WBA 0-3 Stoke City F.C.

match text commentary


at the end of the day, i couldn't help thinking about an old piece of documentary film that shows an arsenal team of the early 1970s pushing their way past a referee coming down the tunnel at half-time.

the players nudge, jostle, elbow, shoulder, bump and shove the ref and his two linesmen as they go past, all the while maintaining the pretense of nonchalance, not noticing and looking the other way. the three men are left clearly shaken and shocked staring in confused disbelief at the crowd of men which has just pushed past them. before they are afforded anytime to recover there is don howe himself, coming up the rear, red-faced and veins bulging in his neck, screaming frantically in the face of the poor man:

"HOW COULD YOU MAKE A CALL LIKE THAT?!?!? EH, EH?!?! THAT WAS THE MOST DISGRACEFUL THING I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!!!! JUST BLOODY DISGRACEFUL!!! DISGRACEFUL!!!"

or words to that effect.

football is a human game and referees, over the years, have regularly been bullied, coerced and cajoled, through verbal, psychological and even physical abuse in order to intimidate them and affect their decisions. nowadays, managers and supporter alike are constantly moaning about poor refereeing decisions, which - thanks to modern video technology - are more evident than they ever have been before.

tony pulis has taken advantage of the current climate, and inspired by some recent questionable calls which have gone against his team, has launched a well-publicized attack on PREMIER LEAGUE referees - even going so far as to propose a system of promotion and relegation for match officials, just as you would with football clubs.

the genius of making a challenge in such a public manner is that any referee he encounters in the next two or three weeks may give him the benefit of the doubt on some big calls just in order to prove mr. pulis wrong.

it's quite a brilliant ploy and managed to win stoke city a penalty that no other team in the country would have been awarded on the day, and a second that also would have been highly questionable in any other circumstance.



as usual, i listened to the match live on ALBION RADIO and watched the delayed TV broadcast later that evening. it is often very interesting to note the differences between a match heard only as audio commentary - with a heavy baggies bias - and the neutral assessments of the mainstream TV announcers. the two experiences can be very different, but as far as the first penalty went, one and all - partisan and neutral alike - agreed that the decision was bad, it had been a dive, and kenwyne jones should have been given a yellow-card and not a penalty decision.

even the great trevor francis (whose heart is birmingham city blue) working the TV commentary, as he does for many of the nationally broadcast matches, was emphatic it was poor call.

"that was never a penalty in a million years!" he declared upon seeing the video replay of the incident.

the baggies have been missing jonas olsson, and it will still be several weeks before he begins to make his way back into the team. so it was another truly disastrous blow this week that chris brunt picked up a pulled hamstring playing for northern ireland in last week's international friendlies. without brunt's attacking creativity and skill on set pieces, the baggies were lost on free-kicks and corners, as peter odemwingie curiously stepped forward to take every dead-ball situation. as a result, the albion wasted 90% of their opportunities with the nigerian striker's corners woefully over-cooked and his free-kicks just as bad.

i couldn't understand this at all. i would have thought that without either graham dorrans or nicky shorey in the side, that free-kicks might have been given to gabriel tamas, and corner kicks would be taken by morrison, or the two wingers, thomas and barnes, respectively. however, odemwingie seemed to want to take everything in sight and it simply didn't work.

i also got the feeling that roberto di matteo was out of ideas this week. where he has been a bold and brilliant tactician, making critical substitutions and implementing tactical gambits that have changed the course of more than a few matches, he just had nothing left and was over-looking some of the most basic necessities in the team selection. the gaffer had otherwise picked a pretty similar team to that which has started in the last three or four games, with a few minor changes and variations due to brunt's injury and the physical size of the stoke team.



for example, marek cech got the nod at left-back over nicky shorey presumably because he is better in the air and thus a more suited defender against a team playing the long ball.

giles barnes got one of his few starts of the year. although he still doesn't have a full 90 minutes in him - demonstrating how lengthy and difficult it is to come back from a major injury - he was easily the most lively albion player throughout the first half and showed his worth as a powerful and pacey winger.

the statistics tell a lot about this game, as well as the nature of the PREMIER LEAGUE at its ugliest. over the course of the match the baggies pretty much played twice as much football as the potters. they had 63% of the possession, outshot them by 15 attempts on goal (8 on target) to 6 (4 on target), and won 8 corners as opposed to city's 3. but, playing football doesn't always win games in this league, and the 3-0 scoreline was in no way indicative of the football actually played on the day. while the baggies stats looked impressive, they made nothing of their evident superiority on the ball.

the albion had something knocked out of them at blackpool, and i think the squad is still collectively suffering the psychological effects of that particular match. individually, jerome thomas has not been the same player since, and has dropped into a pattern of second-guessing himself. while gonzalo jara looked very uneven and appears to have lost some confidence on his return to the team following his wild and vicious tackle on luke varney and subsequent three-game suspenion. in hindsight, the chilean full-back must now be painfully aware that he played a central part, with a most negative effect, in what now appears to have been a pivotal moment that saw the beginnings of a sudden and massive down-swing in the team's fortunes.



peter odemwingie, who did not play in the blackpool game, has started to try to do everything himself, and james morrison has only sporadically been able to get involved in any of the last few matches.

at the moment, youssouf mulumbu is the only midfield player who hasn't really suffered any lapse in form. in fact, the congolese international has been playing some of his best football of late, as well as demonstrating a sense of leadership in trying to push the team forward.

if i was roberto di matteo, i would think about fielding a few major - and probably radical - changes for the trip to everton next weekend.

i don't really know what the current political situation is at the hawthorns with thursday's loan deadline coming up - but i would start roman bednar (provided he hasn't gone out on loan) ahead of odemwingie, and i would also start simon cox, no matter what. the team is at a desperate need for goals, and they have to give a start some proven goal scorers. i would also start graham dorrans - especially if chris brunt remains unavailable. if he can begin to find any of his top-form, he's capable of scoring goals as well making them. even if he doesn't, they need to play a dead-ball specialist, at least. i'd also start somen tchoyi and give jerome thomas a rest.

meanwhile, i would be impatient for chris brunt's return and praying that jonas olsson is fit sooner than later.

