The Premier League: Modern Times

in assessing what has been the most successful season to date for the baggies since their initial return to the top-flight a decade ago, i find it's time to face up to the facts of life in the most popular football competition in the world. despite finishing 8th in the table - and laying claim to being the best of the second grade sides in the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE - it was actually a very uneven season for the baggies, at least in terms of overall results if not actual footballing performances.

west brom started the season as the one of the league's form teams and were on the verge of going top of the table when a poor performance away to swansea signalled the beginning of a slump from which they never quite recovered. however, similar scenarios were played out at norwich, fulham, west ham and swansea, so the baggies kept pace with their immediate competition and their run of excellent results during the first half of the season carried them through to find success as the "best of the rest".


in actual fact, for a club like west brom to have distinguished themselves as such, is a more significant achievement than it is for manchester united to have won the league, and there is one big difference between these two sides that can't be overlooked. as one of the world's most popular and richest clubs, united can go with whatever they did this year, take stock of their resources and look to improve on it for next season. the albion, however, are left with a much more challenging set of problems and whatever they were able to achieve this season may end up having very little bearing on what they'll be able to achieve next season.

only the top five or six clubs in the PREMIER LEAGUE can look forward to the coming season with some degree of expectation. the rest of the league is left having to deal with varying levels of reorganization and often have to scramble to put together a competitive side ahead of each and every campaign. with chairmen and boards that are made up of businessmen who do not come from a football background, this is often a recipe for disaster.

it is possible - as with QPR this last season - to spend a great deal of money on expensive players who have experienced winning trophies both domestically and in europe. but this is no guarantee of success - the whole set-up often being no more than a high-priced gamble. you need look only as far as wolves - who had been both league champions and several time domestic cup winners in the old FIRST DIVISION - to see what damage the PREMIER LEAGUE can do to a football club.


also, as we saw with newcastle united this year, a good season is no guarantee that you will be left with adequate resources to build on for the next. the toon went from last year's excellent 5th place finish - and qualification for the UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - to a side that struggled to get results and only just managed to stay ahead of being involved in a scrap at the bottom of the table this year, finishing the season in 16th and only 5 points ahead of relegation.

the baggies had the good fortune of having had what has to have been the league's best loan signing, in the likes of romelu lukaku. with 17 goals in the league, the overall performance of the chelsea teenager was a major component in the baggies' success this year. when it comes time to replacing his attacking input west brom are left with no small challenge.

as a supporter who lives overseas and does not support manchester united, chelsea, arsenal, liverpool or manchester city, i am a member of a peculiarly esoteric fraternity. there is almost nothing in the way that the PREMIER LEAGUE is promoted here in north america that takes into account that someone like myself, who doesn't follow one of the top 4 or 5 sides, might even exist.

there are, of course, fringe elements that support big sides like aston villa, newcastle, everton and tottenham, but even these affiliations can be fleeting and there is nothing to encourage anyone to dedicate their support to a side that might fall out of the top-flight and disappear into the netherworld of the FOOTBALL LEAGUE. in fact, where SPORTSNET (and SETANTA SPORTS before them) used to carry at least one CHAMPIONSHIP game a week, this year, they wanted to save a little on the licencing budget (i would imagine) and opted for a weekly SPL game instead.


this was the first time in years - at least going back to the 2006-07 season - that the FOOTBALL LEAGUE (including the play-offs) was not seen at all on television in the particular broadcast region where i live. consequently, anyone following the english game on TV will not have seen any football that is competitive at the top end of the division.

i don't know what deals they're making for next year, but it is unlikely that the view of english football in toronto will become any more expansive very soon, and the average viewer who considers themselves a "fan" won't be looking for anything more than to follow a team that wins 85-90% of its matches. i know one guy - with claims of being a casual supporter - who says he used to support arsenal, but now they are "no good" (not having won anything recently in trophy competitions is what i think he meant), so he has switched allegiance and now follows chelsea. while this is hardly traditional behaviour, it is an attitude that is more and more prevalent with the supporter who follows the game through international TV broadcasts.

in this context, it is more and more the job of teams like west brom to drop enough points in the PREMIER LEAGUE to see to it that the status-quo is maintained, and that sides like manchester united, manchester city, arsenal, chelsea and liverpool perpetually compete as an elite mini-league who occupy the top places in the table, and thus hang on to their fan bases in the international TV market.


in fact, with the virtual monopoly that the two manchester sides - together with chelsea and arsenal - have established in occupying the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE spots for the last few years, together with similar situations in LA LIGA, the BUNDESLIGA and even now LIGUE UN, the FOOTBALL LEAGUE ONE was arguably the most exciting football competition in all europe last season.

