Abroad Again Back Home

WBA 2-2 Aston Villa F.C.

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i have been on vacation... again.

since my 50th birthday, when i returned to england after an absence of 34 years, i have been going back to visit twice a year. with my mother having initially gone back in 1986 - and then making a second permanent return in 1989 - england is now the family home. this offers me a great excuse to get to the hawthorns a couple of times a year, and i am also afforded the opportunity to visit other grounds and watch other teams. on my last visit, for example, i went to meadow lane for the first time and watched notts county play bury on the friday night before sunderland came to the hawthorns... yet another adventure in my ever growing number of overnight tours of midlands' football stadia.

on tuesdays - and when i am in london - i go watch brentford at griffin park.

one of the sad ironies of my trips these days, is that with the baggies playing in the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE, i now only see them live twice a year. whereas, i went to six fixtures - and could have made it seven if i'd been able to get my ass up to middlesbrough on a sunday afternoon - the year they won promotion. also, much to my dismay, i can't get tickets to away matches anymore. evidently, top-flight football has its price. for two years running, i've seen brentford more times than i've been to watch the baggies; and last year, i went to both griffin park and the county ground at swindon more times than i was able to get to the hawthorns.

Everton F.C. 2-1 WBA

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i actually started this trip with the chelsea v brentford 4th round FA CUP replay at stamford bridge. this was the most oppressive atmosphere that i have yet encountered when attending football in england since the 1970s.

perhaps i am underestimating the fact that it was a local derby and the heightened security was warranted, but the general attitude of the stewards was excessive. for example, access to the club shop was physically blocked to away supporters and one particular steward outside the stadium took, what i felt, was an inappropriate interest in my activities as i photographed the brentford supporters coming down the brick-wall enclosed lane-way leading to the famous "shed end" of stamford bridge.

it appears that chelsea football club provides part-time employment for every dance-club bouncer and neighbourhood tough-guy in the west end of london.

while the bee's acquitted themselves well in the first-half, thanks to the goalkeeping of simon moore, it was all the LEAGUE ONE side had in them. after a decent crack at goal by adam foreshaw went just wide, and a poor decision by the referee saw marcello trotta's goal pulled back, the score remained 0-0 through half-time. however, the first chelsea goal came within minutes of the restart and that was the signal for the flood gates to open. the home side ran out easy winners by a score of 4-0.

it didn't matter and was surely something that we all knew was possible - and even likely - but by virtue of the fact that brentford took six thousand travelling supporters to stamford bridge, it was a significant event. i had been to a home fixture in the league last year that drew less than four thousand. of course, that match was on TV, so smaller than usual numbers at the gate would be expected.

WBA 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

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my next trip was to cardiff on a tuesday night. ironically, i had been there before and felt no connection to cardiff city football club whatsoever and had not anticipated returning. however, that particular experience had been soured before the fact that i had gone to cardiff because i hadn't been able to get tickets to watch the baggies away to the villa, and i simply wasn't going to spend a saturday afternoon in england (or wales, for that matter) without going to the football. it was one of my first great experiences of disillusionment with life in the PREMIER LEAGUE. on this visit, however, i did the right thing and bought my ticket from brighton and hove albion and went as an away supporter.

i stayed at a charming old hotel around the corner from the train station, and travelled out the stadium on a local service that cost £1.80 return.

after my experience at chelsea, the atmosphere here was much more laid back. it was nice to see that the stewards were actually supporters themselves, and were engaged in the match rather than looking for beach-balls to deflate and half hoping for trouble to kick-off. with the visiting team playing a brilliant rear-guard action, and sealing the victory with a late goal on the counter-attack, it was a really enjoyable way to spend a tuesday evening.

Liverpool F.C. 0-2 WBA

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after a couple of days back home with me mum, it was time for the highlight of the trip: an overnight excursion to watch football in the midlands.

i had done this a few times before. that is, i had made the journey leaving the day before and taking in an extra match on the eve of going to the hawthorns. it is a tradition that began out of necessity when west brom's PREMIER LEAGUE fixtures with wolves were played on the sunday with a noon kick-off, at the behest of the west midlands police. this meant that i would have to travel to birmingham a day early anyway. so what better way to pass the time than checking out other football grounds?

having been to leicester city, walsall and birmingham city on previous trips to see the albion, i now found myself spending a cold friday night in nottingham. i have always wanted to go to meadow lane, and i felt a connection there that i almost never feel when going to a new ground.

needing to use the facilities, i found a bar just inside the grounds of the stadium. truthfully, it looked more like a workingman's club or legion hall than it did a pub, and i doubt if anyone inside was younger than sixty. it was an environment that appeared timeless where life had changed little in the last thirty or forty years. as i looked around the brightly over-lit room, with its ancient, yellowing white walls, marked by the odd outdated event poster, i couldn't help but wonder if there if would be a next generation of supporters who would one day be there to take their place. in a world of SKYsports and ESPN broadcasts that show top-flight domestic and european games, it's hard to imagine football's traditional working class environments surviving past the next couple of decades.

