WBA 2-0 Everton F.C.

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of the four competitive games that the baggies have played in the new season so far, this was the one that i feared most. everton had looked very good in beating manchester united on opening day and i despaired that getting a good result - even at home - might be a fixture too far.

but then, this is starting to look like a very good baggies side. so good, in fact, that they are performing much closer to the standards of albion teams of the 1960s and 70s than at any time since. the foundations for a good long run of top-flight league football has been established and we can only hope that improvements continue and the chairman and directors do not deviate from the present course.



nobody who was at wembley on may 30, 1993 - the day that the baggies started to pull themselves out of the mire of what was the worst period in the club's history - could've imagined that with promotion back to the newly christened FOOTBALL LEAGUE division one, followed by years of mid-table struggles against relegation and generally mediocre league performances, they would ever see the baggies competing successfully in the top-flight again.

while other clubs who have seen recent (and relative) success in the PREMIER LEAGUE and/or domestic cup competitions, have all too often been unable to avoid the increasingly common peril of "double relegation" (i.e. portsmouth, norwich city, charlton athletic, sheffield united, coventry city, etc.) before making their way back up, the baggies have flip-flopped ("yo-yoed") between the CHAMPIONSHIP and PREMIER LEAGUE always able to keep their core players while making steady, incremental improvements to the side. this year's top-flight campaign marks the first time in a decade that west brom have been in the same division for more than two years running.



it was another impressive display of all-round football by the baggies at home to a top-class everton side. where under the leadership of roy hodgson, west brom depended on the quality of their defending and counter-attack, steve clarke has them playing a more complete style that can both keep clean sheets and score goals.

the new gaffer has employed very different tactics between how he has his side play at home and how he sets them up for away matches. i'm sure that this will vary when considering the opposition in any particular fixture, but it does seem that he generally wants his team to establish its defensive shape first and let the game come to them through frustrating the opposition's attackers rather than have them force the issue. this was particularly true of the away fixture at tottenham, where spurs were allowed a massive advantage of possession throughout the first half, before the albion started to press and were easily the better team and well on top going into the final stages of the contest.

while steve clarke was quick to bring in the additional strikers that he saw as being essential to the albion's progression as a top flight side, claudio yacob has been a revelation in the holding midfield role. yacob's defending and distribution has not only been solid in itself, but has also improved the play of youssouf mulumbu, who has been in what is arguably the best form of his career since coming to the hawthorns. yacob's quality as a defender was clearly illustrated as the game approached the 17 minute mark and the argentine international went into a challenge with nikica jelavic in the baggies' penalty area.



while jelavic went over in the tackle quite dramatically, and the toffees were quick to appeal for a penalty, the replay showed that yacob had clearly gotten to the ball first. the ensuing clearance allowed the baggies to break in attack. however, marc antoine fortune's effort from the edge of the everton box, on a ball played back up the inside left channel from the dead-ball line by shane long, went well over the cross-bar. it was an incisive display of west brom's ability as a counter-attacking team.

everton had plenty of the ball throughout the first half-hour of the match and certainly had the beter of the possession. but it was the albion who created the first real effort on goal. with shane long finding space in the box through some slack marking on the part of the everton defenders, his powerful header from a liam ridgewell cross came smacking back off tim howard's crossbar.

the toffee's responed on the next possession as merouane fellaini was afforded a similar opportunity at the other end. the big belgian, however, wasn't able to get sufficiently underneath the cross and the ball looped inches over the bar at the far post. the toffee's created another good opportunity less than ten minutes later, as a well worked move down the right flank ended in a tame header by nikica jelavic from a steve naismith cross which was easily gathered up by ben foster. the visitor's would not see as good a chance at goal again until well into the second half.



james morrison has flourished in the first few games - continuing the fine form that he found last season - and has been key to the attacking link up play in midfield. the scottish international came close to scoring in the 44th minute with a stinging right foot shot from only 7 or 8 yards out; but a great reflex save from tim howard saw that the score-line remained 0-0 at the half.

as in their two previous league games, the baggies began to press the ball increasingly higher up the pitch, which began to create chances where the toffees had only been frustrated. the baggies finally went ahead in the 64th minute as shane long used his pace and strength to get the better of sylvain distin and get on the end of an inch perfect cross by peter odemwinge from deep down the outside left channel.

continuing to press in the everton half, the baggies created a shot for youssouf mulumbu from about 15 yard out that required a top class save from keeper, tim howard. but there was nothing the american could do on the ensuing corner, as gareth mcauley got on the end of an excellent chris brunt delivery to put the contest beyond question.

invariably there will be tougher tests and perhaps some leaner times for the albion as the season progresses. however, a good result in one game... there's always the possibility that it's just a "one-off". two good results and people start to pay attention. three good results and there's the possibility that you've really got a good side. going into this season, it's starting to look like west brom really are a good side.

league play resumes with the baggies away to fulham on the 15th.

