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.

Stoke City F.C. 1-1 WBA

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there was no same day coverage of this match on TV in my part of the world, so i had to wait 36 hours before i had a chance to actually see this one. i did of course listen live on ALBION RADIO.

there isn't a baggies supporter alive who would expect to come away from a match at the britannia stadium with any more than what they got; and this was absolutely the best performance against a stoke city team in the last few years.

tony pulis, besides appearing to be one of the least likable personalities in english football, has discovered a formula for survival in the PREMIER LEAGUE which is generally within the means of resources available to a large community based club like stoke city. it doesn't do much for football - in fact, it' a kind of "anti"-football - but it does manage to procure top-flight survival and the lucrative television contract which goes along with it. after all, this is the real goal for any team who will never compete for anything more than a mid-table finish in the league. the TV money is everything!

stoke city f.c. - one of the 12 original FOOTBALL LEAGUE teams - play a tough, defensive game that would be more generously characterized as "hard" and are unusually reliant on dead-ball situations from which to fashion scoring opportunities. in fact, they have become known in the last few years for their use of the long throw-in as a primary weapon of attack, utilizing the talents of their throw-in specialist, rory delap. tony pulis' main tactic is to slow everything down and protracted possession is relatively unimportant. they are a much physically bigger team than average and it seems at times like they're playing with five centre-halfs. while being a solidly based defensive side, they are long-time proponents of the single striker formation and are most effective on the counter-attack. they also have a very good goalie.



whatever the individual and/or collective merits of these two sides, this match was painfully average, but might have caught the interest of the neutral or passing television viewer as it was a close game with a low score. but in an exclusively audio medium it would have held no interest whatsoever. there were dismally long gaps in the commentary in which dave bowler and chris dunn were simple running out of things to say. i mean, how many times can you have a laugh over rory delap taking the better part of a minute to wipe down a ball and get on with a simple throw-in? stoke city used up so time at every stoppage that the match never really seemed to get going. the ALBION RADIO was lost for words. it would seem that the potters' general tactic is to drag the opposition's game down and instigate a kind of battle of atrition in which they themselves look to just "nick it" in the end. this would seem to be a general outline of any stoke city game plan.

i could be argued that it's been a successful and relatively quick consolidation as a competitive PREMIER LEAUGE club for the potters, but you'd be hard-pressed to find much positive to say about their football.

the TV was much better than it was as audio transmission, but there's no getting away from it: this was by-and-large a dull game.



roy hodgson made some bold and, i thought, intelligent changes to the side which he had put out against wolves. first and foremost was the return of scott carson as the starting goalie. seeing as how there is little to choose between him and boaz myhill, it was probably the right thing to do in regards to carson's rehabilitation after having his confidence evaporate following a string of poor performances.

but the big surprise on the day was the return to the team of abdoulaye meite, one of the albion's forgotten men. while he did the job when he was asked to in contributing to last year's promotion campaign, he had been largely over-looked as "unsuitable" to play in the PREMIER LEAGUE and was not a particular fan favourite. hodgson, however, remembered that meite was indeed an experienced top-flight centre-half who had not only seen a couple of patchy periods where his confidence was shot, but had also played some very good football at this level during the course of his career.

the baggies looked much better all around for the changes. meite was the best partner that jonas olsson has had all year; and another partnership, that of youssouf mulumbu and paul scharner has definitely begun to gel in the midfield holding positions.



as it had been against wolves, it was the predatory instincts of carlos vela that saved this one late on for the albion. he has proved an instant hero at the hawthorns and given meaning to the idea of west brom being a team who plays with intention for the full 90 minutes.

the important thing at the end of the day is that the baggies got a result and have started a small run of games unbeaten. however, if the albion are to survive, this was the signal that they're going to do it the hard way... theoretically, at least. after three straight home draws against wigan, west ham, and wolves, it will be arsenal, chelsea and liverpool who will be visiting the hawthorns next, and the baggies will have to target at least one win from this set of home fixtures.

in the meantime, it is a trip down the road to st. andrews next, and another chance for the baggies to do their first double of the season over local rivals birmingham city.

i'm glad that roy hodgson's taken over and i think he's in for the long-haul. he's brought back meite and shown interest in the progress that ishamel miller is looking to make at QPR. these are players that i think roberto di matteo had just about discounted outright, so i think that hodgson already may see more potential in his resources than the previous gaffer did. let's hope he can use them to the desired effect.