Blackpool F.C. 2-1 WBA

live text replay




as albion midfielder, steven reid, observed after this match at bloomfield road, the baggies may take more positives and as yet unseen advantages from what was a pretty wierd match, and which conspired to end the baggies eight-game unbeaten streak.

i must admit, i was really pleased and impressed with roberto di matteo's team selection and especially glad that simon cox was included in the starting side. cox rightfully deserved the chance with graham dorrans yet to find playing form this season, and james morrison out with an injury. so cox had really earned the chance given his terrific goal scoring form in the LEAGUE CUP.

this looked set to be a classic between two surprising teams who've played some of the most consistently exciting football in the PREMIER LEAGUE this year after both came into the league as CHAMPIONSHIP promotion winners last season. with full international TV coverage, two excellent managers and a chance to show the world their enterprising and attacking brands of football, blackpool v. west brom on a monday night looked to be perfect fare with all the ingredients for a big occasion.

but, and as dave bowler of ALBION RADIO noted before the kick-off, there had to be some concerns about the match being put under the charge of the PREMIER LEAGUE's youngest referee, and his ability to control the game in the face of such an auspicious occassion. his concerns proved prophetic as the 25-year-old ref, michael oliver, was completely out of his depth, went "card-happy" at the first difficult decision and soured what might have otherwise been a really entertaining match.

both sides started out showing enterprising attacking games and simon cox tested the tangerines' goalie, matt gilks, from an acute angle early on.

the match swung wildly with just ten minutes gone as d.j. campbell got on the end of a long through ball in the albion penalty area. the blackpool striker pushed the ball forward on a single stride and past the last defender, pablo ibanez, before running into the baggies centre-half, who was marking him perilously closely. campbell went down and was quite incredibly awarded a penalty decision. however, it rather appeared that if anyone had been fouled it was ibanez, and the ref should probably have waved play on.



but it was a bad call and i think that young mr. oliver knew it pretty quickly. however - and seeing as how he hadn't consulted either the linesman or fourth official - he should just have followed through with the consequence of his mistake, got on with the game, allow for the subsequent penalty kick to be taken and leave it at that. but, i believe that mr. oliver panicked, and feeling the need to reinforce his decision (and make demonstration of his control of the match), issued a direct red card to the spanish centre-half and sent the match in a bad direction. the young man was clearly out of his depth and it showed on his face.

the penalty was a poor enough call, but i think everyone could've probably lived with it. bad calls are part of the game. that has always been my stance on the issue of how matches are refereed. like i said, i could've lived with the penalty - and even a yellow card, if he really felt it necessary to back up his point as to who was in control of the match; but the red-card was a complete injustice and i will be surprised if the baggies don't appeal the decision.

di matteo's only immediate change was to bring off simon cox and bring on steven reid to fill in at centre-half. this for me was the really unfortunate aspect of the red card against pablo ibanez. as it denied simon cox an opportunity that won't come around too often. i have to really feel for the young striker who is the victim of some really miserable fortune and his performances in the LEAGUE CUP continue to go unrewarded as far as a starting place in league fixtures go.

the albion looked comfortable enough for the next 15-20 minutes, allowed blackpool most of the possession and settled into their new defensive shape, with striker, marc-antoine fortune dropping back to cover the central midfield.

a few hard challenges saw the game begin to get a little heated with youssouf mulumbu picking up a yellow card. luke varney, the blackpool striker, went about trying to provoke one or two of the baggies' players - to see if (among other things) he could goad the congolese midfielder into a committing a second bookable offense. the albion were still rattled by the red-card and not really creatively adjusted to playing with only 10-men. they could not, it seemed, get over the sense of injustice or shake the feeling that the occasion had been soured.



this all changed, when just on half-an-hour gone, albion right-back, gonzalo jara, lost it with varney and in a moment of madness, recklessly went in with a full-on, studs-up, two-footed tackle when the blackpool forward had got himself harmlessly trapped near the corner-flag and actually looked to have taken the ball into touch. quite rightly, jara was shown an immediate red-card and the baggies were left now down to 9 men. it immediately put things in perspective and it felt as if all was about to go from bad to worse.

however, di matteo's strategic substitution of graham dorrans for fortune was a masterful piece of resource management and team selection. the scottish international, who has not had an opportunity to find any real form this season, came on and made obvious what the gaffer should have done at the advent of the first red card.

with graham dorrans coming on to spearhead a strikerless formation, it was evident by half-time that if the baggies had gone 4-5-0 before jara's red-card, they would have easily been able to get a draw and would probably have won the match. the albion - and their travelling support - came back for a second-half with loads of optimism and the intent of nicking a point from what was still a 1-0 score-line.

it was in the second-half that the baggies began to play some truly inspired and entertaining football. with only 8 out-field players in a 4-4-0 formation, they had to withstand a 60-40 per cent disadvantage in possession, but held the tangerines for over half-an-hour before conceding the second and - what would turn out to be - winning goal on an overlapping run by reg varney, finally taking advantage of a stretched albion backline.

it really didn't matter, because by that point the baggies looked to have taken all the positives they could from such adverse conditions. graham dorrans had been given an ideal forum in which to work his way back into some much needed game-form, and the team's performance over the course of the game had the travelling supporters in full voice, filled with pride and thoroughly entertained. it may, in fact, have been the turning point of roberto di matteo's career at the hawthorn's, as the valiant efforts of the nine-man albion side and the intelligent reserve of the gaffer, worked to forge a deeper bond between squad and supporter than has been at the club in the long time.



youssouf mulumbu, who was really the standout player of the match, single-handedly got a goal back in the 85th minute. taking control of the ball just outside the blackpool penalty area, the congolese midfielder came forward into space and smashed the ball past matt gilks. suddenly - and quite surprisingly - the baggies were back in the match.

the albion pressed for the equalizer and scott carson even came forward for one of the last corner kicks. graham dorrans got on the end of a late free-kick, but the ball stuck under his feet just in front of goal and was only able to set up a shot for steven reid, who looked certain to score and produce the unlikeliest of results, but slipped on the greasy bloomfield road pitch and put the ball over the bar.

the game was gone, but the valiant effort of the nine-man albion had not only produced an entertaining match and come close to getting a result, but they may have written the beginning of a new chapter in west bromwich albion folk-lore. the players that took part in this game have a created a tremendous sense of camaraderie going into next weekend's home game with manchester city. both the supporters and the team seem like they're up for anything at the moment.

