So the dream is over.......

Relegation may have been the outcome of yesterdays game against Liverpool, but if points in the Premiership were awarded to the most passionate and loyal fans, then without doubt we would be at the top of the league.  Yesterdays support highlighted just how much the team and club in general mean to so many Baggies fans, old and new.  The noise around the ground was as loud as I have heard for years, easily out singing the traveling Liverpool fans, who made a few token attempts to give us a rendition of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' or another of their anthems, but despite the score line, the day belonged to the massed ranks of Baggies fans.

After last seasons Championship win, the first since the 1919-1920 season, it was hoped that the club would give the fans a chance to see their heroes parade the trophy through the streets, but someone decided that it was not to be and we were denied that chance.  I only hope that the person who made that decision was on hand yesterday to witness just how much this club is loved by the fans despite facing relegation to the Coca Cola Championship.  There seems to be an inevitability about the Albion going straight back down whenever we reach the top tier of English football, an inevitability perpetuated by the television pundits and football writers of the national press, so yesterdays display of support from the fans came as no surprise to me.  Through thick and thin, this club can rely on loyal support.  There may be dissenting voices from time to time, I have shown that with my blogs, but at the end of the day cut us and we bleed blue and white.  This is our club, our team no matter what league we are in.

Yesterdays game summed up our season.  A howling error in defense at one end and the inability to find the back of the net at the other.  At times, particularly the first fifteen or twenty minutes, we hit Liverpool hard and had them reeling, forcing them onto the back foot and limiting them to the odd foray forward, but to make mistakes such as Shelton Martis did just yards in front of Stevie Gerrard is like signing a death warrant for yourself.  One of the World's best midfielders is not going to show any mercy when presented with a gilt edged chance to score like that.  At times our passing was as good as Liverpool's, our running off the ball was equal to anything on offer from the Reds, but unfortunately our finishing was not.  Luke Moore came close, Marc Antoine Fortune had several chances, but try as they might, the ball refused to go in the back of the net.  How much of that was down to players lingering on the ball is open to debate, but with the likes of Jamie Carragher bearing down on you, time is a luxury in short supply at this level.

Mr. Mowbray has stuck to his philosophy of attractive, flowing football and at times this season I have had a whinge about this, but having seen what the team are capable in the games against Sunderland, Spurs, Wigan and Liverpool, his attitude to resist change and stick to his guns has been fully vindicated.  I was fortunate enough to attend the Supporters Club Players Dinner again this season, and listening to Mr. Mowbray talk about his approach to football, his obvious love and very extensive knowledge of the game made me realise that this club's future is in very safe and capable hands.  Whatever happens next season I am sure it will be an exciting and hopefully, champagne season for everyone at The Hawthorns.

The desire is back.......

I have tried to avoid any news or coverage of The Baggies lately.  I have stopped watching Match of the Day on Saturday and Sunday, I avoid Central News and BBC Midlands Today, the radio has been re-tuned to The Archers and Radio 4 rather than BBC WM's sports programming and I have stopped reading the match reports in the national press.  The reason behind this strange behaviour is simple.  I do not want to get caught in the hype of another Great Escape.  I really don't think my nerves could take another day like the 15th May 2005, when The Stars in Stripes made Premiership history by being the first club ever to avoid relegation despite being bottom at Christmas.  Back then circumstances were very different, our opponents, Portsmouth, had a vested interest in our survival because it meant that their hated local rivals, Southampton would be relegated if we won.  This time round we face Blackburn, mathematically still not clear of danger, and they still have to visit Stamford Bridge next weekend, so you can be sure Big Sam will be going for all three points against a former club, but realistically it seems they may well be safe.

That leaves Portsmouth, Sunderland, Hull, Newcastle and Middlesbrough scrapping it out with us at the foot of the table and the maths all indicate that we still have to rely on results going our way as long as we can get at least a point against Liverpool next weekend.  However, with their title aspirations we can expect little mercy from the likes of Gerrard and Torres, and even if we do manage to get a draw, we then have to hope Newcastle and Boro draw later today, Villa beat both Middlesbrough and Newcastle, Chelsea beat Sunderland, Hull lose to Bolton and Manchester United and we can get a win at Ewood Park.  A tall order but still possible.

