everybody concerned - especially in the dialog of the swindon supporters on the WBA boards at BBC 606, and their reports on simon cox - have been uniformly positive. while one and all seem to agree that the baggies have signed the right man, and he is a potential 15-20 goal-scorer at the championship level; the assessments and criticisms of di matteo are wildly varied. for example, one poster wrote that he was a great choice, and is committed to playing football the "albion way"; while others have said that he is a nothing more than a modern day proponent of the current (and incorrectly named) "catenaccio" school of tacticians.
i did see both legs of the play-off with scunthorpe united, and to tell the truth, i couldn't really make a judgment about DM's management capabilities solely based on this. teams don't always play to their natural style in knock-out competitions; and individual players, as well, are often distracted to the point of second-guessing what comes naturally and change their game when faced with this prospect - so it would be unfair to judge what type of manager DM is based on seeing him only under these conditions. but - and since you must be one to support the albion - as an optimist, i think we've probably done pretty well in this department; and whatever his true style of management is, he seems like a winner. his presence at the hawthorns and the signing of a young, exciting and effective striker - coupled with his high-level friends and contacts inside the footballing world - already feels good (maybe i'm just relieved that we have a manager again, at last!) and should be a recipe for success.
there's been no more news about either robinson or morrison leaving for bolton, as was being reported the last couple of weeks in the news media - and it looks, therefore, like di matteo is inheriting mowbray's old squad fairly intact. the signing of simon cox, along with the return of ishmael miller is as exciting a prospect as we've seen at the hawthorns in a long time. in the championship, i would expect this pair is good for maybe as many as 40 goals, and a much more potent offensive pairing than the new gaffer had at MK; where there seemed to be a lot of 1 and 2-goal matches, low-scoring draws, and single goal wins - especially in the second half of the season. this would tend to bear out that (and in the catenaccio tradition) he likes a good solid defense as his basis; however, a 6-2 (2-2 HT) drubbing of oldham back in march, would suggest that di matteo also lets his forwards and attacking mid-fielders play progressively when the situation allows. in short, and like i said before, he seems like a winner - whatever it takes and with whatever resource is available - and these are the exact qualities that the baggies lacked in last year's premier league.
the days to come will tell the story, but in true albion style i am going to remain optimistic, loyal and look forward to this season with confidence. i mean, we've already started with a better off-season than last year. certainly, the news of a new manager, an exciting young striker - as well as the imminent return of ishmael miller - is better news than kevin phillips leaving to play at birmingham city, and the only other significant development being the signing of gianni zuiverloon.
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