Reece Cole has gone out on loan to Newport County after he had his own personal pre-season goal of the season competition with a beautifully struck free-kick in the first-team’s 4-3 win over Oxford United.
The quality that he, and many others have shown from the B Team, when given their chance in the first team, has left many wondering what other gems can this squad throw up?
Although he may have suffered a slight drop in form at the tail end of last season, Tom Field, who has joined Bradford on loan, is a prefect example of a player who, when given the opportunity has really shone and broken into the first team, giving strong competition to the first choice left-back Rico Henry.
One of his standout performances was in the 5-1 FA Cup win over Eastleigh, and although they were lower league opponents, his attacking flair coming in off the left flank earned him two goals, and he looked very solid at the back as well in a Man-of-the-Match earning performance.
Chris Mepham is an example of another player from the B Team who has shone when given chances, and appeared with the Wales Under-19 squad over the summer to add further experience to his developing player model. Justin Shaibu also deserves a word for his strong performances for the B Team, and has looked strong coming in off the bench at times.
Although many people were outraged at first when the news came through that our academy system was to be scrapped and the B Team was to be set up instead, it is clear now that the decision seems to have been a very good one from the club.
The team has been made up of Premier League trialists who didn’t make the cut and youth players scouted from cross Europe, and it is only a matter of time, as in true Brentford fashion, that one of these players has a fantastic run of form just before a transfer window, and goes in a big money move.
I am extremely excited to see when Kevin O’Connor and his team take the B Team in the future, and cant wait to see more of his squad run out with the rest of the first team and show us that this system is a great success.
We will be seeing more of them over the next season, and lets hope they can continue to develop into new sets of Brentford stars for years to come.
