Wolves host Brentford following a positive, yet gutting, display against Arsenal in North London. The players will be looking to take the positive elements from that game and try to deliver a drastically overdue victory. Jack Johnson speaks to Billy Grant from Beesotted to get the opposition perspective ahead of the game.
Whilst sitting 15th, Brentford are technically closer to the European places than they are to the relegation zone. What have you made of your results so far this season?
It’s been a mixed start to the season. Losing Thomas Frank – who took a load of our (not his) backroom staff with him – was a real kick in the nuts. Then we lost Mbeumo and his 20 goals, Wissa with his 19, and our steadying captain Christian Nørgaard, which meant our season was always going to be tricky. On top of that, having to find a new head coach and employing rookie Keith Andrews, while trying to put together a decent pre-season, set us up for a tough start.
Given all that, the fact we remain mid-table with wins against Man United, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Aston Villa is commendable. Admittedly, all our league wins, bar the victory over an awful West Ham, have been at home. It’s puzzling why we’ve been so unbelievably toothless away from home
Our recent run hasn’t been great, with back-to-back losses against Arsenal (to be expected) and Thomas Frank’s faltering Tottenham (there for the taking). Normally, we follow up with a bounce-back, but against Leeds we were lacklustre, and some may argue we were lucky to get a point.
Personally, considering all the upheaval and a rookie manager in place, we’ve done very well so far. However, there’s no denying we are currently struggling. Whether it’s because opposition teams have worked out how to combat our style or we’re just tired and unable to switch things up when needed, we need to come through this tricky patch. A couple of wins over the Christmas period will calm the nerves in West London, so let’s hope we get back on track pronto.
From before the season started, I predicted us to finish 14th. I’m sticking to my guns on that one.
Wolves and Brentford’s approach to transfers seem to be similar, with players departing for bigger clubs and replacements being cheaper rather than bank-breaking. What do you think Brentford are doing recruitment wise that Wolves seem to be missing?
It’s well documented how Brentford identify and recruit players. This stems from owner Matthew Benham’s successful business, which uses statistics to uncover insights that clients can bet on. Transferring that methodology to football, Benham assembled a team to spot undervalued players Brentford could sign, develop, and elevate to a higher level before often selling them on and reinvesting – strengthening the squad in the process.
This approach began with André Gray in our first Championship season. We signed him from non-league Luton for £600k, amidst laughter from those who pointed out that our lead striker had no Championship experience. He scored 18 goals in his first season as we reached the play-off semi-finals and was sold to Burnley for £9m within a year.
The cycle continued with players like Scott Hogan (£750k → £12m), Neal Maupay (£1.6m → £20m), Ollie Watkins (£1.5m → £32m), Saïd Benrahma (£3m → £25m), Ivan Toney (£5m → £40m), Yoane Wissa (£8.5m → £55m), and Bryan Mbuemo (£4.5m → £70m) – all bought for modest sums and sold for multiples once developed.
Brentford benefit from this system because it’s at the heart of their owner’s business. Benham believes in the numbers, and the team know how to interpret them – in essence, “shit-sifting.” Many dismiss it as hocus pocus, but in reality, it simply removes a load of players from the scouting process, enabling us to focus on players who, on paper, have the potential to reach the next level, avoiding time spent assessing those who don’t fit the criteria.
Once identified, players undergo a thorough process: watching them play, background checks, assessing fit with the team’s style — the full monty. There’s plenty of due diligence, and generally it works. Yes, there have been duds – players who, when given the chance, didn’t develop as hoped. But these cases are rare, and Brentford rarely lose significant money.
Josh McEachran is one example: hyped when he arrived from Glasgow Rangers for £1m, but injuries and inconsistency meant he didn’t meet expectations. Frank “The Tank” Onyeka is another; still on the books, he hasn’t quite reached the expected heights. That said, he is a hard-working midfielder, highly rated in the Nigeria setup, and Brentford are unlikely to lose money on the £8m spent. Some factors are unpredictable, particularly injuries. Nearly every highly-rated player Brentford signs seems to pick up a long-term injury.
Igor Thiago, currently the Premier League’s second top scorer behind Haaland, was injured in his first pre-season match and only returned at the start of this season. Gustavo Nunes, potentially on the bench against Wolves, was injured shortly after signing in summer 2024 and has made just three first-team appearances.
Anthoni Milambo, signed at the start of this season, was injured on international duty after a couple of games and is out for the season. Keane Lewis-Potter was also sidelined for a significant period soon after signing. Even Damsgaard, arriving in 2022 after scoring that free-kick against England in the Euros semi-final, only became established in 2024/25 after a lengthy injury and fitness period, including knee issues and arthritis.
At one stage last season, we had 11 first-team players out injured at the same time. On our Beesotted podcast, we put together a “team” of those injured players and matched them against the side we had to field full of substitutes and B-teamers, asking which team would have come out on top.
You ask the question what is missing with Wolves’ process. I can’t answer that for sure but one thing I will say is if there is an over-reliance on one or two particular agents to get players in, you can never be assured that the best players are being identified and signed to the club. To me, you are better off putting more money into the process of signing and identifying players (staff and systems) than in signing the players themselves. To start off with anyway. If you get that right, everything else will come later.