Liverpool F.C. 0-1 WBA

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we will only know with the passage of time, but this may have been the moment that heralded the return of west bromwich albion as one of the country's top football clubs. that is not to suggest that they will ever win the league title (or even challenge for a top-four finish, for that matter); and they certainly won't win the UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE. but long term survival in the PREMIER LEAGUE? an FA or LEAGUE CUP final? qualification for the EUROPA LEAGUE?!? these are all certainly possibilities and achievable goals for a club of the size and resource of west bromwich albion.

when the PREMIER LEAGUE began in the 1992-93 season, west bromwich albion was just coming out of the worst period in the club's history; as well as the lowest finish in the league ever - 7th in the old 3rd DIVISION.

that same year, the baggies - having finished 4th in the new LEAGUE DIVISION 2, won promotion through a 3-2 victory over swansea in a two-legged semi-final; and in their first wembley appearance since 1970 they beat port vale 3-0 to make their return to the second-tier.

following several years of relatively mediocre football, west bromwich albion were returned to the top-flight (now called the PREMIER LEAGUE) under the guidance of gary megson and featuring the prolific goal-scoring of lee hughes. however, this was one of the weakest teams ever to qualify for the competition and they were relegated immediately. thus began a decade of flirtation with promotion/relegation scenarios between the top-flight and what is now called the FOOTBALL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP. the baggies have not played in the same division for more than two years consecutively since.

this, of course, will change next year when the baggies will be competing in the BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE for the third season running. depending on what they actually go on to accomplish during their time in the top flight - and however long that might be - this just may be the match in which they finally arrived as a bona fide PREMIER LEAGUE side. the baggies defended like demons against a misfiring liverpool and took their late chance to win the match in opportunistic fashion and in the manner of a club instilled with a culture of "winning".

make no mistake - this match was won more by the management of roy hodgson, and his philosophy that to win in football you have to keep the other side from scoring than it was down to any individual performances. it's no coincidence that the baggies did not concede in any of their recent victories. even their loss to manchester city, with its final scoreline of 4-0, might have been worse had it not been for the form of goalie, ben foster and the play of centre-half, craig dawson, who deputized for jonas olsson on short notice, as the big swede had picked up an injury during the pre-game warm-up.

while not all west brom supporters have been supportive of the gaffer as a tactician - or appreciated his style of football - it has seen the baggies through the successful end of one season, and - as things stand at the minute - an even more successful season this year. after this win west brom is 10th in the table and on course to finish ahead of where they did last year. i'm not surprised that there are some discontented fans. since as early as the 1950s, aggressive attacking football has been the order of the day at the hawthorns, and i can see how a diet of away wins would starve a home season ticket holder, but there is no arguing with success and they learned to live with tight, disciplined football under gary megson for that very reason. eventually, everyone will have to defer to the gaffer and admit that its been a good time for the club and there's every reason to believe that it can continue.

it was in the 75th minute - and with the baggies defence having weathered relentless attack by the reds - youssouf mulumbu pressured liverpool right-back, glen johnson, into giving the ball away in dangerous area and at a crucial time in the match. the congolese midfielder then pushed the ball on for peter odemwingie and with space opening up in front of him, the nigerian took on reds' goalie, pepe reina, giving him a look at the far post but putting the ball in the net on the spaniard's near-side. there was little reina could do but stand and watch as the albion had scored their first goal at anfield in their last five visits.

it was fitting that the baggies earned this victory 45 years to the day since they had last posted a win at anfield. the winning goal that day was scored by club legend, jeff astle. at the time, west bromwich albion were in the middle of a golden period for the club, which saw them win both the LEAGUE and FA CUPs as well as appearances in two more wembley finals.

the baggies were by no means dominant going forward and luis suarez looked the best player in that respect for long periods - especially in the second half. but ben foster in the albion goal has been playing better and better as the season moves towards its climax, while jonas olsson and gareth mcauley showed, once again, why they are the best centre-half pairing to wear the navy-and-white stripes since the days of ally robertson and john wile. the duo threw themselves into a series of tackles and blocked shots that were essential to the albion's defensive performance and ultimate victory. however, the real star for the baggies was striker, shane long.

while the irish international has been in and out of the side through injury and illness for much of the season, his tireless running of the channels, winning of aerial balls and pressing play up front was a major factor in the win. his work against liverpool was first class and as good as any showing he has put in all year. long's was the standout performance in a team of standout performances.

it has been a year of dispelling long time hoodoos and putting them to rest, but this was one of the really big ones. next, the baggies will try and complete the double over aston villa (at home) and cement their place as the top team in the west midlands.

An Elusive Final Point

Manchester City 4-0 WBA

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more than any other game i've seen this year, west bromwich albion's visit to the etihad stadium was nothing less than a highly convincing argument for full-time elite european football.

as the club's head of publications, dave bowler, had said during an ALBION RADIO transmission earlier in the season: "what are we doing in the same division as manchester city? that's what i'd like to know!"

mr. bowler's comment is, of course, a rhetorical reference to the fact that manchester city are currently the biggest spending football club in the world since being acquired by the ABU DHABI UNITED GROUP, and west bromwich albion are one of the english top-flight's smaller and more unusual clubs - being without any outside investment and required to actually turn a profit in order to keep the club a stable and going concern.

finding themselves with only a single-point needed for the magic "40-point" mark, the baggies went to manchester with modest hope that they might just actually get something from this encounter following city's apparent self-implosion, and amidst the dissaray of mario balotelli's shocking and highly distracting behaviour that helped contribute to their loss against arsenal on the weekend.

the sky-blues, who have been top of the league for much of the season - and appeared to be favourites in the quest to dislodge cross-town rivals, manchester united, as league champions - have looked nothing less than jaded millionaire superstars as of late, and a string of poor results have seen them drop to second in the table - 5 points behind united.

