jonjon

1, 2 & 4 assumptions are about right, 3. Brentford do not need to sell him, but they will do, he made no bones about wanting Premier League football, preferably with us, but results worked out it wasn't to be, so he will be moving on, good luck to him he deserves it after the hard work he has put in with us over the last 3 years, DS had a good relationship with all players and was well liked, as for the asking price and where he will be going, that will be down to Watkins, and that's another matter entirely.

I'm no coach, just a veteran Bees supporter, so probably a bit bias, Watkins has worked so hard on improving his all round game, and its paid dividends, I can't honestly say he needs much more improvement, I think he's ready for the step up, very much like Vardy was, I have met him a few times at club functions and he a genuinely nice guy, no Bertie Big *ollocks about him at all. Benrahma is no slouch either, needs to be a little less selfish with the ball, tries to do it all at times, not the best header of the ball, can be a bit of a hot head at times, but very, very entertaining to watch, would bring flair to any side. Have to face the inevitable, but shall miss them when (if) they move on, but Hey Ho that's a Bee's supporters life.

Too close to rate and call, as they all have their differences, this is my take on them. Watkins has the best engine for work rate, superb athlete, super fit, will run all match long, scores with both feet and head, intelligent and skillful, switched to striker without any problem, has missed only 7 games out of 175!! for us and Exeter. Benrahma is a box of tricks, does the most outrageous things, and gets away with lots of them, quick in short burst, supplies as well as scores goals, brilliant penalty taker. Maupay, Tenacious, like a bulldog when he has the ball, not afraid to get stuck in, a defenders nightmare at times, reads the game well. I have enjoyed them all, Maupay has made the step up OK, and I can't see why the other two won't do the same, my personal favorite player this season has been Rico Henry, a managers dream of a defender, quick out the blocks, reads the game well, loves rampaging forward, sublime crosser of the ball, injury free now and played every game this season.

Yes I do go on the main Brentford Forum (Griffin Park Grapevine) and the general feeling is that we are resigned to losing two out of three of our best players, because we have got used to this happening over the last 5-6 years it's not a saga anymore, it's not nice losing players like them but we have learned to live with it, we understand that we can't produce enough revenue due to the small size of our old ground that only has a 90 seat corporate capacity, and the only way to survive is by selling our best assets each year, therefore we have to get the best possible price for any player we sell, Thankfully our scouting and recruitment network seems to come up trumps every year replacing good with even better. When things return to normal the new stadium will bring in at least twice as much revenue that could enable us to keep our best players, hopefully!!

This is why having the "window" closed well after the start of the season is all wrong, it should be closed and locked down BEFORE a ball is kicked, as no team can be settled and ready to go with transfers still taking place, but that's just my take on it all.

It's a waiting game for us all, I very much doubt if you will get Watkins until we have found his replacement, we are rumoured to have got several irons in the fire, but nothing forthcoming as yet, we all have to be patient.

I don't think there will be a lot of competition for either of them, most of it is pure press hype and lazy journalism due to the Brentford "model" being in fashion at the moment, coupled with unrealistic prices being put out by the Press and others, out of any club Villa are most likely to be the winners, if they actually want them, due to them working together before, Despite what you will read in the press I'm sure both clubs are grown up enough to come to an amicable financial arrangement that suits all parties.

Very easily solved, If the incoming player and agent have any doubts that Brentford could overpricing them, they just have a realistic release clause inserted into his contract.

How do you know, have you asked him?, have you a genuine link you could send, or are you going on ill informed or made up press reports

I also agree that 55 Million is far too much, if that sum is indeed correct, it’s only press talk and not official, it's all rumours and ill informed press talk, nothing direct from either club. With regards to the price going up because its Villa is nonsensical, they are not going to give a different price for each prospective buyer, like all clubs BFC have every right to put a price on players heads, whether they get it or not it's down to the negotiation skills of each individual party over a price that's suitable for all, especially the players themselves. Do the players themselves want to come to Villa?, Terms and conditions offered might not be good enough for them, and another team can offer more, Some might prefer to be London based, not everyone wants to live in the Midlands. How much personal profit are the agents after?, many things are involved in transfers. As far as the Maupay situation developed it was believed that he and his partner preferred Sussex on the South Coast to the Midlands, it was only a rumour on social media, but a valid reason I would say. These transfer Windows are fun and each year brings the same speculation and guesswork, and there are many factors to be taken into account, at the end of the day I am sure most clubs will get what they want, at a price suitable to all parties.