Fulham F.C. 3-0 WBA

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the baggies came into this match on a run of four straight defeats, the teams' best defenders all out on injury or suspension and only the consolation of some really good performances but with no points to show for all their endeavour.

the impressive thing is that these losses haven't seemed to affect confidence amongst the starting line-up and i thought perhaps fulham might find the albion a bit of a bogey team this year, having previously lost to the baggies in the reverse fixture back at the hawthorns in october. fulham are now struggling to find last year's form which saw the cottagers finish a creditable 12th and make it to the EUROPA LEAGUE final with big wins over juventas and wolfsburg.

roberto di matteo implemented a tactically sound and intelligent game-plan for this away match to the cottagers. knowing that the baggies would almost certainly be out-muscled in crucial areas of the pitch by a bigger fulham side, the gaffer's intention was to hold a good defensive shape, don't give anything up and maintain a clean-sheet for the first half. presumably, if he could get the team in at the break at 0-0, he would have looked for a way to neutralize dickson etuhu - who won absolutely everything in the central midfield - and look to pinch a point away from home or nick a 1-0 win.



the plan appeared to be working as the baggies were within whatever injury there was to played from achieving the first aim: to keep a clean-sheet! with only about 30 second of added time gone, however, youssouf mulumbu lost the ball to etuhu in a dangerous area. the pass fell for simon davies to get in a solid, long-range strike, producing the first goal of the match.

while it was a pretty good effort from the welsh midfielder, it was clear that scott carson should have had this one. he was only about a foot or two too high off his line for optimum positioning, and would have saved easily had he been standing on the goal-line. but the baggies' captain misjudged the effort, and while he got two hands solidly behind the ball, he mishandled the shot, bundled it into the net and the cottagers found themselves with a 1-0 lead going into the break. di matteo's game-plan, which had heretofore looked to be working, was suddenly out the window, and as the second-half would show, so was their confidence.



things went from bad to worse as fulham went on to thoroughly dominate the game on all counts and twice more took advantage of the unfortunate, makeshift baggies' back-four and out-of-form goalie. dickson etuhu continued to boss the central midfield and the baggies never really looked like they were in this one.

the baggies' proclivity for giving up goals on poorly defended crosses and set-pieces continued as they went on to concede two more in this one - both headed goals by clint dempsey and brede hangeland respectively - and were 3-0 down with almost half-an-hour left to play. this was a truly dismal performance.

the exception to this being young james hurst having stepped into the squad at right-back, and gianni zuiverloon in the side at the unlikely position of centre-half. i can only hope that these two players in particular aren't affected by this otherwise miserable performance. the teenage hurst was easily the best baggies' player on the day, and zuiverloon - who has not seen much match-time this year - was more than creditable in, what for him, is an unusual position.



this has been a season of extremes for west brom. their last game against the cottagers produced a 2-1 home win and propelled the baggies into 4th place in the table. they were the undisputed form team of the league over the months of september and october. this visit to craven cottage, however, was as poor a performance as they have produced this season and drops the baggies into a four-way relegation battle with the three other birmingham/black country teams. even the 6-0 opening day thrashing at the hands of chelsea, just down the road from here, produced much better football than this.

following some good performances in a losing cause, this has to be counted as the low-point of the season and we can only pray that it doesn't get worse.

scott carson is a man who needs a rest. he has started to come under some deep criticism from the local press and has completely lost the faith of the supporters. the situation has gotten so bad, that i expect that nothing short of absolute disaster in the upcoming FA CUP fixture against reading, will keep boaz myhill from getting his first league start for the baggies when league play resumes at home to blackpool on january 15th.

WBA 1-2 Manchester United F.C.

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of all the fixtures in all the world... one of the most presitigous clubs in all of football comes to visit on new year's day reminding us of a time when the albion were one of the best clubs in england. it was a time when it was all still possible and the large community-based football clubs could still win major trophies.

the baggies have always done pretty well against manchester united over the years. there is an early broadcast of MOTD from back in the mid 60s where the red devils visited the hawthorns. jeff astle scored a brace, with john kaye adding a third goal which are recognized by almost all baggies' supporters as iconic moments in west bromwich albion folklore. there were seven goals in that match and was won 4-3 by manchester united.

even better known still is the 5-3 match played at old trafford on boxing day 1978. it is debatably one of the best games of football ever played in england and certainly one of the best known and well regarded broadcasts of MOTD ever. it is some of the most extensive footage of how good the 1978-79 side really was.