after having held city to a goalless draw on new year's day at the hawthorns, and considering their recent form, the baggies had every reason to believe that they might get a result - even fielding a "weakened" team from their home win against blackburn on the weekend. this was a gross miscalculation.

having dropped balotelli and re-instated the alienated wantaway striker, carlos tevez, the sky-blues were a team absolutely transformed. they took full advantage of every mistake and allowed west brom nothing as they cruised to a 4-0 win and were every bit the side that had beaten manchester united 6-1 and had looked like unstoppable favourites to win the league title back in october.

a brace from sergio aguero along with goals by david silva and the returning tevez accounted for the one-sided score-line.

in the end, this was nothing more than a chance for roy hodgson to rest the core players in his sqaud and give the likes of simon cox and nicky shorey a chance to get 90 minutes of football under their belts. while the baggies did well enough to get in at the break only 1-0 down, city cut loose in the second-half and two goals in the space of 4 minutes showed this to be a futile effort for hodgson and his men, and did indeed make one wonder what the albion (and perhaps 12 or 13 other PREMIER LEAGUE clubs) are doing in a competition with a team that has this kind of resource.

WBA 3-0 Blackburn Rovers F.C.

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truthfully, this score-line flattered the baggies. but then again, they were fairly good value for the win all around and goalie, ben foster, proved his worth to the club once again, showing why they desperately need to sign him from blues for next season.

with the score at 1-0 to the baggies, the ex-england keeper made a spectacular double save that can only be described as "game winning".

the baggies, it seemed, had learned a lesson from their recent match away to wigan and attacked aggresively from the outset. applying relentless early pressure west brom forced 4 corner kicks inside the first 6 minutes.

with captain, chris brunt, back in the side following his first major career injury, the quality of the baggies' set-play delivery was outstanding. on the fourth corner of the game, gareth mcauley rose to direct the ball into a crowd and martin olsson's attempted clearance only ended up in the roof of the rovers' net to open the scoring. while this was credited as an own-goal, it was the power and pace of mcauley's header rather than any defensive error on the part of olsson that had created the goal. olsson was a bit unlucky under the circumstances and there was little else that the swedish defender could have done.

the baggies continued to dominate for the first 20 minutes or so, but went off the boil as rovers raised their game and definitely had the better of the play going in at the break.

with the lancashire side still dominating play in the early going of the second half, rovers' striker, david hoillet, slipped a clever back-heel to aiyegbeni yakubu who had found space inside the baggies' 18-yard box. while the nigerian's effort required a smart save from foster - and with the shot rebounding to an unmarked bradley orr directly in front of goal - it was only foster's unbelievable reaction to the second effort that prevented rovers from getting back into the game at a time when they were unquestionably on top, controlling more of the ball and having the better of the run of play.

had they equalized, one could easily have imagined blackburn going on to win the match from this point, and it was unquestionably the moment on which the game turned. within 15 minuted the baggies were 2-0 up on a goal by marc-antoine fortune and rovers were a beaten and demoralized side. on 84 minutes, liam ridgewell glanced a graham dorrans cross past rovers' keeper, paul robinson, to give the score-line its proper gloss.

the baggies are now on 39 points and have all but guaranteed they will be competing for an unprecedented third year running in the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE.

A Contrast Stark and Clear

Stoke City F.C. 1-2 WBA

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the baggies cannot seem to win at home. conversely, they are all but unbeatable on the road.

the gaffer doesn't understand it. the players are equally perplexed, and the home supporters are downright miserable. just what is going on at the hawthorns this year?

while everyone who follows english football with any regularity knows that the second year after a promotion is the most difficult, those who count themselves among some of the most intelligent and witty football supporters in the country have found the truth behind this wisdom rather hard to swallow.





since the days when vic buckingham was manager, and with players like ray barlow and ronnie allen in the side, it has always been a mandate at west bromwich albion football club that the team should play an attractive attacking game based on scoring more goals than their opponents. however, the wiser heads in charge of running the club this year have opted for a tactically defensive approach as being more pragmatic in realizing their goals of survival and continued competition in the most prestigious domestic league in the world.

roy hodgson has added real steel to what was sometimes a tentative and mistake prone defence. i don't think anyone would disagree that goalie, ben foster, is a huge improvement on previous starter, scott carson; and defenders, gareth mcauley and craig dawson - in varying partnership with the redoubtable baggies veteran, jonas olsson - are a full cut above anyone who has played at centre-half since the days of john wile. young fullback, billy jones, has shown that he's a first class defender on either side of the pitch, while veterans like stephen reid and nicky shorey have provided a steadying influence in providing cover for attacks down the flanks.





up front, the talent of new striker, shane long, has been apparent since the the outset of the season, and the full range of his game was revealed in the baggies' win over wolves back in october. the irish international has all the qualities needed for successful counter-attacking football, and has even surprised some of the hawthorns faithful with his pace, skill in the air and first-class hold-up play.

unlike the naive but beautiful passing game promoted by tony mowbray, or the raw inexperience of roberto di matteo, hodgson knows that to play in the same league with the likes of manchester united, liverpool, arsenal and chelsea, the most successful style of football will likely be found in good defending paired with quick, incisive counter-attacking. what he has found, however, is that this is of little use when playing at home against footballing contemporaries like wigan, stoke, everton and norwich city who themselves play pretty much the same way.

WBA 1-2 Norwich City F.C.

