponents weakness is something I’m finding more and more use of since I have 6 strong strikers 

[Captain_T]

As far as I understood you played 442 last season. 

So you are planing to go back to 433?

Maybe you can show your tactic?

All the best for the new season!

 

[KlaaZ]

On 16/06/2023 at 18:31, SixPointer said:

A striker with something a little different gives you a whole different tweak when coming up against certain systems or oppositions defenders think it’s a wise move. Helps play become less one dimensional 

I can only second this. Had the same problem at Nancy with two tall, rather slow strikers so I signed a relatively cheap, not so good speedy gonzalez with high dribbling for those games and having a runner as an alternative has made a real difference.

[Jogo Bonito]

On 18/06/2023 at 01:13, warlock said:

Sadly he went to Spurs in the summer of '23. Now valued at £100m-plus. Definitely not affordable.

My inclination at the moment is go with what we have. In terms of "something different" in attack, we still have Mbeumo, who is rated just behind Toney as a striker, and Roony who could, I think, rapidly adapt to the role. I've also brought in Michael Olise from Palace so we are rather over-loaded at AMR

Well it looks like Mbeumo is good enough to feature centrally or on the right anyway. I like him IRL.

Really hope you can get to use Michael Olise regularly too. I had the privilege of watching him live many times, and it was obvious from the very first senior cameo appearance that he would go on to be a star. Enjoy him at Brentford.

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Captain_T said:

I understood you played 442 last season

We started last season in a 442 but I'd become unhappy with it by Christmas (I think). So we went back to the 433 for the second half of the season, like so:

For a lot of games, the left-side CM was an AP on attack duty, but I'm now experimenting with the twin mezallas again, with both AMs as IW-att. There's a lot of tweaking as we go through pre-season .

Thanks for the continued interest all. Much appreciated.

[SteinkelssonFM]

Do you change the player role to suit the individual or keep the role constant and let the player with his traits give the role an additional dynamic? 

[dido53]

4 saat önce, warlock said:

We started last season in a 442 but I'd become unhappy with it by Christmas (I think). So we went back to the 433 for the second half of the season, like so:

For a lot of games, the left-side CM was an AP on attack duty, but I'm now experimenting with the twin mezallas again, with both AMs as IW-att. There's a lot of tweaking as we go through pre-season .

Thanks for the continued interest all. Much appreciated.

After your first season dıd you changed your tactic?You had a good season succesfull and probably aı took you more serıously played deeper  and stuff how dıd u cope with that?

[warlock]

4 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said:

Do you change the player role to suit the individual or keep the role constant and let the player with his traits give the role an additional dynamic? 

I've done - and do - both. Historically, I've always used a playmaker role somewhere in the midfield, usually a DLP, but towards the end of FM22 and early in FM23 I stopped that. I just had a feeling that the playmaker was too influential, taking away from other players and often slowing down our transitions. Then in the last version of the 433 I decided that since Jensen, Enzo and new boy Bergvall all have Advanced Playmaker at CM as their best, most natural role it made sense to incorporate that. And in truth, I couldn 't say whether it was a positive or negative change.

But since all of my AMs want to play inverted, coming into the middle of the pitch, it makes sense to me to have the CMs moving out into the half-spaces. Of course, wingbacks could provide the width but that position (on both sides) has been the hardest to fill so far and I've struggled to find WBs who are capable of a) bombing up and down the wing, and b) have decent crossing or better. So I tend to use my WBs in a slightly conservative fashion. Rico Henry was our most attacking fullback but, of course, he'll be out with injury until Christmas at the earliest. The dual mezallas seemed like the natural choice.

So, all that waffle aside, once I settle on a system that seems to work, players get dropped in to the given roles and I don't make changes on a player-by-player basis. And, to be honest, I'm a very lazy FM manager... I don't like micro-managing, particularly during a match. If I have a natural BWM on the bench and he's coming on for the mez, he's going to play as a mez (and if he can't he'll get shipped out). But I also like the dynamics of what individual players bring to the different roles - Enzo as a mez will also bring his playmaking flair and passing to the role, whereas Josh Dasilva will bring some more aggression and tough-tackling.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, dido53 said:

After your first season dıd you changed your tactic?

