The Bees could buzz off into the Premier League

‘I don’t think they’ll ever get promoted – I could be wrong – because they don’t have the finances but, if they keep doing what they do, they won’t be relegated either. For Brentford to be where they are, given the size of the club, Dean’s doing a really good job and they’re a good little outfit.’

The comments above were made by a certain Chris Coleman following Sunderland`s defeat at the hands of Brentford on Saturday. And not only is Coleman being patronising he`s also wrong.

Brentford may not have the finances or the stadium to rival most of their Championship counterparts but they set their stool out to entertain, play attractive, effective football with a hatful of goals thrown in. On their day, they are more than a match for most teams in this division. .

Of course, Harlee Dean, Maxime Colin and Jota may interject. After all, the trio were persuaded to leave their Griffin Park comfort blanket to enter the ever revolving door at St. Andrews.

Since then, Blues have changed their manager and sit 19th in the Championship – in grave danger of relegation – while the Bees sit comfortably in 10th with the play-offs firmly in their sights.

That wasn`t written in the script when Harry Redknapp sold them his dream.

Colin and Dean have been huge successes at Blues – particularly Dean who was in and out of the team at when he first joined but is now very much the first choice central defender and wears the captain`s armband, leading by example.

Jota, though, is the latest in a long line of frustrations. Diego Fabbrini mark two. The Spaniard is Blues` club record signing – £6.5m – and has found form hard to come by. He`s a technically gifted footballer but the jury is still out as to whether Jota can fit into Blues` system – or indeed whether the system needs adjusting to accommodate him.

The issue for me lies in and around him. Watch some footage of Jota in a Brentford kit. He picks up the ball and is inundated with options – midfielders showing for it, strikers making intelligent off-ball runs and wide players creating pockets of space for him to stride into.

At Blues, he picks the ball up and looks around at his statue-like colleagues. Simply put, a player like Jota needs movement around him. Give him that and he can be talismanic. However, in Blues` current predicament, he remains a luxury player – which is why he finds himself a regular on the bench.

It`ll be so Blues-like to sell him in the summer for half of what we paid.

So, Brentford fans will be relishing the game tonight. Not only has the £13m they have received by selling three of their most accomplished players to Blues bankrolled their club for a couple of years, they also sit 17 points better off than their transfer window vultures.

The Bees could close the gap between themselves and the top six to just three points with a win tonight, an extra incentive aside from getting one over on their old boys.

Without meaning to come across as a pessimist, I can see nothing but a home win tonight. And Mr. Coleman could be proved wrong if Dean Smith leads his side into the play-off lottery in May.


Follow Rob on Twitter @robw986