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nowhere has this been more evident than in the last two matches; a home loss to the canaries, who they beat 0-1 earlier in the season at carrow road, and last weekend's away victory at stoke, where the reverse fixture at the hawthorns produced an undeserved 0-1 win for the visitors.

unlike the free-flowing football with lots of goals that the baggies play when competing in the football league, the gaffer has set the side out to keep its shape and frustrate anyone trying to get a look at goal. in fact, ben foster has, more often than not, had very little to do in terms of spectacular saves, and the well organized defence has seen the side through even without the indispensable jonas olsson marshalling the back-line.





outside of the top five or six sides, the premier league has become a predominantly counter-attacking league. in the early 21st century, the mark of any successful side, whether it's chelsea or birmingham city, is their ability to defend and counter-attack. while the top clubs have the players and individual skill to play a more complete style of football, the second grade premiership sides are having to rely increasingly on their ability to hold out and hit back on the break.

this season, for the baggies and their manager, roy hodgson, the tactics have somewhat backfired. west bromwich albion are keeping pace with what would usually be expected of a recently promoted team, and despite the fan reaction to what has been perceived as "negative football", they look set to survive and will likely be competing in an unprecedented third consecutive premier league campaign next year. however, they have only managed 8 points from home games this year, compared to the 17 they've collected on the road.

only the two manchester clubs, chelsea and spurs have better away records than the baggies.

the inexplicable and perhaps unlucky home results have not gone over well with the home support. when wigan athletic came to the hawthorns in november, things turned ugly and the home side were booed from the field as they went down in defeat to the league's bottom club by a score of 1-2. any other year, their renowned black country wit would have seen them through the tough times, but something has happened to the atmosphere at the hawthorns and perhaps last year's 11th place finish has created unrealistic expectations.





there is no doubt that a gap in perception now exists between the hawthorns faithful and the management. where RH has been adamant that it is a matter of "unlucky results" rather than "form" that has seen the baggies without a home win since beating bolton wanderers on the 19th of november, the supporters are less forgiving and are critical of the football they have been seeing at the hawthorns this season.

"yeah, it's strange," hodgson told the BBC following the victory at stoke, "there seems to be a bit of a hoodoo on us at the hawthorns. i would be happier, to some extent, if we were playing badly or being outplayed and as a result losing matches there, but the everton game, and the wigan game, and the norwich game - three recent games... we've been a little bit unlucky to lose them because we haven't played badly at all..."

at the moment, it would be hard to get the average west brom supporter to agree and make this kind of distinction.

WBA 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

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this was sweet fare for the hawthorns crowd, and the first home win of the season.

while this was my first trip to the hawthorns this year - and my eighth visit in the last three seasons - it was, without a doubt, the most electric atmosphere i have yet encountered when attending football at the hawthorns. for the first time i could really feel what being in the premier league actually means for a club like west bromwich albion.

i am not always a fan of the top-flight and how it has created such a huge gap between the top four or five clubs and everyone else, but i have to admit that there is a level of intensity to being in the premier league that one cannot ignore. competing in the top-flight lends you a special status as every week you are seen on TV and known to football fans all over the world. it is a league where every game is of international importance - and for the baggies, they don't come more important than this one.

thankfully, roy hodgson has wisely continued to ignore all the blather about tactical formation and did just what he should have: field the most in-form individual players - those who are best adapted to the gaffer's system and those who understand his footballing vision.





all in all hodgson made four changes from the team that had drawn away to sunderland and home to fulham before the international break. nicky shorey - being off-form as of late, was replaced by billy jones at left-back. graham dorrans, james morrison and peter odemwingie were all on the bench, as somen tchoyi, jerome thomas and paul scharner all took a place in the starting eleven.

wolves started the match with a couple of incisive attacks down the albion flanks, testing albion goalie, ben foster, early on and forcing a finger-tip save that flashed across the face of the baggies goal on a shot from adam hammill. the wolves midfielder would have a similar and even better chance in the second half which would again be saved by foster and equally in similar fashion. however - and with hodgson's genius for defense and counter-attack - the more wolves pressed the baggies back line, the more opportunity opened up for the albion through the excellent forward play of shane long.

the republic of ireland international chased balls down the wings with a pace that surprised even the hawthorns faithful. his running of the channels was excellent and the young striker terrorized both wolves centre-backs, roger johnson and cristophe berra, all afternoon. he was confident on the ball and the quality of his hold-up play was evident from early on.

long served an early warning of intent when he took a long ball on the centre-line cleared from the back by chris brunt. making a good run just inside the opposition half, but having no immediate support, the albion forward held the ball up, took on the wolves defenders and moved himself into a position for an accurate but ultimately speculative long-range strike at goal. with nothing else on, he had made something happen.

i don't really know what to say about somen tchoyi... the one inescapable truth is that the baggies seem to play better when he's on the pitch. watching him play just makes you laugh - one way or the other. he doesn't much like to pass the ball; that's one thing. but there is a tenacious quality to his play. even when he's held onto the ball too long and the opportunity to pass has been cut off, he fights his way forward until he finds space or is knocked off the ball completely. he's not everybody's favourite, and maybe it's just the sense of fun that he brings to the occasion, but the baggies are most definitely a better team when he's in the side.