I didn't change anything major for season 2 and, as explained up page, I flirted with a 442 for the first half of season 3 but that wasn't driven by anything the AI was doing - I wanted to make us less reliant on Ivan Toney and I hoped that adding a second striker would do that. And to an extent it did but it made us more open in defence. So I switched back to the 433... which came back to bite me when Toney hit a long spell of poor form. But generally, I like the 433 - I like the extra security the DM gives me in defence, and I think we carry just as much threat in attack with 3 up front vs the 2 in the 442.

To be honest, I haven't seen much difference in the way the AI played against us over the three seasons - we've generally coped with all of the mid-table teams, struggled against Liverpool and Man City, and occasionally come a cropper against relegation candidates (who often prove to be the toughest opponents). If we come up against a deeper, narrower defence I usually try some combination of upping the tempo, increasing the width or switching up our passing length (in that order) until we get a goal. Then I go back to normal.

Keep it simple!

[karanhsingh]

16 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Well it looks like Mbeumo is good enough to feature centrally or on the right anyway. I like him IRL.

Really hope you can get to use Michael Olise regularly too. I had the privilege of watching him live many times, and it was obvious from the very first senior cameo appearance that he would go on to be a star. Enjoy him at Brentford.

Totally agree re Olise, I wish United had signed him IRL instead of Antony.

[warlock]

August 2025

Start of season 4 and we're looking to push on. After finishing in third place for three consecutive seasons, it's time to see if we can do better, or at least win any bit of silverware. I'll deal with summer transfers at the end of this update - and I've already tipped my hand regarding our biggest signing - but it's been an interesting month, starting with our opening fixture away at Anfield. I think we've managed beat to Liverpool once in this save, held them to a draw once or maybe twice, and pretty much been spanked the rest of the time. So the opening day would provide a clue as to our current status. It turned out to be a game for the ages...

When Damsgaard opened the scoring after just 3 minutes, and Toney incerased our lead before the 20th minute, I held the slimmest hope that this could be a famous victory. On the other hand, I know from previous encounters that taking an early lead merely annoys Liverpool and they come back at you like enraged hornets. And so it proved here, and when Salah tucked away a penalty late in the first half I was sure we were heading into the interval staring at a defeat. Toney, however, had other ideas and in the dying seconds of the half he put us back on level terms. For most of the second half we were under the cosh - as the 30 shots on goal for the home side testifies - but some heroic defending and a magnificent display of goalkeeping by Dennis Seimen kept the scores level. It was a gut-punch when Nunez raced through our defensive line in the dying moments to put the Reds in front once more. An air of gloom settled on the Bees faithful but immediately turned to unbridled joy when just a minute later Toney got on the end of a Michael Olise through-ball to ensure we shared the points. It was a fantastic team effort, a glorious PoM performance by Toney, and an excellent debut from Olise.

Having got the big game out of the way early, we settled in to the rest of the month with confidence:

Remember back in March when Toney couldn't buy a goal? He scored 5 in 3 games this month. Remember when Mbeumo could only score 3 goals in the whole of last season? He matched that this month. And that strangely unfamiliar name, Yehor Yarmoliuk? Not a new signing - the young Ukrainian was signed just before I arrived and he has spent the last 3 seasons on loan, most recently at Elche in Spain. And he arrived back at Brentford rated as one of the best players in the squad:

As good as a top-class new signing, and with 2 goals and an assist in his first three games.

The opening month of the season could not have been better. (Of course, technically it could have been better if we'd beaten Liverpool, but let's not be silly.)

Transfer window

Going in to the summer, our most pressing need was for upgrades at fullback with Henry out for months on the left, and needing at least one rightback to release Kristoffer Ajer to return to his best position at DM. But before I could address that requirement we had a sudden crisis in central defence. Both of our most recent signings there - Frenchman Esteve and German Lienhart - announced they wanted out, the former because I hadn't played him often enough as a BPD to fulfill a promise, and the latter because I'd criticised him once too often for poor performances. I agreed to let both go if we received a decent offer. We didn't but that only annoyed them more. With unrest spreading through the squad, I eventually let Esteves go to Man Utd for £20.5m, and Lienhart to Rangers for a £775k loan fee and a £6.65m transfer fee if it becomes permanent. Unfortunately, I could only find one replacement I was happy with:

An old favourite from recent FMs, Anel is no longer the bright young thing he once was, but he's a solid, all-round DC with no side preference and, signed for £14m, a bit of a bargain.