Arsenal F.C. 2-3 WBA

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the baggies have overcome the logic of history and beaten arsenal at home for the first time since the 1983, many years before advent of the PREMIER LEAGUE and the north londoners had relocated to their present home at the emirates stadium. the albion have beaten two of the biggest teams in the world inside the space of 4 days and there is now no doubt that this is the best baggies side since cyrille regis was with the club, and the gunners still played at highbury.

there are those who will long point to the rejuvenation of the club under gary megson as the high point in management at the hawthorns for the last 20-30 years, but roberto di matteo is rapidly proving his worth as a manager of the first order, and his successes have been more than good fortune or a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

there is no doubt that whatever remains of the team that tony mowbray built, it has now been transformed into a more complete footballing side without having lost the original mandate to play good passing possession football with an emphasis on attack.

di matteo has added considerably to the organization of the team and built the best defensive line since the days of john wile and alistair roberton. the baggies have a mid-field that is competitive with just about anyone in the top-flight, and a crew of strikers featuring a target-man who has been scoring freely since his arrival at the hawthorns. where key figures like chris brunt, youssouff mulumbu, marek cech, james morrison and graham dorrans remained to form the central core of the playing squad, this is di matteo's team and plays to his vision of the game.



when he arrived at the club following tony mowbray's departure for an unsuccessful spell as manager at celtic, di matteo's impact was immediate. he reinvigorated the spirit of players who'd become unhappy and didn't see enough playing time under tony mowbray, and began his tenure with a 9-game unbeaten run capped by a superb 5-0 away win at middlesbrough.

still, mowbray had been a very popular manager for taking the baggies into the CHAMPIONSHIP play-off final and then the PREMIER LEAGUE; and he was regarded with a great deal of respect for being a man of principle who would not resort to poor or ugly tactics, was unfailingly loyal to his starting eleven, and stuck to his game-plan. di matteo has proved a more pragmatic manager, ready to take chances, make changes and seeks victory above all. i'm not sure, for example, that either gary megson or tony mowbray would have the vision, nerve or will to make the the half-time changes that di matteo has made somewhat of a trademark in his management style.

after all, it was a change at half-time in a match last year that led to the gaffer's use of the 4-5-1 setup that served the baggies so well in the second-half of last season's CHAMPIONSHIP campaign. likewise, there were major changes he made at half-time against both tottenham and birmingham city that turned the course of the match and produced a draw and a win respectively.

a highly improved defense - stilled marshalled by jonas olsson - and the arrival of nigerian international striker, peter odemwingie, has seen the quality of the team improve. the baggies are playing very much like they did last season, and have a shown a tendency to concede first, only to reply with two or three goals themselves.

i can't really remember how many times they did this last year. i myself was present at three matches (plymouth argyle, doncaster rovers, blackpool) where they went behind early and scored 3 goals in response. although albion teams have been doing this since the 1950s, the PREMIER LEAGUE of 2010 is probably not the ideal place to continue this practice. it does, however, make for the kind of exciting football that west bromwich albion were once famous for.



the overall effect of di matteo's improvements to the team is a side with enough depth and skill that no one is ever conspicuous by being absent from the line-up. last year, for example, alarm bells would have gone off at graham dorrans, chris brunt or youssouff mulumbu being out of the team. this year, every contingency is covered, a consistent feeling of optimism is running freely throughout the entire squad, and they are no longer dependent on the talent of given individuals to spark their game. this has largely been due to the addition of players like steven reid, paul scharner, somen tchoyi and nicky shorey now making the baggies a team of some fair depth.

with that said, the baggies held their own against an arsenal team that had the balance of control throughout the first-half, and avoided going behind as andre arshavin hit the post in the early minutes of the game. other than this - and despite massive difference in time on the ball - the albion held arsenal to nothing but specualtive, long-range efforts throughout the first period.

it was only a missed penalty by chris brunt, in fact, that kept the baggies from taking the lead after odemwingie was taken down in the box by goalie, manuel almunia. the spanish keeper rightfully should have been shown a red card, at this point, and was lucky to have been given the benefit of the doubt.

brunt's penalty was truly poor, and one could see the northern ireland international change his mind at the last moment as he tried to finesse the ball into the corner of the net rather than just hammer it as he had intended.

in the second-half the baggies took the game to the gunners and deserved their lead when jerome thomas cut down the bi-line brilliantly past defender, bacary sagna, sending in a low cross for peter odemwingie to poke the ball home. the albion went on from strength to stength and dominated the game for the next 20 minutes.

with arsenal still reeling from finding themselves trailing at home, chris brunt once again produced one of his moments of brilliance for which he gets far too little credit. with the ball out on the right wing, brunt worked a very clever back-heel on the return ball in a give and go that sent right back, gonzalo jara, in on goal. the chilean defender beat almunia on his inside-post with a shot the spaniard really could have stopped. inside of 10 minutes of the restart, the albion were quite incredibly two goals up.



this allowed the baggies to continually penetrate deep into the gunner's half on attack, and on 72 minutes, chris brunt made further amends for his first-half penalty miss. with the baggies threatening, the ball came to brunt in front of goal, but his first touch was heavy and appeared to be going out for a goal-kick. however, this pulled almunia out of position and a second touch put the ball beyond the now stranded keeper, leaving brunt merely to cross for jerome thomas to blast the shot into an open goal.

it was only at this point that arsenal were able to respond. with the baggies probably still in a state of disbelief at their three goal lead - as well as the reality of a historic victory now well within their grasp - they conceded to samir nasri after he had hit the cross-bar and the gunners were applying relentless and intense pressure on the albion goal. it was a great individual effort as the frenchman took on two defenders and blasted the ball into scott carson's top right-hand corner. with fifteen minutes left to play, you still couldn't count the gunners out of this one.

nasri again scored in the 91st minute to pull the arsenal to within a goal. in a moment where the baggies centre-halfs were pulled out of position by a direct attack on the albion penalty area, nasri got into the open space and was left with just carson to beat from about 6 yards out. the baggies were going to need to weather the storm for a suspiciously long 5 minutes of time added.

it was the greatest of relief to hear the final whistle. while the 2 goals by the gunners late-on certainly showed the quality of some of their individual players - which is a class apart from a club the size of west brom - the baggies were, without a doubt, the better team on the day. the pop pundits and publications will no doubt focus on how poor arsenal were rather than how good west bromwich albion was. but that completely ignores the fact that over the last three weeks of the PREMIER LEAGUE, the baggies have a better record than manchester united, chelsea, tottenham and arsenal. in fact, they have the best record of any team in the PREMIER LEAGUE since the international break.

as i keep on saying: this is a very good west brom side!