earlier this year - and after having beaten arsenal at the emirates, the baggies went to old trafford and came back from being 2 goals down to snatch a point with a 2-2 draw. the albion historically find more success against manchester united than they do against stoke city (a well known and long standing bogey fixture to baggies supporters). so in fact - and with three straight defeats threatening to send the baggies into a relegation battle as well as erode the confidence that the team has played with all season, manchester united at home isn't too bad a fixture to have to deal with at the minute.

the baggies haven't played too many games better than this one, and after what seems to be the almost mandatory early capitulation and going behind 1-0 to a wayne rooney goal in the 2nd minute of the game, they regrouped immediately and thoroughly dominated the match. the statistics - including possession and attempts on goal - were more heavily in the favour of the baggies than they had been against blackburn, and was a better performance than the bolton game. but unlike at bolton and against blackburn, where the baggies would have done well to come away with a point, this is a game that they should have won but let get away in desperately unlucky fashion.

graham dorrans announced his return to form and was cruelly denied a penalty when he was brought down in the box by united defender, gary neville. even manchester united manager, alex ferguson, admitted that the baggies were unlucky and they should have been awarded a penalty in that situation, also noting that his own player was lucky not to have been sent off.

in fact, i believe that the issue of the card is the reason that the penalty was never going to be given. dorrans had taken a pass from chris brunt, gotten in behind the red devils' defender and had only the goalie left to beat. to foul a man with the ball in this position is an automatic red card. it was fairly clear to anybody on the park, as dorrans was bundled to the ground, that neville never got anywhere near the ball and it was a stonewall penalty. however, referee, chris foy, was not about to put himself in the position of having to send someone off in a big game with live, international TV coverage in a match featuring manchester united. if there was a shadow a doubt, he just wasn't going to do it.



i know from having watched the albion play in the CHAMPIONSHIP, that when you are a distinguished favourite at any particular level of football, you tend to get those little breaks and 50-50 decisions from the referees in order that the balance of the universe maintain its equilibrium.

towards the end of last season, just as albion were ready to clinch the second automatic promotion spot (and set a club record points total), they were awarded two critical and questionable penalties against blackpool and swansea respectively. these were 50-50 decisions that could have gone either way or had different outcome. the baggies were expected to succeed and the decisions were always going to go their way.

this is always going to happen in football. referees too understand that this is an entertainment-based business.

the baggies equalized early and quite deservedly through a tremendous individual effort by james morrison. like his fellow scottish international, graham dorrans, morrison has returned to his top playing form as evidenced by his contribution in the last two albion goals.

from a long and precisely delivered ball by chris brunt which nemanja vidic was unable to clear, morrison blasted the shot on the half volley past tomasz kuszczak for a goal of world-class quality. with not even 15 minutes gone, the baggies looked every bit the equal of their adversary and the equalizer was more than deserved.

with the game poised at 1-1 and the baggies looking the better of the two sides, there was every reason to be optimistic at the half, in spite of the blatant injustice of gary neville's challenge on graham dorrans going unpunished. the baggies certainly didn't look like a team who had just lost three matches in a row. they were playing with a confidence and bearing that completely belied any slip in form in regards to recent results in the league.



in the second half, albion came out with more of the same and continued to control the tempo and set the pace of the match. the baggies were so dominant that they carried a 62% of the possession, and outshot the red devils by a margin of 17 attempts (8 on target) to 5 (2 on target), and were only just edged on the number of corner-kicks by a margin of 1 (5 to 4).

but the baggies pressed and kept the play high, constantly looking for opportunity to attack the united goal. jerome thomas looked that he might have given west brom the full three-points when he was brought down in the box by veteran england international, rio ferdinand. this time there was no dispute or question.

while i was screaming for graham dorrans to take it, peter odemwingie continued as penalty taker. never looking quite confident enough, the nigerian international did well enough to send united keeper, kuszak, the wrong way for an easy sroke-in at the far post, but pushed the ball hopelessly wide. i have come to believe that only under special circumstance (i.e. wayne rooney, carlos tevez) should a striker also be a penalty taker. the psychology of a striker is just too fragile and taking penalties is a job best performed by a strong foot rather than a clever one.

this was a massive miss and might prove a real psychological set-back in the end.

of course, and this is manchester united and the baggies then went behind in the 75th minute. once again, the poor defending on corner-kicks was their undoing as united striker, javier hernandez, was allowed a free header from point-blank range leaving scott carson with no chance whatever.



there are, of course, several contributing factors - not the least of which is injured and suspended centre-halfs - to the baggies current problem in regards to defending set-pieces and especially corner-kicks, but i am starting to lose patience with scott carson. if what is quickly becoming a make-shift back-four for the baggies are lost on set-pieces, then carson is simply going to have to come for the ball and challenge to make the clearances or take the ball himself. it's as simple as that. this goal came through a ball that the keeper definitely could have come for and won easily. seeing a man unmarked and directly in front of you, you should playing to take that ball instead of waiting to make the save. period.