But I did bring another, longer-term, option in Ajax's young defender Jorrel Hato for £8.5m:

He's not quite ready for first-team duties but neither is he far away and he'll get minutes as and when possible.

With Mbeumo now designated backup to Toney as striker I wanted a replacement at AML and found the perfect candidate in Michael Olise:

He was languishing in the Championship with Crystal Palace and has doubled his value since we signed him for £14m.

Finally, I was able to turn my attention to the question of fullbacks. After due consideration I decided to stick with our current options on the left - Aaron Hickey has overtaken Rico Henry as first-choice LB, and with Rico out injured until around the January window, I didn't want to sign an expensive option and then find ourselves with three senior players for the one position. In addition, the signing last year of hot prospect Anders Borset gave us another option at LB and while he isn't setting any records, neither has he embarrassed himself when called on.

The right side was a different matter, and after scouting dozens of prospective signings I settled on two players who would have been excellent - Atalanta's Brandon Soppy, and Wilfried Singo, once of Torino and now playing at Hertha Berlin. Both were affordable, both were keen, but both - according to their agents - wanted wages in excess of £110k a week. Which was a deal-breaker for me. Negotiations failed to shift expectations so we moved on to the best of the rest. Which turned out to be this guy:

Sirbu is an established Romanian international and at 22 has plenty of time to improve. He has some good attributes in the right places and if we can improve on his agility, pace and stamina, I think he'll do well at Brentford.

On a final note, we continue to struggle with Champions League registration while Rico Henry remains our only homegrown Brentford player, meaning we can only register 21 players. As the poorest of our options at AM, Keane Lewis-Potter missed out again, which was the last straw and he demanded a transfer. Unfortunately, an agreed move to Stuttgart could not be completed before transfer deadline but he'll be joining the Germans in January in a deal worth up to £13.75m.

[karanhsingh]

Olise definitely a bargain, i tried signing him on my save and he was going to cost a whopping 45 million. You're going to play him from the left though? Also gotta love it when a loan player comes back improved and is like a new signing. 

[warlock]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

You're going to play him from the left though?

Sorry - scrambled brain . As you'd expect, Olise will play the inverted winger role from the right, and he's rather good at it. Finished September last night and will post an update later today.

[Jogo Bonito]

An excellent start, delighted to see Olise impressing and also good to see Toney back in form.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

An excellent start, delighted to see Olise impressing and also good to see Toney back in form

Agreed on all points. Could we keep it up? Stay tuned...

[warlock]

September 2025

At the end of August we were flying, scoring for fun and enjoying excellent performances throughout the team. We began September with a two-week international break and when we got back to club football... well, August seemed like a dream.

We opened the month with a home game against bottom-half Leicester and everyone had forgotten how to play football. At the final whistle we were lucky to come away with a win:

A stout defensive performance from Seimen, Anel and Pinnock kept us in the match, but only Olise and Enzo performed to the expected standard ahead of them.

Just three days later we were flying to Romania for the opening match in our Champions League campaign where we faced CFR Cluj. Against one of the competition's weaker opponents we looked to be back at our best:

Toney bookended the scoring, with Szoboszlai bagging a third after he replaced the disappointing Damsgaard midway through the second half. I've spoken before about individual players' lack of consistency and the Danish AM is as guilty as anyone. He's capable of a world-class performance one week, then doesn't turn up for the next couple of games.

Ou r third game of the month was a trip to Fulham for the big west London derby. We have an excellent track record against our neighbours but our lacklustre form caught up with us here:

Mr Reliable Ethan Pinnock saved our blushes in converting a corner, but it was a poor performance largely notable for the number of times Toney was caught offside. We were top, Fulham were 19th so the players were kept back after school while I made clear my disappointment.

If our next result, a 2-0 Carabau Cup win against Newcastle suggests my post-match talk had the desired effect, I have to say the result flatters to deceive:

We took the lead without having a shot on target when an effort from Yarmoliuk struck the post and bounced in off a prostrate Nick Pope in the Newcastle goal. Anel put a gloss on the result, if not the performance, when he nodded home a corner late on. Newcastle could feel hard done by, despite fielding a team featuring a large number of their youngsters.