The last three games have shown that the desire is back amongst the squad.  A very good win against Sunderland, a disappointing result but very solid performance against Spurs and yesterday's display against Wigan have shown the fans that the team have got that determination and ability to survive the drop.  The team looked effective on the attack, a bit dodgy at times at the back and superb in midfield.  Borja Valero had by far his best game for the club since signing, though I felt Chris Brunt was a little subdued yesterday, but for me the best player on the park was Dean Kiely.  There seemed to be a confidence that we had a decent keeper between the sticks, someone who commanded his area with authority.  Scott Carson has not delivered that all season, maybe he is still suffering from 'that' England performance, who knows ?  Don't get me wrong, he has made some fantastic saves, but other times he gives the impression that he seems a little lost in games.  Defensively the Albion have struggled at times, especially when Meite and Barnett play together, and this must have some effect on Carson, but Olsson amd Martis coped with Wigan effectively yesterday and were only caught out a few times by the high ball.  Marek Cech caused a few concerns by falling over at the wrong time once or twice, maybe longer studs in his boots may help, but all in all it was a performance and result that drew us level on points with our fellow strugglers Boro and Newcastle and gave thousands of Baggies faithful, around the World, hope that the impossible can be achieved....even if we do have to rely on the Villa to help us.

Time for a change

West Bromwich Albion are effectively down, gone without a single solitary sign of the form and passion that was evident in last season's fantastic campaign which saw the team crowned as Champions of the Coca Cola Championship.  The current team lack any of the desire, ideas, urgency and determination that were there in bucketfuls last season.

Saturday, against Stoke, it was like watching a punch drunk boxer just waiting for the end of the fight, waiting for inevitable 10 count from the referee.  In the car on the way home, the driver, Mr. Glen Evans a Baggies fan of many, many years commented 'In all my time supporting the Albion I have never left before the end of a game, but today it was just too painful to watch.'  The same story must have applied to the other thousands who all made their feelings clear by leaving with at least 10 minutes left on the clock.  The Smethwick End, normally the loudest section at home games looked bare, The Brummie Road End, also emptied as did the East Stand.  Feelings and emotions were vented with a chorus of 'What a load of rubbish' from the Brummie Road fans as the teams left the pitch.  Where did it all go wrong ?  Personally I believe that it is time for a change, but NOT, as one caller to Paul Franks's post match analysis on BBC WM suggested, with Tony Mowbray.  I believe that the change needs to come from the very top, with Chairman Jeremy Peace.

Why have we not attracted a shirt sponsor this season when we are in the most watched league in the World ? Why did we not offer Kevin Phillips the extra year he requested on his new contract ? Why did we allow key players to leave a Championship winning side during the Summer ?  I am sure that other Baggies fans have their own questions, but I doubt the Club will give us any answers.

We desperately need someone to recharge a bit of life in the Club, someone willing to sweep away any of the alleged wage structures and show a bit of passion for the Club.  Someone willing to give the Manager some funds to spend on decent players instead of lightweight midfielders from Spain.  I'm not saying the Club should take the Bradford route for Premiership survival and throw silly money around, and to give Mr. Peace some credit, he has given the Club a level of security in financial terms, but at what cost ?

Many fans believe that when the trapdoor does open on us this season, a lot of players will leave the Club.  Carl Hoefkens has already stated that if we go down he is off, Jay Simpson has said he might not stay, Paul Robinson will again become the target for other clubs during the Summer and I am sure a few others will want to leave.  So how do we replace them and with who ?  Personally I think our central midfield is too weak.  Jonno Greening, Robert Koren and Valero are flair players with wonderful skills, but we need someone like Derek McInnes in there to hold the ball, someone who will get stuck into the tackles and instill a bit of fear into the opposition.  Rising star Graham Dorrans could do that, he played a blinder at West Ham, and since then has had to make do with a seat in the dugout and watch as the ball is passed across the field time after time, going nowhere until it comes back to the centre and then is played back to Ollson or Martis in defence where the whole process starts again.  However, the question remains, where do the funds come from with the current incumbent at the helm.

