WBA 3-2 Blackpool F.C.

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this was truly a heroic victory for the baggies. while almost always able to keep pace with whoever their competition on the day, 'wins' - and more importantly 'points' - have been hard to come by since the beginning of november and the side have looked like the struggle of the PREMIER LEAGUE might be beginning to take its toll on team confidence.

in truth, after west brom's exit from the FA CUP to CHAMPIONSHIP side reading, i rather thought that they might not be able to bounce back from what was then 6 straight losses. club captain and goalie, scott carson, looks like he's completely lost it, and the lack of spirit exhibited in the cup fixture indicated that the club might be in real trouble.

the baggies, however, proved themselves a team of exceptional character and heroic determination in what was - to date - their most important match of the season. with scott carson on the bench following a poor run of form, and jonas olsson serving a single match-ban incurred in the cup game with reading, the albion had their work cut out for them.



it's almost a joke at this point, but the baggies went behind to a david vaughn goal in the 10th minute. the albion must surely be on for setting some kind of PREMIER LEAGUE record for most points taken from games in which they have had to come back from a losing position. with rare exception, the baggies are almost always required to come from behind in order to get points from a game. i can only think of three matches which produced points where the baggies haven't had to come back from a 1 (or 2) goal deficit.

considering the two teams involved in this match it was never in danger of being a 0-0. in fact, with a 5 goal total, this match could easily have produced 8 or 9. an early miss by striker dj campbell was followed by vaughn's unstoppable long range strike in the 10th minute. the baggies were then lucky not to be 2 down when gabriel tamas, returning froma three game match-ban, badly misjudged a ball running down the line and in attempting to shepherd it into touch, allowed luke varney a clear run and free shot on goal. luckily the blackpool striker put the ball over boaz myhill's crossbar and, after a hectic opening 15 minutes, the baggies were afforded a chance to settle.

chris brunt almost put the baggies level when taking a perfect cross from jerome thomas, but was thwarted by some brilliant point-blank defending at the far post on the part of blackpool defender, stephen crainey.

the tangerines will have rued their early misses when the albion finally equalized on a peter odemwingie goal in the 36th minute. the nigerian striker, who has struggled to score while playing through a series of niggling injuries, returned to form in fine style. timing his run perfectly, odemwingie took a ball over the top from graham dorrans, beating the off-side trap and calmly slotting home past the stranded ghanaian international, richard kingson.



james morrison seems to have hit a rich vein of form as he continued to score with a goal just 6 minutes after the restart. richard kingson weakly palmed away a jerome thomas cross and the baggies' scottish international tapped the ball into an open goal to give the baggies a 2-1 lead.

the albion dominated the next 20 minutes, and in one of the most open games you'll ever see in the PREMIER LEAGUE, both odemwingie and james morrison had chances that should have seen the home side up 3 or 4-1.

gary fletcher-taylor equalized through the ever increasing pressure of the blackpool attack as the match entered its final phase. with 15 minutes to go , the blackpool striker might have thought he had produced the draw. an incisive cross from david vaughn found fletcher-taylor free at the back post and boaz myhill with no chance whatsoever.

but the baggies needed this win badly and odemwingie again scored in the 86th minute on a long-ball from gonzalo jara. the nigerian got the bounce as the right-back's long pass went into the blackpool penalty area, and wrestling free from his marker put the ball low and into the net at kingson's left-hand corner.

some desperate defending was required to preserve the win, but it was the baggies day and was only justice that the albion should take all 3 points from this one after the travesty at bloomfield road back in november which set the baggies onto a poor run of form after a good start to the season.



with this important win, the baggies are now about 15 points short of what they'll need to assure survival in the PREMIER LEAGUE. with important matches coming up against blackburn (away) and wigan (home), and the imminent return of jonas olsson, the baggies came through what was their biggest challenge of the season so far wih maximum points. this team certainly has the character to make out alright this year and 4 points from the next couple of matches will see the baggies well back on course. i only hope they can meet the challenges ahead with similar success.