notts county's opponents were bottom of the league strugglers, bury f.c., who had brought perhaps two or three hundred supporters down from lancashire with them. while they were certainly vocal enough for their small numbers, the jimmy sirrel stand appeared near empty, belying the fact that there was a reasonable gate (for a televised LEAGUE ONE match on a cold friday night) of nearly six-thousand.

while notts were clearly the more skilled side in possession, they lacked any luck or ability to finish, and a defensive mistake gave the visitors an early one-nil lead that they carried through half-time. this, of course, prompted some good old fashioned midlands-style moaning and groaning over a smoke in the parking lot at the break. the conversation was thick with threats of not renewing seasons tickets for next year, complaints about ticket prices, questioning the intentions of the board and their immediate ambition (or lack thereof)... all the cliché pronouncements heard regularly in pubs across the midlands.

however, with just over 12 minutes gone in the second-half, the magpies hit back with 3 goals in the space of 7 minutes and ran out 4-1 winners on the night.

WBA 2-1 Sunderland A.F.C.

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so, after a night in nottingham, i strolled down to the station and was at new street a good 2 hours ahead of kick-off.

this was my 11th trip to the hawthorns, and i am well familiar, at this point, with navigating the city centre and catching the local train from snow hill.

i have had extraordinarily good luck, as i have only seen the baggies lose once in all my trips to the hawthorns. of course, that was a christmas time fixture with blackburn rovers, when they were in the middle of their annual poor run of form, that traditionally starts in novemeber/december and carries through january/february. the only other occasion that i have been to the hawthorns that did not result in a victory was the re-scheduled fixture when carlos vela scored the equalizer in injury time to salvage a 1-1 draw with wolves and kicked off an 8 match unbeaten run under then new head coach, roy hodgson. despite my family and friends joking about my status as "good-luck talisman" for the baggies, the truth is, that i target matches that i think will be competitive and the baggies have a good chance of winning. i mean, i would just hate to travel the 3000 miles to see my team lose to the likes of manchester united or arsenal!

this was the second year in a row that i've been to the home fixture with sunderland. last year's game was without a doubt the baggies best overall performance of the year - and that includes the 5-1 win at the molineaux. this year's corresponding fixture wasn't in the same class, but the baggies were still good enough to hang on after going two-nil up (thanks to romelu lukaku) , before conceding a lone goal to the excellent stéphane sessègnon late on, for the final result of 2-1.

the big disappointment this year was my inability to get into the club shop. since the club's promotion, match day business has been picking up to such a degree that i would have needed to get there at least an hour and a half before kick off to get in a decent session of shopping for shirts and souvenirs. as it was, i had to line up for 15 minutes just to get in the door. however, i couldn't move and didn't get 15 feet past the entrance before i gave up, turned around and just got the hell out of there. it had changed so much since my first visit to the hawthorns for a match with plymouth argyle, that i thought, i'll do my shopping online and pay the shipping charges as long as it's like this, thanks!

of course, i really miss being in the same division with wolves, and i think that there is something irrational about a baggies supporter cheering the misfortunes of the dingles at the bottom of the CHAMPIONSHIP. i really miss the wolves fixtures at the hawthorns, and i hope to get a chance to travel to the molineaux for the derby one day. albion/wolves is the best rivalry in english football, and i really enjoyed the heightened intensity of these particular fixtures. i, for one, wish wolves only success until we're back in the same division.


my adventure that had begun at stamford bridge in such grand and grim fashion, ended rather modestly on a tuesday night at the broadfield stadium in crawley watching brentford away. i was staying at a hotel out near gatwick airport and crawley is only a 10 minute train ride south. i had gone out to the airport a day early in order to travel down and watch the match on tuesday, thus giving myself an extra day in london before having to leave on thursday morning.

in terms of a facility, crawley is a club that has come up into the FOOTBALL LEAGUE too quickly. they play in a quintessentially poor non-league stadium and employ an over-zealous security staff. it's not a particularly good place to watch football either. the designated seating for away supporters has the poorest sight-lines i have ever encountered at a professional ground.

there was 1500 travelling bee's fans that night, and it really felt like the staff was overwhelmed. i still haven't found out what happened, but during the break at half-time, the away supporters lounge was locked down, and the blue-coated "response" team moved in. there was much remonstrating and chanting from the travelling brentford support. i even witnessed an incident where a bee's supporter was having a verbal stand-off with one of the response team. the blue-jacketed steward then knocked a bottle of coca-cola out of his hand, which was the signal to strong-arm him out of the stadium, on the pretext that he had thrown it at them.

they wouldn't let us out into the parking lot to smoke, which i've only ever seen at much bigger clubs where the exits are more difficult to police. christ! we all still went out for a smoke during the half-time break at cardiff city stadium!

quite comically - and on the way in, a lone female steward was trying to pat down an entire crowd of travelling brentford supporters. eventually, most of us just got tired of waiting and walked around her and went through the turnstile.

brentford got their season back on track with a 2-1 win and now look dead certs for at least the play-offs this year. although, i have to say that i think in terms of actual promotion, they're probably a year or two early for anything but a struggle in the CHAMPIONSHIP. still, you've got to begin improvement and upward mobility somewhere, and uwe rösler has done a brilliant job whatever happens.

of course, i will be back to check on things all over again in october.