Its time for change Mr. Peace......

It's time to stand up and be counted.....

There really has not been anything you could call positive to write about when concerning the Baggies lately.  The poor performances at home have not really done much to inspire any kind of confidence for the fans and even Tony Mowbray commented upon this on the West Brom website when he said that continued poor showings drain the energy from the crowd.

The defence has been poor and the manager has tried a few changes to stem the problem, but for me the problem lies further back in Scott Carson.  To me a keeper should command his box, tell his defenders off when they make mistakes and rule with an iron fist.  Carson just does not seem to do any of these things and this lack of leadership at the back is having a detrimental effect on the defences performances.  Defenders need to have confidence in the keeper and at times it looks as if that is the problem with the Baggies.

Perhaps it is time to give Dean Kiely a few matches between the sticks, someone who has experience of the pressures of the Premiership and is a seasoned and more importantly, confident keeper.  The next two home games against Bolton and Stoke will only count if the team get results on the board, nothing less than wins can help our cause and even then we have to hope the teams around the bottom can be dragged back into the mix.  Bolton are always a difficult team to play, but with Mark davies out injured and Kevin Nolan now at Newcastle, maybe it is our time.  Stoke have got that mantle as the Baggies voodoo team, but trends can, and are, broken.  They will come with their usual tactics of frustrating the Baggies, fans and team, but the game can and  should be winnable for the Albion.

Its time for Baggies fans everywhere to stand up and be counted if we are to stay in this league.  Changes can be made in the close season, sponsors can be feted, players allowed to go and if needs be, new owners bought in, but for the next few weeks as the season draws to a close everyone should be focused on one thing and one thing alone....survival !!!!!

Defence...What defence ?

Well there was not much to sing about at The Hawthorns this afternoon after what can only be described as a very poor and underwhelming performance by The Baggies.  It was just like being at Roots Hall, New Years Day, 2007 again when the Albion were soundly beaten by a struggling Southend.  Memories of that day will live long in the minds of the travelling Baggies that day, and so will today's performance.

The team selection raised a few eyebrows pre-match, with the Manager opting for his favoured 4-5-1 formation even though the team had registered three consecutive home wins over the Festive period with a solid 4-4-2 formation.  Roman Bednar must be wondering what he has done to Mr. Mowbray if he is not going to start him in games like this and of this importance.  Fans calling into Paul Franks's show on BBC WM were justifiably angered at Mr. Mowbray's selection and one fan went as far as saying he felt the Manager had 'bottled it'.  This was a huge game for both teams as they try to scrap their way to more secure berths in the table.

Newcastle were not brilliant, except for Damian Duff who ran rings around Carl Hoefkens, so it was not beyond the realms of possibilty that the Baggies could put an end to the 25 year dry spell against the Geordies if they came together and found some of that spirit and determination that they had in spades last season.  There were some key members of the team out through injury, Jonno Greening, Jay Simpson, Jonas Olson and Ishmael Miller to name a few, but this just makes excuses for the poor performance, especially in the first half, by the Baggies.

The general consensus around the ground and on the walk home was that three players cost us that game; Leon Barnett, Do Hoen Kim and Abdoulaye Meite.  All of them put in a performance that would not have seen them make it into a Warley Sunday League team ever again, let alone the Baggies.  Barnett was all at sea for the first goal after getting the ball caught between his legs and allowing Duff to capitalise, Kim could not find his backside with both hands so expecting him to find a team mate with a decent pass was expecting too much and Meite just looked terrified everytime the ball came near him.

In the second half the Manager made sensible changes and bought on Bednar and Phillipe Teixeira, and reverted to the 4-4-2 system which improved the performance greatly.  Maybe now Mr. Mowbray will scrap the 4-5-1 idea and realise that last season it may have worked in the Championship, but this year we have not got the experience of Kevin Phillips to call upon when playing that formation.  Its time to play to our strengths and use the muscle of Bednar who will run for 90 minutes and chase lost causes and maybe even try playing 'ugly' football.  There seems to be no one player who stands out as being a match winner at the moment with the current crop of injuries, but after today there are three candidates for match losers.