because he is a generally unorthodox player it's easy to underestimate tchoyi, but his unwillingness to give up the football and his play around the edge of the box lead directly to brunt's opening goal. he is much more useful than he first appears, and always looked dangerous throughout the match with his possession and holding up the ball on the periphery of the penalty area.

of course, ensuing results will form the final judgement on the season - and as it progresses - but it's safe to say that this match revealed the arguments and discussion as to the team's tactical formation to be largely superficial, and no more than distracting media hype and fodder for discussion on various online message-boards.

what was important here was the quality of the team performance and had little to do with actual tactical formation. it was also a good example of how a traditional 4-4-2 formation is meant to defend. that is, the baggies allowed the wolves some space to play through the midfield, but closed down the forwards then looked to clear and release a front-running hold-up player. the tactic worked brilliantly.

i mean, who would have put money on the baggies producing two clean-sheets back-to-back?

chris brunt worked tirelessly at getting back to defend, and was instrumental in breaking up several wolves attacks down the albion right flank. after some less than inspired performances for the republic of ireland, gareth mcauley was excellent and probably worth baggies "man-of-the-match" and looks to be the centre-half that the baggies have long needed to partner the ever-steady jonas olsson.

with four out of five goals scored within the first five minutes of their previous matches, the albion continued this particular trend when youssouf mulumbu picked up the ball just outside wolves penalty area and spotted albion debutant, billy jones, making a run outside the wolves defenders on the left of the box. jones timed his run to perfection, staying onside and taking mulumbu's pass to the bi-line before squaring the ball back for captain chris brunt to smash home his first league goal of the season in the eighth minute.

wolves missed their best opportunity of the match to draw level within minutes when what looked an absolutely certain goal was saved on the line by jonas olsson. the move started with a low-cross from matt jarvis giving nenad milijas a chance on goal which was parried away by ben foster. the ball fell to kevin doyle at the far post who looked a certainty to score on an open net from point-blank range. but the wolves striker was thwarted as jonas olsson, in a brilliant display of defending, threw himself in the way to block the shot on the line. an audible sigh of relief went through the hawthorns. wolves wouldn't come as close again.





the real brilliance of how roy hodgson sets out to play football lies in his emphasis on defending and use of the counter attack. the back four were resolute, even when under siege from the wolves attack. in fact, it was the wolves attacking that constantly lead to the albion breaking and creating the better of the opportunities throughout the match. it was also a proper display of how to defend from the front, with midfielders dropping back to help cover for their full-backs.

both paul scharner and youssouf mulumbu had opportunities to score just before the break.

with nothing else on, mulumbu's long range effort swerved dangerously and could only be parried away by wolves keeper, wayne hennessy, however no one was in a position to follow up and wolves cleared easily.

scharner's opportunity came on a concise baggies counter-attack, with shane long running the ball down the left channel and cutting the ball back for the austrian whose effort only just curled past the far post.

peter odemwingie came on for somen tchoyi in the 72nd minute, and it didn't take the nigerian international long to shake off the slump that has plagued his season thus far. opportunistically, odemwingie took a sublime back-heel from paul scharner and slotted the ball home to send the hawthorns into relieved delirium.

for the moment, the baggies are champions of the black country.

roy hodgson's albion are starting to look good. things are beginning to gel and i think the team have generally adapted to the way that hodgson has wanted them to play all along. although i wasn't lucky enough to get a ticket for the match at villa park next week, i fully expect an albion victory and another historical bogey to be dispelled forever.

Sunderland A.F.C. 2-2 WBA

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before this match had ever kicked-off, any albion supporter would probably have (even if somewhat grudgingly) taken the single-point away to a sunderland team that bought big over the summer, and have made no secret of their ambition to consolidate their place as a top-ten side in the premier league. however, after having seen the baggies go 0-2 up in the first 5 minutes - on goals by much-maligned winger, james morrison, and in-form striker, shane long - albion supporters would feel like this was two points dropped.

while overall team performance in the first-half was much better than either the away win at norwich or the 3-goal loss at swansea, it was not what we have come to expect from the baggies over the last few years under the likes of tony mowbray and roberto di matteo.

roy hodgson has stuck with the tactical gambit of controlling the tempo of the match through solid defending and incisive counter-attacking - especially away from home. while it may be a bit one-dimensional and certainly doesn't seem to make adequate use of the considerable talent that the baggies have in midfield, it was most effective in the win at norwich city. west brom allowed their hosts a significant advantage in possession but allowed no real scoring opportunities, and kept an all too rare clean-sheet. it was classically economical football played from the back, creating the better chances coming forward and west brom should have won by 2 or 3.

the first mistake against sunderland was not to push on more aggressively and find the third goal. with their opponents on the ropes and the home crowd having turned on them, a 3-goal deficit would have left the black cats too much of mountain to climb and no hope of coming back.

the sunderland home support have recently grown frustrated - and vocally demonstrative about it - with gaffer, steve bruce, and the general perception of the club's start to the season as being unacceptably mediocre. in fact, with the wearsiders having come back from a 2-goal deficit to equalize, they were quite amazingly booed off the park at half-time. the big money buying has brought with it some big expectations and a palpable, hostile impatience now permeates the atmosphere at the stadium of light.





for me, the difference in this match was sunderland midfielder, stephane sessegnon. the benin international had served notice in the 13th minute when a long ball into the albion penalty area ended with a low, hard shot running just wide of ben foster's right-hand post. the baggies got another scare 10 minutes later when a similar effort was turned in for an apparent goal by ex-birmingham city midfielder, sebastian larsson. having spotted his team-mate's run, larsson got in behind his marker and redirected another low, hard drive by sessegnon into the albion goal. however, it was called back as larsson had made his run a step too early and was correctly ruled to be offside.

