Here’s what Jay had to say:
GW: You must have the best job in town, getting paid to watch Brentford. How did it come about?
JH: I went to Birmingham City University to study media and communications and I noticed that this course had a scholarship with Sky and my Mum and I thought that this looked really good without any expectation that I could get onto the scholarship. First year, at Uni I never applied, second year I didn’t get it and then the third I got on it and this worked out really well for me as it meant that a couple of months after I graduated, I had these 2 weeks at Sky Sports News which I could really dedicate to learning as much as possible and pick peoples’ brains. That eventually turned into four years at Sky doing various roles behind the scenes TV-wise and doing a bit of writing. I always knew that being a written journalist was my ultimate goal and so The Athletic came about in August 2019, I think. A good friend of mine, Jordan Campbell, who I’d worked with at Sky joined The Athletic to cover Rangers so straight away I was aware of their work, really enjoyed it and then during COVID they advertised for a Talent ID Day. I remember thinking I’m already at Sky is it cheating if I apply for this at another media company but I thought I am going to do it regardless. I had to wait a while for it to happen because of lockdown but eventually I did it over Zoom. I must have said something good because a couple of months later the editor in chief got back in touch with me and said we want to interview me for a potential role covering Brentford. I am not a diehard Brentford supporter but I had watched then in the Playoffs so it worked out quite conveniently that I knew a little bit about the club anyway and I got the job and the rest is history.
GW: Was your first match the Arsenal game?
JH: Yes. You really could not have asked for anything better. I look back at that and think just how lucky I was because I knew whatever the outcome that was a moment in time, the club’s first game in the top flight for 74 years, the first game in the new stadium with a full house, the first game in the Premier League since COVID that was going to be in a full house. I just knew that the whole world was going to be watching. I remember feeling quite nervous as I was not too sure what to expect but I remember coming away thinking this was absolutely magical – the applause in the 28th minute for Robert Rowan, Thomas going up to Woody, fans crying in the stands – I was very, very lucky to join the Brentford story when I did and that game was just the tipping point really.
GW: So, the excitement has just gone on and on, hasn’t it?
JH: Yes. There were definitely periods in season one when the threat of relegation felt very real. Certainly, in January and February when after the Arsenal and West Ham wins and the draw with Liverpool where you thought Brentford were going to be absolutely fine. All of a sudden Raya gets injured, Fernandez comes in and I think it is fair to say, looked shaky. So I think there was a point in that January/February when after such a good start perhaps Brentford were going to run out of steam. But then the Eriksen story happened, Raya came back from injury and ever since then it has just continued to go up and up and up. It’s been an incredible story, every time you feel that that Brentford’s journey has peaked or you feel like surely there’s no way it’s going to get any better it seems to somehow get better whether it’s beating Manchester United 4-0 or beating Manchester City at the Etihad and on the final day of the season it seems like the team always has one more surprise.
GW: Have you noticed a difference in how Brentford are regarded by your colleagues in the media?
JH: Yes, definitely. I remember a lot of people saying before that first game against Arsenal in the 21/22 season nobody really knew anything about Brentford. All they knew was the cliched “Moneyball” line. I think there was this presumption that this plucky little club which had punched its way up the leagues would find this a hurdle too far. Whenever I hear people talk about Brentford now it is normally in the same breath as Brighton, saying that these are two model clubs, not just in the Premier League but in the whole world in terms of how they are run, the way that the owners who are supporters of the club look after them in the right way and have been really good custodians and the way they both use recruitment very cleverly and make sure that they don’t overpay for players, make sure they bring in a profit that keeps the club looking good financially but then also I think there is a real respect for the way that Brentford play because everybody that watches them week in and week out knows that Raya can hit the ball long for Toney but knows that Brentford can play out from the back and have some really nice patterns of play too. It was easy for people to say after that first season that it was Christian Eriksen that kept Brentford up and they are going to struggle next year and so many people spoke about second season syndrome but the fact that Brentford ended up finishing ninth in that second season says it all. People have a lot of respect for Brentford now but having said that you can see people predicting that they are going to struggle a little bit without Toney and Raya and obviously that remains to be seen.