I've looked through all this mornings BFC twitter pics, Ollie looking resplendent in our new training kit, along with this mornings new signing 6ft 5 in Charlie Goode, (that came out of the blue) but no sign of Said Benrahma, is he in the Midlands, Brighton, or being Covid tested on his return from holiday in France? Who Knows!!

You are not alone, we all get them I'm afraid, youngsters with nothing better to do with their sad lives, I look at a lot of "rumored" reports like most of us do, but only believe it when it's officially announced on the clubs website.

No, he was inbound on a flight from Mykanos with his partner on Sunday, allegedly reported for training with the rest of them Yesterday.

So Sorry about that, But I come from a time of Pounds Shilling and Pence, 1st,2nd,3rd, & 4th Division, including 3rd Division North & South, Jumpers for goalposts and all that, I'm still trying to catch up, I'll get there in the end.

You are right, The Premiership is a whole new ball game and we will have to be prepared for that day if we do reach the Premiership, I think and hope that our DOF's and scouting network would already be working on that scenario, it's well documented that they do like to plan ahead, but it's still a big ask, we will have to see.

Not at all, but they might work a bit loose!!!. What you have to remember is that the papers and journalist only talk and write about our success in the transfer market, such as the amount of profit in player sales in a relatively short time, What they don't report is that we have also had our fair share of non starters, as it's not newsworthy, the only saving grace has been that not a lot of money has been paid for them and we generally have not lost much money when we sell them on. I think we will still keep finding gems due to our extensive scouting network abroad, but it will obviously be getting harder each time.

He's said he's after Premiership football, you can't blame him for that ambition, but I think the step up might be too much, a year in the Championship might well have improve him, who knows, meanwhile we go back to the drawing board to find others suitable, whilst we all play out these farcical transfer windows that seems to get more involved each time they come round.

According to the Barry Fry video Toney has turned down the best bid from a Championship club (unnamed, but could be us) so it looks like Ollie won't be going anywhere at the moment until we have found a replacement, so it could be a longer wait than anticipated, if according to "rumors" and press talk he is Villa, Leeds, Palace, Leicester, Newcastle bound.

Have just heard a rumor, and it’s only a rumor, that he might be on his way to us as a replacement for the outgoing Benrahma, Thomas Frank might be able to sort out his fellow Dane with the “issues” he is allegedly going through, our very strong links with FC Midtjylland could be a factor in all of this, on the other hand if it’s come from a “source” it’s probably rubbish like most of them are.

We could all well know by Tuesday onward, as all our players return from holiday and report back for training/transfer talks on Tuesday morning, Hopefully Said Benrahma has come back early from France to save being Quarantined for 14 days, Although Leeds could well have a man with binoculars outside the training ground, to try and get in first !!!!

So are most other players, with not a lot of movement having been made across all Divisions to date, I think the end of next week will see it all kicking off, that's why there are only scraps and poor ill informed guess work to be read about in the press, Take Watkins, so far I've read that Newcastle, Chelsea, Villa, West Ham, Leicester, Leeds, Brighton, Palace, Spurs plus a few more are INTERESTED in him, so goodness knows where he will end up, But I think there are probably only about three genuine contenders in the mix for his services, we shall see!!

Any good Lawyer worth his salt does not use cut and paste, they are there to accurately document and put into words exactly what their client requires, and if it means re-drafting a contract from scratch, that's what they will do, after all that's what you pay them for, especially when they are working on behalf of players who's value runs into the millions.

New contracts are exactly what they say, New, they might well have no bearing on their last contract and are therefore not an extension, conditions at a club or a players performance could well have changed dramatically since the original one was signed, so a new contract is drawn up to safeguard both players and clubs alike.

Watkins only signed a new 4 year contract last August, DS was then at Villa so he would have had no knowledge of any clause, a myth that has been proven to be untrue.

Hogan was never a perfect fit for you, he got his desired move for more wages, then did nothing constructive at all from then on, I actually felt sorry for Steve Bruce, there was a player in there somewhere, but he was too lazy at times.