Going into Saturday's game at Rotherham, Mark Warburton has been in charge of 33 Brentford games – and it's of huge credit to the Bees boss that his team have only really been truly outclassed once in that time.
Warburton has overseen only six losses – two of them when the Bees were already promoted from League One last season and had taken their feet off the gas.
There was the league loss at Bournemouth two weeks ago, in which Brentford were very unlucky not to get something out of the game, and this week's Capital One Cup exit to Fulham , in which even an experimental Bees side ran their rivals close.
Then there were the two 3-0 defeats to promotion rivals Wolves and Rotherham last season. The scoreline against Wolves was definitely not reflective of the game, which for the most part could have swung either way before the men in gold ran away with it.
At Rotherham though, came the only time a Warburton side has come up short and made to look devoid of any ideas or inspiration. The Millers dominated from start to finish on that Tuesday night in March, and whereas 3-0 had flattered Wolves a month earlier, Rotherham could easily have won by double that scoreline.
Once Kieran Agard gave the hosts the lead with an early penalty it was one way traffic, and Agard, who has recenty moved to Bristol City, added a second before Haris Vuckic put the icing on the cake for Rotherham in the last minute.
GetWestLondon reported at the time: “Brentford could have few complaints after being undone by a clinical and impressive Rotherham United side at the New York Stadium tonight. The Bees were second best on the night, and if truth be told, it could have been an even heavier defeat as the hosts blew the League One promotion race wide open.”
Warburton was scathing in his assessment afterwards, saying: “We need to be braver and the players know that. In the end we were beaten by the better team. You get out what you put into a game, and we were well below our usual standards. The home fans were chanting 'easy, easy', which will have hurt the players as they are professionals. Their professional pride was hurt tonight.”
Rotherham did the double over the Bees last season, having also won 1-0 at Griffin Park, and you have to go back to April 2008 for the last time Brentford got the better of the Yorkshire side, Alan Connell's last minute winner earning a 2-1 win at Millmoor.
Rotherham have the better record over the years, however, with 23 wins from 56 meetings, while Brentford have emerged victorious 17 times and 16 games have ended in a stalemate.
Keep an eye on GetWestLondon for reports and reaction as Brentford look to put things right at Rotherham on Saturday.