besides my visits to the hawthorns and my primary football interest being invested in the baggies, i have also followed brentford's adventures in the FOOTBALL LEAGUE over the last few years. this year, where west brom began the season as one of the form teams in the top-flight and played some very exciting football in the process, it was the bee's that supplied the majority of my best and most exciting football moments over the second half of the season.

from the final and decisive day in the CHAMPIONSHIP, where hull city drew with division champions cardiff and won automatic promotion to the top-flight; or the final kick of the match at griffin park that propelled doncaster rovers up and out of LEAGUE ONE; through to the play-offs in LEAGUE TWO, league football provides a truly competitive environment that has long since disappeared from the top-flight.


it's really a shame that there was no TV coverage of the FOOTBALL LEAGUE this year. the drama off the final day and play-offs contrasted starkly with the narrow vision of english football as a competitive spectacle that the international supporter is afforded through following the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE on television, with its heavily biased focus on a handful of elite sides. the competition and excitement that still exists in league football serves to remind those of us who can remember what top-flight football used to be like before 1992.

i visit england twice a year for two weeks at a time and try to get out and watch as much football as i can. all i can say is that i would not be attending PREMIER LEAGUE matches at all if west bromwich albion, the team that i support, were not playing in the top-flight.

WBA 1-2 Liverpool F.C.

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while gabriel tamas' goal in the 3rd minute gave every indication that the baggies would progress easily enough to the next round of the LEAGUE CUP against what was unquestionably the least experienced line-up that liverpool has ever fielded in senior level competition, nuri sahin's superb individual effort in the 16th minute set the stage for what seemed, in the end, a surprising comeback.



here in canada, the state of broadcast football (TV and radio) changes yearly. this year, while there is expanded coverage of the english top-flight as well as the UEFA and EUROPA leagues, there is no more coverage of any other domestic league football; and with the apparent demise of EUROWORLD SPORTS, i have seen no english language broadcasts of LIGUE 1 either.

the cup competitions have traditionally changed broadcaster from year to year. for example, in 2005-06, the FA CUP was shown exclusively on FOX SPORTSWORLD CANADA; and another year, it was exclusive to TSN (canadian ESPN affiliate). SETANTA SPORTS (now taken over by SPORTSNET) even used have a weekly BLUE SQUARE PREMIER LEAGUE match!!! but the LEAGUE CUP doesn't seem to get any coverage here until the quarter-finals.

because it was impossible to get any west bromwich albion radio broadcasts streamed online in north america, since 2009-10 i have subscribed to ALBION PLAYER, a service that supplies live audio commentary of all west brom matches and posts video highlights, as well as news items and interviews in video format. most clubs in both the PREMIER LEAGUE and FOOTBALL LEAGUE provide the service, and transmissions for all matches from the CHAMPIONSHIP down are available through signing in to a single site. for the PREMIER LEAGUE games you have to be signed in to a specific club website. however, the subscription allows for access to all participating club sites and it is only the really big clubs who ignore the service altogether or run their own subscription schemes unique to the club's official site.


however, while i did listen to this match live on the ALBION PLAYER, no video highlights were offered on the site. i did eventually find a 9 minute video posted in several places on the internet.

with gates for both major cup competitions severely down at the top-clubs - and in these days of the season ticket culture - with increased importance placed on success in the league, i would have thought that perhaps international TV revenues would help the situation out. this doesn't, however, seem to be the case. apparently, the TV markets here in north america have even less interest in broadcasting games from the LEAGUE CUP competition than the general football attending public has for actually going to watch them live at the stadium.

due to the good start that the baggies have had in the league this season - and the fact that the opposition was one of the country's biggest clubs - they did attract a gate of 21,164 for this particular fixture. this is 4 or 5 thousand more than one might expect for a cup game at this stage of the competition. however - and despite steve clarke's stated goal of a cup run for the albion this year - the team folded in the second-half. despite being the stronger side, it seemed that as the game wore on the baggies were taking it all a bit for granted and a much anticipated second goal never materialized. ultimately it seemed that their hearts just weren't in it and a really cohesive passing move by the reds set up the winning goal for nuri sahin in the 83rd minute.

WBA 3-0 Liverpool F.C.