Brentford promoting Keith Andrews felt rather unprecedented, but it makes sense to stick to what you know and build on it. How did it feel when Thomas Frank was poached by Spurs, and are you happy with Andrews so far?
All Brentford fans, including myself, were gutted when Thomas left for Spurs, taking a load of backroom staff that Brentford had sourced, including, only a few days earlier, the chef. Yes, he even nicked our chef. Previously, Thomas also had been promoted from within, but compared to Keith Andrews, he had a more high-profile role as one of Dean Smith’s assistant managers. He was in the role for a few years before Smith left for Villa, leaving the path open for him to step up.
It’s fair to say the jury is still out on Andrews among Brentford fans.
On the positive side, he has the team sitting mid-table after a car-crash start to the season. He walked into a role in which he was set up to fail – losing those key goals, dealing with the striking snake Yoane Wissa, and not signing a replacement, meaning we were down a 20-goal-a-season player.
On top of that, he had to bed in new players like Ouattara and Milambo, and get Jordan Henderson to fill the enormous boots of the excellent Christian Nørgaard.
He is liked by the club hierarchy and has brought a lot of fresh ideas to the camp, from what we have heard.
However, there is a concern that his football can be very risk-averse. Fans are not happy with the style of play, which seems to stem from a lack of a creative player capable of breaking down opposition teams when they decide to play a certain way against us. Whether this will change with new signings remains to be seen.
Personally, I think just two signings could make a huge difference to the way we play at the moment – a midfielder and a winger. Perhaps we already have those players in our camp. Romelle Donovan, an academy player signed from Birmingham City last year, is highly rated and is likely to be on the bench against Wolves. The same goes for Gustavo Nunes, who arrived with plenty of plaudits but has so far seen very little game time. Midfielder Yunus Konak made an appearance against Manchester City in the cup midweek, so perhaps the club is preparing to feature him more regularly in matches soon.
Whilst this fixture last season was a tame affair, the reverse fixture finished 5-3 to Brentford in a crazy game that could have had more goals. Which version of events are you expecting this time around, especially given Wolves’ worse defensive record?
This is a tough question to answer. There is a rumour that Thiago and Henderson picked up knocks against Leeds so they may not feature. If no Thiago, we have to ask the question, where are the goals going to come from? Our midfield without Henderson has traditionally been poor so he has to start.
Fans truly believe this match is a huge banana skin for Brentford and many are expecting the worse, Laney on the Beesotted podcast even predicting a 2-1 win to Wolves. The reality is Wolves are going to win one match eventually and it could be this weekend.
Saying that, Brentford can’t be constantly excellent at home and crap away. Something has to give at some time. If there is ever a time for that to give, I would like to say (with a full team) it will be this weekend.
If we play to our full potential like we have done at home, we could score two or three. But we are always in danger of letting a goal in and that could be our achilles heel.
Brentford’s spending neared £100m in the summer, but this makes sense after seeing the sales of well over that figure. Of the new boys, who have you been most impressed with?
Michael Kayode actually came to us last January on loan from Fiorentina, with a buy clause in our favour. Within minutes of making his debut, he became a fans’ favourite and is by far the most popular player in the team this season. His random marauding runs from right back to left wing confuse opposition benches and are a joy to watch, and his long throws cause havoc in the opposition area — although, amusingly, we’re still waiting to score from one this season.
The fact that (as the song goes) “He eats spaghetti. He drinks Moretti. He hates Queens Park Rangers” has given him cult status among the terrace faithful, and Brentford paying £14.7 million for him became a formality. Marks out of 10, 9.8.
In the summer, we signed winger/forward Dango Ouattara for a record-breaking £42.5 million from Bournemouth. He’s still very much work in progress but is a dangerous, pacy player who loves to run at opponents and wins us plenty of penalties.
He blows hot and cold but fits our profile of buying players who take a year or two to reach full impact. We’re not 100% sure he’s playing in his most natural position, as we currently deploy him on the wing. He’s away at AFCON at the moment and won’t trouble the Wolves defence this weekend. Marks out of 10, 7.
Goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher, signed from Liverpool for £12.5 million, has really grown into the season. After a shaky start, he’s now seen as a great addition to the side. A superb shot-stopper and penalty-saver (he saved a penalty for Ireland against Ronaldo earlier this season), his distribution has improved dramatically – one of the main reasons we signed him, replacing the incredible sweeper-keeper David Raya.
He can be inconsistent at times, and fans occasionally question his decision to punch rather than catch, but overall he has performed very well and has rescued us on several occasions. Marks out of 10, 7.
Henderson (8/10) and Reiss Nelson (mainly injured) came on a free transfer and a loan respectively.
Donovan, still to really feature, cost £3 million and could prove the bargain of the season. Milambo (£16 million) has suffered a long-term injury and has only played a couple of games.
What is your predicted lineup for Brentford?
Assuming no injuries: 4-3-3, Kelleher; Kayode, Van De Berg, Collins, Henry; Henderson, Yarmoluik, Damsgaard; Schade, Thiago, Keane-Lewis Potter.
But fans would like to see Donovan feature, probably in place of Lewis-Potter on the right wing, or Nunes feature on the left.
And finally, what is your predicted scoreline for Saturday’s fixture?
I believe I predicted a 1-0 win for The Bees on our podcast but this game could go any way. A nervous away trip for Brentford backed by a half-decent pre-Xmas following.
