Ian Holloway has angered Brentford fans with his prediction that the Bees will be relegated this season.

The most polite comments regarding the former Bee on GetWestLondon's dedicated Brentford Facebook and Twitter pages were along the lines of 'is he having a laugh?'

In fact, most of them were along the lines of Aston Villa owner Tony Xia who reacted angrily to the pundit's assessment of the Villans.

There were only four short sentences dedicated to Brentford in Holloway's Sky Sports prediction but, on several accounts the former Crystal Palace and Millwall boss made a series of assertions that, looking at things more closely, can be disproved.

I've taken an individual look at each sentence and whether I agree or disagree with Holloway's assessment although, in his defence, ranking teams from 1-24 is an impossible job and there are bound to be one or two catastrophic errors.

“Brentford are regressing.”

Owner: Matthew Benham

On a basic level, Holloway is right on this score. Brentford finished fifth in 2014/15 and ninth in 2015/16.

It can also be argued that budget wise, Brentford are punching above their weight to even be competitive in the Championship.

The club made a host of well-publicised changes last summer which needed to take time to settle down and the Bees were stung by some of the teething problems experienced.

However, those issues should now have resolved themselves and, under Dean Smith, there is a cautious optimism about the club, which is refreshing from the eventual overconfidence that appeared to be portrayed last summer.

“Mark Warburton got them punching above their weight.”

Manager Mark Warburton

Again, on a basic level this statement is true. Brentford weren't expected to do as well two seasons ago.

However, it was clear from November, which included a 3-2 win at Holloway's Millwall, that the Bees had a squad more than capable to challenge at the top of the Championship.

The fact so many clubs came in for Brentford's leading players in 2015 is a testament to that.

It can be argued that Holloway has contradicted his Brentford are regressing statement.

If you were overachieving and then dropped back slightly, finishing above several clubs with vastly superior budgets, would that not be considered a decent showing?

I certainly wouldn't consider Leicester finishing fourth as regression next season – that would still be considered punching above their weight given their respective budget to the money-rich Premier League clubs.

“They still haven't replaced Andre Gray and Alan Judge will be missing for the start of the season."

Missing: Alan Judge

Holloway is partly right on this score – Alan Judge will be missing for the start of the season as he recovers from his broken leg.

However, regarding replacing Andre Gray, I believe Holloway has, once again, taken a simplistic overview of the situation.

Brentford scored 72 goals last season – 70 of those were by players not called Gray.

The season before, the Bees scored 78 times with the now Burnley striker bagging 16 of those.

Lasse Vibe and Alan Judge scored 14 each and goals were shared around the squad with John Swift, Sergi Canos and Scott Hogan scoring seven times each.

Hogan's achievements were more special as he only made seven appearances for the club and played around 163 minutes. Of course, the former Rochdale man was meant to be ahead of Gray in the pecking order before his horrific injury run.

Swift and Canos have gone to Reading and Norwich respectively after leaving Chelsea and Liverpool on permanent transfers.

Vibe, on the other hand, is unavailable for the start of the season as he is competing in the Olympics; a great honour for him.

Based on pre-season form, which is virtually meaningless, it is difficult to see where, apart from Hogan, regular goals will come from but, given the way the Bees play, they will create chances.

“They could be in trouble.”

Brentford manager Dean Smith

Time will tell if Holloway is right on this score. He can't predict the future and neither can I.

I do, however, believe that Brentford are at a similar level, squad wise, in relation to last season and, with one or two additions, will be better equipped than this time last year.

By and large, every Championship season contains a surprise promotion challenger and a surprise relegation battler. So, in that sense, nothing will surprise me in a division I consider to be the most exciting league in the world, or certainly one of them.

I agree with Holloway in his prediction that Newcastle will win the league. The quality of their squad and size of their budget means they'll be doing something drastically wrong if they aren't up at the top come May.

I've yet to see other sides, who finished below the Bees, make significant signings that make me think they have leapfrogged Brentford so much so they finish 22nd.

That said, if the freakish run of injuries strikes again then a season of struggle could be on the cards but you can say that about most clubs at this level.

For that reason, I don't believe the west London club will be in serious trouble but then, as said above, I can't predict the future.