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the baggies kicked off their third consecutive PREMIER LEAGUE season by continuing their current rehabilitation as a top-flight side and breaking yet another long-time hoodoo. not having won an opening day fixture in the top division for several decades, west bromwich albion, at home and under the direction of their new head coach, steve clarke, demolished an average looking liverpool team by a deserved score of 3-0.

while the merseysiders looked dangerous and had the better of the play for the first twenty minutes - thanks to the attacking skill of luis suarez - they were otherwise shut down by clarke's new-look albion side. along with the superbly disciplined back four and a sophisticated defensive game that the team learned under roy hodgson, the new gaffer has brought a CHAMPIONS LEAGUE attacking style to the club.


with five top-flight strikers now in the first-team squad, places in the starting team are going to be hard won this year. while simon cox and somen tchoyi have moved on, the baggies have retained shane long, peter odemwingie and marc-antoine fortune with midfielder, zoltan gera, returning from a season long injury. to their attacking options they have added swedish international, markus rosenberg - who was not yet fit to play on saturday; and teenage striker, romelu lukaku, who most decidedly was.

the 19 year-old belgian international, who is on season long loan at the hawthorns from chelsea, immediately made an impression and displayed his top-flight pedigree with the third and final goal for the albion after coming on as a 68th minute substitute for shane long.

the real surprise was that steve clarke started the match with a an adventurous and flexible 4-2-1-3 formation. the forward line saw gera moved into an advanced position on the left, odemwingie on the right and long at centre-forward. james morrison sat behind them as attacking midfielder with youssouf mulumbu and claudio yacob in the defensive holding positions. stephen reid has recovered from injury and was started at right-back, while liam ridgewell has nailed down the left-back spot since his arrival from blues last year. despite much speculation, jonas olsson has returned, and the swedish international has been paired up again with gareth mcauley at centre-half. together they are as good a set of central defenders as has been at the club since the 1970s.


while i say that this formation was "adventurous", it did make me think, well how ELSE do you play football at a big club like liverpool or chelsea?!? the answer, of course, was obvious. steve clarke has a long history of being associated with top clubs and it looks, at the moment, like he is going to be a top manager. he may even be someone who would be able to acheive what the average albion supporter hasn't been able to imagine possible since the days of cyrille regis and tony brown. but then, it's probably a bit premature to project top-four finishes and CHAMPIONS LEAGUE nights returning to the hawthorns just yet.

however - and in the quest to revive the traditional spirit of west bromwich albion - this is the best balance that the baggies have had between quality and depth in the side for years, and a cup run wouldn't be beyond the realm of possibility.

what was different about this performance compared to other results acheived against the big clubs over the last two seasons, was just how dominant the baggies were in both attack and defence. last year's win over chelsea at the hawthorns, for example, was a deteremined defensive display that totally shut down the london club's top scorers, allowing centre-half gareth mcauley to nick a late winner from a chris brunt corner to give west brom a long overdue victory over the blues.

against liverpool, however, the baggies were the better team all day long and in every aspect. despite some good passing in the middle of the park, and several good chances that fell to luis suarez inside the first half-hour, it was zoltan gera who got the baggies' season started with a goal that resulted from a james morrison corner in the 42nd minute. martin skrtel's clearance fell to gera just beyond the edge of the reds' penalty area, and needing a single touch to bring it under control, the hungarian international blasted a 20-25 yard screamer past a helpless pepe reina in the liverpool goal.


the baggies led 1-0 at the half.

the albion totally dominated the second period as shane long went on to win two penalties in the space of a few minutes. through on goal in the 57th minute, and with only reina to beat, the young irish striker felt a desperate and beaten daniel agger dig an elbow into his back. he went over in the box and won the decision which also saw the liverpool defender red-carded. however, long's effort was as poor a penalty as one is likely to see at this level of football and was an easy save for the liverpool keeper. it was only moments later that long won a second penalty and a chance to make ammends for the earlier missed opportunity.

chasing down the play in the liverpool penalty area, long used his pace and skill to get in behind the reds' defenders - and coming from the blind-side - took the ball from martin skrtel. skrtel then unwittingly gave away the second spot-kick when long was tripped up as he muscled himself into position between skrtel and the ball.

despite a debate amongst the west brom forwards as to who would take the kick, the responsibility fell to peter odemwingie. this time there was no mistake as the nigerian international buried a ferocious effort in the corner of the net beyond reina's reach just inside his right-hand post.

newcomer, romelu lukaku, came on as a 68th minute substitute for shane long, made an immediate impact as an incisive baggies' counter-attack saw the teenage striker put james morrison in with a gilt-edged scoring opportunity. with only pepe reina to beat, morrison curled his effort just wide of the far post when he really should have scored.