The FA Cup: Modern Times

WBA 0-1 QPR

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on the 3rd of april, 1982, west bromwich albion set a record that had taken 110 years to achieve. when they took to the pitch at the old highbury stadium in north london to play second division, queens park rangers, for the right to contest that year's FA CUP final at wembley stadium, they were doing so for the 19th time. no other side had appeared in as many FA CUP semi-finals as the baggies.

their first cup semi-final was a 4-0 victory over local rivals, small heath (who eventually became birmingham city) in 1886. the FA CUP itself had started in 1872 and is acknowledged as professional football's oldest competition.


of course, history tells us that they lost the match against QPR on a late goal, when ally robertson - for some reason known only to himself - played a risky clearance in order to avoid giving away a corner kick. not aware that rangers' stiker, clive allen, was tracking the ball and well positioned to close down the play, robertson's attempt to clear caromed off the onrushing allen and flew straight into the albion goal. as allen ran to the touchline in celebration, he really hadn't known much about it.

that is part of the nature of football.

the imminent replay that centre-half, john wyle, had been discussing with his defensive partner only moments earlier, never materialized and the albion would not advance this far in the competition again for another 27 years. by this time, of course, both domestic cup competitions had lost much of their significance and were hugely diminished in both their economic and cultural importance.


1982 was also the year that tottenham hotspur set an all-time record for number of FA CUP final wins with 8. the baggies were still among the top FA CUP winning sides, having won the competition 5 times - the most recent being in 1968 with a 1-0 extra-time win over everton.

west brom had also done well in the somewhat less prestigious LEAGUE CUP competition, having made 3 appearances in the final. the baggies had won the last competition where the final was played over two-legs, beating west ham united by an aggregate score of 5-3 in 1966. ironically, they had failed to hang on to their title, losing to third division side, QPR, in the competition's first single match final played at wembley the following year. the baggies' last major cup final appearance was in 1970 when they again lost the LEAGUE CUP final in extra-time to manchester city by a score of 2-1.

QPR 1-1 WBA

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there are several statistics related to albion cup runs over the years that are historically note-worthy. for example, when the club's goal-scoring hero of the 1960s, jeff astle, netted the winning goal in that '68 final, he became only the fifth player in the history of the cup to have scored in every round. also, long before the league and cup "double" became an expectation for the country's biggest and richest sides, west bromwich albion won a unique double that has yet to be repeated. in 1931, they won the FA CUP and promotion from the second division. it is the one record that they still hold that is unlikely to ever be repeated.

west bromwich albion's twentieth FA CUP semi-final came in a year when only one PREMIER LEAGUE side had qualified for the final stages of the tournament, in the likes of eventual champions, portsmouth football club. the other two teams, like the baggies, were CHAMPIONSHIP sides, barnsley and cardiff city. unlike west brom, these other two had already performed unlikely feats of giant-killing and had dispensed with top-flight competition already. for the baggies, portsmouth was the first PREMIER LEAGUE side that they had had to face.


in their semi-final with pompey, the baggies undoubtedly had the better of the play and probably should have won. however, despite battering the PREMIER LEAGUE side for much of the game, the goal they were looking for never came and portsmouth were able to squeek through on a tap-in by veteran striker, kanu.

at the end of the day, it was a reminder that the baggies had always been a "cup team" and having a good cup run was once an important component of the club's identity.

of course, the creation of the PREMIER LEAGUE changed all that.

winning the league has, in fact, always been the true measure as to who gets to proclaim themselves "champions of england". but before the PREMIER LEAGUE realigned the relative importance of all things football, it was really only of concern to football "insiders" - the people who actually followed their local clubs, paid their entrance fee at the turnstiles and endured standing in crowded terraces each and every saturday afternoon. it was by-and-large not something that caught the imagination of the general public. that particular honour was reserved for the FA CUP. with its full-on, all day media coverage, "cup final day" was a time for heroics and glory and supplied a major cultural touch-stone for the entire nation. while not everyone could tell you who had won the league that year, everyone remembered who had won the FA CUP. in the early days of TV - and right through until 1992 - it was the public face of english football and the whole country tuned in.


it now seems more of an unwanted distraction... a worry for managers who are either trying to qualify for the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, the promotion play-offs or merely trying to avoid relegation. postponed fixtures from earlier in the season are sometimes now played on the same day. this is something that would have been unthinkable on a day where the whole country used to come to a standstill as the cup final took centre stage in the cultural collective.

supporters of manchester united, manchester city, chelsea and arsenal expect what is very often their club's reserve side to get their preferred starting 11 to the final. however, they are not overly concerned for too long if they don't. for everyone else, it is simply maintaining their place in the league that trumps all other concerns.

it seems strange, in these modern times, to remember how much more disappointed and hurt the celebrated west brom team of the late 1970s were by the cup semi-final loss of 1978 than they were by the league title that escaped them in 1979. in fact, at the time, tony brown had called the 3-1 loss to eventual champions, ipswich town, "the worst day of my life".


