Luis Melville of Brentford FC CST & local community station Westside Radio89.6FM caught up with Andy Scott at the training ground.
Westside Radio 89.6FM offers comprehensive previews and match reports on all Brentford home and away games on Saturday afternoon 2-5pm. At home games take radio to the ground and listen in or take part in the show by calling 020 8571 1188, emailing presenter@westsideradio.co.uk or text the word 'WESTSIDE' followed by your message to 60300. Got a view about Brentford then it get them heard.
Luis Melville: We've almost made it to the end of the season with 2 games to go. Firstly I suppose I'd better get a medical update on the squad. How's it looking this week?
Andy Scott: It's not too bad this week. Carl Cort is still struggling with his foot. Pim is back training today. The illness outbreak we had last week seems to have subsided. The baby situation seems to have sorted itself out as well. Hopefully come Saturday we will have nearly the full complement to choose from.
LM: It was a bit of an odd game on Saturday particularly with the early setback with the penalty decision. The game went into a bit of a lull in the first half. How big a factor was the heat bearing in mind the changes you had to make?
AS: As you say we had a side that was put together at the last moment due to the illnesses and distractions that we had which made it even more challenging. Once we conceded the penalty it was very hard to break Yeovil down. The heat certainly didn't help to contribute to the game which wasn't really as we would have liked but we certainly deserved something out of the game.
LM: Everyone said their piece on Saturday concerning the Lionel Ainsworth situation. Where are you now with it?
AS: Lionel has left the Club. We told him that we want him to go back to Huddersfield and they in turn have told him that they don't want him there. He will be off and away on his holidays. He's contracted to Huddersfield for another year so it's up to Lee (Clarke) to speak to him but as far as Brentford is concerned his behaviour is not something we are going to tolerate at this Football Club and haven't had since I've been here. The lads don't want him around and I don't want him around. It's best for everyone that he left.
LM: Saturday's game looks like an extremely tough one as Swindon go into this one knowing that they will have to win and hope that Leeds slip up at Charlton to keep themselves in the shout for automatic promotion on the last day of the season. You're going to definitely need to be on your 'A' game for this one?
AS: Without a doubt. They are a decent side at home. They're up there for a reason. They've been consistently good all season. Swindon has some good goal scorers and they play some decent stuff. Danny (Wilson) has done a good job at Swindon and in fairness to him probably one of the best jobs in this league given the budget they've got and where they find themselves. Although it's a tough one, we can go there with plenty of confidence. Again we are looking forward to it. It's another opportunity to show how good we can be and I am sure that there will be other teams above them looking at this game and saying 'Swindon will find Brentford a tough team to beat'. No doubt Leeds, Charlton and Millwall are looking to us to do them a favour. However, we're in it for us and we are determined to keep this run going and make it 12 in a row unbeaten and finish off the season in style.
LM: It's the last game where the double can be done over you so will be that your main motivating factor come 3 o'clock on Saturday?
AS: That is something which I believe will help us to continue this run. It's a terrific run we're on at the moment given some of the teams we've played against. That will be a defining moment of the season if we can get to May 8th unbeaten in 13 games. We will have a massive positive to take forward into August when we go again. No doubt there will be a massive crowd there and as it's their last home game they probably expect to win that game and maybe get that automatic promotion place. We want to be the party poopers if possible.
LM: Looking forward to next season I interviewed Andrew Mills (CEO) on Monday who was talking about budgets and what you are up against financially regardless of who goes out. There are some reasonable teams coming down and one out of either Crystal Palace or Sheffield Wednesday who will have decent sized budgets for League One football. League One for next season is more or less sorted. Does that now define your game plan come August?
AS: Firstly, we knew how tough this season would be given the quality of the teams in there. Budget wise we're probably 15th in the league. We are a club that does want to move forward and you can keep making excuses about budgets and to a certain extent that does affect you. You can't compete with teams that are on budgets four times bigger than yours but Swindon have shown that with shrew management it is possible to get in the top 6 with a smaller budget. Although their budget is bigger than ours is and will probably be bigger than our increased budget for next season by a long shot, what we do have now is the experience of playing in this division and the players that we have brought in have learnt from that this year and if we do secure a bigger budget next year then we would like to think we can push on. I don't want to really go into any season just consolidating as I don't think that approach is beneficial to anybody because it just puts you on a different mindset which is not conducive to achieving positive results.
LM: Clearly if the aim is to get into the Championship within 3 years then surely that is the path you have to take?
AS: Of course. If we achieve getting into the Championship within that time frame then the minimum requirement is to be in the play offs either next season or the season after unless we go up automatically. We have to find a route to that position and I want it as quick as possible. We've had a year in here and if we can do it next year then brilliant. That's what our aim will be and whether we can do it is another matter. If we don't achieve that we then need to finish as high as possible and build even stronger for the following season to ensure that we can mount a very strong campaign to get promoted. I don't want the club standing still. We're trying to push forward both on and off the pitch. We're doing everything we can to ensure that we can try and secure Championship football for Brentford Football Club and the fans. If we achieve that then we have to prove that we are good enough to not only stay there but show we are capable of pushing on up the Championship. We need to be prepared and all the work we are doing now is with that intention of getting into the Championship. I'd love to do it next year but if it doesn't happen then we try and do it the following season. There's a clear method and route to how we get there. The players you bring in sometimes you can`t be sure how they are going to cope and if they do cope can they do it quickly enough to affect the team in a positive way.
LM: Do you see it as a priority to get your targets in as quickly as possible so you can get them bedded in as quickly as possible with the players that are staying so that come August they hit the ground running?
AS: We struggled last season with injuries to Charlie and Ben at the start so we will prioritise getting the squad as settled as quickly as possible but we have to ensure that we get the right players in that can hopefully do the job for us when we start pre-season. When we go away for our pre-season trip it's important that we have the nucleus of the squad together so that we can show them our method of play and give them a chance to take that on board so we are ready to fly out of the traps in August.
LM: No doubt it will be an interesting close season for Brentford fans that no doubt will be looking out for those new signings. Good luck Saturday and thanks for your time.
AS: Cheers.