with albion continuing to press, a scuffed clearance fell to liam ridgewell, who looped in a perfect cross for lukaku to head home into an empty net at the far post.


while there wasn't a weak performance in the albion side, it was defensive midfielder, claudio yacob, that walked away with the man-of-the-match award. the argentinian was near perfect in his distribution. not only was he winning balls in the centre of the park, but completed a stunning 98% of his passes attempted.

however, the real star of the match was new albion boss, steve clarke. he looked cool, calm, composed and every bit the PREMIER LEAGUE manager. his team selection, as well as the confident manner in which he had the baggies playing, showed him to be possessed of a top footballing brain. his assured presence in leadership was evident and he appeared more than ready for a job he has clearly been preparing for for quite some time.

if this performance was any indication of things to come, then the baggies might just have made that crucial step up to the next level and are on their way to another successful year in the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE.

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.

The Big Teams...

Arsenal F.C. 3-0 WBA

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with this away match to the now high-flying arsenal - and the currently unstoppable robin van persie - the baggies completed their first set of matches against the traditional "big-four" clubs of english football. while this was a source for west brom picking up important points last year, it has become apparent that this year's challenge is to get results from sides with whom they will be in more direct competition in battling for top-flight survival.

while the baggies were poor at home to liverpool, they were only a little better playing away to the north londoners. however, it was all of small consequence and only certain individual performances gave them any reason to take heart from this encounter. arsenal are absolutely rampant at the moment, and nothing reflects this better than the fact that robin van persie has scored 28 times in the last 27 matches.





again, the baggies showed how bereft of ideas they are without shane long, and perhaps just how dependent they are, at the moment, on the injured striker. i could see from being at the wolves game just how much of the way that roy hodgson has them playing is reliant on long leading the line. without him, it's all defending and playing the ball out from the back. without long in the side, no one is making the ball stick up front and the forwards are getting isolated from the play. it is the young irish international's running of the channels and ability to hold up the ball that creates opportunity for the baggies' counter-attack.

while most of us could probably see it early on, it has become evident since even the away fixture to norwich city, that the baggies need to find another way to play.

this is all the more true with shane long out for another two or three weeks.

WBA 0-2 Liverpool F.C.

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not a big surprise, but after their two excellent derby wins against wolves and aston villa, the albion really had nothing to offer and save for one - mayber two - good passages of play, all the good work and momentum of the derby weekends came completely undone against the world famous merseysiders.

the albion weren't expected to win, or even draw this game, but it was pretty dismal and uninspired football and not worhy of a roy hodgson team, regardless of the circumstances. there were, however, more than a few questionable calls from referee, lee mason, not the least of which was a controversial penalty against jerome thomas early in the match which allowed charlie adam to put the merseysiders one-nil up and set the tone for the rest of the game.





while it was generally acknowledged a soft penalty by one and all, it was by no means the worst call (or non-call) of the match. liverpool were allowed to handle the ball perhaps eight or ten times in the second-half without being called for a foul.

be that as it may, there is no point dwelling on these games. we can only hope tht roy hodgson has got something figured out for the upcoming home fixture with bolton.

so far, we still haven't seen a lot of the good passing football for which the albion has always been known - and has been the cornerstone of their success these past few seasons. with the squad that he's got right at the moment, the gaffer would probably be well advised to get the team more focussed on possession, playing the ball through the midfield, looking to stretch the play and getting players like james morrison, graham dorrans, youssouf mulumbu and zoltan gera more involved in attack.

other than that, all we can hope for is shane long's quick return to the team.

Two Big Steps Closer

Sunderland A.F.C. 2-3 WBA

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following on their current unbeaten run - and a priceless victory over liverpool which saw the baggies move up 4 places in the table and 5 points clear of the drop - they are definitely the current form team amongst the relegation battlers. pending the next couple of results, which now loom ever more ominously with each passing round of this season's BARCLAY'S PREMIER LEAGUE competition, the albion look like they're going to survive - and perhaps even ahead of schedule where there are more than one or two teams that look like it's going to go down to the last day to decide their league status for next season.





it's still early days, but for me, this was the yar that the baggies finally arrived as a top-flight outfit in the post-PREMIER LEAGUE era. for the state of the current squad and the challenges that the club now faces, they have the best and most appropriate manager possible. big wins and good performances against world famous clubs being internationally televised have now made the baggies instantly recognizable to the mainstream sports bar soccer crowds that follow manchester united, liverpool, chelsea and arsenal in big cities all over north america every saturday morning.

