Well, what to say? What a thoroughly depressing day, not just because of the particular performance and result, but more because what it says about us as a club at the moment.

The first half performance wasn't bad, but we didn't look sharp. As time wore on I expected either a 0-0 or for Brentford to get into it. I was mystified as to why GTF was playing so deep. He almost seemed to be sat in front of the back 4, which meant that any time he picked up the ball he had a forest of players in front of him to get through. The last 2 or 3 games I've seen (and I don't get to see many), GTF has been our most threatening player because he scares defenders. Leaving him that deep neutralised our main threat.

Young seems to have assumed the "can't tackle, can't pass, what's my job supposed to be" mantle from Hudson. What is he meant to be? Unless Ahmed wasn't fully fit, God knows why he wasn't in the team.

Brentford scored from nowhere and instead of being sparked into life, we fell apart. That's when it got REALLY depressing, as it sank home that we have no options, or at the very least a manager who can't see any options.

Boothy and Beckett are the same player, as evidenced from the kickoff when they got in each others' way going for a long ball. They occupy the same area of the pitch all the time and, unless someone is bursting from midfield, we might as well have one up front. Add to that the fact that Boothy's radar was off and it was a recipe for nil-something.

Brandon came on and spent his entire time on the pitch running backwards or sideways. I was tearing my hair out - every time he got the ball he turned back towards his own goal.

Some wag up behind me in the Kilner Bank shouted "Put another striker on Jacko" which would be a fair comment if we actually had one. McAliskey surely only sits on the bench because we can't get rid of him.

The back 4 did OK - Sinclair showed his experience and class, Taylor was OK (if no better than Skarz), Holdsworth likewise.

But surely there must have been some options to shake it up? Shove GTF up front, bring on Ahmed to put a bit of bite in the centre, bring on McCombe and push Sinclair into midfield? Something, anything!

Depressing as hell. Any fool who believes we can make it into the playoffs with the current squad and (more importantly) current management team is totally deluded.

By Martin Sykes from the HTFC mailing list.