Its time to roll up the sleeves, knuckle down and start getting the basics right both on and off the pitch for the Club.

Concentrate on the League now.....

So we crashed out of the FA Cup to Burnley.  Is this a blessing in disguise or another example of just how bad things have got with the team ?  Hopefully without the distractions caused by cup fixtures, possible replays and all the hype that goes with a good run in the World's oldest, and by far the best, Cup competition, the Baggies can kick on from here and concentrate on retaining their Premier League status.

Mr. Mowbray bought in two players in just before the transfer deadline window shut, Youssouf Mulumbu from French giants Paris St. Germain and Argentinian Juan Carlos Mesenguez from San Lorenzo.  According to the club website Mr. Mowbray has not seen the Argentinian winger live, he watched tapes of the player and claims that the player is pacy and has enough tricks in his repertoire to get past people and cause a few problems.

All season we have been found lacking in front of goal, so why bring in two midfielders ?  We have a plethora of talent in that area with Koren, Brunt, Morrison, Greening, Texiera, Dorrans, Kim and Valero all first team regulars so why did we not go out and bring in a striker instead ?  Far be it from me to cast doubts upon the judgement of our beloved manager, his pedigree within the game is second to none, but surely he can see week in, week out where our frailties lie.

The Albion really do need to knuckle down and get some results on the board that will secure our Premier League status, otherwise we face another year in the Championship next season.  The Smethwick End have their new song 'We've Done It Before; We Can Do It Again', but is that just wishful thinking or can the Baggies actually pull another Great escape out of the bag ?

We've done it before, We can do it again

I made myself a promise not to get too excited about the Baggies this year.  I just wanted to survive in the Premiership and then next season to consolidate our position and then become an established side in English football's elite league.  However, nothing can be taken for granted when supporting The Baggies.  They seem to have a different agenda to the thousands of fans who make the journey to B71 every week, its as if they like to make us suffer sometimes and take pleasure in fraying our nerves right to the end.

The final match of the 1999 - 2000 season against Charlton, when we needed a win to stave off relegation and consign our local rivals Walsall to League 1, the final match against Crystal Palace in 2002 when all we had to do was match or better what Wolves did at Hillsborough to secure automatic promotion to the Premiership, the Great Escape game at home to Pompey (2004 - 2005) and last season at QPR where we needed a win to confirm us as Champions.  It has been a rollercoaster ride the past few seasons and this year looks like it could be the same again.

Three home wins have restored some hope amongst the fans and yesterday a new song rang out from the Smethwick End 'We've done it before, We can do it again, We've done it before, We can do it again'.  The song spread around the stadium like a bush fire through the outback and soon 25,000 were singing it with gusto and belief that we can again pull off the Great Escape.

It must have been difficult for Tony Mowbray, seeing his beloved Boro put to the sword by the stars in stripes.  The gaffer is held is such high regard by the Boro faithful and is rightfully regarded as a legend up on Teeside for his years spent with the club during their most desperate times during the late 80's when the club almost ceased to exist.  However, he is a Baggie now and three points are three points, so sentimentality must be put aside as we fight for the right to occupy our place in next years Premiership.

The loss of Kevin Phillips during the close season caused more than a few raised eyebrows amongst the fans, it was like a dagger through the heart to many and we did lack the firepower up front that is required at this level, but Tony Mowbray kept insisting that we are a team that can score goals when required.  He kept his faith in Miller and Bednar, sent Beattie out on loan to give him some first team experience with Palace and even started Moore on a few occasions, but for me the turning point came when Jay Simpson arrived from Arsenal. Part of Wenger's youthful team that stormed through the League Cup rounds, he was available for loan after the young Arsenal side were knocked out of the competition by Burnley and Tony Mowbray wasted no time in securing a season long deal.  The next bit of business was the loan of Marc-Antoine Fortune from Lyon, who made his home debut yesterday against the Boro.

The addition of these two has meant that there must be fierce competition for the two starting places up front amongst the strikers at the club, and that can only be a good thing for the team, the club and the fans.  Simpson looks like he is going to be a handful for defenders with his pace and strength on the ball and his reading of the game is second to none, whilst Fortune has experience of Ligue 1 to call upon in order to ensure that the Baggies stay in the Premiership.