So we were not playing well but managing somehow to grind out results, and I was hoping for more of the same when Chelsea came to Brentford a week later:

We were unlucky early with two strikes ruled out for offside, before Anel found the net with a towering header from Szoboszlai's corner. Mbeumo started this one and if his early effort had stood it might have changed things, but he retreated into a shell and was hauled off on the hour mark. Within a minute of entering the fray, Toney also had a goal disallowed, which seemed even more unfortunate when Sterling equalised after 70 minutes. If winning ugly is the hallmark of great teams then we must be great because once again Toney snatched victory with a late goal.

To finish the month we were travelling again, this time to Bulgaria to face Ludogorets and I was desperately hoping for bit of flair, passion and conviction from the team. I didn't get it:

The Bulgarians played 85 minutes with 10 men and we still couldn't beat them and at the end of the game this was our defence:

An absolutely shocking display that left me furious. Not least because our Champions League campaign gets much harder from here, with games to come against Bayern Munich, Napoli, RB Leipzig and Porto.

Somehow, despite our month, we remained at the top of the Premier League table:

We have the best scoring record but the 5th worst defence. Something has to change because I don't think we can continue in the current vein.

[karanhsingh]

What a barnstorming start to the league!

[Jogo Bonito]

Top of the Premier League and unhappy. Go figure 

Keep up the fine work mate!

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Top of the Premier League and unhappy

I know! And now that you mention it, I can recall several EFL threads that featured this sorry sense of entitlement

[Jogo Bonito]

9 hours ago, warlock said:

I know! And now that you mention it, I can recall several EFL threads that featured this sorry sense of entitlement

It's the world we live in. Everybody wants everything immediately. And exactly in the way they want it. Then when they have it, it's not enough 

Good luck for the months ahead at Brentford, very well-placed to win something this year. From what you said elsewhere, might this be your last season there? Anywhere tempting you specifically?

 

[AlfieLucas]

Just caught up with this and i'm impressed. Going great guns with Brentford thus far. Alot of family on my Wife's side are Brentford fans and from near that area. Been to a couple games myself at the old stadium. Keep it up. Might even try a Brentford save myself.

[warlock]

15 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Anywhere tempting you specifically?

Define "specifically" . But I must admit I'm looking at Portugal and thinking I've never, ever, managed there and wondering about the wealth of talent, plus the ability to bring in a myriad of south American wonderkids. After struggling with Brentford's inability to sign Champions League quality youngsters that alone makes for an intriguing prospect. In my Bees save I've not even bothered to scout south America so there's a lot of appeal there.

At the same time, if we could win anything - even a Carabao Cup - at Brentford I could happily spend another season or two there. It's that feeling of making progress... I know that taking the Bees to three consecutive Top 3 finishes is a massive over-achievement but I want to win something and we've never been closer to silverware than the first season. The save needs another step forward. On the other hand, I know that we have players who will be excellent in 3 or 4 seasons, but that seems like a daunting prospect.

It pains me to admit it, but i might be a glory hunter

[warlock]

10 hours ago, AlfieLucas said:

Just caught up with this and i'm impressed

Thank you very much! I can highly recommend a Bees save - they're a great squad to start with and a club with great potential. If you want to take them on I'd recommend that  you give a good deal of thought about how to deal with the lack of home-grown players for European competition - they came within a whisker of qualifying this year and, I think, it would have been a real problem if they'd managed it.

[karanhsingh]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

Define "specifically" . But I must admit I'm looking at Portugal and thinking I've never, ever, managed there and wondering about the wealth of talent, plus the ability to bring in a myriad of south American wonderkids. After struggling with Brentford's inability to sign Champions League quality youngsters that alone makes for an intriguing prospect. In my Bees save I've not even bothered to scout south America so there's a lot of appeal there.

At the same time, if we could win anything - even a Carabao Cup - at Brentford I could happily spend another season or two there. It's that feeling of making progress... I know that taking the Bees to three consecutive Top 3 finishes is a massive over-achievement but I want to win something and we've never been closer to silverware than the first season. The save needs another step forward. On the other hand, I know that we have players who will be excellent in 3 or 4 seasons, but that seems like a daunting prospect.

