Brentford feature in the sports pages

 An interesting article about player development and Brentford’s need to change their approach. I listened to an interesting overview of the same in one of the Beesotted podcasts.

Brentford

Why Brentford ditched their academy in favour of developing Premier League outcasts

Championship club’s decision to focus on a reserve side playing top opposition in friendlies is paying dividends under head of football operations Robert Rowan

Robert Rowan Brentford
Brentford’s head of football operations Robert Rowan, right, makes a point to the head coach, Dean Smith, at the club’s Jersey Road training ground. Photograph: Mark Chapman/Brentford FC

It is a sunny Tuesday morning in west London and Robert Rowan, Brentford’s head of football operations, is watching Kevin O’Connor putting his B team squad through their paces. “Twenty-five press-ups for the strikers and then we go again,” commands the coach to his group of young players gathered from six European countries.