Notes on a Winning Streak (part 1)

again, i haven't been able to blog while in england. when it comes down to it - and as much as i love me mum - i absolutely hate using her WINDOWS computer. i've bought her a modem router so we can share her broadband service over a couple of computers. so perhaps the next time i'm here, i'll be able to write about the baggies as i see them live in the same manner that i do with the internet audio transmissions and TV back at home.

WBA 3-2 Blackpool F.C.

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i had - and quite philosophically - gone to england with four west brom matches to attend - with the expectation that 7 points from 12 would be a success. the baggies exceeded any of my hopes by taking all 12 points, as well as producing two highly uncharacteristic clean-sheets against both swansea and coventry city respectively.

i had landed at heathrow on thursday, spent the better part of two days in london seeking out (amongst other things) the best meat thali plate in paddington, before making my way to birmingham on a saturday morning for the baggies' home match with blackpool.

unlike my previous two trips to the hawthorns i got there completely by rail. this was a new experience and another small but significant step in my development as a baggies supporter. on my first visit, i came out completely on the wrong side of the pallasades complex to be able to negotiate my way by local rail to the hawthorns and ended up taking a taxi. this time, however, i found my way quite easily from birmingham new street to birmingham snow hill where a return fare to the hawthorns cost a modest £1.80.

as i exited the hawthorns station - which is about 300 yards south of the stadium itself - i saw the structure of the hawthorns looming in the distance under the cold, grey west midland sky. it was an impressive sight and i decided to take a photo. i was, however, unable to capture the true feeling of the moment.



as i continued down halford's lane with the early arriving baggies faithful - as well as a few small groups of blackpool supporters who'd come in by train - i quickly rifled through my pockets to get 3 quid in exact change ready for the programme vendor that i knew would be at the smethwick end gates. jerome thomas was on the cover of the day's issue.

i proceeded directly to the ticket office pick-up window. i found that the staff in the tickets department had already seen to it that the ticket to that day's match - which had become lost in mail - had already been replaced and was waiting for me in my home-tickets envelope. a second envelope for away matches contained my ticket for the game at swansea on the coming tuesday night. i thanked the guy at the window, purposefully slipped my members card back into my wallet and tucked my documents safely in the inside breast pocket of my coat.

then, and with due urgency, i headed for the club-shop where i had promised myself that the first thing i was going to do was buy a long-sleeve away shirt. the end of the season clear-out was on; the time of year when the current team jerseys/kit go on half-price sale, or end up as incentive giveaways as part of membership or subscription renewals. in view of the circumstance i bought a long sleeve home shirt as well. i then stocked up on a fair bit of small and sundry swag including a coffee mug, a double pack of baggies underwear, a dvd, scarf and a hat. i checked out, and with all immediate and pressing concerns seen to i had time for a smoke before going inside.

once inside the stadium, everybody was standing around or waiting in the various queues, having their pies and pints, making bets, chatting bullshit and football, as well as watching the last 10 minutes of the tottenham hotspur/blackburn rovers match on the overhead TVs before making a last dash for the toilets prior to kick-off.

i was both delighted and surprised when it was announced that ishmael miller would be given his first start since coming back from long-term injury and only having seen a couple of months worth of recuperative, first-team appearances as a post half-time substitute. this was a particularly exciting prospect and i hoped that the occasion might prove auspicious.

typically - and as in both my previous visits to the hawthorns - the baggies conceded first just on 6 minutes through an unstoppable shot by charlie adams from outside the box that bounced in off the left-hand post. i could see it coming and it was quite a good goal really. perhaps the albion back four could have closed down the move earlier; non-the-less, it was a well-placed effort and deserving of the goal. i heaved a hard, disappointed sigh in a moment that i realized i had lived before.

the mood completely changed when miller equalized. the young striker marked the occasion of his return as a first-team starter in style by scoring on 13 minutes from a perfectly placed through-ball from chris brunt. turning on the gas he completely outstripped the last blackpool defender before slotting the ball neatly through the legs of goalie, matthew gilks.



as they might be heard to say on occasion in the west midlands: "it's deja vu all over again!!"

