Brentford

[Campsall rover]

What a damn good football team they are.
An example of what can be achieved by a small club.

Yes i know they have had considerable investment but they have had very good successive managers in the last 9 years.

They haven’t spent a fortune on players. Not compared to most other clubs in that league.
New ground on the horizon as well.

Bournemouth & Brentford both in the Premier League next season?
That’s food for thought.

But if their foreign owners get bored then what? How much debt are they carrying and how much would the owners be wanting out of the club. Could be disintegration?

If ours do we will not collapse into financial meltdown.
Very little debt and our owners will not leave without a SUITABLE new owner coming in.

Who’s shoes would you prefer to be in?

[RoversAlias]

Brentford are a club to aspire to in many ways. They have gone about things the right way and their owner is, to the best of my knowledge, a lifelong fan of the club. His implementation of a form of the "Moneyball" model has worked really well and a few of us touted them for promotion at the start of the season.

So the first half of your post I fully agree with. The second part is a bit wide of the mark in my opinion.

Any professional club would be in trouble if their owners just decided to up and leave, Rovers included. That's down to how the system works. Every club has to find a suitable new owner - look what happened when the well-run, locally-owned Leyton Orient were handed off to a total dingbat when on the cusp of their biggest success in history.

[Campsall rover]

Brentford are a club to aspire to in many ways. They have gone about things the right way and their owner is, to the best of my knowledge, a lifelong fan of the club. His implementation of a form of the "Moneyball" model has worked really well and a few of us touted them for promotion at the start of the season.

So the first half of your post I fully agree with. The second part is a bit wide of the mark in my opinion.

Any professional club would be in trouble if their owners just decided to up and leave, Rovers included. That's down to how the system works. Every club has to find a suitable new owner - look what happened when the well-run, locally-owned Leyton Orient were handed off to a total dingbat when on the cusp of their biggest success in history.

What is the “Moneyball” model Alias. Never heard of it.
Thought their owners were foreign. Didn’t know the main shareholder was local.  If i am wrong and sounds as though i may be then i stand to be corrected.

Bournemouth’s owners i am 99% sure are foreign.

[dknward2]

Moneyball is based on the baseball theory of not the best player overall but the best stats in that position I.e most assists or chances converted per shot keeper would be most saves per shot.

Good film as well

[RoversAlias]

Yes very much based around statistical analysis, this feeds into their overall recruitment strategy and has worked well for them. They started it around the time Warburton was manager.

Bournemouth were indeed bankrolled into the Premier League off the back of Maxim Demin's millions. He is Russian, so not local, although hin being foreign doesn't factor in to whether or not he's a good owner in my opinion. They have done a good job since getting to the top flight of managing themselves well as one of the league's smallest clubs. If run properly, any club who gets to the Premier League nowadays should be financially set for a long time as the money is so astoundingly high. Of course we have seen clubs that have not managed that facet well and struggled after going down. Teams like Hull, QPR, Wigan etc. Not to even mention Sunderland or Bolton who really took that struggle to another level and now feel the ill-effects.

[Rovers91]

Brentford recruitment is fantastic, some of the players they have picked up especially from abroad. They play some cracking football as well wouldn't be surprised to see them break top two especially if they take off Leeds and West Brom who have to go there.

[northern soul]

Moneyball is based on the baseball theory of not the best player overall but the best stats in that position I.e most assists or chances converted per shot keeper would be most saves per shot.

Good film as well

Not as good as the book though.

[sha66y]

What a damn good football team they are.
An example of what can be achieved by a small club.

Yes i know they have had considerable investment but they have had very good successive managers in the last 9 years.

They haven’t spent a fortune on players. Not compared to most other clubs in that league.
New ground on the horizon as well.

Bournemouth & Brentford both in the Premier League next season?
That’s food for thought.

But if their foreign owners get bored then what? How much debt are they carrying and how much would the owners be wanting out of the club. Could be disintegration?

If ours do we will not collapse into financial meltdown.
Very little debt and our owners will not leave without a SUITABLE new owner coming in.

Who’s shoes would you prefer to be in?

Strange choice!
The possibility of great success with the fear of it all going wrong, or staying where you are at a lower level but feeling secure....

Mmmmmmmmm, I’m a staunch advocator of the lower leagues and a sustainable club model,
however I’m sure some would love our board to pour 25 plus million in, to see if they can triple their money....and drive us into the Premiership...


Is that what you are saying ??

[DonnyOsmond]

It's a modern way of recruitment which Liverpool and Norwich use too. Pukki for example, was terrible at Celtic but when Norwich were looking for a striker they used data to find strikers who had the best goal conversion percentages for the areas they tend to get the ball to their strikers in and Pukki was atop of that list. It's looking for players who aren't necessarily used right in a previous system/team but would thrive in how your team wishes to play. Man Utd are an example of the complete opposite, their recruitment is medieval, they tend to just go for someone with a good goal record, not necessarily someone who would play well and suits how they wish to play.

[Donnywolf]

Watched them destroy Barnsley earlier in Season. Very very impressive

None moreso than Said Benrahma (spelling?) . What a master he looked that day and I found out Brentford had already turned down 14 Million for him because they aspire to the Prem to christen their new Ground

Look Benrahma up on You tube - where they are compiling his tricks which include a back heel nutmeg. The Ein Hazard of the Championship

[foxbat]

So what previous goal record did Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood have before.? More jealous Anti Man United nonsense.

[elmsallrover]

Moneyball is based on the baseball theory of not the best player overall but the best stats in that position I.e most assists or chances converted per shot keeper would be most saves per shot.

Good film as well

isn't the guy who the film was about got something to do with Barnsley fc

[DonnyOsmond]

So what previous goal record did Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood have before.? More jealous Anti Man United nonsense.

What? I was talking about signings, they came through the youth team. Are you a Man Utd fan?

[drfchound]

So what previous goal record did Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood have before.? More jealous Anti Man United nonsense.

What? I was talking about signings, they came through the youth team. Are you a Man Utd fan?

Of course he is.

[Alickismyhero]

Money ball, is the statistical selection of players in the football world. Fortunately or unfortunately my boy did a masters in statistics. He went to great lengths to explain to me what it is and how it works. All I can remember is that the latest addition to Liverpool, Takumi Minamino, was selected by this statistical system and at £7million will be a snip if it works out.

[GazLaz]

Matthew Benham owns them. Big gambling syndicate owner. Tony Blooms former right hand man. I’ve been on about Brentford on here for years, hope they finally go up.

[tyke1962]

Moneyball is based on the baseball theory of not the best player overall but the best stats in that position I.e most assists or chances converted per shot keeper would be most saves per shot.

Good film as well

isn't the guy who the film was about got something to do with Barnsley fc

He's a financial stake in the club and heads recruitment , Billy Beane .

There's something in analytics and it's a policy we've used for 5 years now and it does find under the radar talent .

Connor Chaplin is possibly the best example in our current team .

Bought for a million quid from Coventry on the back of 8 League One goals last season , hmmm .

The analytics said he could score goals at a higher level and he's 10 championship goals so far in a struggling side .

Try buying 10 championship goals in 26 games for a million quid and 22 years old , ain't going to happen .

It's a very useful tool but it ain't the be all and end all which my club believes it is .

There are flaws just as every system in football .

Billy Beane never won owt in baseball either , other than have a few decent winning seasons with a small budget , the World Series eluded him and his Oakland A's .

Brentford are far more down the road than we are and enjoyed a £40m initial investment to kick start the process .

We started with £10m of debt and had to pay that back to  Patrick Cryne when he sold the club .