Still You Don't Believe...

in trying to figure out a reasonable long-term aspiration for the baggies, i turned back time and analyzed the team's two spells spent in the old 1st division, and comprising a total of 33 years, following the second world war and ending with relegation in the 1985-86 season. this was followed by what was without doubt the worst period in the club's history, and saw the albion have to embark on a long restructuring of the organization, due to a loss of support, that to this day has not been fully realized.

during both periods (one of 23 years and another of 10), in which the team showed remarkably similar trajectories, the average league finish in the final tables is that of a 9th place ranking. one of the ironies is that in all this time, it is a position that they very infrequently finished in. instead, the pattern of albion teams has always been to have mid to low table finishes in the league, and to win the odd FA Cup. the team then invariably hits a zenith that produces a series of top five finisihes that brings their average up considerably. indeed, 3 consecutive top five finishes at the end of the 1950s was definitley one of the real high points for a team that variously included the likes of ronnie allen, ray barlow, joe kennedy, frank griffiths and bobby robson.

in the 1960s, the baggies were a solid mid-table team who quite extraordinarily appeared in 4 cup finals in 5 years, winning an FA Cup and league cup, as well as losing two league cup finals in the process. when the team of astle, clark, williams and osbourne was disbanded, their time was up and the baggies went down for a three year stay in the 2nd division.





unlike today - and at the end of 1975-76, west bromwich albion - now led by player/manager johnny giles - returned to the top tier of english football with a team that was good enough to achieve a 7th place finish right off the bat in their initial season back in the top flight. alas, this is no longer possible with huge gaps in the levels of money between the top 5-10 clubs, the mid to lower table sides, the premier league relegation strugglers, west bromwich albion and the championship league. there are 4 or 5 distinct levels of footbal where the ideal is to have but 2.

to end their place in this cycle, the baggies need to aim for a solid 13th place finish. in fact, they should look at 13th place in the table and target it as rightfully theirs, in the same fashion that top 4 teams do. they might even consider making it their 4 year consolidation plan! a 17th place finish to start, and move up one place in the standings four years running!




if the current baggies sqaud can manage the form of yesteryear when 10th to 17th place finsishes were what was about expected, coupled with the odd cup run, they might one day find themselves in position to challenge for a place in europe. if there is a positive future for west brom in the premier league, it will have to be a scenario similar to this or none at all.

on the eve of the fifth campaign that west bromwich albion embark on in the holy grail of english football against a chelsea team that won the double last year, i can't really hope for anything more than not to get beaten too badly. but then again, as an albion supporter, one always hopes for that odd chance... an inexplicable convergence of energies and intanglibles where the highly improbable becomes manifest. anyway, reading, wigan, hull city and burnley have shown us in the last few seasons that if you're going catch one of the top teams out and take all three points, you're more likely to do it early on in the season and before anyone's hit their stride.

here's to the investment of hope in a seemingly impossible season and west brom's rightful 13th place finish ahead of wolves, wigan, blackburn, bolton, west ham, newcastle and blackpool!

let us hope for some small measure of joy and success from this season now upon us.

WBA 2-0 Middlesbrough F.C.

live text replay



well, there is very little that could please me more than the baggies still giving it a proper go when it is now all but a forgone conclusion that they will end the season as championship runner-ups; and, more importantly, have already achieved automatic promotion. but for simon cox to add to his season's total and get his goals tally on the year into double figures is something special again.

while the young striker has been at a distinct disadvantage in terms of team selection after the albion committed to 4-5-1 playing formation in the second half of the season, he scored what are arguably some of the club's most important goals this campaign. when the club's other strikers couldn't find any form, the young cox stepped into the starting team and scored 5 goals in as many games; and certainly, the last minute equalizer in the home fixture with QPR was a real turning point when the baggies looked as if they might be on the verge of a really perilous slip in form. however, the single-striker formation is a style that is particularly unsuited to a smaller player like cox, and this was really a bit unfortunate for him. he could have scored twenty and he really deserved a goal today.

