An agreement was made yesterday. I have not yet read any detail. However, no matter the deal, each side was always likely to claim events had turned out how they expected. So an expected response claiming a victory:
Category: UK
Celebrating
Crisis, what crisis?
Supermarkets airlifting fruit and vegetables to UK amid shortage fears
Shops and suppliers take action as border issues persist despite end of French blockade
Supermarkets and their suppliers are planning an unprecedented airlift of fresh fruit and vegetables into the UK next week amid fears the lifting of a French blockade will not prevent some shortages in stores.
One major supermarket, which declined to be named, said it had already begun flying in produce from Spain and north Africa and another said it was considering doing so, while the Lufthansa landed 80 tonnes of fruit and vegetables at Doncaster airport on Wednesday.
Note report of airlifts by Germany- the Berlin airlift in reverse?
An this is before Brexit chaos- though the much touted deal is apparently imminent.
Current times
A few of cartoons to describe the current situation.
The Torygraph (maybe less so the Borisograph) takes on the anti- social controls perspective to the pandemic response. It is all too much to have social restrictions when I presume there are pubs that need costumers to spend money. The commentators libertarian perspective is that the controls are undemocratic, possible unBritish(or is that now unEnglish), and that the response is killing the economy (that is the money side not concern about the people side. It is seen as an either/or and not that if the pandemic is raging then people will be sick/ not at work/ and not keen to socialise anyway.
With the recent focus on money with the mini Budget announcement, apparently austerity is not back – unless you are a low paid public sector worker of course or if you were a beneficiary of overseas aid. Moral compass and soft power out of the window.
I like the ‘Chum Aid” reference, as lots written about contracts and jobs for friends in the pandemic response. Known as corruption otherwise.
The issues grow and nil looks good.
Another loss
TUE 04 AUG 2020CHAMPIONSHIP
- Dalsgaard (120’+4minutes)
AETHT 0-0FT 0-0
- Bryan (105’minutes, 117’minutes)
Championship play-off final: Brentford 1-2 Fulham (AET)
By Rob Stevens
BBC Sport at Wembley
Fulham beat Brentford in the Championship play-off final to secure an immediate return to the Premier League thanks to two extra-time goals from Joe Bryan.
So Brentford continue their series of failures in the play-offs. I watched the game at home with cola and peppermint tea. I stayed mostly calm but frustrated with a lot of the performance as the Bees could not respond to the pressing, defensive techniques of Fulham. As with previous games they could not respond more than longer balls and the central defenders making the plays. No midfielder who could or was willing to to keep ball at foot and force commitment from the opposition. I have seen the same many times before.
Star players did not come to fore. Benrama looked busy, desperate to impress future employers but ineffective. Jensen anonymous- not making self available or not used by team mates? More of the latter I think.
And now the sell off will happen. Watkins already in the news as other clubs look for his signature. I suppose Brentford will get the money and then hopefully finds the next gem. But I do not see another imminent push to the top level next season.
9th time lucky?
From the BBC:
“Brentford finished third in the table, one place above Fulham on goal difference, and won both league meetings during the regular campaign.
If they fail to win, the Bees will have taken part in more unsuccessful play-off campaigns in the English Football League than any other club, with this their ninth attempt.”
More Guardian column inches
Silk and steel: how Thomas Frank gave Brentford reason to dream big
The Bees struggled early on in the Dane’s reign but this modest club now stand one game away from the Premier League
Mon 3 Aug 2020 08.00 BSTLast modified on Tue 4 Aug 2020 04.37 BST
It was long after the final whistle at Griffin Park last Wednesday, and a little before David Raya and Sergi Canós carved up the goal net to take a patch as a souvenir from the stadium’s last competitive game. The Brentford owner, Matthew Benham, was taking penalties at the Ealing Road end, trying to replicate Marcello Trotta’s infamous stoppage-time miss against Doncaster in 2013, when the striker smacked the crossbar before James Coppinger tapped in at the other end to extinguish any hope of automatic promotion from League One. Seven years on, the magnitude of the prize at stake is incomparable.
Play-off final day
A day of history? One way or another- yes.
It seems almost ridiculous to be thinking of Brentford playing in the top flight- the Premier League as it is now. For all those years of 3rd and 4th tier football, remembering gong to GF as a kid when the style was limited and understanding the risk to the club’s survival: it seems unreal that they are in such a position.
At the beginning of the season to be in the play-offs was considered a good result. That they had the chance to take automatic promotion was amazing- though clearly did not work out. However, you cannot complain as the level of achievement is above what was expected.
I can remembering asking my dad many years ago if he could see Brentford reaching the FA Cup final. I think he laughed at the thought. This is clearly bigger than that. Dreamlike. The lads talked in the pub on the last Saturday of the season game when a win against Stoke could have gone a long way to achieving promotion. We laughed at the ridiculous thought of the Bees entertaining the likes of Liverpool and Man U. at home. Something previously considered mad but now not so far away.
90 minutes against west London rivals Fulham. A great way to go about it.
At the same time as saying ‘COYB’- there is still the nagging fear of what happens to smaller clubs who are promoted and whether they manage to survive intact in the future. I have that fear though think they re more likely to enjoy their time in the sun, lose, but take the money.
A farewell piece for Griffin Park
Griffin Park is one of the few old-school grounds left in English football, hemmed in by housing and retaining terracing – a rarity in the Championship in the days of all-seater stadiums since the dawn of the Premier League era.
A nice piece on the BBC to commemorate the final game at GP which happened in the week.
Griffin Park: Can Brentford give ground perfect send-off by winning promotion through the play-offs?
By Rob Stevens
BBC Sport
| Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-finals, second leg: Brentford v Swansea (agg 0-1) |
|---|
| Date: Wednesday, 29 July Kick-off: 19:45 BST Coverage: Live text on BBC Sport website from 19:15 BST, commentary on BBC Radio London and BBC Radio Wales |
The turnstiles at Griffin Park have already rattled for a final time. The Ealing Road terrace, usually a swelling mass of bodies on match days, stands empty.
However, the ground, Brentford’s home since 1904, will host one final game on Wednesday night before the west London club move into a new stadium this summer.