when steve clarke took the job of head-coach, he was introduced to the press by stating that a cup run (among other things) would be one of the baggies' goals for the season. however, this was merely an acknowledgement of his understanding of the club's unique history and was never really going to be a priority. at least certainly not like reaching the 50+ point tally (and finishing somewhere in the top 8 or 9) in the league was going to be. after all, what can winning a mere trophy be worth when compared to the £30 million base payments that a team makes from the television contracts paid out to those clubs competing in the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE?

so, once again, the baggies encountered QPR in the cup and lost. after snatching a late equalizer in the first match at loftus road, they were beaten in the replay at the hawthorns by the excellent goalkeeping of rangers', robert green. even though it was a home fixture against a side that the baggies were expected to beat anyway, no one was too upset for very long. the standard logic of getting the cup competitions out of the way so they could concentrate on their currently slumping league form soon refocussed anyone who might have made the mistake of thinking it had been important in the first place.

sometime in the next 10-20 years, west brom will probably appear in yet another FA CUP semi-final, and for a little while, at least, some older supporters will briefly remember that it used to be something that was important to play for.

Great Expectations and Grand Delusions

QPR 1-1 WBA

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despite a recent drop in form that has seen the baggies take only seven points from their last eight fixtures, their blistering start to the season has assured that they begin the new year still in the top 7, as well as now having a third-round replay at home to QPR in the FA CUP.


while this still represents what is so far the best campaign that west brom has contested in thirty-some-odd years - and any albion supporter would have happily taken their current standing in the table at the outset of the season - the reaction to their recent home loss to fulham gives some small insight into the decidedly unhealthy attitude that the modern football fan now brings with them to the park each and every saturday afternoon.

thankfully, matches are no longer plagued by the large-scale hooliganism that sometimes made attending football in england a terrifying experience in the 1970s and 80s; but something has changed in the mindset of the average, shirt-wearing, scarf waving, anthem singing fan in these early years of the 21st century.

WBA 1-2 Fulham F.C.

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with the whole side being booed off the pitch at half-time against fulham - and club captain, chris brunt, singled out for individual abuse when substituted following a sub-par peformance - the level of psychological anger that has replaced the old feelings of disappointment at a poor result was fully exposed for all to see.

even modest success now seems to create a sense of entitlement in the modern supporter and the right to harbour unrealistic expectations that necessarily require a scape-goat when not properly met.


last year it was james morrison who was singled out for supporter animosity.

to illustrate this tendency at its most dramatic, and after a long run of poor results up the road at wolves, manager stale solbakken's car was vandalized outside his staffordshire apartment back in november. the disturbing fact about this incident is that it wouldn't be the work of "hooligan" elements looking to create social disorder. this type of activity would hold little, if any, interest for them. rather more likely, is that it was disgruntled season-ticket holders, emboldened by some small intake of liquor and beer, and angry at seeing their team's drastic drop in form with the ever impending prospect of a relegation scrap at the bottom end of the CHAMPIONSHIP looming.

Manchester Utd. F.C. 2-0 WBA

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i have always been an admirer of chris brunt's. he's the best dead ball man at the club by some distance. from open play he is capable of cutting apart a defence with a singularly acute and accurate through-ball or scoring with a 25-yard screamer to the top corner. he is a real professional who has strived to continue and improve; and whether you believe that he is an adequate top-flight footballer or not, replacing him would be much more difficult and costly than some might think. so i don't understand why some of the home support turned on him as they recently did.


i wouldn't suggest that things have gotten too far out of hand just yet, but the PREMIER LEAGUE can do terrible damage to the soul of a football club.

while it was not a particularly distinguished performance (especially the first-half) against fulham, it is a mistake on the part of the average west bromwich albion fan to take it for granted that the baggies should necessarily and routinely be beating this level of competition. especially when you consider that the cottagers have been in the PREMIER LEAGUE for the last ten years running, they almost won the EUROPA LEAGUE two years ago, and in dimitar berbatov they have a top international who costs 5 times what albion's most expensive player does. you can't sniff at that.

QPR 1-2 WBA

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the baggies have recently developed the habit of starting slowly, and this has lead to poor performances in the first half of their most recent matches. whatever it is, they are definitely reserving their better football for after the break. my suspician is that this is a by-product of single-minded adherance to the principles of counter attacking football. nowhere was this more evident than their recent trip to old trafford.

to be fair, they looked a little stunned at the occassion and consequently their play throughout the first-half could only be described as "timid". however, they came into the game in the second-half and dominated the play for long periods.

in fact, with the baggies threatening to equalize, and coming more and more onto the front foot in the final stages of the game, united were ultimately forced to bring on their £22.5 million substitute, robin van persie, to ensure the victory.

while disappointed with the result, especially after the baggies looked like they might repeat their achievement of two years ago, i was happy with the performance in the second-half. if they had shown anything at all in the first-half, they just might have gotten something from this game.

WBA 2-1 Norwich City F.C.

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this tendency of playing poorly in the first-half of a match was understandable at old trafford. i can imagine going to play there can be quite overwhelming, even if you've been there before. but this issue has been something that has concerned me since the swansea game.

i think it's a big problem at the moment, and the side needs to go out and start matches much more aggressively, try and get on the ball and not rely so heavily on the counter attack. especially at the hawthorns, and particularly with claudio yacob out at the moment and chris brunt playing in central midfield.