carson is good at what he does. he is a goalie who guards the line and specializes in making athletic saves with a lightning quick reaction time as a shot-stopper. he doesn't come off his line and his positional game is non-existent. he is very much in the mould of another albion goalie, tony godden. but godden had ally robertson and john wile covering the penalty area for him, and the style of goalie and centre-halfs complemented each other to produce a successful method of defending.

without olsson and tamas in the team, carson is all the more inappropriate a choice and his confidence is going to be shot soon, so perhaps it's time that di matteo gave boaz myhill a run in the first team.

it was an otherwise brilliant performance, however, and the albion are to be admired as a side who have continued to play enterprising and confident football despite a string of what is now four straight defeats. this now leaves the baggies needing an away win at fulham to stop the rot of what has been a shockingly dissapointing run without a lucky break in sight.

Ghosts of Premier Leagues Past

i have tried to be positive. i have attempted to be patient. my team is playing in the PREMIER LEAGUE this year and i have tried not to be cynical. but after this loss to bolton, i'm beginning to lose my grip on the situation.

i won't get into some hoary old attitude about how great life was before the advent of the almighty, bloody PREMIER LEAGUE. the ugly trade-off for the achievment of having given english football to the world has seen unbelievable financial gaps develop between the PREMIER and FOOTBALL leagues which have weakened the integrity of the domestic league structure and destroyed the ability of the large community-based clubs (once the bedrock of the english game) to compete at the highest level .

Bolton Wanderers F.C. 2-0 WBA

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in the 2010-2011 season we have seen some good competitive football, the surprisingly good performances of all three promoted teams, and a shift from the guaranteed model of the "big-four" with a second-grade consisting of 3 or 4 clubs feeding on their scraps with the rest of the division never more than a few bad results from being relegation fodder.

this year, the division has organized itself into a top half of the table where everyone is a serious contender in playing for a european spot, and bottom half where everyone is either fighting a relegation battle or looking to keep clear by a vital few points and never more than a couple of poor results away from trouble. since jonas olsson's injury, the baggies have gone from being a european contender to a team who needs to avoid slipping into the bottom 4 or 5.



whatever skill we've seen in the work of kevin davies and johan elmander in leading a very successful bolton attack, the trotters are still essentially proponents of the long ball and purveyors of tough, ugly football. however, they have managed to raise the art of PREMIER LEAGUE survival to a level where they can now compete and see some success at the higher end of the table and the trotters are definitely in with a shout for a spot in europe next year. owen coyle deserves real credit for having brought something special to the reebok stadium.

while the baggies had the higher percentage of possession, interestingly enough, the wanderers dominated - albeit only very slightly - in all other categories. this surprised me, but was testament to the quality not only of bolton's defensive play (they simply don't give you many opportunities to get a look at goal) but that there is now a spark of creativity in their attack. the injection of some skill and subtlety in going forward has proved a successful addition to their footballing repertoire.



i had gone to england for the west brom v wolves fixture which ended up being postponed. so i was already suffering the effects of massive disappointment. there are no trains anywhere in england on boxing day, so it is impossible to go anywhere unless you have a car. i had no way of getting to bolton, and although i had not originally planned it, i would have probably made a desperate attempt to get there at this point.

originally, my mother was going to drive me down to huish park (not too far from where she lives) where i was going to watch yeovil town play brentford in their boxing day game. that match too was postponed, making it 3 out of 4 matches for which i had tickets now irretrievably gone, and my "football holiday" effectively ruined.

all i could do was sit at my mum's place in chilcompton, radstock listening to ALBION RADIO and yet another disappointing result from what sounded to be a terrific match. the MATCH OF THE DAY HIGHLIGHTS confirmed that it was indeed a very evenly contested, skilled and exciting game.

there was every reason to take heart at the baggies' performance in this match... just no points to celebrate. the albion will almost certainly win one or two more matches this year where they will not have played anywhere near as well as this.

WBA 1-3 Blackburn Rovers F.C.

