Monday 1 August 2016 12:21, UK
All the transfer news, fan opinion, predictions and odds ahead of Brentford's 2016/17 Sky Bet Championship campaign.
Last year's finish: 9th
Manager: Dean Smith
Title odds: 33/1 with Sky Bet
First five games: Huddersfield (A), Ipswich (H), Nottingham Forest (H), Rotherham (A), Sheffield Wednesday (H)
Players In: Romaine Sawyers (Walsall, Undisclosed), Daniel Bentley (Southend, Free), John Egan (Gillingham, Free), Callum Elder (Leicester, Loan)
Players Out: Jake Bidwell (Queens Park Rangers, Undisclosed), David Button (Fulham, £1.9m)
Fan's view - Billy Grant (@BillyTheBee99) writes, video blogs and podcasts for Beesotted Brentford (@Beesotted)
Expectation: Last season started very badly with our new manager lasting eight matches. Dean Smith came in, started badly - then ended the season with a storming run (W7, D1, L1) with Scott Hogan - back in the side after nearly two years injured - scoring seven goals in less than 180 minutes of play. The players have started to click. We've signed some quality in the summer and although on paper we're a mid-table team, I quietly think we are going to surprise a few people.
Most important player: Alan Judge was magnificent last season but a horrendous leg-break up at Ipswich in March saw his team-mates have to step up to the plate and they did - all of them taking props for our storming end-of-season run. Scott Hogan is the man to watch - If we can keep him fit. He looks even better than Andre Gray.
Who will win the league? Most fans are saying Newcastle but that's too obvious. I'm going to say Brighton will come back strong after heartbreak at The Riverside last season.
Dark horse? Leeds United
One Championship player you'd want to sign: Anthony Knockaert
Brentford are regressing. Mark Warburton got them punching above their weight. They still haven't replaced Andre Gray and Alan Judge will be missing for the start of the season. They could be in trouble.
Sky Bet odds
Sky Bet are expecting Brentford to be in for a season of mid-table mediocrity, with neither promotion nor relegation deemed likely at 9/1 and 8/1 respectively. The Football League sponsor go 100/30 on them securing a play-off position and 10/11 on a top-half finish. The Bees head to Huddersfield in their opening fixture as 15/8 outsiders to kick off their campaign with a victory and are 12/1 to win their first three games is Sky Bet's Brentford Specials.