WBA 0-0 West Ham Utd.

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the home fixture with norwich was a solid home win and marked the first time this season that the baggies have taken all three points after having gone behind in a match. it was also significant that after three losses on the bounce, the albion were able to then go three games unbeaten, starting with a draw against a visiting west ham side, followed by a home win over norwich and an away win at QPR. confidence still seems high at the club, and shrugging off a poor run of results like this is another testament to the quality of steve clarke's leadership and a newly found resilience in the team's character.


against west ham, the baggies played well in the second-half after the hammers dominated their visit to the hawthorns in the early going. while the east london side had the better chances from open play, the baggies looked the more dangerous from dead ball situations. it was, however, the usual problem with a scoreless game. where a 1-0 victory snatched at the death can transform 90 minutes of otherwise mediocre football into a supremely exciting spectacle, the 0-0 draw that is at its foundation - regardless of the quality of football - is almost always a disappointment for the supporters on both sides.

Arsenal F.C. 2-0 WBA

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one of the defining characteristics of the average albion supporter is their supreme pessimism and how, over the years, they have come to expect the worst. only a few weeks ago, baggies' fans everywhere were entertaining notions of european qualification and the outside possibility of challenging for a top-five finish in the league. now they are bracing themselves for a relegation scrap. the truth of the matter is probably somewhat less dramatic than either of these possibilities.

it's time to just cool it down a bit and have a little faith.

The Strange Case of Simon Cox

despite the fact that it wasn't much of performance, i was at the hawthorns when simon cox got his first league start for the baggies in a home match with plymouth argyle. the week before, he had scored the winning goal in extra-time in a LEAGUE CUP fixture with rotherham united - his first goal for the club - and that had won him the right to start, partnering roman bednar in a conventional 4-4-2 set up - still the preferred formation for most english clubs at the time.

it wasn't a great debut and he was substituted early on in the second-half after a less than memorable performance. it was not a particularly good time for strikers at the club, and most of the goals were coming for an attack-minded mid-field. graham dorrans and chris brunt, respectively, were the side's leading scorers that season. in this particular match, it was shelton martis who scored the first goal for the baggies, equalizing after going 0-1 behind on an early goal by jamie mackie. even more unusual was marek cech's brace (his only two goals ever for the club) that won the game for the baggies by a score of 3-1.

nontheless, i can always claim to a have seen simon cox' league debut for west bromwich albion.

cox was in and out of the first team that year. he had been targeted by the club when tony mowbray was still the gaffer - presumably to help fill the void left by the previous season's departure of kevin phillips for birmingham city - and i think that he would have gotten more time in the side had mowbray remained at the hawthorns. but it was never to be. when TM moved on to take over at his old club, celtic, roberto di matteo came in as the first man to hold the newly created title of "head coach". despite cox being RDM's first signing for the baggies, even luke moore - possibly the least popular individual ever to play in the navy-and-white stripes - was often a preferred starter to the young man who, the year before and playing for swindon town - had been the FOOTBALL LEAGUE's joint top scorer with 29 goals in LEAGUE 1.

under di matteo and with west brom chasing promotion, cox managed 34 appearances and 10 goals in both league and cup competitions. he still found it hard to break into the first team as a regular starter. however, as an intelligent young man he must have reasoned that his best bet was stay at the hawthorns, with a club where the attitude and atmosphere was positive and who were definitely a side "on the up" - and wait for his opportunity. as a professional footballer he was certainly aware that he could have done a lot worse.

back in the PREMIER LEAGUE for the 2010-11 season, the baggies did well over the first three months, and had been as high as 4th in the league table at on point. however, cox was restricted to only a handful of appearances as a substitute and only getting to start in the LEAGUE CUP. after scoring 3 goals in 2 games, he finally earned himself the right to be included in the starting 11 for a league match away to blackpool. luck did not favour the young striker, though, as he was strategically withdrawn in the 12th minute when pablo ibanez was red-carded.

when results started to elude the baggies, and they went on a long winless streak that started in november (with the blackpool game) and went through into the new year, di matteo's time was up and roy hodgson took over for the last 13 weeks of the season.

this heralded a complete turnaround for the club, and with only two losses in their final 13 fixtures, they finished a comfortable 11th in the standings.

still, nothing much changed for simon cox. although he was very often in the side as a substitute. this led to his first PREMIER LEAGUE goal in a match away to tottenham. he scored what was west bromwich albion's goal of the season as the baggies snatched a late equalizer at white hart lane, putting the team on 40 points and virtually guaranteed their survival in the top-flight.

however, things still didn't get any better for cox during the 2011-12 season. he still could not break into the first team, and when he did get a start he was used almost exclusively as a utility player to make up the numbers when the side was hit with injuries. this meant that he was often played out of position on either the right wing or as a central midfielder, fulfilling the necessary and rudimentary defensive duties that were required of him.

even his usual exploits in the cup competitions, where he scored a hat-trick against cardiff, could not guarantee him the opportunity to get a start in the league.

