Stewart Purvis huddled into a corner of the KCOM stadium with other Bees fans to see yet another Brentford away defeat.

A severe weather warning had been issued with snow expected in the Hull area, Brentford were on a winless away run that went back eight months, many fans including the leaders of the faithful Beesotted crew had decided that an away day to East Yorkshire a fortnight before Christmas was one they could miss. The forecast was not good for the Bees football or weatherwise. Well it didn’t snow but just about everything else that was predicted happened.The fans who trekked in the rain from the city centre to a windswept stadium were prepared for more disappointment and that’s exactly what they got.

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Bill Hagerty witnesses Christmas arriving early as Bees gifts let Swansea snaffle the points

Had Swansea realised that Santa was going to pay a premature visit to Griffin Park and bestow gifts solely on the visitors, they might have put out a couple of mince pies and a glass of milk for the old fellow. Not that he was unaided in a match that saw Swansea score three times in the first half-hour. Conspiring with him in dispensing one-way largesse was a Brentford defence that from the kick-off appeared so convinced the holidays were already upon us it’s a wonder they didn’t sing a verse or two of Jingle Bells.

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Stewart Purvis was in the away end at the Hawthorns to see something special happen there at 90 minutes.

Yes it was “daylight robbery’, a ‘steal’ and a ‘smash and grab raid’ after a ‘one sided match’, but just for once it was our daylight robbery, our steal that got away with a point after a match when we definitely weren’t the side that was in charge.

And it could, just could, give Brentford the momentum to fight their way out of a terrible run of form.

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Bill Hagerty sees Bees sink lower in the table as the Blades put them to the sword  

Fifteenth and in apparent freefall, with the following evening’s results likely to make the position even worse, the Bees managed for the first time in years to lodge a truly disturbing thought in the minds of their supporters. Could it be? Surely not? Are Brentford heading for Brexit from the Championship?

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Bill Hagerty watches feisty Bees win the numbers game while losing a quality contest

Nineteenth-century Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is credited with having observed that ‘there are three kinds of lies – lies, damned lies, and statistics’. Well, some things don’t change, in politics and elsewhere, with the particular elsewhere on this occasion being Griffin Park on Saturday.

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Bill Hagerty reports on a wet afternoon at Loftus Road when a disappointing Bees’ collapse dampened the spirits.

We all know that football is a game of two halves, but did Brentford have to demonstrate the truth of the phrase quite so dramatically in losing this London derby?

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Bill Hagerty sees the Bees return to early-season form and dispose of south London bruisers

If the minute’s silence to honour those from both clubs who fell in past conflicts, coupled with helicopter crash victim, Leicester City owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, wasn’t poignant enough, the sight of Ollie Watkins honing his ball skills mid-pitch all alone at half-time was a vignette that almost brought a tear to the eye. Where are the other subs? one wondered. Was it something he said?

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Stewart Purvis joined the other 267 Bees in the away end at Deepdale.

If you didn’t see the game in full don’t be misled by the score or the highlights, a seven goal thriller this definitely was not. If you saw the whole thing you’ll know that you can’t give away a three goal start, even to the team with the worst defensive record in the Championship, and expect to get your first away win of the season. Especially if you continue to give the ball to them, concede twice as many fouls as them and lose your cool at key moments. Is it any surprise that Bees have gone from 5th to 15th in less than a month?

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Stewart Purvis sees Frank’s first day fall flat.

Brentford's Danish Head Coach Thomas Frank says his football philosophy is 'togetherness between staff and players'. All very ‘hygge’, the Danish way of creating wellness and contentment. It was all very togetherly before Frank's first game in his new role at Griffin Park, as he walked with the players to the ground he gave an interview live linked to the fans, at the gate he posed for selfies with fans and shook hands with security staff and inside he got a warm ovation as he took his place at the dugout with fellow Danish coach Lars Friis. Standing there as Head Coach had, he said later, been 'lovely'. But he wasn't to be lucky.

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