the black cats kept coming and finally made the breakthrough when sessegnon's next ball in at goal - and again running at the albion left flank - was back-heeled by larsson to the on-rushing ex-arsenal striker, nicklas bendtner. his shot took a deflection and left the already committed foster flailing and going the wrong way with no chance whatsoever of making a stop.

the equalizer came only minutes later through a nicklas bendtner cross which found ahmed elmohamady in front of goal. the egyptian had gotten in behind his marker and buried a hard, pacey header to make it 2-2.

roy hodgson should probably have put youssouf mulumbu on sessegnon, man-marked him out of the game and worked to deny him possession much higher up the pitch. the sunderland midfielder was brilliant whenever given a chance to run with the ball between the half-way line and baggies' penalty area.

while the baggies were probably the slightly better team over the first 45 minutes, they were decidedly second best after the break. in fact, nothing about the second-half was as good as the first, and both teams exhibited the desperate need not to lose more than either showed the desire to push on for the win. nonetheless, it was the black cats who had the better of the chances when, once again, sessegnon ran aggressively at the west brom back line before slipping a ball out to elmohamady on the right. the egyptian had a clear look at goal and a decent angle from which to shoot. but ben foster stood up, made himself big and positioned himself well to make a decisive save and maintain the score-line.

while the stadium of light crowd has, in no uncertain terms, made their disappointment clear, baggies fans are not too terribly happy about this year's campaign thus far either. perhaps it was the last season's 10th and 11th place finishes, respectively, creating yet more false dawns in the wasteland of dashed dreams and despair that is called the barclay's premier league?





there's no doubt that the gaffer has got the baggies defending much better as a team, and it has only been individual errors that have worked against them. however, the passing play through the midfield, as well as the the odemwingie/long strike partnership, hasn't really gelled yet. in truth, the two strikers together haven't looked anywhere near as dangerous as when long was partnered with somen tchoyi in the first two matches.

but it is odemwingie who hasn't clicked yet. while there have been moments when a ball coming over the top and the nigerian's pace against isolated defenders has looked dangerous, his decision making has been poor and is looking so hard to score that he is not seeing the play around him. in fact, with only a single pass completed between odemwingie and long in this match, a true "partnership" couldn't really be said to exist, as such.

so much has been said and written by TV and radio pundits, as well as posts in online fan forums, about "formation". there is endless opinion and lament concerning the abandonment of the successful 4-5-1 formation that roberto di matteo was forced to use when he had run out of fit strikers at half-time in an fa cup-tie with newcastle united. while they continued playing this way through the back end of last season, this year roy hodgson has reverted to a more conventional set up featuring two strikers.

what should be obvious from the nature of how the baggies have dropped points over the first seven games is that their lack of success has less to do with the formation than it does individual form. shane long got off the mark early. so far, he has been the best player on the team and has continued to improve over the first seven games. chris brunt looks to have come into form, being instrumental in the baggies' opening goal and having had a really good all-around performance against sunderland. stephen reid has grown into the right back spot and has definitely added strength to what was perhaps the side's weakest position. gareth mcauley has come into the first team and immediately proved a solid partner for jonas olsson in central defence. on the other hand, graham dorrans has created one or two exciting moments, but hasn't shown any of the charisma and creativity of which he is capable. james morrison has been wildly inconsistent, and the usually steady left-back, nicky shorey, has been responsible for several costly fundamental errors. as for the defensive midfield, youssouf mulumbu has played pretty well, paul scharner hasn't. in other words: individual form is all over the shop... never mind debating "formation"!





at this point, i would suggest that "selection" is where hodgson and his staff should be focussing their attentions. after all, it is only seven games into the schedule, and whatever the supporters feel, or what expectations have been created, after a solid mid-table finish last term, we've all got to remember that the goal is to place 17th or better in the league table on the final day of the season. period.

with so much attention having been paid to the acquisition of striker, shane long, and the retention of last year's goal-scoring leader, peter odemwingie, there has, no doubt, been pressure on the gaffer to play these two strikers together at the first opportunity. odemwingie was kept out of the side for the first two games due to a recurring ankle injury, and didn't get a start until the disastrous away loss to swansea city, having only come on briefly as a substitute late in the game against stoke city.

shane long is set to become the club's record signing through performance related contingencies in his contract, and the albion were forced to offer odemwingie substantial improvements to his existing deal with the club in order to ensure his stay at the hawthorns. however, it is only long that has impressed so far, having scored 3 goals already and his play continuing to improve; while odemwingie has struggled and despite netting the winner in west brom's solitary win, has been desperately out of form.

right now, the gaffer has to figure out how to inspire better, more assured performances from his charges and stick with his concept of making the albion a difficult side to break down with a solid spine from back to front. he also needs the goal-scorers in the team to step up and create more goal opportunities. chris brunt, graham dorrans, morrison and mulumbu need to be more adventurous in attack; and perhaps the gaffer needs to give simon cox a start alongside shane long up front.

4-5-1? 4-4-2?

forget about everything else and sort out your best footballers, mate.

