Bees Looking To Fly High

Uwe Rosler has brought hope to Griffin Park

With the new season almost upon us; in one corner of West London there is a real buzz of excitement, and it might not be from the first place you think of. 

With nearby neighbours Queens Park Rangers having re-joined the so called 'elite' of the Premier League and Fulham and Chelsea both playing European opposition, you might have thought that League One Brentford might be sitting in awe. But, this isn’t the case as something special seems to be brewing at Griffin Park, and it's not just from the pubs on each corner.
 

Last season had ended with a rather disappointing mid table finish accompanied with a defeat in the Johnstone’s Paint Final at Wembley. As a result a few eyebrows were raised when after four months without
a permanent manager; the former East German International Uwe Rösler was unveiled as the new Bees boss.

Few people including myself were unaware what the Manchester City cult hero has done since being one of
the first successful foreign imports into the Premier League during the mid 90’s. After winning a long fight with cancer Uwe had been managing in the Norwegian Top Flight with Viking, Lillestrom and Molde and improved the results for all three clubs. However his desire to return to England has always been strong therefore he has always been in contact with his English counterparts.
 
He has been paired up with Mark Warburton; who will be running the newly established Brentford Development squad, highlighting the importance within a club like ours to nurture young talent to provide revenue for the club. Who better than the man who has organised the newly created U19 Champions League, which has all the major European clubs represented, so he must have some rather useful numbers stored
on his phone.
 
With all these contacts between the two of them, the Bees have already managed to bring onboard five very promising signings.
 
Shaelum Logan from where else, Man City, looks an exciting prospect at full back. Centre back Marcel Eger has joined from Bundesliga club St. Pauli where he was captain, as was midfielder Jonathan Douglas who has also signed up illustrating the types of characters we are bringing into the squad which at times were missing last season.

Last seasons League Two top scorer Clayton Donaldson was the next to sign up and is rumoured to have turned down Championship sides to lead the line for the Bees. The most recent signing before the teams’ pre-season tour of Norway is the pacy Northern Ireland International Niall McGinn, who joins on a season long loan, which yet again has shown the ambition and the new ability to bring a different class of player to the club.
 
It would take a very cynical fan not to be excited about the season ahead with the way the squad is coming together. What makes it more exciting to me, however, is the way that each of these signings has stated that they were persuaded to join not because of money but due the influence of Uwe’s passion and vision for the club.
 
With the seasons opener fast approaching we have the added bonus of a number of Man City fans coming to support Uwe the day before their participation in the Community Shield, so much is their love for the German. The fact his grandfather was involved in bombing Old Trafford during the Second World War might have played a part to! I'll be looking forward to hopefully joining in with the infamous Poznan celebration if we score a goal.
 
After twelve seasons as a season ticket holder at Brentford, it has been clear to see the vast improvement of quality within the bottom two leagues. As a result it is pleasing to see that the Bees might be one of the dark horses for promotion and with Uwe fronting the clubs ambition and vision, it seems good times are ahead. We are starting to ‘talk the talk’ and I truly believe that unlike David Haye against Vladamir Klitchko, the Bees have the potential to 'walk the walk'.

                                                                             William Day