We've done it before. We can do it again......

Finally......

It was a long time coming, but the late late winner by Roman Bednar secured three valuable points and gave 26000 odd West Brom fans an early Christmas present yesterday, despite Man City drawing themselves level mid way through the second half.

The Hawthorns erupted when Luke Moore finally found the back of the net, and to be fair to the player, he looked like he wanted to play yesterday, he has been accused of not having any heart for the club, but yesterday he showed that maybe there is something there.  Of course the cynic in me thinks that he was merely using the visit of the World's richest club and Sky cameras, as an opportunity to put himself in the shop window and hope for a move away from West Brom, but I suppose time will tell when the transfer window opens in just over a weeks time.

It is an important period in the fixture calender for any club, but with Chelsea away on Boxing Day and Spurs at home on the 28th, it means that we are already relying upon other scores so there is not too huge gap open up between us and the rest of the pack in this relegation scrap.  Any game against a so called 'Big Four' team can be written off, but Chelsea are capable of slipping up from time to time, Barnsley and Burnley must have both thought their cup aspirations were over when their name was drawn out alongside Chelsea, but it was not to be and both clubs recorded wins against the Kings Road playboys, so maybe the results fairies will conspire to make Boxing Day 2008, one of the most memorable for ever for West Brom fans.  Tickets are still available it seems as 48 quid has pushed the game beyond the means of a lot of Baggies fans and if the rumours are true it looks as if there are just 400 out of a possible 1400 making the Yuletide trip to West London.

After Boxing Day, we face Spurs, a team rejuvenated by the appointment of Harry Redknapp a few weeks ago, but still not clear from the danger of relegation.  It is fair to say that Redknapp is one of the most popular figures in football, but Albion fans would love to get a win over on him in some sort of weird revenge for the Baros handball that denied us a second trip to Wembley last season for the F.A. Cup Final.

Whatever the outcome from the Xmas programme I still think the Baggies can turn this around and survive the drop at the end of the season, setting a new Premiership record for being the ONLY team to be bottom at Christmas and stay up.....TWICE

Merry Christmas and a Boing Boing New Year !!!!

Mowbray versus the pundits

Okay so we went to Stoke and lost again.  There is nothing newsworthy about that, after all we have not won there for 26 years and Stoke are a bogey side for us.  The most interesting thing to come from the match for me was the views of Tony Mowbray concerning the BBC's Match of the Day pundits.  I have had chats with several Baggies fans who took what the manager said and put their own slant on things, but I think he meant something else with his comments.

Mowbray said in the interview that in two seasons under him we have scored over 100 goals in the Championship with his attacking and highly entertaining style of play, however, the Premiership is far faster, stronger and the quality of players makes it very difficult for West Bromwich Albion to continue to play this way.  He said that it is his job to entertain with his style of play and that with the players we have, we have to play to their strengths rather than adopt different tactics.  The likes of Greening, Koren, Valero etc are all technically gifted players so why just hit high balls into the middle of the park for them to flick forward when their greatest strength is with the ball at their feet.  Having watched the Baggies, it is frustrating that we are losing tight matches by the odd goal, Everton at home is a perfect example, we played the Merseysider's off the park yet came away with nothing.  He also said that the bridge between the Champioship and the Premiership is proving difficult to cross for the Baggies up to now, but hopefully with the January window we can do something to make life easier. He then went onto say that it is sad for people to sit on sofas and criticise teams for playing an attractive style of football.  Mr. Mowbray believes that if players want to play at the highest level then they should be able to pass, control, move, appreciate the game and move with the flow of the game.  He then said that it is his job to educate players to be able to play at a higher level.  Now, this is where a few Albion fans have took umbridge with the comments.  I believe he meant the team in general to play at a higher level, not just individual players who move onto 'better' teams.  I honestly think that any manager should be given at least 3 years to embed his philosophy and principles into a club.  Look at Martin O'Neill at Aston Villa, they have suddenly become real contenders for a Champions League place this season after a few seasons of quiet rebuilding while Mr. O'Neill sorted the team that he wanted, not the team the BBC pundits wanted.  He went about it quietly and methodically and now the Villa faithful are reaping the rewards.