WBA 0-0 Fulham F.C.

match text commentary


the baggies haven't looked particularly good since ryan shotton nicked a last minute winner for stoke city at the hawthorns a few weeks ago. in retrospect, that moment seems to have shaken the baggies' confidence, and they don't look at all the team that put in two really solid performances against manchester united and chelsea at the start off the season.

likewise - and up until the moment of that disastrous goal, the baggies had had the better of the match with their nemesis club from staffordshire, and would have won had it not been for the goalkeeping of asmir begovic in the city goal. the stoke city keeper was in superb form, making two hugely important saves and solely deserving of the credit for the clean sheet which gave his team the opportunity to go on and snatch the late win in a match that had "0-0" written all over it.





the following two games - an ugly win at norwich city and a shameful 3-0 loss away to swansea - were particluarly undistinguished performances that left some pundits and supporters reaching for the panic button. the mainstream news media played on the hype that the albion had made its "worst ever" start to a premier league season (all six of them); the TV and radio pundits started to suggest that perhaps roy hodgson had "lost the plot"; while the gaffer's preference for a 4-4-2 attacking formation came under huge criticism in the online fan forums.

the team then gave a good away performance against everton in the league cup, only to see their efforts go to waste in a losing cause. with a 1-0 lead through a chris brunt penalty kick in the second-half, the albion again conceded a late goal - in the 88th minute - to everton defender, marouane fellaini, and forced the game into extra-time.

Everton F.C. 2-1 WBA

match text commentary


from there - and much like their FA cup adventure against reading two seasons ago - the initiative had swung the way of the mersey-siders and toffees' captain, phil neville, scored the winner with 18 minutes of extra-time left. it was a scenario which should be all too familiar to any long-time albion supporter.

the gaffer admitted in the post match press conference that he had "experimented" with the team formation in the cup-tie at goodison park. no doubt, this was influenced as much by what was being written in the online supporters forums as anything else. these internet forums have, of course, been the main source of criticism of the tactical switch from last year's 4-5-1 system, as opposed to the 2 striker system that the gaffer has implemented this year.





based on what he saw of his squad in the cup game, hodgson took the idea a step further in the home fixture with fulham. he implemented a flexible 4-3-3 which had shane long leading the line, peter odemwingie in a wide position on the right-wing and jerome thomas on the left-wing. chris brunt, graham dorrans and somen tchoyi covered the midfield and joe mattock returned to the starting line-up at left-back after having had a strong run in the reserves. baggies new-comer billy jones was deployed at right-back, while gareth mcauley - who had impressed in his two previous performances - was again assigned to partner jonas olsson at centre-half.

while the mainstream media has put an ever increasing pressure on the game over the last 3 decades or so, it is the online forums and so-called "social media" that have cranked up the heat in the last few years. it is hard to imagine somehow that some crank of an unemployed ditch-digger from dudley can now have profound affect on decisions taken by a man who has master-minded world cup upsets and taken top continental sides (as well as over-achieving underdogs) to both UEFA and europa league finals. but then, a good performer knowing what his audience wants will more often than not try and give it to them.

however, part of the problem with listening to the voice of inspired, rambling amateurs is that they haven't always got the focus right. the biggest talking point among baggies fans this last few weeks has been the question of 4-5-1 versus 4-4-2. the subject has been talked to the point of distraction in endless post on sites like westbrom.com. while the last few games have seen a west brom that has sacrificed some of their creativity in the mid-field - a quality the club is known for - and is primarily looking to keep things tight at the back and breaking on the counter attack, relying on the strikers to produce goals - the baggies have looked defensively more sound than they have in quite a while, and with two clean-sheets in the first six games they have already equalled their season's total of last year.





what the supporter/pundits have to remember is that it wasn't the formation that needlessly brought down swansea midfielder, joe allen, in the penalty area, giving swans their first goal and setting the tempo for a truly rotten performance. nor was it the formation that didn't come to collect a ball bouncing into his area, giving ryan shotten an open goal in which to score a last minute winner. neither did the formation needlessly lose the ball or give away free-kicks in dangerous areas. for the most part, the baggies' downfall thus far has been technical errors entirely creditable to individual players.

so, after a first half where it looked like the worst was coming true and memories of the ill-fated 2008-09 campaign started to flash through my head, the gaffer decided enough was enough and abandoned his bodged around 4-3-3 formation, moved odemwingie back in to a central position and the baggies looked far the better side in the second-half.

although the points total is still disappointing, a clean-sheet and chris brunt hitting the post four seconds into injury time was almost enough to make you think things are going to be OK.

when johnny giles took over as the club's first player-manager in 1975, the baggies were in the 2nd division and didn't get a result for the first 10 games. giles couldn't settle on a team - let alone tactic and formation - and by his own admission wasn't playing well himself. the baggies were promoted that year, and secured it with a famous victory on a second-half goal scored by tony brown away to oldham athletic on the last day of the season.

the baggies went in to the first division and finished 7th. johnny giles had laid the groundwork for the development of what would become one of the best sides in english football of the late 1970s under the leadership of ron atkinson. sometimes a bad start is just a bad start. this should be a good enough team to get over it and they have a gaffer who knows how to lead the way.





however, i fear that the opening two losses were much more detrimental to team confidence than any of us might have imagined they could have been. in these two games, the baggies had seen how good they are and know how well they should be playing, and at the minute everyone's trying too hard. odemwingie is looking too hard for the goal. paul scharner is making rash, over-active defensive decisions. brunt is too often searching in vain for the killer pass to put someone through on goal. graham dorrans doesn't seem to know where he fits in and nothing is really clicking yet with the possible exception of new boys shane long and gareth mcauley.