WBA 3-1 Birmingham City F.C.

live text replay

roberto di matteo outguessed me this week - and i have to admit, it worked!

i had given up on the 4-5-1 attacking formation; as had the gaffer to some extent, i think. at half-time against spurs he had the good sense to realize that peter odemwingie can't play on the wing. so, in starting both fortune and odemwingie (in a central position today) he had, more or less, returned to the idea of having two strikers and a formation resembling an orthodox 4-4-2.

the problem, as was evident in the first half of the match - and against a good defensive team like blues - was that this left the baggies being outplayed by a five-man midfield who were able to take their one opportunity, with cameron jerome tapping the ball into an open net on a well worked free-kick from sebastian larsson to give blues the lead through half-time.



while city dominated the first-half, it was a game of holding the ball in the midfield and the baggies still had the greater number of shots on goal. there was a decent long-range effort from chris brunt; as well as paul scharner getting on the end of a cross at the far post which he might have done better with, not realizing how much time he actually had; and a misplaced header from fortune on a cross from gonzalo jara also went narrowly wide.

unlike his predecessors, who tended to stick to principles and ideals rather than making tactical changes, roberto di matteo does take serious chances and will change tactics freely when he needs to. this tendency first became evident last season when he made the changes during a match that led to the current 4-5-1 setup to which he has since remained true.

he had found this necessary when jerome thomas was injured and he brought robert koren on to play right-wing. this moved chris brunt to the left-wing and the gaffer added a series of rotating midfield players (ben watson, steven reid, giles barnes, james morrison etc.) in place of the second striker. this remained their starting formation for the rest of the season - and to great success.



last week, against spurs, the gaffer finally realized that it was not a good idea to keep odemwingie out on the wing, since the nigerian striker has no idea how to track back and cover in this position. it was a fundamental weak-link and, in the bigger picture, was probably responsible for the loss to liverpool. with odemwingie in the centre behind fortune, the baggies dominated spurs in the second-half and really should have taken all three points.

today, with fortune not really able to get into the game and odemwingie looking the more enterprising and involved of the two strikers, di matteo returned to the full-blooded 4-5-1 with graham dorrans coming on replacing fortune for the restart. this proved a stroke of genius as the albion went about taking apart one of the best defenses in the premier league with its trademark attacking midfield.



graham dorrans, who seemed to struggle in the first few matches and was out of the side for the home match with tottenham, finally exerted his influence on the play with the baggies obviously the brighter team right from the kick-off of the second period. they equalized early through a penetrating run by thomas, who cut in from the wing and slotted a pass to odemwingie which ultimately flew into the birmingham goal off the heel of defender scott dann.

the second albion goal came through a critical mistake in defence, as lee bowyer failed to control on the edge of his own penalty area allowing odemwingie the chance to pounce and cut to the outside of blues' keeper, ben foster, turning the ball home, again off the unfortunate scott dann.

the match was put beyond question when jonas olsson headed home a chris brunt corner-kick in the 67th minute, and the baggies looked every inch a competitive premiership side.



i have long said that i believe that this is the best baggies side in many years - even perhaps the best since the early 80s. while i have to admit that up until today, my aspirations of a mid-table finish have seemed like they might realistically be nothing more than hopeful and overly optimistic. today was the first time that i really sensed there is more capability than mere survival in this team. while it may not come as easily or as regularly as it did last year, we are certainly going to see more success in the premier league than many of the pundits were predicting at the outset.

this is a very good west brom side.

Liverpool F.C. 1-0 WBA

live text replay


there are several different ways to lose in football. some are unnacceptable, some are undeserved and others are just plain unfair. while the baggies' opening day abberration at stamford bridge was a decidedly unnacceptable loss, today's match away to liverpool was anything but. it was a game lost in one of those dramatic moments with which every football fan is all too familiar. with the play being sufficiently stretched, it becomes inevitable that one team or the other is either going to score a well worked, hard fought goal or concede on the counter. the albion sensed their opportunity for a possible winner and were ultimately victims of their own ambition.

with the baggies piling on the pressure, right-back, gonzalo jara, had two clear-cut chances at the liverpool goal from 6 or 7 yards out. the first shot was blocked but the ball fell to him for a second which was then saved by a diving pepe reina. the albion were caught out at the back. after a quick release by reina - and within just 19 seconds - the baggies had conceded at the other end to a fernando torres volley on a cross from dirk kuyt. however cliche it may sound, the premier league is indeed cruel to those who are unable to take their chances when they appear. ultimately, the albion put in a good performance and as supporters we'll all come out of this one confident of survival in the premier league campaign of 2010-11; and for better or worse, that seems to be what matters.



where we might have thought, oh no! here we go again!!! after the opening day calamity at chelsea, today's performance, against one of europe's most famous clubs, could only reinforce the belief that this is going to be west brom's most successful premiership campaign yet, and they'll be quite capable of amassing the 35-40 points needed to survive - and maybe more.

as i would do on most any other saturday morning, i tuned into the ALBION RADIO transmission shortly after 9.00 AM... nothing stunning today, but always worth listening to - especially the weekly insights that one gets as to some of the more specific points and inside workings of the football club. i had to wait until 3.45 in the afternoon to watch the delayed TV broadcast on SETANTA SPORTS CANADA.

at the outset - and despite liverpool's relatively poor start to the season - nobody would have expected anything less than an emphatic victory on the part of the home team. but i came out of this not just disappointed that the albion didn't quite manage to hang on for the draw - i felt as if the baggies were going to win this one.

west brom were especially good in the first half, and despite a few tentative moments on the part of gabriel tamas, the albion defense - and especially jonas olsson - stood firm and showed real character for the first 65 minutes.