while cox supplies an above average effort and work-rate, his real talent will never be found on the training pitch. he's not particularly tough, big or pacey. what he does have, though, is a sense for scoring goals. he hits 25 yard screamers, gets on the end of crosses - both on the floor and in the air, and knows where to be to get the tap-in on scuffed shots and loose balls in the box. at a time when teams are playing more and more with a single striker and a five-man midfield, cox is a bit of throw back who is all too easily over-looked and possibly under-rated.

a little surprisingly, the baggies recently picked up the final year option on cox' contract, creating the possibility that he would be at the hawthorns for at least one more year. but with a £2 million offer from blackburn rovers, it appeared earlier this week that cox was on his way to find full-time football in the CHAMPIONSHIP. however, this was quickly scuttled by apparent political problems at the lancashire club. while it seemed that manager, steve kean was anxious to bring cox to the club, his efforts have been undermined by the board who aren't interested.

since then, PREMIER LEAGUE side, swansea city, have emerged as the most likely contenders to sign him, although the rumour-mill also has him linked with interest from charlton athletic, leeds united, middlesbrough and scottish giants, celtic. at this point, any move that gets him a run of full-time football would still be a good move for him and the aspirations he harbours in regards to continuing his international career with the republic of ireland.

i have always liked cox and thought he would have been a bit more valued by the baggies than he has been. a year in the CHAMPIONSHIP would probably be the ideal move for him at the moment. but then who knows? a visionary top-flight side (like swansea) might find some success with him as well. whatever happens, i hope he finds a good club that will at least give him a chance and possibly reveal his potential.

more than anything, i hope he finds the luck which has eluded him since leaving swindon town.

A Fixture Too Far

WBA 1-2 Norwich City F.C.

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as there was no TV or internet streaming coverage that I could find, my only source of media for this fixture was through listening to john dunn and dave bowler on the ALBION RADIO transmission through the club website's ALBION PLAYER media service. this is usually how i would take in a game, anyway, even if it was live on TV.

again, it was home disappointment for the baggies, but much more personally, it was disappointing for me as they will now not be playing on the 18th of february at all, when i will next be in england. ironcially, i had booked a trip with the idea of seeing the sunderland game at the hawthorns on the 25th. of course, realizing that the PREMIER LEAGUE is suspended on the weekend before that on account of the FA CUP, i decided to gamble that the the baggies would make it through to the 5th round.





at first i was rather philosophical about where i might be on the 18th of february, but as the date has drew nearer, i became more and more optimistic about the possibilities. i eventually convinced myself that the albion couldn't possibly lose twice to norwich in the space of two weeks - and certainly not twice at the hawthorns! by the morning of the game i was more concerned with where the baggies would be drawn in the next round than i was with the outcome of the game. i was already taking a west brom win for granted.

so here i was, starting to imagine that i might see the baggies at home to spurs or away to the the villa or blues - when canadian international, simeon jackson, took full advantage of a basic mistake by craig dawson to win the game. receiving a throw-in in his own half, the young albion centre-half brought the ball down but inexplicably failed to properly clear or control the ball. the canaries' striker, who had come on as substitute in the 64th minute, stepped in and left him for dead, neatly sliding the ball wide of keeper ben foster and into the far corner of the net to provide the winning goal.





once again, we're all left wondering just how the baggies could they have possibly lost at home again after having so thoroughly dominated the statistics? they outshot the canaries 13-7 - 10 of their shots were on target! they had more of the ball than norwich and won 7 corners to only 3 for the visitors. they were even creating the better chances - and right from the outset too.

jerome thomas had an early effort tipped onto the crossbar by canaries goalie, jed steer, which set the tone for the baggies dominance in both statistics and opportunity. peter odemwingie then had a decent long range effort stopped by steer, before the nigerian international put simon cox through on goal where he was met by the norwich keeper astutely coming off his line to deny the baggies' striker from point blank range.

it's truly a shame that the domestic cups have become so devalued in the PREMIER LEAGUE era; especially for a club whose historical renown has always been inextricably linked to their successes in cup competitions.





with my flight already booked, this result was a monstrous drag and one wonders when the albion might start to have a bit of luck at the hawthorns. of course, as i won't be going to watch the baggies playing in the FA CUP when i am next in england,and i suppose a trip to my local conference team, bath city, will be how i spend the afternoon of the 18th. i will, however, be at the hawthorns on the 25th when the baggies host sunderland and try to put an end to the string of poor results that have dogged their home games since november 19th.

it's the same thing that we've been seeing all season - the baggies are playing decent football but getting no results at home.

Hard Times at the Hawthorns

WBA 4-2 Cardiff City F.C.