right now, they just have to learn to relax and play a more complete style of football within the parameters that hodgson has set. creatively, they might need to change it up a little bit sometimes. while the long ball tactic they've adopted has worked up to a point, they also need to play through the midfield and make use of the considerable individual talents there.

if the strikers aren't scoring, look to set up chances for the other natural goal scorers in the side - namely chris brunt and graham dorrans. let's have nickey shorey taking a free-kick once in a while. he's got a good shot over a dead-ball and is more than capable of delivering a long range scorcher from the set-piece. if odemwingie is looking stiff, put somen tchoyi on as a striker - and let's maybe see simon cox have a run in the team. in short, the club need to be just a little bit more fearless and show more of a sense of their natural creativity, resource and adventure... and for god's sake - they need to RELAX!!!

Heavy Lay the Judgement

it's been a little less than two weeks now since swansea city brought an end the football season, winning themselves promotion to the almighty PREMIER LEAGUE through play-off final victory over reading f.c., and the transfer market is already starting to buzz with activity and rumour.

in the new world digital millennium, the easiest way to gauge what the supporters are actually thinking is to browse your way through the various websites which host message-boards and fan forums and have a look at what people are posting.

i have recently and regularly been following - and contributing - to several threads at westbrom.com, an independent fan site with quite active forums and a membership of about 4000. while the site is well moderated and there is some surprisingly keen local insights in the writing and contributions to posts, there is still enough ill-conceived thought and unrealistic expectation going on here to support my assertion that the PREMIER LEAGUE can do terrible things to the soul of a football club.





it has long been known that the club's intention - and indeed, its necessity - to strengthen the centre-back positions. with jonas olsson the only defender about whom there is no question as to his place and importance in the squad, the lack of two good centre-backs is otherwise a pretty glaring deficiency in the side. neither does roy hodgson appear too keen on either of the goalies it seems. this is no surprise, as the baggies were simply unable to deal with corner-kicks and set plays going into the second-half of the season, so you can bet there'll be at least a few signings made to address this situation between now and august.

what is evident on the message-boards and online forums is that the expectation of the supporters as to who a club like west bromwich albion can attract (or afford) is largely unrealistic. there's enough talk about the idea of bringing a player like christopher samba to the hawthorns, and plenty of commentary about how gareth macauley and billy jones - the first signings of roy hodgson's tenure - are adequate back-up players to the proven "top-grade" defenders that the baggies' management are apparently going to be buying; and how no one seems to rate andy lonergan as a goalie, blah blah blah...

much of fan posting is quite fanciful, to say the least. as a supporter of a large community based club, what you want is one thing; what you get is another and the truth is always somewhat mundane.

christopher samba has been linked with a move to arsenal. even the top clubs have trouble finding defenders of his quality. andy lonergan is, in fact, one of the better english goalies, and at 27, a fairly long career can still be projected for the current preston north end stopper. more than one or two PREMIER LEAGUE clubs will eventually be seriously targeting him to compete for a place in their starting eleven.





whatever is happening and whoever else the baggies sign over the summer, the club's most recent acquisitions are players being brought in to strengthen the first team and no one is being signed with the intention of playing them in the reserves or as a substitute for someone better. make no mistake, billy jones and gareth mcauley have both been brought in to compete for places in the first team.

one subject that really had me shaking my head were the discussions about danny graham. with expectations that he'd be coming to the hawthorns, the general reaction was, for the most part, pretty lukewarm-to-negative with loads of unenthusiastic assessment promoting the old cliché that a player like graham might've done well in the CHAMPIONSHIP, but is never going to be a proper PREMIER LEAGUE player; and again how he might be of some use coming off the bench for some imaginary proven "top-flight" striker.

well, the fact is that we didn't even come close in getting last year's joint top-scorer in the CHAMPIONSHIP and were out-bid (quite significantly, i might add) by both QPR and ultimately, swansea city. like the albion, these two clubs - both new to the PREMIER LEAGUE for the upcoming season - in pursuing graham, would have hope and confidence that the ex-watford sharp-shooter can be an important player in the PREMIER LEAGUE and an asset to anyone looking at the struggle for survival in the world's top football league.





the days when the big community based clubs, like the albion, could compete financially with teams at the top of the league and playing attractive football was the measure, are long gone. as the money continues to get out of hand and the gap between the top 4 or 5 clubs and everyone else gets bigger, expectations of what is possible will have to continue to change. while there is a historical precedent and the baggies are the 15th most successful side in the annals of english football, the right to claim a place as one of the top 20 clubs in the country is something the albion are going to have to perpetually battle out with 10-12 other clubs of similar size and stature.

my only answer is to have faith in our club. as albion fans, let's hope for and try to inspire a little bit of magic. it's easy to project continued success for all our proven and favourite players; like peter odemwingie, graham dorrans and youssouf mulumbu; but let's also hope that simon cox can become a consistent goalscorer in the PREMIER LEAGUE. let's hope that ishmael miller can finally come back from injury and be something like the player that we all hoped he would. let's have faith that our new signings are successful and can make significant contributions to improving the squad. let's hope that we find a good goalie and another quality centre-half. let's just hope...