Leeds United, Brentford And Uwe Rosler

Uwe Rosler's Time At Brentford

Uwe Rosler joined Brentford in June 2011 on a two year contract from Norwegian side Molde where he had been hired on a very short term contract to help them avoid relegation. They did. In the final eight games of the season they were undefeated and doubled their points tally. He would be replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjær in November 2010.

His first season at Brentford was a successful one by club standards. They finished in ninth place with 67 points, their highest league finish for six years.

His second year in charge would prove to be the most dramatic. Going into the final game of the season they were sitting in third place, and facing second place Doncaster Rovers at Griffin Park knowing a win would give them automatic promotion to the Championship. In the final minute of stoppage time, with the game delicately poised at 0-0, Brentford were awarded a penalty. The spot kick was missed, the strike crashing back off the crossbar, and Doncaster scored from the resulting counter attack to win the game and the league title. Brentford were consigned to the playoffs, where they made the final, defeating Swindon Town before losing 2-1 to Yeovil Town at Wembley.

He departed for Wigan Athletic in December 2013 with his head held high having won seven of his final eight games.

They would go on to earn promotion that season under Uwe's successor Mark Warbuton, with Brentford's Kevin O'Connor acknowledging Uwe's contribution:

"Uwe got the ball rolling. We were a bang average League One side, but Uwe changed the mentality. Everything he did was all Premier League standard. He did amazing, so we’ll be saying thank you to him." - Kevin O'Connor

Head To Head

Remarkably you have to go back to the 13th September 1961 to find the last victory against Brentford. A 4-1 win in a League Cup tie at Elland Road. They have met only four times since. The two League One fixtures in the 2009-2010 season both finished in draws, 0-0 at Griffin Park and 1-1 at Elland Road. Last season Brentford completed the double over the Whites, a 2-0 win at home followed by a 0-1 win at Elland Road.

In total the clubs have faced off 30 times, with Leeds winning 11, Brentford winning 9 and 10 finishing all square.

Looking Ahead To The Weekend

On Saturday Uwe Rosler's former side will visit Elland Road hoping for a repeat of last season. Leeds however look an entirely different prospect to the side which faced them last year. They go into the game undefeated in the league so far this season and on the back of a splendid away victory at promotion hopefuls Derby County.

Brentford in contrast have suffered back to back defeats, a 1-0 loss at Burnley followed by a 1-3 home defeat at the hands of Reading before the international break. Leeds will be hoping they can continue their good run of form against a side which looked decidedly out-of-sorts last time out.

Thankfully Uwe has no new injury concerns with all Leeds United's international players returning from national duty without incident, and the stage is set for what should be a cracking game.

On paper it looks like a home victory but there are no easy games in the Championship. Given the morale in the Leeds United dressing room I expect Leeds to have the edge and claim all three points, particularly with a noisy home crowd behind them.

We may also see new signing Jordan Botaka for the first time on Saturday. The DR Congo international looks an exciting prospect, a winger who should add something extra in attack. Nicknamed 'The Wizard' because of his skill and trickery on the ball, Uwe will be hoping he can provide extra pace and width down the right wing, although I'm not sure how this will overlap with Sam Byram's role in the squad. Either way, he looks a good signing and a valuable addition to an already solid squad.

With Leeds still stinging from the Bees double last season, they will be hoping for a reversal this time out.