GW: How will we do this season?
JH: I predict tenth place. It will be really tricky to push to finish in Europe again this season. Aston Villa, Brighton and Newcastle all look very good this season and these are teams that are not in the traditional top six. Tottenham and Chelsea had really poor seasons by their own standards but you would expect Chelsea to improve massively under Pochettino and I know Spurs have lost Kane but certainly from the opening day of the season it feels like there is a slightly more positive vibe over there, it is a bit of a new era and it almost feels like it is a free hit for them. It will be difficult for Brentford to keep up especially without Ivan Toney for the first six months and without David Raya. Having said that I feel that there are a lot of teams in the league that are in a far worse place than Brentford. You look at your Wolves and Everton that are in real FFP difficulties and the three promoted teams. It is very hard to predict how Burnley will do, are they going to try and stick with the quite attractive style of play they used in the Championship. In the Premier League that might end in disaster or it might end well, who knows? Sheffield United seem to have been selling some of their best players and you know that Luton’s infrastructure is just way behind their rivals.
GW: Who will go down?
JH: Everton, Sheffield United and Luton. I think Burnley might just have enough to stay up. Maybe I would swop Wolves for Everton.
GW: Who do you see having a breakout season for Brentford?
GW: I hope it is Keane Lewis-Potter. It is easy to forget that he was the club record signing for a year or so and there was such hype about him given that Brentford had tried to sign him in January 2022 and that hadn’t worked out, so to finally get him in the building was really promising. He could play left wing or sometimes through the middle depending on the opposition. He scored once against Colchester in the cup, nutmegged Nathan Collins, now his team mate against Wolves and they were the only two highlights of his season. He had really bad luck with injuries having barely missed a match for Hull City. I know he went to either Marbella or Portugal before Brentford reported for preseason so he basically did a pre preseason to really get himself into shape and up to speed. I think he knows that there will be a little bit of pressure and expectation on his shoulders in the first six months with Ivan Toney out and I think he will be keen to contribute straight away and I think he has the skills and quality to do so. He could be in line to have a breakout season. He will work quite well with Mbeumo and Wissa coming in off the left-hand side. I really feel that this is also a bit of a make-or-break season for Kristoffer Ajer. I remember when he joined the club colleagues said that Manchester City were interested in signing him. Who knows if that is true or not but if you looked at Ajer on paper, his raw skills set for a central defender were absolutely phenomenal. He is quick, he is very good at progressing the ball out from the back, he is pretty good on the ball, he can also cover right back. There are a lot of things there that coaches at bigger clubs than Brentford would really admire and I certainly think during his first six months at the club went pretty well and it just seems like since around November 2021 when his hamstring injury first raised its head he has been constantly hit by injuries. It is easy to forget, because Brentford have broken their transfer record a lot in the last few years, he was the club’s record signing for a year and I don’t really know how much we have seen off the back of that. There have been a few decent performances but he has played in less than 50% of Brentford’s games since he joined the club.
GW: Before we end, do you have a final message for Brentford fans?
JH: I would like to give a massive “thank you” for the support that all the Brentford fans have shown me in the two years I have been covering the club. I have really enjoyed every single second of it and I think what has probably been the most heart-warming aspect of the job is that I know my Mum and my Gran are going to read my work!
When I see people bump into me at away games and really value my opinion on the club, or reach out to me on social media I will always do my best to respond to everyone, it might take me a month, and for that I apologise, but I just really appreciate the fact that we can have a two-way conversation.
I always want people to feel that they can reach out to me. I don’t want them to feel that I am a journalist who covers their club and I am never going to reply. I have an opinion on the club and it might not always be right and I certainly value theirs.
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Greville Waterman – Commissioning Editor