i am an eternal optimist as far as the baggies go - and the last 2 wins have been nothing short of thrilling - if not also absolutely necessary. added to the fact that both of the wins were achieved in high style, by a team that just would not be beaten or drawn on the day.
WBA 2-1 Manchester City
i was really expecting the baggies to win this one. just based on the odds that a football team playing as generally decent a level of football as the albion have played all year, cannot continue to not win games - it is just not possible. eventually the tide will have to change. we shall of course realize later on how much of a pivotal moment this was for the baggies; but what really impressed me at the time, was that it was done in the style of someone who will NOT be denied. as roman bednar ripped off his shirt in celebration of what was undoubtedly the winning goal in stoppage-time, it made me think of how many times i had seen teams like manchester united or liverpool win in similar fashion: the albion looked like winners all the way!!!
as well, luke moore showed us that at the moment he is the most knowledgeable and experienced forward on the team, and tony mowbray might have looked at partnering moore with miller as an attacking pair earlier on in the season. certainly moore's natural intelligence at the forward position would have been a good and instructive influence on miller's natural and prodigious physical strength and pace - miller just didn't have luke moore's smarts yet.
luke moore demonstrated this in his goal against man. city. giving us a sight as yet unseen this season - in that, a west brom forward was experienced enough to hold his run, stay on-side, then cut his run back to the inside in order to receive the pass in front of the trailing defender, before - and, with only the goalie to beat - he calmly slots the ball home in complete and relaxed control, showing nothing tentative or unsure about it: a thoroughly professional goal indeed.
and i've got to give it carson, whom i have been critical of all season, he is proving himself a really solid little goalie, who keeps everything very tidy with a good set of hands and doesn't let much get away or bounce around on him. and truthfully, he's looking better each time i see him. i'd stick with him for a couple of years and see how he develops. i've had a big turnaround on this one.
Chelsea 2-0 WBA
for whatever reason, i got up early and managed to hear the chelsea-albion match on the BBC radio 5live - a rarity indeed. too bad it just wasn't much of a match. indeed, it sounded like the gaffer had told them go out and have a defensive practice session, and we'll let beattie have a go at starting up front in a single striker formation. an excellent strategy that gives the goalie and the fullbacks a real workout - and lets the least senior of the strikers get a good stretch of what must have been some really challenging playing time. excellent tactic... key players rested and everyone focused on beating tottenham 2 days on - an absolute must win situation and i guess 2-0 down to chelsea isn't too bad, considering we've borne worse losses to lesser teams this year - and it might very well have been 4-0.
so, there were plenty of positives to take from this one; only thing is: brilliant management on a limited resource does not always make for great entertainment.
well done... blah blah blah...
WBA 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur
this is the one that made sense out of both the last 2 games, in that it answered (for those who may have had any doubts or misunderstood the gaffer's intentions in managing the chelsea match as an exercise in defensive harm reduction) what the the last 2 games had been about: despite a miserable winless streak the baggies have managed to keep up to the pack and not be cut adrift; and are on the verge of attaining the form they shall need to produce a successful a campaign and remain in the premier league: THE GREAT ESCAPE II...
harry redknapp is the most brilliant manager in all of english football. you could see this in the sweeping and shocking change that spurs underwent when he came on board as manager. the last few weeks have been a little bit of a dose of reality and nobody knows better than harry what he now needs to do the job. in fact, he managed the team well enough on the day that it took the albion 83 minutes to break-through against a team playing most of that time down to 10 men, through the sending off benoit assou-ekotto in the first half. in fact, this was rarely in evidence until the second albion goal when, with tottenham pressing men forward for an equalizer, morrison took a long pass in the box and with beattie combined for a simple well taken goal in stoppage-time, and put the finishing touches to the albion's first multiple-goal victory of the year.
we finally got a look at cech in this game; and i thought he played really well; however, he was hardly a replacement for robinson, as he looked a player of much more versatile ability than robbo; and at his best moments looked much more an attacking mid-fielder than anything else. he looked as though he might prove a most useful asset and be possessed of a possible scope of play that is yet unrealized, that would allow him to play either at the back or in the mid-field. i still wish jonathan greening would get forward and be generally more attack minded in his game. he is probably the team's best all around player, is a captain who comports himself well with referees - always representing the team with dignity and with firm yet respectful manner. he is a sturdy, steadying effect and influence pushing short passes around in mid-field and generally directing traffic looking for openings and players moving into space; but, i think that jonno is a more talented player who brings an intensity and grit to the attack when playing higher up and getting into the box; and he improves the attack substantially in this role. this was very clear in the portsmouth game. i shall re-iterate and hope that TM gets on his back about it, because he should be scoring 5-10 more goals a year than he does now. that would, of course, require a substantial change in his present contributions, but i think he probably has the talent and should be exploring the potentials.
Learning to Live in a Changing World
i've turned around on so many points in the last weeks - and likewise have been turned around by a good deal of what has been going on in the league this holiday season. firstly, i can definitely say that the hull city bubble has burst. whatever merit, inspiration and hope can be taken from a 4-3 defeat to man united at old trafford - or a tough point won 2-2 at anfield; both results are somewhat diminished by a telling 5-1 trouncing at the hands of one of the league's 2 great schizophenics: man. city (with sunderland being the other). this is no doom and gloom that i'm predicting for them - and there may be some real excitement from the tigers yet, that could come in any form, at any time, in any competition with which they are involved. i just think that they have taken the high-scoring, shoot-it-out championship league style that they play, and translated it into something of a success in the premiership. however, i think they have taken it as far as they can; and will now have to adapt their game more to the style of the top flight.
i predicted, that west ham were soon to be seeing life from the vantage point of being in the bottom three of the league. while my prediction of a series of low-scoring, draws and losses has held generally true - they come out and utterly surprise me with a 4-1 away win at portsmouth (and their current form is something else altogether!). sunderland have convinced me - that whether schizophrenic or not - they have enough potential results in them to keep them out of a struggle against relegation. i cannot say the same for either of their northeast neighbours: middlesborough and newcastle - while both being decidedly gritty teams, capable of good results - i think that both clubs are in trouble and will be involved in avoiding the drop. stoke is just plain finished. their form will continue to let them down more as time drags on and they too will be struggling to avoid relegation.
the league is so tight this year - without any truly bad teams (just a few poor performances) and it's quite possible, that if the top 10 keep each other tied up with draws - and the bottom 10 keep nicking major points every few weeks - it's quite possible that a team might require as many as 40 points to avoid relegation. if the first half of the year is any indication of what's coming up in the second half - the relegation struggle will be changing complexion weekly and will no doubt go right down to the wire.
at the moment, and at the other end of the table - i'm picking villa for a top four spot finish; as well as fulham and wigan to be battling for sixth and seventh spot in the final standings. but that's only this week, and subject to change with the prevailing winds. in as tight a division as the premier league has become this year, that's just something i've got to learn to live with.
thank god for the distraction of this weekend's upcoming fa cup games, and we can all forget about the bloody premier league for a few days.
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