Brentford's Irish core is helping them push on
Monday 15 September 2014 16:05, UK
With only six matches played so far this season it's too early to read too much into how the league table looks - but there are certain teams that will be delighted with how they have started the campaign.
With only six matches played so far this season it's too early to read too much into how the league table looks - but there are certain teams that will be delighted with how they have started the campaign.
Nottingham Forest are still top of the league after their East Midlands draw against Derby County, a game that was played in front of a crowd of over 30,000 people and showed what a special league the Championship is.
Although the football on show probably wasn't as slick as either side have been playing recently, it was a proper full-blooded game that showed firstly the strides that Forest have made since the last time these sides met when Derby romped to a 5-0 win at the iPro Stadium back in March but secondly how well Derby have dealt with the Wembley heartache they suffered back in May.
There are also two sides in the top six that have just been promoted from League One in Wolves and Brentford and the second of those have really impressed me over the last couple of seasons.
When Mark Warburton took the reins at Brentford after Uwe Rosler’s departure for Wigan, he stamped his personality and footballing philosophy on the side to ensure promotion to the Championship and now we are seeing them more than hold their own.
They play a high-tempo style of football and it's very evident that they have a good team spirit.
Maybe I'm slightly biased but I feel the Irish contingent within their team epitomises that with Alan McCormack, Jonathan Douglas and Alan Judge all pivotal players in the way Warburton sets up.
I saw Judge come through the ranks at Blackburn and I'm delighted to see him find a club like Brentford where he can really establish himself and show what he is capable of on a consistent basis.
There's no doubting Brentford have a player that has genuine potential to play at a very high level.
The Bees’ marquee signing this summer was the prodigious Moses Odubajo, who they paid Leyton Orient £1million for.
This was a huge coup for Brentford as there were some big clubs sniffing around him but they made him their number one target and there's no doubting they have a player that has genuine potential to play at a very high level if he continues to progress the way he has been.
After Saturday’s win over Brighton they have now taken 10 points from the last 12 in the league so they will be full of confidence and any doubts they had of performing at this level will now be put to bed.
One of the shrewdest bits of business on deadline day in the Championship was Glenn Murray's loan move from Crystal Palace to Reading.
Murray hasn't played a lot of football since his unfortunate injury in the playoffs back in May 2013 but this is a player that scored 31 goals in 45 appearances that season to catapult Palace to an unlikely promotion.
Glenn couldn't have started his Reading career much better after netting two goals against a struggling Fulham side that are now propping up the league, and he and Simon Cox could be a lethal partnership this season.
Nigel Adkins is looking to mould a team that's more of a reflection of his style of football after a summer of change at the Madejski Stadium where senior players such as Jobi McAnuff, Sean Morrison, Alex's McCarthy and Mikele Leigertwood left for pastures new.
I don’t really know what to make of things at Fulham, though, and I find it a little sad to see them struggling the way they are.
I remember playing against their team in the 2000/01 season with the likes of Louis Saha, Sean Davis, Lee Clark and John Collins playing a style of football that was as good as I have ever seen in the Championship when they won the league.
They then cemented themselves as a Premier League side and had some very successful periods, most notably with Chris Coleman and Roy Hodgson in charge.
No club has a divine right to be in the Premier League and a club the size of Fulham did very well to stay in the league for that long.
But there seems to be a trend developing where new owners take over with the club’s best and long-term interests possibly not being their primary concern and the club then inevitably suffers relegation.