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i have to admit that i have found it hard to keep up with my blogging since the baggies' home loss to wigan athletic. it seems that we have gone from being some of the best home supporters in the top division of english football to some of the worst.

this has no doubt been brought about by the club's woeful home form in the league. so, and on the tail of yet another home defeat, perhaps the FA Cup would be a welcome distraction to the concerns of the league, and an all too rare chance for simon cox to get a start at his natural striker's position in partnership with peter odemwingie.





the young striker, now in his third season with the albion, took the opportunity to show his quality as a goal-scorer by putting a hat-trick past a cardiff side who themselves are chasing promotion from the championship.

while this was more like a classic albion performance with plenty of goals and a 4-2 score-line, the domestic cup competitions have become so devalued in these days of ridiculous money, that cox' performance still did little to satisfy the home faithful. even scoring three goals against a side with whom the baggies are probably more truly competitive with than any of the top six clubs in their own division, relatively few supporters, or so it would seem, appear convinced that simon cox can play premier league football.





with the focus of the professional game now concentrated almost exclusively on a club's league form - and with the rise of season-ticket culture - the domestic cups are of hugely diminished interest at the higher levels of both the premier and football leagues. in fact, for a competition that used to set attendance records for domestic football in england, some of the bigger clubs attract cup-game crowds only half the size of those for a regular league fixture.

while i hope that his goal-scoring performance is enough to impress the gaffer and get simon cox a place in the starting eleven - for a few games at least - the more vocal of the baggies' support will still judge a cup hat-trick as being of little consequence and will continue to assert that cox still "ay' good enough" to play in the almighty, bloody premier league.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. 1-0 WBA

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this has to be hailed as a brave effort from the albion, and to echo the sentiments of RH following a well disciplined defensive display by the baggies, this was indeed "an honourable defeat".

with the injury list piling up and a wretched home form to deal with, the most recent results are beginning to erode whatever cushion the albion had, coming into the new year, between them and the relegation places. this may very well have been a draw had the baggies not been on the wrong end of a series of recent penalty decisions.





when the ball was played into jermain defoe on the edge of the 6-yard box by a rampaging gareth bale with just over an hour gone, it appeared that this was in the back of everyone's mind. despite having craig dawson and gareth mcauley providing adequate marking for the diminutive striker, the baggies' defenders were momentarily tentative and not giving away a penalty was clearly in dawson's mind. their hesitation allowed defoe just enough time and space to turn and find the corner of the net, just beyond the reach of goalie, ben foster.

in context, it was another loss when at least a point seemed on offer, but the the team's overall defensive display and disciplined shape was definitely something positive to cling to, and indicates how difficult it will continue to be to beat the baggies away from the hawthorns.

WBA 0-1 Everton F.C.

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i'm sure that i'm not the only football fan who felt like he had been used after this dismal new year's display.

who could possibly have benefited from a noon kick-off on new year's day?

this was just a bad idea all around. i'm sure that anyone who was unfortunate enough to have paid the £40 ticket price would've been happier with a late kick-off rather than having to be at the hawthorns three hours earlier than usual - and most certainly on the day after new year's eve!

nor was it of any convenience for me having to wake up at 6.30 AM for a 7 AM kick-off.

the truth is that the premier league - and to a lesser extent football in general - will ever increasingly have to do the bidding of skySPORTS and its insatiable appetite for turning football into TV money.





not only are we at the time of year when fixtures traditionally come thick and fast, but with upcoming FA Cup games to be played on the weekend, the premier league obviously feels that it has to squeeze in this extra set of matches to make up for what it perceives as upcoming lost TV revenues.

i have to admit at the excitement i first felt when, 20 seasons ago, english football went live on TV here in north america. it was one of those things i could only have dreamed about as a kid. however, i'm beginning to feel like the dream is over, and that life in the premier league is more like having to live with a miserable psychological condition than watching a football competition.






for the baggies, this was a total disaster. to an already depleted side with at least two long-term injuries, we can now count club captain, chris brunt, who somehow managed to fracture his ankle in stoppage time and will be out for 8-10 weeks.

to add insult to injury, the baggies gave up an 87th minute goal to toffees' substitute, victor anichebe.

this was just terrible football all around and an insult to everyone who made the effort... a real disgrace!

Reading F.C. 1-0 WBA

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although i noticed it a while back, i have yet to write about roberto di matteo's team selections - and especially his seeming reluctance to play certain members of the 2008-09 squad which was relegated from the PREMIER LEAGUE under tony mowbray.

the gaffer was happy enough with the midfield that he inherited from mowbray's time at the hawthorns, but it seems that there is a real reticence to play certain long-time players (particularly defenders and strikers) in the medium of top-flight football.

i'm not sure that he's got it quite right. ishmael miller, roman bednar, abdoulaye meite and gianni zuiverloon remained with the club, making the final 25-man squad for the 2010-2011 season. gonzalo jara, gabriel tamas, pablo ibanez, peter odemwingie and marc-antoine fortune have all been brought in since mowbray's departure for celtic (and now middlesbrough) and are all preferred starters for the positions where miller, bednar, meite and zuiverloon had previously been first-team selections.

the general rationale is that none of these are PREMIER LEAGUE quality players, where their replacements are decidedly - and in di matteo's mind, anyway - more fit for the job.

at the same time, more than a few of mowbray's defenders and strikers have gone to other clubs. west brom have now sold both luke moore and craig beattie to swansea city; as well as shelton martis, who went to doncaster rovers, while leon barnett and reuben reid have gone out on season long loans to norwich city and walsall respectively.

i'm not outrightly critisizing any or all of these moves, but i've never been sure that the gaffer has got it right with miller, bednar, meite and zuiverloon.