nicky shorey got his albion debut and delivered a solid performance at left-back, showing he is a good, sound, technical player; and gonzalo jara - who has struggled a little in the first few games - showed some real enterprise at right-back and injected spark, skill and endeavour into the albion attack.

scott carson, while not having much to deal with before the last twenty minutes, was quite superb, spectacularly saving from point-blank range to prevent a second torres goal late in the match.

graham dorrans, who has been surprisingly quiet in the first few outings, finally began to exert his influence on the game in the second-half and showed that he is settling into the more advanced attacking role he has been forced to take on this season. likewise, fellow scottish international, james morrison, who had not started off well in the first few games either, was back on form and - in tandem with chris brunt - was at the the heart of several enterprising moves forward by the baggies.

with a couple of new faces in the side - and the return of marc-antoine fortune less than 48 hours prior to kick-off - the baggies are going to need to settle. the most pressing question they're going to have to come terms with over the next little while is the issue of roberto di matteo's commitment to the 4-5-1 setup and having to play people out of position to accomodate the system - especially the forwards.

in fact, the liverpool goal might never have materialized had peter odemwingie - a striker who was played on the right wing for this game - possessed more of the training and instinctive positioning sense of a right-winger. for example, i think it was probably odemwingie who had not dropped back into a sufficiently wide defensive position to cover for right-back, jara, when he went forward to directly attack the liverpool 18-yard box. on the other hand, how can anyone not be sympathietic and treat this as anything but a learning experience for the newly arrived nigerian international?



while there were several questionable judgements on the part of the referee - and including legitimate calls for penalties ignored at both ends - the only real injustice was the red-carding of james morrison on a tackle that deserved nothing more than a yellow-card. it was questionable enough a call that you'd think the albion management might think about appealing.

while most albion supporters will come away from this match buoyed by the team's performance and its promise for the future, the baggies were unlucky today and deserved better.

WBA 1-0 Sunderland A.F.C.

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well, that's more like it!!! the baggies' fifth premier-league campaign has now begun in earnest with a 1-0 home victory over steve bruce's sunderland.

while it's easy enough to point to the difference in quality of opposition between sunderland and chelsea as partly accounting for the victory - as well as the marked difference between west brom's performance of this week and last - but the baggies' return to their aggressive midfield attacking game was really what won albion the match; and i'm still convinced this more natural style of play would have produced - and at very least - a more respectable scoreline in their opening match with the champions.

while retaining the 4-5-1 formation to which di matteo has committed his team, the baggies returned to the ploy of playing two central attackers - as they had done last year - and could have run this game out by a bigger scoreline, and probably deserved at least one more goal on the day. indeed, chris brunt had an exceptonal game and was unlucky when a sure-footed blast from about 25 yards out came booming back off the sunderland crossbar late in the game; and an earlier effort on the volley from a james morrison cross going just agonizingly wide.

whatever it is the gaffer is trying to do, having brunt playing next to dorrans as opposed to behind him is probably the optimal use of brunt's talents at premier league level. james morrison was much improved on the right wing and showed that he does indeed have the little bit of pace that brunt might not. the scottish international was able to penetrate down the flank and deliver several good crosses as well as the crucial final pass that sent new signing, peter odemwingie, through to score the winner.



the other big difference was jonas olsson's reintroduction to the starting line-up. the swedish centre-half's aggressive and spirited play added a great deal of raw determination and direction to a technically improving baggies' defence. this was reflected in scott carson's first clean-sheet of the season - also his first in the premier league in almost two years, and equalling his season total of the ill-fated 2008-09 campaign.

the hero of the day though has to be the albion's newest signing, peter odemwingie, who came into the side less than 48 hours earlier - without adequate time to even get his name in the matchday programme - and proved himself a real striker by scoring a striker's goal with 10 minutes of normal time left. the nigerian international from lokomotiv moscow played well throughout and came close to opening his baggies scoring account in the first few minutes on a near perfect through-ball from chris brunt.

while sunderland were outplayed by the baggies for most of the match, they still managed 50% possession. the black cats, however, continued their poor away form of last year, were uninspired and not of the technical standard or toughness that one would expect from a steve bruce team. they were blunt going forward, and only a couple of good long range strikes - both from open-play and a brace of free-kicks - by keiran richardson threatened to test scott carson at all. despite the prescence of darren bent sunderland were really restricted going forward and seemed to be missing the influence of striker, kenwyne jones, who transfered to stoke city at the outset of the season.

perhaps i was a little hard on di matteo, and the baggies in general, after the opening day thrashing at chelsea. after all, there probably isn't a more difficult fixture in the schedule and the occassion was no doubt overwhelming. while i can rail about the poor choice of playing chris brunt as a defender, or the exclusion of jonas olsson from the starting team, i must concede that chelsea at stamford bridge on opening day is sufficiently disorienting and no place to gauge a new environment. i suspect the baggies may have over-estimated their opponents on opening day and approached the match far too tentatively. on the other hand, every mistake made at chelsea was turned around and the team were scrupulous on their basic technical practices back at the hawthorns. defensive walls linked arms and kept their shape, while defenders threw themselves valiantly into blocks and tackles throughout the match.



marek cech was excellent again at left-back. having been the only one to have had a good game at stamford bridge, the slovakian international is performing with an assuredness and technical skill that has not been seen at this position for the albion in a long time. i think that cech may be one of those players whose game is more suited to the increased psychological demands of the premiership rather than the tougher and more physical style of the football league. gonzalo jara, however, did not acquit himelf so well and the gaffer might think about giving steven reid or even zuiverloon a look at the right-back position.

while i believe that di matteo has learned a lesson about how to use his midfielders and defenders, i suspect that he may start roman bednar in the more challenging away fixtures - like liverpool and manchester united - in order to hold up the ball going forward and press more at the front. either way, i hope they can shake off the opening day experience at stamford bridge and go into these fixtures with some measure of confidence and belief, as well as the will to play some football. otherwise, they run the risk of not having a meaningful, competetive away match until november 1st when the baggies travel to blackpool following visits to stamford bridge, anfield, the emirates and old trafford respectively.

