At the end of last week, all was sweetness and light for Mark Warburton. The Brentford manager had guided his team to the higher reaches of the Championship and the former currency trader in the City was riding high.
It seemed that he had made a good deal all round, swapping his smart work suit for a sweaty training top.
Perhaps Warburton could even lead the humble West London club into the multimillion-pound environs of the Premier League.
A week on, it all seems to be going wrong.
Warburton’s future at Griffin Park appears in doubt, with reports suggesting that the club’s owner, Matthew Benham, will bring in the little-known Rayo Vallecano coach, Paco Jémez, next season.
And since the news broke, Brentford have lost twice in a row – 2-1 at home to Watford on Tuesday, albeit with 10 men for much of the game, and now 3-0 in their London derby with Charlton Athletic at The Valley.
Charlton had not won in 14 matches but, by and large, won as they pleased, with goals from Johann Gudmundsson, Igor Vetokele and, in stoppage time, Frédéric Bulot.
Warburton, 52, did not offer the off-the-field distractions as a reason for the team’s mini-slump, but hoped that a club statement would be issued soon to clarify his position as Griffin Park.
“It [the speculation] has had no effect whatsoever,” Warburton said. “There’s no excuses for that display. This group is better than that. It’s too easy to come in and say that matters off the pitch are impacting the group. Absolutely not.
“I’m sure there’ll be more clarity on this. I’m sure there’ll be a statement out early next week. Players are human, they read papers.
“The owner, Matthew, has invested a lot of money in this club and we wouldn’t be where we are today without him. Plain and simple. He’ll give some clarity in the next couple of days, I’m sure.
“The fact is our standards dropped today. It was just a bad day at the office.”
For lowly Charlton, it was a rare good day at the office – a first home league victory since October and a first victory of any kind since November. Charlton showed more bite in the tackle, a greater willingness to push forward and were rewarded in the 27th minute.
Vetokele was given time and space to find Gudmundsson and the midfielder stroked an elegant cross-shot past the Brentford goalkeeper, David Button.
Brentford were strangely lacklustre, offering only a muted response, and Vetokele could have doubled the home lead before the interval but Button made another agile save.
Tony Watt squandered an opening, when he lost control of the ball at the vital moment, but he made amends in the 55th minute, when Charlton doubled their advantage.
Watt provided the clever approach play to release Vetokele, who finished the job with a precise effort past the exposed Button. Already, Brentford’s cause appeared lost.
They did produce a late rally, of sorts, but just didn’t have enough firepower to peg back the deficit.
The home goalkeeper, Stephen Henderson, twice saved well from Alex Pritchard but Bulot then added Charlton’s third goal in stoppage time with a fiercely angled drive.
“We played very well and deserved to win,” Guy Luzon, the Charlton head coach, said. “But with three months without a win, it wasn’t easy.
“It’s the first step and our goal has to be to show that performance in the next game. All my players gave their maximum.
“There is a sense of relief but we mustn’t stop. It’s not over, we have to keep going.”
Warburton has to keep going, too. If he is given the chance.
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