Ahead of the derby match on Friday night, LFW called on our message board’s resident tame Brentford fan SwitchingCode for some input into what exactly has been going on at Griffin Park this season.
In hindsight, was the club a little hasty and daft to get rid of Mark Warburton and tear up what worked so well last season?
SC: Mark Warburton was not sacked. Back in January, when we were in the top six, the owner Matthew Benham approached him and said he would increase the playing budget so we could make more signings in January to push for promotion. Benham felt we were in a false position as going by the stats he was working to we should have been about eleventh and he wanted to take advantage of our luck. We had been very lucky with injuries and had picked up some fortunate points along the way.
Warburton said he didn't want any new signings as it would disrupt the squad. It was then he was told that next season we would have a different structure and he would have to work within it so he said he would leave at the end of the season.
I might add he did go for the Norwich job before this happened. After this we got injuries and after the initial fall out with the players we limped through the rest of the season and lost to Middlesbrough in the play-offs.
What's the story behind Marinus Dijkhuizen? Why didn't it work, what did he do wrong, why was he sacked?
SC: Marinus was a decent bloke but he was sacked due to his poor training schedules that led to poor fitness levels. He wasn't helped with 12 players out injured, three of them record signings in the summer. It had nothing to do with results.
Lee Carsley says he doesn't want the job, even really on a caretaker basis, is his appointment a little odd?
SC: His appointment seemed logical as he's been at the club for a couple of years and knows how it works but his reaction to getting the job was a shock. Three wins on the trot has given him credibility.
Who's going to be the next permanent boss? Any names mentioned?
SC: Haven't got a clue and we don't seem to be in a hurry.
What has Carsley changed? Form seems to be picking up…
SC: He's got the team fitter and the players seem to be more focused. It also helps that he has had a bigger squad to pick from with players coming back from injury who were unavailable to Dijkhuizen.
Who are the stand out performers and weak links in the team?
SC: Alan Judge has been the stand out but the rest of the team have all stepped up a gear this last three games. If you asked me this question four weeks ago I would have given you a long list of weaknesses.
Short, medium and long term aims for the club?
SC: Most of us older fans are just happy to be in the Championship for now. We also need to stay here for when we move to the new ground when we could dream of the Premier League - though that doesn't excite me personally. So it's consolidate for a couple of years then build for the future at the new ground when we will see if we can fill a 20,000 stadium.
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