In Search of Reason!

looking at the posts to BBC 606 (and various other online football forums), there is a lot of complaining going on amongst the supporters about lack of transfer activity. i suppose that that's going to be a universal anxiety for the fans of a club coming up from the league and going into the premiership for the fifth time in a decade. the signings will get done, but not until the market begins to close and the serious considerations begin to present themselves.

what i really can't believe is how badly the fans are under-rating the team "as is", and over-rating the prospect of premiership football! it is very negative stuff indeed. especially on the issue of strikers.

nobody seems to be giving ishmael miller much of a chance, for example; despite the fact that he's only 23 and has yet to complete a full season with the club. he was pretty sensational when he came to west brom on loan from manchester city. scoring in his debut, he was called up to the england under-21 squad, nominated for championship player of the month and he netted a hat-trick in the FA CUP quarter-final that year; as well, as forming an impressive partnership with veteran striker, kevin phillips.

in the premier league, however, he was cast by manager, tony mowbray, in a much tougher role of lone striker playing a 4-5-1 attacking formation. while he was hardly prolific, and slow to start, he had recently scored a good goal away at newcastle, and looked to be just coming into form, before a collision with portsmouth goalie, david james, took him out of the game for well over a year.

again - and 14 months later - miller scored on his come-back start for the first team against blackpool, at a crucial juncture in the team's promotion battle. on the subsequent tuesday evening, he scored late-on as a substitute, giving the a baggies an all important 2-0 win away to swansea, and a virtual strangle-hold on automatic promotion. at his best, he is a fast, strong and deceptively skillful goal-scorer.




still, he is a bit of un-known quantity, as he is painfully one-footed (left), seems to be sucseptible to niggly, little injuries that keep him from getting a decent run in the first team; and we don't really know if he's a good premiership player with the ability to improve, or a just a very talented football league player, who would no doubt be able to attain the status of "folk-hero" with a long career at one of the bigger clubs in the championship or league 1?

you would think the faithful might display a little more faith in the former.

the fans are a little more generous with roman bednar. he scored six goals in his last premier league campaign, and even his worst critics are expecting him to go at least one or two better this term. i mean we started last year's campaign with luke moore as the main striker. things would seem a lot better this year, even by the more demanding standards of the premiership.

with bednar and miller as our main strikers - and the impact potential of simon cox - there is still plenty of attacking football to be explored on this team, and i think the supporters are being absolutely ridiculous in their expectations in this regard. certainly, the club needs another big striker to accomadate RDM's apparent tactical formations; but, that's only because we sold craig beattie last year and didn't replace him; whereas, i think the punters are expecting the club to bring in a "proven" 15-20 goal-scorer at premier league level! well it ain't gonna happen!

the premier league can do terrible things to a supporter's level of expectation.

variously there are cries and criticisms in regards to just about everyone except graham dorrans and gonzalo jara. i just can't believe that it isn't so much more obvious to everyone that this is the best baggies side since sometime between 1982 and 1986. by this, i mean, that it might not be as good as the team that lost an FA CUP semi-final to QPR in 82, but is certainly better - and relative to the post premier-league era - than the one that was relegated a few years later.

as usual, the most critical of the punters are pointing back to the issue of jeremy peace not making enough transfer money available. there have even been rumours of JP getting ready to sell the club, which - by the way - i can find no reports of in the mainstream press. however, he is indeed trying to strengthen his financial control and expand his ownership of the club. but after all, he is also a business-man. through a televised BBC interview for the "late kick-off" show last year, i listened at some length to JP speak of his ambitions for the baggies, and i believe he is authentic, and committed to finding a realistic niche for west bromwich albion in england's top-flight - and perhaps, eventually, even beyond.

beside the percieved need of another big striker, there seems an essential and widespread lack of faith among the supporters in the core group of players; and it seems that there is a surprising number of supporters who have never really warmed to roberto di matteo, despite the success, confidence and winning attitude he has brought to the club.




i will concede that while an italian manager who appears to be building a decidedly continental-style side, playing a 4-5-1 formation (or "4-2-3-1" if you like) and featuring two defensive midfielders is decidedly out of character for a club that has been committed to "attacking football" (for better, or worse) for the last half century; but di matteo saw what he had in terms of talent when coming to the club, did the best with what he had, has now quite obviously begun to implement his own vision of football at the hawthorns, and he's probably got some idea of how to go about making it happen.

if you actually read the top writers who follow league football in england, they were all pretty much in agreement when assessing the baggies' premier league prospects, that they were going to need to strengthen their defence significantly if they were to compete. i have even seen criticisms saying that the task may be beyond them, and will be their downfall in surviving the top-flight. no writer i've read, however, was too concerned that the baggies would have any trouble controlling the ball, getting forward or even scoring goals.

we have made some good signings since RDM took over. gabriel tamas, gonzalo jara, steven reid, giles barnes and pablo ibanez. this will strengthen the defending a great deal and the issue of a new goalie is academic. dean keily is moving into full-time coaching and dropping to third choice keeper. so whether it is a definite backup for carson or someone who might challenge for the starter's position, that is yet to be seen, but there will be new goalie at the hawthorns either this year or next. as for this season, the club will eventually find another target man, however humble an acquisition it may be.

i think the baggies will surprise this season. i'm expecting them to finish ahead of blackpool, bolton, blackburn, wigan, and wolves, as definite; and they should be competetive with west ham, birmingham city, newcastle, sunderland, stoke and fulham, depending on these particular clubs' form. even if we aren't, it won't simply be down to the albion's lack of an imaginary £20m centre-forward.