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this was the only match for which i had tickets that i was actually able to get to. in the end, it was just another disappointment.

while the baggies performed admirably with chris brunt out on a single-match suspension for incurring a 5th yellow card, they missed his leadership in pushing the team forward and looked just slightly disjointed for his absence.

it was good, however, to see graham dorrans starting to come into some much improved form after a slow start to the season and being unable to get a place in the first team. while still not as spectacular as he was last year, he was looking more the part of the little general than he really has all season. likewise, dorrans' midfield partner, james morrison, has been improving with each match and looks to have returned to top-form following a long injury that had kept him out of the side for the better part of a year, followed by a lengthy rehabilitation towards regaining full match fitness.



the scottish international created one of the best early chances of the game with a tremendous individual effort which saw a scorching shot from 25 yards out beat the rovers' goalie, paul robinson, only to see the shot curl millimeteres wide of the far post.

however, the match itself was absolutely ridculous. the baggies have now fallen into the trap of delivering solid possession and attacking performances, but are conceding too easily - especially on corner-kicks. i think the problem probably stems from the fact that there are too many defenders - starting with jonas olsson - who are now out injured and while paul scharner has been a sterling stand-in at centre-half, the baggies are conceding soft goals through lapses in defending - and on set-pieces especially.

to compound they problem, they are not taking enough of their chances at the other end, and - like the 2008-09 team - they are becoming tentative in attack, looking for the elusive "perfect" goal. in other words: they have become desperate and having to think too hard about the final ball that the instinctive play we saw against arsenal, manchester united and everton has dried up and the baggies are now spurning chances that might produce an own goal, a dangerous deflection or an opportunity from a scuffed shot or mishandled ball in a dangerous area.

if you look at the statistics from this game it's clearly evident as to who played the more enterprising football:


POSSESSION:
west brom 55% - blackburn 45%
SHOTS:
on target
west brom 11 - blackburn 4
off target
west brom 10 - blackburn 2
CORNERS:
west brom 8 - blackburn 5
FOULS:
west brom 9 - blackburn 13


i guess it was the in the psychological intangibles that this game was both won and lost. there was also some moments of excellent goal-keeping from veteran england interantional, paul robinson, and for all their good possession football and attacking build-up the baggies were going to have a hard time getting a clear chance on goal.



after going behind 1-0 early on in the match, this looked another carbon copy of my first three or four visits to the hawthorns. in matches i had seen against plymouth argyle, doncaster rovers, blackpool and preston north end, the baggies had conceded both first and early before then turning the games around and winning all four matches by scores of 3-1 (plymouth, doncaster) and 3-2 (blackpool and preston). so the sight of nikola kalinic scoring on the break with just 3 minutes gone didn't phase me in the least.

the albion were caught in a good move out of the back by rovers for the first goal. with the wingers and full-backs caught playing in a high position, kalinic took a good long-ball hit into space down the albion left flank and having gotten in behind the albion back-four buried a low, hard shot just inside scott carson's far post.



welcome to the hawthorns, i thought sarcastically, recalling the first time i had seen the albion concede a goal at home.

in keeping with the script, the baggies then began to assert their possession football and created the better chances with a concerted effort and dominance in attack. as i have come to expect from my visits to the hawthorns, the baggies equalized on 17 minutes through a jerome thomas goal.

it was a good run from morrison, in fact, that made the equalizer for the albion just on 17 minutes. the baggies' midfielder went on a scintillating run, taking the ball from his own half and well into blackburn territory, finding somen tchoyi on the right wing, before the cameroon international delivered a perfect ball across the face of goal for jerome thomas to bundle it in at the far post.

the baggies went on to dominate the rest of the half, and would have had the lead were it not for the goal-keeping of paul robinson. ironically, robinson was substituted at the half for a strained calf-muscle. this gave opportunity to PREMIER LEAGUE debutant, marc bunn, to prove himself in the blackburn goal. he was given the chance to show his worth early on after the restart with having to turn a stinging effort by peter odemwingie around the post.



the baggies ultimately lost this match by two goals that resulted directly from blackburn corner-kicks. with jonas olsson out with injury, and now tamas on a three-match suspension, the albion marking on set-pieces - and especially corner-kicks - has fallen apart. no one seems to know his job and the situation need some real sorting. the other big problem - and in lightof this particular defensive frailty - is that scott carson is a keeper who just doesn't come off his line, so depends heavily on good marking from his central defenders on set-pieces. without olsson to marshall the back-line, carson is going to have to come for the ball a lot more than he is naturally inclined to.

in fact, if this situation persists and the albion start to give away too many more soft goals from set-pieces, then it might be worth giving boaz myhill a run in the first team and see if he does any better. above all, someone has to organize the marking better and carson doesn't seem to be doing that either.

oh well, onwards and upwards...

WBA 1-0 Sunderland A.F.C.

live text replay

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.

