Three reasons why Brentford don't sign a proven striker

There have been a number of comments in the wake of Lasse Vibe's departure asking why Brentford don't just buy a natural clinical goalscorer?

It's fair to say that Brentford have not turned their performances into the points they have deserved and that's largely been down to missing chances going forward and being too open at the back.

There are three reasons why. The first reason is the easiest; a proven finisher at Championship level will cost in excess of £8million and that is money Brentford simply don't have. Even one at League One level, under contract, will cost in excess of £5m in today's market.

In the Championship, the Bees have been blessed with Andre Gray, Scott Hogan and, it'd be fair to put Lasse Vibe in that category as well for his efforts over the past two and a half years.

Lasse Vibe's time at Brentford

View gallery

What do the trio have in common? They were all untested at Championship level and the Benham model is to sign players with potential, develop them and, if the Bees aren't promoted to the Premier League, sell for a considerable profit to fund the signings for the next campaign.

Gray showed his quality in regular spells, although he did have a shaky run of form over the Christmas period in the 2014/15 season.

Hogan was a regular threat once he shook off his two anterior cruciate ligament injuries and Vibe went through hot and cold spells.

The second reason is the that teams who build their side around a striker don't tend to have success.

Brentford were set-up around Hogan at the start of the 2016/17 season but looked a much better team after his departure as it allowed others to step up, notably Jota and Lasse Vibe.

Another easy example to look at is Fulham and Ross McCormack. The striker was among the top scorers in the Championship for each of his two seasons at the club but the Whites were down at the wrong end of the table.

Of course, Aston Villa signed the frontman in 2016 and that allowed Fulham to adjust their style and build a team around other players, notably Tom Cairney, and they, again, looked much better for making that shift.

There's always a question mark over Tottenham as to how they would cope if Harry Kane was out for a reasonable length of time as well.

The third reason for that is a continuation of the first reason. Given that a striker, even from the lower leagues, is likely to be a big money signing there is an added pressure on that player.

If we take a look at QPR, Conor Washington was one such player and, try as he might, his time at Loftus Road has been a frustrating one.

Washington, unfairly, was tagged with being the Charlie Austin replacement. QPR built their team around Austin at that time but are now looking to set up around the likes of Luke Freeman and Massimo Luongo.

While the Northern Ireland international would have wanted to have scored more goals, which would be the case if he was scoring every game, he also has Rangers fans hounding him at every turn – indeed the reaction to his goal against Wolves on Saturday from some alleged Rangers supporters was one of scorn.

Right now, Brentford have Neal Maupay as the only out and out striker in their squad.

The Frenchman may yet reach the level of his three predecessors but, like Vibe did originally, he will need time to completely adapt to English football.

In all the sadness about Vibe going, and it's a shame to see the likeable Dane depart, it is worth noting that he endured a 14-game run without finding the net at the start of 2016 before his goal against Nottingham Forest; a run which included being left on the bench as Dean Smith started without a striker in the 3-0 defeat to QPR.

And he felt the nightmare run was down to adapting to English football and culture, exhaustion as well as a loss of form.

He explained after scoring twice against Bolton in April that year: “It's the learning process (of adapting to English football) but I also haven't been off for more than three or four days since last December (2015).

“If you go back one year from Tuesday I'm probably on around 60 games. There's adapting to English football and not performing a couple of months as well.

“It is mentally exhausting. You always want to work harder when you're not doing so well.

“I was struggling with getting by the weeks and staying in the games it was difficult to work my way out of it. It seems that I have now and I'm really happy.”

Brentford will, almost certainly, be looking for another striker in the summer, whether they get promoted or not, to give Maupay competition.

But don't expect them to be signing a proven goalscorer at either level. It will be a player they believe can step up to the challenges of the top two divisions of English football.