Gone Daddy Gone!!!

sky sports


birmingham mail


well, it's that time of year: the post-season. and first word from the hawthorns is that robert koren is being let go. i don't know enough about football business to evaluate what the worth of renewing his contract in order that we might sell him and make a couple of quid might be; but i do know that the club is freely releasing a skilled and popular player, and - judging from a couple of posts on the BBC 606 - the supporters aren't generally thrilled about it.

i, myself was sad to wake up yesterday morning to the unexpected news, and so apparently was roko. i can't help but feel this is partly a result of the animosity that existed between himself and the gaffer back in january, when koren was consistently out of the team and there was talk of him joining tony mowbray at celtic. however, after jerome thomas got injured and roberto di matteo had implemented a 4-5-1 attacking formation, the slovenian international found himself in the regular starting eleven playing on the right-wing. while not his favoured position, he was an important part of the team going into that second-half of the season, and his contribution to the baggies' promotion campaign was substantial.



the trouble is that under tony mowbray the club picked up a lot of players who had similar skills and played similar styles. even the full-backs, with the likes of gianni zuiverloon, marek cech and gonzalo jara, are skilled footballers who play as well (if not better) at midfield-wing positions as they do their respective wide positions in the back-four.

with mowbray's legacy still evident at the hawthorns, it's safe to say that there is no lack of quality midfielders at the club: dorrans, mulumbu, brunt, thomas, morrison, as well as the out-on-loan jonathan greening and borja-valero are - to a man - comparably skilled all around footballers. striker, simon cox has even been used in central midfield, ahead of koren, to accommodate di matteo's 4-5-1 attacking formation. all things considered, though, i still think koren - by virtue of his intelligent and imaginative play - will be missed; and the club will have to bring back either greening or borja-valero to make up the difference.

i can understand why the club did this, but i don't doubt that it was a difficult decision.

Bristol City 2-1 WBA

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i was not born an albion supporter. in fact, if i had adopted any of the teams to which the respective sides of my family have traditionally shown allegiance, i would have been either a portsmouth, ipswich town or wolves fan.

how i came to be an albion supporter - while being beyond my control, for one thing - is a long story and spans almost forty years of football and colours many of my attitudes about the current state of english football.

this match depressed me terribly. not because the baggies fell into third place, or just how plainly visible it was that fatigue, injury and suspensions are taking their toll; nor that the albion played poorly. but because it made me wonder what i really want as a supporter, and the depressing fact of what one can inevitably expect from english football as it is in the year 2010.



this was pretty average fare for the baggies, and not inconsistent with their form of late. the albion have been on a nine game unbeaten run that has come - for the most part - from scrapping out victories and draws in a slew of mediocre performances against what has largely been mediocre opposition. but it hasn't come cheaply, and the injuries - especially that to gonzalo jara - have at least, temporarily, piled up.

west brom's nine game unbeaten run came to an end with a tired and listless performance in the second-half that saw the the baggies give up two goals in the space of four minutes. while this was only the second away defeat of the season it comes at a particularly difficult time for a club that should now be concerned with cementing their hold on second place and looking towards challenging for the title. but then, the albion never do anything the easy way.

i had to take this match in live via the ALBION RADIO transmission, but i was afforded the opportunity to see the match replayed the next day on TV. truth to tell, the baggies weren't that bad in the first half and deserved more than a one goal lead at the break with striker, roman bednar, unable to finish a couple of really good opportunities.

the one disgrace was recent loan signing frank nouble. considering the reports and big-league estimation as to his potential it must have just been a horrible day for the young mid-fielder. he looked a gangly, dozy muddle in a position that has been covered by the excellent performance of jerome thomas most of the season. i doubt this display was anything like what he's capable of and will just have to be written off as one of those days where even the most basic skills are lost.



the other real weak link in the albion team was joe mattock. while he is a really pretty good left back and knows the various jobs of his position in ways that bely his age, he is not quick enough to be involved in the attacking game as much as he wants to be, and overlapping runs with the left-winger should be discouraged in favour of developing his defensive talents. in short, as long as he stays home and does his job watching the back door he's a good left back. in fact, i think his best game of the season may have been against middlesbrough, where a small injury forced him to hold his place in the back-line and kept him from racing upfield and getting caught out of position.

while the loss is definitely a setback and a missed opportunity towards stamping their name on an automatic promotion place, we have to keep things in perspective. it is only the second loss away from the hawthorns all season, and there's no necessary indication that a poor run of form is going to follow. it has rather looked all year as though second-place has had the baggies name written on it and there's no reason to believe that anything has changed.

what made me depressed about this loss, was that it reminded that i am a baggies supporter and would follow them all the way down to depths of league 2 and beyond if that's what was required. but watching this game, i got an uneasy feeling that this might be the last year of yo-yoing the club has got in them. i mean, this is a completely unique situation in english football that a team should have been involved in relegation and promotion struggles between the first and second tiers for ten years running. it's just got to resolve at some point!

so assuming we attain promotion again, what can we expect from the premier league? while i know the £30 million TV money is a big incentive just to be included in the competition - but really - what can west bromwich albion ever hope to achieve in the premier league under today's conditions? last year, we were the only team in the premier league that made a profit. all the other clubs operated by committing to huge debts in order to buy "premier league" players. we've seen in the past how this business model ultimately fails when a club adopts and carries premier league financing for a number of years and is then relegated.



charlton athletic, held up by football pundits and professionals as the model example of a "consolidated premier-league" club for most of the last decade, find themselves now - and in the space of a few short years - in the third tier of english football after a double-relegation which was the direct cost of carrying premier league financing at the time of relegation to the second tier. similar things have happened at leicester city, southampton, reading, watford and both swindon town and norwich city were likewise punished for even flirting with the premier league.

if west brom goes up, then all we can ever hope for is "consolidation" and perhaps a top-ten finish somewhere down the road - and that would be considered a miracle. it might even be worth a "manager-of-the-year" award! i mean, just look at the rave-reviews that alex mcleish is getting at birmingham city this year! genius is reduced to a state of mediocrity and glory is strictly reserved for those who can afford it.

i know that it is complete heresy to proclaim it, but i would rather see the albion win the FA cup than anything else this year. the fact is that true glory, a day of authentic heroics and the possibility of transcendence at the highest level is only possible through the cup competitions for mid-size clubs like the albion anymore.

i wasn't born an albion supporter but i shall probably die as one, and a lifetime of watching english football will have coloured my attitudes towards it.