the baggies typically controlled the game and robert koren finally put them ahead with a tremendous individual effort in the 52nd minute. the slovenian international delivered an absolutely perfect left-footed shot from outside the box, burying it in the top left-hand corner of matthew gilks' goal.

while the baggies probably deserved the lead, they did, however, always looked susceptible to the seasiders' counter-attack; and, at 2-1, all the goals had been the result of exceptional individual and team effort rather than defensive mistake. this all changed in the 72nd minute when the albion back-four allowed an incisive blackpool attack to penetrate down the left flank and provide an opportunity for a cross which brett ormerod headed home from point-blank range past an irate and flailing scott carson.

the baggies don't do anything the easy way and were lucky to get the benefit of a very close-call in the 77th minute as giles barnes was brought down on the edge of the area and was awarded a controversial penalty. graham dorrans scored from the spot and the albion hung on for what was a difficult - and perhaps unfair - but thoroughly deserved victory.

i'm not sure that i gained any huge insight into the comic black country pessimism that surrounds one in the environment of the hawthorns, but i certainly got a full dose and saw it at its most extreme today.

"well, that was a terrible game of football," i heard one older gentleman suggest to his mate at the sound of the final whistle.

back in london, and watching the football league show later that night, i saw the highlights and duly observed that it was reported as one of the better games played in the country that day.

"i think brunt looks like e's just about given up!" i heard another fellow saying later on behind me whilst standing in the queue for the trains back to west birmingham.

"they're going to be difficult to beat in the playoffs," he shook his head, continuing his assessment of the day's opposition.

brunt given up!?!?! playoffs!?!?! i thought to myself, did you miss the fact that brunty had a hand in creating both of our first two goals - one of them an absolutely perfect pass? and what the fuck are you talking about playoffs!?!?! PLAYOFFS - 'ey!!! nottingham forest lost again!!! what are you talking about???

"it's the centre-'alfs really... haven't had a decent centre-'alf since darren moore was 'ere."

it is something unfathomable that obviously runs deep and from the roots.

Two Scrappy Little Wins

Plymouth Argyle 0-1 WBA

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with the baggies coming out of their trip to blackpool rather like the walking wounded, the gaffer gave simon cox his first start in over a month. i like simon cox and hope that he sees cultivation of his talents and potentials; and along with it creates a long and successful career at the hawthorns.

to vindicate my belief in the young striker, his form held up from where he had left off by scoring the winner in this one on the 66th minute. while he's still many seasons from developing the relative class of skill, there are shades of kevin phillips both in form and function about young cox.

this was a starting line-up that i have wanted to see, and the combination of bednar and cox in a forward pairing had yet to really be used by di matteo. the significant result of this being that the baggies now find themselves with two strikers who are in form, and are fulfilling the requirements of the current roles within the gaffer's tactical planning and line-up selection. that is, the big starting striker scoring consistently and prolifically and the utility striker supplying goals when desperately needed.



while this wasn't a particularly good match, it was a rare clean-sheet and an unusual single goal game for the baggies. true to form, it felt like a draw for most of the match. even after the goal, the albion's proclivity for not protecting single-goal leads well gave this one its only real tension, and the team have to be commended for just grinding it out and winning another match in less than attractive fashion.

the one controversial moment that has added to roberto di matteo's present managerial challenges was the dismissal of jerome thomas on his second straight red-card of the season which will see the winger gone for a full four matches.

as with their performance against blackpool this was not beautiful football and was another example of how good teams win even when playing poorly. as routine as these wins might seem when considering things in context to the season's fixtures list, neither came easily; and with the temporary loss of thomas, miller and marek cech, it's lucky that the gaffer has had the foresight to start making the loan deals to see through what is a truly critical time with both a promotion push and FA cup competition still to contend with. the albion are now once again poised to challenge for first-place in the league and have created the very real possibility of a title battle with newcastle.

in spite of everything else the cost of these two scrappy little wins has probably been worth it.