It pains me to admit it, but i might be a glory hunter

We all are at the end of the day! Yes England is notoriously difficult to win trophies in. If that's the aim for you then I'd actively prioritise the 3 cups for the next couple of seasons. Even if it comes at the cost of league positions - in fact finishing a little lower may actually place you in a winnable European competition. 

[SixPointer]

Can’t beat it when a few loan moves workout and bring you back a superstar. Top of the pile with a poor defence says a lot about how potent the attack is. They say good defence wins titles, maybe you can buck the trend!

[warlock]

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

finishing a little lower may actually place you in a winnable European competition

That thought has occurred more than once

8 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Can’t beat it when a few loan moves workout and bring you back a superstar

Indeed. I'm hoping for a similar trajectory for Jobe Bellingham.

[Jogo Bonito]

15 hours ago, warlock said:

Define "specifically" . But I must admit I'm looking at Portugal and thinking I've never, ever, managed there and wondering about the wealth of talent, plus the ability to bring in a myriad of south American wonderkids. After struggling with Brentford's inability to sign Champions League quality youngsters that alone makes for an intriguing prospect. In my Bees save I've not even bothered to scout south America so there's a lot of appeal there.

At the same time, if we could win anything - even a Carabao Cup - at Brentford I could happily spend another season or two there. It's that feeling of making progress... I know that taking the Bees to three consecutive Top 3 finishes is a massive over-achievement but I want to win something and we've never been closer to silverware than the first season. The save needs another step forward. On the other hand, I know that we have players who will be excellent in 3 or 4 seasons, but that seems like a daunting prospect.

It pains me to admit it, but i might be a glory hunter

Certainly some tough issues to overcome with Brentford. I wonder how they would manage it if it came to reality.

Portugal would be be a nice new adventure if you try. But let us see what you can do this season before deciding 

[warlock]

7 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

let us see what you can do this season before deciding 

Absolutely! Haven't had much FM time for a couple of days (weekends always seem to be filled with social engagements arranged by MrsW!) but I hope to get another monthly report up tomorrow.

[Jogo Bonito]

Mrs W. at it again  Looking forward to your next update when ready.

[warlock]

October 2025

We opened the month with an away game at high-flying Newcastle. At this point we were unbeaten in the league, but this would surely be a test:

In the event, we held our own against one of the league favourites. St. Maximin gave the home side a deserved lead, but our young Ukrainian CM popped up just before half time to equalise. Neither side could find an edge in the second half and we headed for home with a well-deserved share of the spoils. It was a quiet game for Toney, but Yehor, Sirbu, Olise and Seimen all did well.

A week later we entertained Leeds, who continue to maintain their PL status without ever looking likely to achieve much. And the result was no great surprise:

Another great performance from Olise, who was unlucky not to bag a hat-trick. But rwo goals and an assist will do very nicely, thank you, with another good display from or

ur young CMs Bergavall and Yehor against an expensively-assembled squad.

Three days later we welcomed the mighty Bayern Munich to the Community Stadium in the Champions League and no-one - least of all the media - expected us to get anything from this match. So it was doubly pleasing to prove all of the doubters wrong:

In a roughly equal game Bayern had the better possession but we had the better chances and we capitalised. Toney gave us the lead early in the second half then, with the visitors struggling to contain us, Kimmich was sent off for a wild challenge. A minute later Roony played Yehor through on goal and the youngster duly put away the chance to secure a well-deserved victory.

With little respite we then travelled across London to face a team that has often been a stone in our shoe. West Ham have never really challenged for honours in this save but are never an easy opponent and proved troublesome again:

The Hammers managed to suppress our forwards but - not for the first time - our midfielders came to the rescue as Enzo created two chances that were converted by Damsgaard and Anel,and an equaliser for the home side midway through the first half proved insufficient to for the home side.

We ended the month with a trip away to Manchester to visit City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. Just in case we had pretensions above our station, this was a game that brought us crashing back to earth:

We could - and arguably should - have scored more. We could - and undoubtedly should - have defended better. But when the final whistle blew we had been comprhensively outplayed. And when an opponent scores 4 from 5 shots on target then the defence and goalkeeper had a bad day. The simple fact is that we were awful.

But when it comes to the league, we are doing much better than City... and rather better than everyone else:

We remain unbeaten in the PL, and - actually - we're unbeaten in 19 games. I honestly have no clue how long we can keep this run going but the team are doing extremely well right now!