Reading F.C. 2-2 WBA

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i saw this one live on TV through SETANTA SPORTS CANADA. thank god that the FA cup still takes precedence over the premier league somewhere!!! i also had the opportunity to see the day's early kick-off with chelsea dispatching cardiff city by a sizable score-line of 4-1, making sure that the so-called "BIG FOUR" will be represented in the quarter-finals.

i had speculated about the fitness of both graham dorrans and chris brunt, imagining that one or the other (and perhaps dorrans more than brunt) might need to sit out a game for the sake of rest and recuperation. however, it seems that as long as both are injury-free, they will probably always be starting. as i noted when i made this speculation: dorrans and brunt on half-steam are still capable of making things happen and create situations that will lead to goals.

i was unsure about this match, and being a lover of the FA cup, hoped desperately that the baggies got through. i guess because i hadn't seen the albion since simon cox scored deep into injury time at the hawthorns to earn a scrappy little home draw with QPR, i was much more anxious about this match than i would have been for a regular league match, and kebe's goal on 9 seconds was not a good sign.



it didn't really worry me though. i mean, how many times have we seen west brom win a match in which they have trailed 1-0 at some point? myself, i saw it two games in the space of four days at the hawthorns back in september where the albion trailed 0-1 on early goals (both eventually won by a 3-1 score-line), so i wasn't about to sweat it. i was, of course, vindicated when chris brunt's superbly placed cross landed squarely at robert koren's feet and the slovenian mid-fielder walked the ball home for the baggies' opener in the 17th minute.

after that, i couldn't see the baggies losing. to make it even better the royals were down to ten men in the second-half through the sending off of forward brian howard for a particularly bad tackle on abdoulaye meite. but the albion often find a way of not making life easy for themselves, and a second yellow card issued against youssouf mulumbu saw the congolese midfielder sent off to bring things level again.

while the baggies have a tendency towards late goals and one learns never to worry until the final whistle (witness last year's victory over manchester city at the hawthorns), but i was positively despondent when simon church, coming off the bench for the royals, beat the baggies' offside trap in the 72nd minute. scott carson made the initial save but was ultimately beaten as the ball skipped over and behind him for church to finish with a tap-in into the open goal.



while the match was refereed by a senior official who is generally considered a "premiership" referee, it was not officiated terribly well. it occurred to me that he was letting some pretty hard tackles go early on, and then there were some pretty harsh and unnecessary calls later in the game. i wondered, for example, if mulumbu's second yellow-card - while a definite and flagrant foul - was really warranted?

if the measure of good officiating is consistency then this guy was way off the mark. in fact, he ran this match rather like a gym-master overseeing a school-boy game where he had different standards set for different players, in order to compensate for varying levels of skill and with the particular intention of teaching whatever lessons are needed by the various individuals involved.

when a referee considers his own performance, judgments and prestige above that of the players, the teams and the game that he is officiating, then you are in real trouble and are going to get some bad calls. it was even suggested by the TV commentary that so-called "premier league" referees often do not take matches involving league teams seriously.



true to form, the baggies added a new name to their list of goal-scorers on the season as joe mattock scored his first for the albion. throwing everybody forward the baggies launched a late assault on the royals' penalty area. about 12 yards out and in possession of the ball, simon cox, seeing that mattock was in space behind him over his right shoulder, turned and delivered the ball for the teenage full-back to drill home the equalizer.

the albion will now have to replay this one at the hawthorns a week from wednesday with the winner set for a home quarter-final draw against either crystal palace or the villa. assuming that the baggies win the replay, i have every reason to believe i can start to dream just a little about the possibility of a wembley appearance for the albion this year.

the downside of all this is that roberto di matteo has now got some real selection headaches to deal with over the next three or four matches. jerome thomas is on a four-game suspension. likewise, youssouf mulumbu will be starting a short suspension with missing tomorrow's match; and both meite and jara are out with injuries - the chilean international gone for the season with a broken metatarsal. that leaves gianni zuiverloon as the only real choice at right-back, for example.

the next three of four games will be a real test of depth and character of the players that roberto di matteo has available to him. he's been astute enough to make a couple of important loan deals and has managed his forwards superbly in keeping roman bednar healthy and productive and making good use of simon cox as a utility player, who has made important contributions in crucial situations this year.

if the baggies can manage to keep their unbeaten run going at cardiff tomorrow, it will go a long way to maintaining the goal of automatic promotion.

WBA 5-0 Watford F.C.

i was really worried about this one after seeing watford absolutely demolish sheffield wednesday by a score of 4-1 on TV last friday. it was really good football. but if you want to come to the hawthorns and try to play football at this level against the albion you're going to get beat 9 times out of 10.

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as crystal palace and - to a lesser extent - swansea city showed, the only way to really beat this baggies team in the championship is by employing the most negative tactics... 10 men behind the ball and a single striker looking for counter-attack opportunities. but playing football? you probably aren't going to win.

so it was as the baggies pasted watford 5-0 at the hawthorns last saturday.


i don't think too many albion fans would have much to criticize from this performance. it was another clean-sheet for scott carson, five goals all coming by different sources, and a victory achieved largely without chris brunt, who came on for only the last 25 minutes and was relatively inconsequential to the outcome of the match.




there were several factors about this match which will make it seem a like a crucial turning point in the season if the baggies do well in the next few games, and ultimately, gain promotion on the year. first off, this was a tight and well executed performance throughout. i had to listen to the match on the ALBION RADIO, and the infrequency with which the fullbacks were mentioned in the commentary is one indication of very solid work at the back. i only remember meite's name coming up twice in the whole broadcast, for example, and that's always a good sign for a defender.

while not improving his overall performance - and still looking kind of out of it - luke moore returned to doing a strikers' job, scoring in the 48th minute to end a drought for the team's forwards that has lasted since september 19th. gianni zuiverloon netted his first goal for the club, and simon cox scored perhaps the best of the goal of the game to open his league goals account for the albion and looks to have earned a place in the starting team.



i hope the baggies have learned their lessons over the first third of the season, as the upcoming away match at leicester city is possibly the toughest prospect that the club have had to face all season. i saw city play QPR on TV last week and on their day they are probably the most all-around solid side in the division. leicester are excellent at the back - having the second best defensive record in the league - and although they play with less possession than other teams might, they know how to take advantage of their opportunities when they come.

the last time that west brom had a big win, they followed up with a string of poor performances which started at home in a 0-1 loss to crystal palace. they can't afford another run of poor results at this point of the season. if the albion can continue with last week's form, then they can beat leicester city at home. it's as simple as that. but, this is a definite case where the defensive game is going to have to be solid, as i can't see this leicester side allowing the baggies' forwards as much space, time or opportunity as they had last saturday.