Blackpool F.C. 2-3 WBA

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while the albion took advantage of nottingham forest's first defeat in months to leapfrog back into second place - and are now in the driver's seat as far the automatic promotion places go - they did so in questionable style and only by virtue of the good fortune that winning teams make for themselves which will see through a poor performance to gain a full 3-points. this is what is known in some schools as "winning ugly".

to be fair - and despite the recent addition of gabriel tamas playing in the first team - roberto di matteo had literally worn out his back line by starting the same 11 over a very congested period of fixtures which included five league games and an FA cup draw. in fact, both jonas olsson and marek cech seemed so bruised and beaten for the last 25 minutes of the match and it sounded as if the big swedish defender was lead-footed, lethargic and unable to get to the ball; while a spontaneous hamstring pull eventually pushed left-back cech forward into a hobbled front line alongside ishmael miller, who himself had sustained an ankle injury in winning the game saving penalty converted by graham dorrans. this whole unfortunate situation was ultimately forced due to roberto dimatteo's early - and ultimately unlucky - tactical substitutions and it seemed like half the team finished the match hobbled, exhausted and within no more than 30 seconds short of a blackpool equalizer.

while it was not reported as controversial in the mainstream press, the points of view as to whether the tackle on miller that led to the winning penalty were debated hotly and reported very differently by the media representatives of both clubs. if you were listening to the blackpool transmission it was reported that the penalty decision was unfair. the albion commentary declared it a stonewall penalty. in fact, ian holloway - one of my favourite talkers on the subject of football, by the way - refused to speak to the albion commentary staff after the match having asked them if they really thought it was a penalty or not and receiving an affirmative response did something like call them a couple of rude names, make a disparaging remark about honesty and partisan journalism and slammed a dressing room door on them.

having watched the replay myself, i have to come down on the side where my biases lay: it was indeed a penalty! while the blackpool defender may have got the ball on the initial slide to make the tackle (and i'm not even sure about that) there is no question that as ishmael miller continued his run in on goal, he was tripped by the full-back's outstretched leg. it was a penalty and should have been a red card - and probably would have been had the defender not made the initial tackle successfully.

while di matteo's substitutions seemed like a good idea at the time, beginning with the baggies' latest acquisition, andy slory coming on for an obviously fatigued jerome thomas. this didn't seem a a bad move at all given the recent schedule and no change to the line-up in six matches. slory actually saw a good effort saved by the blackpool keeper on his first real touch of the ball.



this was followed by the early introduction of ishmael miller. usually the big striker has been coming on for the last 20-15 minutes of the match in a measured regimen designed to ease him back into 90 minutes of football after a lay-off through injury which lasted over a year. he replaced bednar with about 25 minutes of regular time left, and then a similar like-for like swap had simon cox on for robert koren. both of these substitutions were nothing but tactical and meant to save his strikers and wingers from exhaustion and the subsequent danger of injury.

at the point of substitution, none of the west brom midfield were able to track back and give cover to their corresponding player in the back-line. while dorrans and koren were more unclear about whose role it was to get back and help mulumbu tidy-up; chris brunt and jerome thomas were equally unable to work back and give their corresponding full-backs cover after a loss of possession.

it was a real case of blessing or curse? as things started to unravel after the penalty decision. while it was significant in that it produced the winning goal, ishmael miller suffered a knock on the angle that left him unable to run and he had to limp out the rest of the match with di matteo having made his last substitution in bringing cox on for koren. moments later, marek cech collapsed both spontaneously and well away from the play with what was later revealed to be a pulled hamstring. he pushed forward into the strikers positions - obviously to minimize on the potential harm that a hobbled full-back might cause.

while dorrans converted the penalty that saw the baggies to victory, any injury to miller at this point is a move backward and we can all be thankful it was unrelated and isolated from his larger injury. it was evident from his inability to shake it off and run towards the end of the match that he'll probably be nursing a nasty bruise for the next couple of weeks and will have to continue with plans of rehabilitation through late substitutions after that.

it's evident that - and will be interesting to see - di matteo will have to make a bunch of changes for the away match to plymouth on saturday.