once again, and having to listen to the match live through the ALBION RADIO transmission before getting a chance to see the TV broadcast in repeat much later in the evening, dave bowler, in the pre-game show re-iterated many of the points he had made about the state of the premiership and went on to elaborate on the trickle down effect that is accompanying increased television broadcast of football league matches and the recently announced increase in "parachute" payments made to teams relegated from the premiership.

also, as there is only a small percentage of participating teams in the premier league "competition" that are actually able to "compete". for the teams that occupy the bottom half of the table, this means that there are only perhaps 10-15 important matches a year and then 20 or 25 games that amount to nothing more than high-profile "friendlies".

i personally will miss the schedule and extra games of league football. i certainly won't have the opportunity to see 4 or 5 baggies' games in the space of two weeks with a premier league schedule, and i'd sooner visit griffin park or the county ground at swindon as travel to old trafford!



if we finish a premier league campaign in 15th place, it will be considered both a fantastic season and a major success. the problem is - and with this as an expectation, what is there really to look forward to? as one fan pointed out through the text messages, it means that west brom's season in the premiership is pretty much reduced to the black country derby and 36 exhibition games! if we're (un)lucky then the albion might be involved in battling against relegation which would give some meaning and perhaps a measure of excitement to the last few matches of the schedule...

i mean, "the great escape" was fun. but that was only four or five games, and the celebrations on the last day at the end of an otherwise miserable season.

in england - and when i was a boy - we used to feel feel quite superior and scratch our heads at the ridiculous monopoly held by rangers and celtic over the rest of scottish football. this was always taken as a major indicator of the overall weakness of the scottish game and considered a bit of a joke. unfortunately, the same thing has now happened in england with the development of the so-called "big four" and we are no longer in a position to be critical and laugh.

the english premier-league is not the competitive institution that the old first-division was. in 1976, west bromwich albion edged out bolton wanderers on the last day of the season for third place - and the final promotion spot - in the second-division. they then went on - and with pretty much the same squad - finished seventh in the first-division the following year. within two years, and following the acquisition of players like cyrille regis and laurie cunningham, the baggies went on to make a serious challenge for the title, ultimately finishing the 78-79 season coming up a goal short on the runner-up spot, which went to nottingham forest and the title going to liverpool.



a seventh place finish nowadays means qualification for the europa league and is a measure of success that will take a team like west bromwich albion many years, management that transcends genius, and a lot of cash to achieve. it is also about the most we can ever expect given the current structure of top-flight english football.

i'm not a fan of the "living the dream" ideal that the premier league promotes. this does nothing save provoke the supporters of its less prestigious clubs to harbour unreal expectations and creates animosity towards the club's management and directors. i know, for example, that jeremy peace always comes under, what can be, some pretty nasty supporter attacks for his good sense, business acumen and financial prudence when the baggies are involved in a premiership campaign.

i'm sure he looks forward to the day to day affairs of running the club in the premiership as much as he does getting a quick, unexpected and violent kick in the teeth.

what i think we all might be overlooking about next year's premiership, is that this is a much better baggies team than has ever gone into the premier league before. the trick to survival will lie in the ability of the management team to use its resources and adjust to what waging a "successful" campaign might mean and how it might be possible.



while they did well enough in all regards to win a great number of games in the championship this year, and with the talent that they have going forward, there won't be a problem in that regard. but, they shipped more than a few goals this year where the defending - while being adequate in the championship - just wouldn't cut it at top-level. i think, however, that with a change in tactics, the addition of one good centre-half, and the development of a more sophisticated defensive game they would do well enough to survive.

which brings me back to the quality of the albion attack. i thought, after seeing the TV repeat, that both simon cox' and roman bednar's goals (and certainly a lot of albion goals that i've seen this year) would make it in any league. the touch that simon cox showed on the first goal would've beaten a premier league defender of the first order just as it did gary o'neil and jonathan grounds.

roman bednar has already shown that he can score in the premier league, he just needs to improve on his last top-flight season. he was as good yesterday as i've seen him, and his lay-off from gabriel tamas long ball that set up the simon cox goal was brilliant. chesting the ball into the youngster's path was simple, effective centre-forward play at its best.

Man. United 3-5 WBA