in short, this was the season that "west bromwich albion" became a recognizable PREMIER LEAGUE "brand" in the developing international TV markets. even the most recent of converts to the sport and freshest of fans where i live, here in toronto, who watch and support the "big four" now immediately recognize the famous navy-and-white striped jersey as well as the throstle and hawthorn branch club badge.





people i've known for years are seeing the baggies regularly on TV now comment to me on each week's game. west bromwich albion have finally returned from the footballing wilderness and have only to claim and consolidate their rightful place amongst the mid-table regulars in the premiership. whatever happens from here on out - and provided the albion survive the PREMIER LEAGUE - i think that chairman jeremy peace can feel somewhat vindicated after years of supporter criticism as to his lack of ambition for the club.

while it was a first, and the baggies have had a history of sticking with their managers through previous unsuccessful PREMIER LEAGUE campaigns, the appointment of roy hodgson as head coach was a stroke of genius and may be the most important move in the club's recent history. thinking of it as a long term proposition, the baggies could have something really great going on at the hawthorns and for some years to come. this is where the chairman's long term plans will start to become evident and we shall see the fruition of all the years of careful - and sometimes conservative - planning that has gone into the club.

WBA 2-1 Liverpool F.C.

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while i haven't said so in a long time and i'll take this opportunity to remind myself again: this is a very good baggies team. in fact, this is the best baggies side since cyrille regis was with the club.

peter odemwingie is probably as good a buy as anyone made in the PREMIER LEAGUE this year. he is set to register a new club record for premiership goals in a season, and with 11 already to his credit there's very few players who will have been as good a return for the money spent as the nigerian striker has been for the baggies.

while he didn't add to his season's total in the game against liverpool, he was effective in winning the penalties that chris brunt went on to score as the albion broke yet another long-standing hoodoo.




roy hodgson's organization of the back four is becoming evident and they look more disciplined with each passing game. nicky shorey has nailed down the starting left-back position, and the gaffer's selection of steven reid on the right has really strengthened the defensive game down the flanks. bringing back abdoulaye meite to partner jonas olsson has been a relative stroke of genius, and gianni zuiverloon's presence on the bench indicates that a general re-appraissal has gone on in regards to at least some of the members of this year's 25-man squad.

simon cox started - as i recently predicted would happen - against sunderland in a more conventional attacking role, and was made better use of than at anytime since last season in the CHAMPIONSHIP, where he established a frighteningly good goals to game ratio. the young albion striker played what will have been his best hour of football in the PREMIER LEAGUE to date. after missing a point-blank scoring opportunity on a truly great save by sunderland's belgian international, simon mignolet, the young striker put in a performance comprised of an enterprising work-rate, non-stop running and strong support play in getting into some good attacking positions around the box.





the gaffer has been responsible for the rehabilitation of scott carson after the albion goalie lost both form and confidence in a disastrous performance away to fulham back in january. his reshuffling of the first team has also strengthened his options in regards to substitutes. marek cech, for example, has played some of his most useful football as back-up for the defensive midfield duo of youssouf mulumbu and paul scharner. hodgson has even found the impact player coming off the bench that the baggies have been missing this last couple of years in carlos vela. the mexican international scored both late goals, at home to wolves and away to stoke respectivley, which earned two late draws for the albion and kick-started their present unbeaten run.

while there are two tough home games, and what would be expected a difficult away fixture with tottenham before the baggies travel to the molineaux to play a wolves side who will as likely as not be fighting for their premiership lives. the baggies will almost certainly be safe by then. the general concensus is that 3 points will do it, and on their current form, the albion should be able take all three at home to the villa... at least, that's what i'm expecting. if they can take anything from either of their games with the two london clubs, that would be a bonus.

given the PREMIER LEAGUE fixture list over the next five or six weeks, it's even quite possible that the 39 points which they already have will be enough to keep them up.





unlike what roy hodgson accomplished at fulham two years ago, he seems to have hit the ground running at the hawthorns and his fine tuning of the defensive organization without disrupting the attacking qualities of the albion has been the secret to his success so far. while they are just on the verge - and i stress again, whatever happens from this point out - this will be the year that the baggies really arrived as serious team ready to play in the PREMIER LEAGUE. they have already outperformed - and by a wide margin - any west brom team that has waged a top-flight campaign in 30 years, and the foundation for future PREMIER LEAGUE competition now seems well established.

this is a huge moment in the club's history and if the baggies can get it right in their last few matches of the season, they might be able to go on and have something fantastic at the hawthorns for years to come.

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.