Ben Burgess became a fan favourite at Griffin Park during the 2001/02 campaign, netting 18 goals in 51 appearances while on loan from Blackburn Rovers. In total, Ben led the line for ten clubs during a 14-year career.

Now a teacher in Lancashire, Ben still keeps a close eye on the Bees and will be providing his thoughts ahead of each game this season.

The 12th man

David Raya recently revealed that Brentford’s players feel like the Gtech Community Stadium is a fortress, and not many people would disagree.

There was a great atmosphere at Griffin Park – it could be an intimidating place for opposition players – and the Bees' new home has elevated that to another level.

Don’t just take the players’ word for it, look how much Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher love a Friday night at the Gtech. I don’t recall them singing and dancing at the other grounds in the Premier League!

The whole atmosphere is just different from anywhere else, from the music and light show before each game to the passion and singing throughout the match.

Already there have been home victories over Manchester United, Brighton and Leeds. These great results were followed by a draw with Chelsea, which could well have been another win.

As a player, it can be very hard if your crowd are not behind you, and even worse if there are a sea of empty seats. I have played for teams where we all dreaded home games because the atmosphere would often become toxic.

Opposing managers always tell their team to keep the home fans quiet and make them turn on their own players, but that doesn’t happen at Brentford.

From my first game all those years ago against Port Vale, to now in the Premier League, you Bees fans support your team.

That is helped by the fact that Brentford appear to value their own supporters far more than many other clubs I could mention.

Toys out the pram

In my job working in a primary school, I see many children struggling with their emotions and making the wrong decisions.

I’m sure Erik ten Haag must have thought he was in a class of six-year-olds when he watched his star man (and highest earner) storm down the tunnel before the final whistle against Tottenham Hotspur.

Ten Haag should have spent his post-match press conference waxing lyrical about his team's best performance of the season; instead, he was fielding questions about a disgruntled Cristiano Ronaldo.

If a child in our school football team walked out on their team-mates before the end of the game, then I would speak to them about the situation, but I wouldn’t overreact because I understand the emotions involved.

In fact, in terms of ability and career, I was probably smack bang in the middle of a scale from primary school child to Cristiano Ronaldo!

People will talk about Ronaldo disrespecting the club, the manager and the other players, but I don’t see it like that.

Whenever I was a substitute, or when I was injured, watching a game would eat me up inside thanks to the conflict of emotions.

I would want my pals to play well, and I would want the fans who supported me to be happy, so a victory would be the perfect outcome. However, with wins come new heroes in your position. The knock-on effect of a victory is less chance of you getting back in the team and even more marginalisation. I struggled to deal with that, and my ego was just a dot compared to Ronaldo’s.

I believe it boils down to self-worth. If you only see yourself as a footballer (albeit it the best in the world), then any perceived slight on your career is a direct attack on you as a person.

Fortunately, when I watch my own children play and deal with situations far more maturely than I ever did (even as a professional), I realise there is a better way to handle these emotions.