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.

In this week's column, Ben looks ahead to Saturday’s clash with Everton and details how he cleverly avoided being fined by former boss Ian Holloway...

Fine by me

Fines are a funny thing in football. With some players on more than £200,000 per week, you question the impact they actually have.

Aston Villa’s fine system found its way onto Twitter recently. There were gems on there like a £1,000 fine for being late and £50 for forgetting leggings!

At most clubs I played for, fines were pretty lenient and often managed by the senior players. Only for the major issues did the manager and coaching staff get involved.

At Stockport County, we had a £10-per-minute fine for being late. I recall one player (who wasn’t particularly well paid) got stuck in traffic and arrived 45 minutes late. He was in tears at his £450 fine and had to pay in instalments!

At the successful clubs I played for, people were not generally late as there was too much respect in the changing room. The best teams hold each other accountable and often have the best standards. There is always the odd player who is too laid back, however, I always found that the team helped those players out by dragging them out of bed or picking them up nice and early.

I was never late for things, although one time at Blackpool, I got the time of training wrong. I was lying in bed when a team-mate called and asked where I was. He informed me that Ian Holloway was holding a meeting at that very moment. The boys covered for me and said I was in the toilet. I rushed out of bed and zoomed to training (I only lived ten minutes away) and entered the changing room pretending I had a bad stomach. The gaffer was none the wiser, or at least he didn’t let on.

Pundits

There’s nothing quite like hearing an average ex-footballer absolutely decimating a current player in a bid to try and forge a media career.

Some pundits are excellent, and you can tell they know what they’re talking about. Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher are prime examples of players who have spent their whole careers at the top of their profession and use their knowledge to make inciteful comments. Gabby Agbonlahor is sadly not. Yes, his career was far more impressive than mine, but then again I’m not slagging off players in the media.

Agbonlahor recently joined the Manchester United bashing bandwagon to earn himself some headlines. He claimed Jadon Sancho is “not even worth one million” and “Marcus Rashford is unfit for a promoted team”. Both of those players achieved more by the time they were 19 than he did in his whole career.

Fortunately, it wasn’t just me cringing at his comments. Jurgen Klopp revealed that he was close to phoning talkSPORT to point out that Agbonlahor was not exactly a “mentality monster” when he lost 6-0 against Liverpool. Don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.

A case for the defence

I was at Goodison Park the last time these two sides met and the atmosphere was incredible. It reminded me what a huge club Everton are and how passionate their fans can be. The Bees handled that situation perfectly and claimed a 3-2 win.

The results haven’t been great so far this season for Frank Lampard, but I have been impressed with their transfer business. Conor Coady is a brilliant signing alongside ex-Bee James Tarkowski at the heart of the defence. Both have huge experience in the Premier League and are a vast improvement for the Toffees.

During my time with Ian Holloway at Blackpool, he used to rotate us forward players depending on the opposition defenders. If they had two big lumps at the back, he would opt for DJ Campbell; if they were slightly smaller and more mobile, he would choose me. The great news for Brentford (and bad news for opposing teams) is they have the ideal blend of power and pace with Ivan Toney and Bryan Mbuemo.

With Everton looking to build on their first point of the season and Brentford seeking to recover from last week’s late loss, it should be a great game today.