miller has taken a long time to come back from a cruciate ligament injury that was incurred about two years ago. it's easy to forget that he scored on his debut with the club, going on to score 7 goals in the league that season as well as a hat-trick in the FA CUP quarter-final. in 2008-09, and after a slow start in the PREMIER LEAGUE, he scored 3 goals in the 4 matches leading up to his injury. last season, he scored on his first start in 14 months against blackpool, as well as the decisive goal coming on as a substitute 3 days later at the liberty stadium to give the baggies a 2-0 away win that just about clinched automatic promotion for them. if he can get back the form (and provided he gets the opportunity) he was starting to show in the baggies' last top-flight campaign, then i believe he is, in fact, a capable first choice striker in the PREMIER LEAGUE.

i think pretty much the same about roman bednar. he has surprisingly returned to the club after a brief loan spell at leicester city and it had looked like we weren't going to see him back at the hawthorns again. obviously the club's need for strikers was greater than whatever regard (or dis-regard) that RDM currently holds for roman bednar. the supporters love bednar no matter what division we're in and, at his best, he brings a top class spirit to the attack, you never know what might happen when he's on the field and he is technically good at the hold-up play needed for a 4-5-1 playing formation.

gianni zuiverloon fell out of favour after his two mistakes against reading in the FA CUP last year. as we all remember well, it was zuiverloon's careless control which saw 2 goals given up to jimmy kebe that helped put the baggies out of the cup. the young dutch defender had lost both his confidence and a place as a starter in any subsequent matches for the rest of the year. this was a bit of a rough break, as zuiverloon is an above average player in terms of pace and ball skills, and is a rarity in that he is probably more suited to PREMIER LEAGUE football than he is to the more physical grind of playing in the FOOTBALL LEAGUE.



abdoulaye meite was a different story. his downfall came after coming to the club, making a good start, but being part of what was ultimately a poor defensive team. eventually , he too completely lost his confidence and fell out of favour as a first choice centre-half. meite's loss of confidence during the 2008-09 top-flight campaign was painful to see in regards to how plain, obvious and evident it was to anyone watching. the arrival of gabriel tamas - and then pablo ibanez went a long way towards exiling meite to the reserves and subs' bench.

it gets overlooked, however, that he put in a good series of performances following the baggies' loss to barnsley last year, and was instrumental in the recovery of the club's defensive form after a particularly poor showing and a calamitous own goal by shelton martis, who was soon on his way to doncaster rovers. whatever problems he encountered two years ago, meite was still a veteran of top-flight football. however, he is certainly a flawed and uneven talent whose career has been hindered by injury and marred by controversy. i can understand why he would not be rated a "premier-league player". whatever his deficiencies, though, he's still a trained professional and you'd think he might just be useful in a situation where injuries and/or suspensions had limited team selection as far as centre-halfs go.

with this in mind, i was surprised that miller was given a start, even in an FA CUP game. the albion striker has been out of regular football so long that it is hard for anyone not actually going to the baggies' training sessions to know what kind of fitness a player like miller is in.

while he almost certinaly doesn't have a full 90 minutes in him, and he predictably pulled a hamstring just past the hour mark, for the first 20 minutes miller was getting into some good positions and causing problems for the royals at the back. his finishing was beyond rusty, though, as he probably should have had a goal and almost certainly had a legitimate shout for a penalty which was ignored by the referee.

besides james morrison's chip which clipped off the royals cross-bar, there was very little else to recommend this performance by the baggies. in fact, it bordered on disastrous and only the result of saturday's upcoming league fixture with blackpool will tell the tale.



jonas olsson came on after half-time in an effort to give the swedish defender 45 minutes worth of football before league play resumes and he makes his full return to the first-team. the albion centre-half has been out injured since the baggies loss to blackpool at bloomfield road in the beginning of november. however, the strategy badly backfired when olsson's aggressive streak - which we all know well - got him into trouble all too quickly. an over zealous tackle saw him booked within a minute of taking the field and in less than 15 minutes he had picked up a second yellow and was dismissed. the enusing automatic red-card will keep him out of the side when blackpool visit the hawthorns on saturday - a match the baggies desperately need to win.

boaz myhill did well enough in the albion goal that he'll almost certainly start in the next league match, and help take the pressure off squad captain, scott carson, whose recent run of poor form has seen him being blasted by the local press and supporters alike. after last week's loss to fulham, the england international looked to have completely lost his confidence and in dire need of some time out of the side - if only to get him out of the public line of fire and see that he gets a chance to put his head straight.

in fact, the whole team needs to get its head straight. you have to admire the baggies for not letting their heads drop during this last 5 (now 6) straight defeats. they have continued to show character and play some good football with a positive attitude throughout.

it's hard to judge from a cup game - which is why the upcoming home match with blackpool looms so large for the baggies. aside from miller's early efforts, the albion never looked in this one and team confidence looks like it might be finally ebbing away. the loss to fulham was devastating and this cup fixture was pedestrian and spiritless at best.

this coming saturday at the hawthorns is the biggest test of character the baggies will have had to face all season. let's hope they're up to it.