8:00am Friday 3rd September 2010
By Stuart Amos
Brentford boss Andy Scott has told goalkeeper Richard Lee to fight for his place after the former Watford man reacted angrily to the arrival of Reading shotstopper Ben Hamer on transfer deadline day.
The 27-year-old, who starred in Tuesday’s 1-0 win at Stevenage, signed for the Bees in the summer on the understanding he would be Scott’s number one for the current campaign.
Two poor pre-season performances against Fulham and Staines Town saw him drop down the pecking order with the Griffin Park chief prefering to name youngsters Simon Moore and Reading’s England U21 loanee Alex McCarthy ahead of him.
But Scott, who hailed him as his first choice ahead of the pre-season schedule, insists he guarantees no-one in his squad a starting slot.
“Of course people who are not in the team are not going to be happy. Richard is not the only one,” he said.
“I don’t expect the likes of Nicky Forster, Pim Balkestein, David Hunt or Sam Saunders are happy either, but that is life. We’ve got players competing in every position.
“I said from the outset I wanted two number one goalkeepers. Richard wears the number one shirt and is one of those two goalkeepers.
“I’ve never guaranteed a player a starting position that is not what we are about.
“Whether what I said in the summer has been misconstrued I don’t know, but everyone is going to have to get used to fighting for their place.”
Hamer, who lifted the League Two title with the Bees, agreed a loan switch to Brentford from the Madjeski Stadium on Tuesday and Lee admitted this week it is a move he is not overjoyed with.
“I’m very disappointed with the manager. There have been certain issues in terms of his communication with me and certain other players, that I’ve not been happy about.” he said.
“Things didn’t start as I would have liked, but if two poor pre-season games is enough to have you pushed to one side then so be it.
“I came here to be a number one goalkeeper and to progress my career. That hasn’t changed.
“I feel I’ve shown a bit of what I’m about now, so hopefully I can get a chance at a good run.
“With two quality goalkeepers it should be a 50-50 chance for both of us, but only time will tell.”
But the manager is an admirer of Hamer and is confident he can get his career back on track after failing to make the breakthrough at the Royals.
“Richard has done himself no harm today, which is what I want, for players to give me a problem,” said Scott after Tuesday’s win.
“Ben knows how we work, and we know how he works and I think I can get the best out of him. I have done in the past and I think I can in the future.”
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