Notes on a Winning Streak (part 4)

WBA 1-0 Coventry City

live text replay


while i was a little sad that this would be my last trip to see live football in england this year, i was completely and utterly unconcerned about the result of this one. i knew the baggies were going to win. i had seen west bromwich albion at home four times and once away since i came over on my first trip in september, and had never seen them held to a draw or beaten. i was secure in the knowledge that providence would play me no trick and i would leave the country boasting about my great fortune at having seen west brom victorious on every occasion at which i had attended.

as night games are just an hour or two beyond being able to get back to me mum's place in chilcompton - and after having mistakenly booked late on my last trip and ended up staying at the premier inn in dudley, i had the foresight to book a room at the holiday inn just behind new street station well in advance, and in order that i could make a quick getaway in the morning.

i had less than 48 hours left in the country and my heart was heavy with an inevitable feeling of let-down. this had been a special year and something i had been waiting for all my life - and in more ways than one. this was a season of english football, such as it is, that i will never forget.

i had seen coventry city on TV in their away match to leicester city on sunday. while i had been cheering their heroic comeback victory over the foxes, i certainly did not want them coming to the hawthorns in form, on a high and frustrating the baggies the way they had in the reverse fixture back in october which had ended in a disappointing goalless draw.



i checked in to the hotel at around 3.00 PM. i don't know where the time went, but i puttered around online for a while, prepared and uploaded my last two match reports before it was time to put on the colours and venture out accross the city centre for snow hill station and the short trip to the hawthorns with which i was becoming more and more familiar.

"hawthorns. return, please."

"£1.80."

"which platform is the next one leaving from?"

it was a drizzly night in the west-midlands, and as i came down halford's lane, repeating once again another step of the ritual that was now becoming routine, i rifled through the coins in my pocket readying my £3 change for the programme vendor at the smethwick gate. i entered the ground, had one last wistful look around the club-shop, a last pre-match cigarette outside the east stand and headed inside.

as i got to my seat, i realized that the two older gentlemen who had been sitting next to me for the last two home matches were not there. nor was the fellow who had been sitting directly to my left. when the attendance was announced at 20,000 some-odd, i realized that significantly less people attend week-night matches than the saturday afternoon games.

a peculiar waste of season's tickets, i thought at first.

but then what horrors, miseries, disappointments and mediocrity had these obvious veterans had to endure in a lifetime of supporting the albion?

being a dedicated football supporter requires both a physical and emotional stamina that those who are not fans would never suspect.



this was a big improvement on the previous week's performance away to swansea city, and was a game dominated by defensive play, good goalkeeping, set pieces and missed opportunities. scott carson (who i must admit, has never been my favourite) showed, over these last couple of matches, that he is a much improved player from the man who was humiliated and hung out to dry by john terry in his last international appearance for england, and endured the unendurable in what must have been a true nightmare of a season as albion's starting goalie in the premier league.

while he had been shaky, nervous and painfully tentative about coming off his line to clear against swansea city, back at the hawthorns he was controlling his area, making assured clearances and exhibiting his primary talent as an athletic shot-stopper with terrific reaction time. after a good game against preston north end on saturday, this was a well deserved clean-sheet for the baggies' captain.

an early attack down the left-wing by chris brunt produced an acutely angled cross that appeared, for a split-second, as if it were going to dip into the top left-hand corner of the city goal, but only managed to curl away just inches wide and no albion players in the box. the baggies looked again as if they were going to dominate the match through going forward.

the key to this match was the way in which the good defensive midfield of coventry city pretty handily negated the baggies' predominantly attacking midfield; and the difference on the night - and not surprisingly - came from a set play. albion newcomer, steven reid, playing in the right full-back position, scrambled a loose ball into the coventry goal when the city defenders' marking failed badly on a chris brunt corner kick just past the 16 minute mark.



the only really contentious moment of the first half was on robert koren's effort which was bobbled by coventry goalie, keiren westwood, and for all the world looked like it went over the line before he really got a firm grip on it. some good passing also produced a quality opportunity for ishmael miller who, turning on the coventry defenders, shot wide.

in the second period, city were much more effective, especially from set pieces and throw-ins. right to the end the baggies were forced to scramble away some dangerous opportunities created by several coventry city free-kicks.

with somebody behind me constantly moaning that the albion were in trouble and that leon barnett would come off the subs' bench and snatch the equalizer, the coventry finishing just wasn't there, and the albion defenders good positional play forced several key misses allowing the baggies to hang on for an unusual 1-0 victory.



