While we've all been staggered by the down turn in our fortunes, I've been thinking about the future. You're all aware of the definition of insanity whereby we do the same old things and expect different results. We've (grudgingly) accepted that we are now emulating the Bees in finding diamonds in the rough, polishing them up and selling them at a profit in the hope that eventually we fashion a team that can get us promoted once again. However, there is one way in which we can never (with the current status quo) emulate Brentford and it is this; Matthew Benham owns Brentford and FC Midtjylland (unclear if all or in part). This got me thinking about other clubs who are owned by individuals or syndicates that also have stakes in other clubs. Man City are the premier example - a group of NINE clubs - but consider Watford and Udinese, Leicester and OH Leuven, Vincent Tan with two other club part ownerships as well as Cardiff, Marinakis with Olympiakos and his investment in Nottigham Forest and, of course, Matthew Benham. Does this set up offer an advantage? Cross over of talent? In the year the Bees got promoted, they had eleven Danish players on their books. While even the most ardent fans of Warbs are struggling to see him in our dugout come August, will that fix the problem or, dare I say, do we need new owners with better expertise in the area of football ownership and part of a larger group? Of course there rules but given the wealth and power in the Man City group they must be pretty flexible! Have a look at this link - https://www.prostinternational.com/2020/05/15/the-club-collectors/ It's a long old road in front of us. I wish I had Benham's skill to turn a £700k loan into the £300m value of Brentford FC!