Its okay for Mr. Hansen, Mr. Lawrenson and Mr. Shearer to sit and criticise week in week out, but lets look at their managerial careers, Mr. Hansen was thought to be the perfect replacement when Joe Fagin stepped down at Liverpool, but he decided he had no interest in any part of the managerial or coaching side of things and Mr. Lawrenson hardly set the world on fire with spells at Oxford Utd and Peterborough Utd, whilst Mr. Shearer is just out of the game after a hardly illustrious career as a player in terms of honours won.  Week in week out the Baggies have to put up with these experts slating us in the newspapers, predicting losses before a ball has been kicked and even having bookies pay out after just a few weeks like Stoke did earlier in the season.

Lets not forget that teams promoted have just the summer to get themselves ready for the transition from Championship to Premiership and none of them have really attracted any so called 'big' name players.  It is extremely difficult to step up and be ready both mentally and physically for life with English football's elite, especially with the money that some clubs have available for transfers and time is needed to consolidate the position, weather the storm of the first two seasons and then begin to establish the team as a Premiership side.  The BBC have never really held any promoted team in high regard and often have them on for the last match and sometimes editing out the best periods of games.  Blackburn at home this season saw some of the best attacking play seen at the Hawthorns, when for 20 minutes Blackburn were made to endure a constant bombardment as the Baggies came looking for the equaliser, but thanks to judicious editing all that made the show was Bednar's goal and then Miller's goal, missing out all the best parts of the game.

I do not know if Mr. Lineker or any of his cohorts read these blogs but all we want is a little bit of praise for our team once in a while....It won't hurt, honest....

Were we really surprised ?

Okay so we have played Liverpool and Chelsea in the space of 7 days and lost both games by 3 goals, scoring none.  At the start of the season we all looked at the fixture list and wrote off eight games against the big four, so why worry about these games ?  Well seeing us drop to the bottom of the table has not really helped, but look how tight things are.  A few results and teams fly up the table, look at Spurs for instance.  Three weeks ago they were the butt of everyones jokes and planted firmly on the bottom, now after Harry Redknapp has taken over they have put a run together and shot into the top half.

Its not as if we thought we were going to break into the top four or even challenge for a UEFA Cup place.  We all knew that it was going to be a different this year and we were probably going to struggle against teams, but in reality I do not think we have.  Our problem is, and will continue to be, a lack of fire power up front.  We desperately need a striker in the January window, but is that too little too late to survive ?  There are rumours around the club that Luke Moore just does not want to be at The Hawthorns, and when you see his body language, it does add credence to that rumour.  I have never seen him show any enthusiasm for the team and I just cannot understand why Tony Mowbray does not just sell him on.  Its obvious that he came as part of the Curtis Davis deal, a make weight, so maybe he is lacking confidence and feels he has been forced on the Club.  Whatever the reason, he needs to either ask for a move or get on with his game and try to secure a regular slot.

The team are playing some wonderful football and it is great to watch when the lads attack teams like they did for the first 20 - 25 minutes against Chelsea, but like Alan Hansen says week in, week out, it leaves us far too open at times and teams like Chelsea, Man Utd etc will punish us.  Chelsea were something else on Saturday, and I remember one stray pass which Robert Koren intercepted.  They have class in every position, but I was pleased to see the Albion take the game to them in the frst period and close them down as soon as they crossed the halfway line.  However, to do that for 90 minutes was a big ask of the team, but we proved that we have no-one to fear and if we can play like that against the likes of Stoke, Wigan, Fulham and the other teams down there with us, then we have a fighting chance.

The inclusion of Meite and Texiera in the squad can only benefit us now.  I thought Meite did a great job on Anelka at times Saturday, and Tex was a handful when he came on....Lets hope the next few games can turn our season around.  I think the make or break period is between now and Boxing Day when we go to Stamford Bridge.  If we can register a win or two and put a bit of daylight between the rest of the pack, we might just stand a chance...