i returned to the hotel sadly resigned to the fact that i would not be back this season. i had, however, the good fortune to have been present for the end of one winning streak and the outset of another. i had never seen the baggies lose or draw - which is something, i'm sure, that few albion supporters anywhere can boast.

i also knew, at this point, that promotion to the premier-league was all but sewn up, and - with the shorter schedule and the lack of night games in the premiership - i wouldn't have the same opportunities to attend the number of live matches that i had had this year. i certainly wouldn't have a block of five games in 2 weeks to schedule my trips to england around!

however, i will renew my club membership and i will be back. but whatever comes to pass for the baggies in next year's premier league, i will never forget this year. there is nothing in my entire life, outside of work, that has turned out so well, not let me down and been as much of a joy as going "up the albion" has this year.

the lord is my shepherd,
i'll not want,
he makes me down to lie,
in pastures green,
he leadeth me,
the quiet waters by.

Note on a Winng Streak (part 3)

WBA 3-2 PNE

live text replay



another day-trip to birmingham... a match involving two of the football leagues original founding members, and - as far as the first-half goes - probably the best 45 minutes of football i have yet seen at the hawthorns.

the match started off as a high-spirited affair that temporarily took on a kind of carnival atmosphere as the baggies went up 2-0 within the first ten minutes. fast, flowing football saw both sides creating good attacking opportunities early on asking serious questions of both goalies and their respective back lines. however, it was the albion who made the initial breakthrough.




ben watson scored his first goal in west brom colours through a build-up of long-range inter-passing between robert koren and ishmael miller. the return ball from koren deflected off a north end defender, sean st. ledger, and broke opportunely for the on-loan wigan mid-fielder to pounce and blast home from about 5 yards out, just on the 6 minute mark.

a few minutes later, and with the hawthorns beginning to buzz, graham dorrans, taking the ball just inside his own half and leisurely advancing, spotted chris brunt open and in space upfield. he delivered a brilliant and casually placed ball forward into space, and brunt, timing his run to perfection, caught out the lily-whites' off-side trap and easily beat andy lonergan for the second time in 5 minutes. it was beginning to feel as if we were going to be treated to a vintage baggies' goal-scoring clinic.

the first half would eventually provide the five-goals that made up the final score-line, and within minutes we were all brought back down to earth with a thump as the lily-whites mounted an effective attack requiring scott carson - playing well and back on home turf after his ironically poor performance in earning a clean-sheet against swansea - to make an athletic diving save on an open header following a dangerous cross from ross wallace to palm the ball away to safety. on the ensuing corner-kick, however, preston full-back, sean st. ledger, shook off his marker to head home wallace's in-swinging delivery from point blank range. 2-1 to the baggies...



just past the half-hour mark, and the team's playing good stuff at both ends of the pitch, graham dorrans restored the albion's two goal lead scoring one of the goals-of-the-season on a spectacular free-kick from 35 yards out that flew into the top right-hand corner of the net, leaving andy lonergan again with no chance whatsoever. the carnival atmosphere and prospect of a high-scoring win for the baggies was back on.

this was re-enforced as dorrans - making the finest individual move of the match - weaved his way to the bi-line down the left wing and delivered a cross that ishmael miller really looked like he might have done better with, ultimately heading the ball wide of the preston goal. the baggies looked to be just buzzing with attacking menace at this point.

however, just before the end of the first half - and similar to chris brunt's goal at the other end - preston striker, neil mellor, found himself in space and on the end of a through ball that split the baggies' defense and beat the off-side trap. finding himself one-on-one with albion goalie, scott carson, the preston striker pushed the ball to the outside, past the sprawling keeper and shot home from a sharp angle to restore the lily-whites single goal deficit.



despite conceding two-goals in the first half, scott carson, had a much improved performance from the mid-week match at swansea, and was responsible for several fine saves as well as being quick and decisive about coming off his line to clear - something which had given him definite problems at the liberty stadium on the previous tuesday.

while goals and attack were the theme of the first-half, defense and good goalkeeping were served up as second-half fare. while the baggies have never been famous for holding on to single-goal leads, scott carson and company did an admirable job at doing just that for the last 45 minutes. with a good deal of fine football played in the middle of the park, neither team was really able to penetrate deep enough in attack to cause any real danger in the final third, and the sure hands of both scott carson and andy lonergan picked out anything that came their way.



as i made my way back down halford's lane to the hawthorns station and the trains back to west birmingham, i was feeling an exaltation at my team's performance since i had been in the country and attending matches. i couldn't remember anything in my life having gone so well. i had come hoping to see at least two victories and perhaps a draw. i had no worries about the next fixture, which would be my last live match - and my last visit to the hawthorns - of the season. i had been to the hawthorns four times now and attended one away match. i could boast that i had never seen the baggies beaten or played to a draw. in looking forward to the coming match with coventry city i knew - and with a sense of absolute assurance - that providence would not betray me now.

Notes on a Winning Streak (part 2)

Swansea City 0-2 WBA

live text replay


there is a kind of sameness to football stadiums nowadays. where highbury, loftus road, upton park and stamford bridge of the 1970s were distinctly different places, each with its own character and every stadium around the country had its own unique qualities, the liberty stadium reminded me of a three-quarter size, claustrophobic hawthorns with a surprisingly small washroom facility. the colours may vary, as well as some of the smaller details, but it seemed to me that the modern football ground is now just a variation on an architectural theme.

the security - and in special regards to tickets and match admission - was much tighter and strictly run than at the hawthorns. where match-day admission is available to away supporters for west brom home games, you can only gain entrance to the liberty stadium through purchasing tickets from your club of origin - and visiting supporters are limited to one ticket per membership. there are no match-day ticket sales for the visitors end either.

also - and unlike at the hawthorns - the entire north stand is designated as the visitors end, and is accessed only by the most remote and isolated of all the park's entrances. passing through two seperate gates in the space of about 50 yards under the watchful eye of several swansea stewards, who are required to ask if you are indeed a supporter of the visiting club - the segregation of home and away supporters is much more rigorous than at the hawthorns.

this was my first away match as a baggies supporter and i felt as if i had been thrown into the cauldron of seething football lunacy.



when i go to the hawthorns i sit in the upper tier of the east stand. it's generally more laid back, family-oriented and probably the best place to actually watch football from in the whole place. here in south wales - and much as i had expected - the atmosphere among the traveling albion faithful was much closer to that of the smethwick end home supporters corner than anything else.

while it is an indispensable and necessary component in regards to the atmosphere of live football, i'm not much one for continuous singing and chanting, and i think it can actually be a terrible distraction to watching the match. for example, there was a fellow sitting a few rows in front of me whose continuous efforts to get a chant or song going required a constant, long-distance conversation with one of his mates sitting about fifteen rows back and in the next block of seats over. he was so engaged in this activity that i'm sure he actually only saw about half the match. still and all, i appreciate that someone's got to do it.

"get on the bawl, moore, y'lazy fookin' bastid'!!!" a guy in front of me yelled in vain frustration at the albion's starting striker.

"that's it," the guy next to me reacted sarcastically, "let's get behind the club!!!"

having drawn an ugly glare in response to his comment he waved his hands in front of him to diffuse any escalation of hostility.

"just kiddin', mate," he quickly explained, "just kiddin'!"

swansea, while having no ability to finish, are the only team that i've seen this year to really badly outplay the baggies in terms of extensive possession, and only their lack of a goal scorer had kept the teams level at half-time. the swansea mid-field was excellent and held the ball for long periods of time during a first-half where both youssouf mulumbu and graham dorrans were struggling badly with their first touch and the most rudimentary ball control seemed to elude them. scott carson looked more than a bit shaky through being dangerously indecisive about coming off his line for the ball on a couple of potentially critical occasions, and he was lucky enough when a swansea cross into the box came directly back off his near post and fell safely for the baggies to clear.



the best player for the albion on the night was probably ben watson. while far from having an exceptional game, the on-loan wigan midfielder was much less tentative both on and off the ball than any of the the rest of the visiting team, and was the only albion player who was consistently able to control the ball and get any kind of move started for the baggies.

the second half was better stuff from the albion, but it was a match which was like one of those long nights in europe when both teams are forced into shutting up shop early and hoping for the one bit of chance needed to snatch a single goal, and then play to hang on for the final whistle. almost the entire game was played in the middle of the park with neither team exhibiting any incisive build-up in the final third.

i really couldn't see a goal coming in this one, and i doubt that anyone else present at the liberty stadium could imagine a winner emerging here either. however, and in much the same fashion as on the previous saturday, giles barnes, who had come on as substitute for chris brunt, made a direct run at the swans penalty area, then cutting in from the left flank, the midfielder went down and a penalty was subsequently awarded.

the west brom supporters, all seated behind the swansea goal instinctively went mad with delight. unlike the penalty on saturday, where i think everybody knew it had been a case of winner's luck, this was a stonewall penalty. although the TV replay was less convincing, when viewed from the perspective behind the goal in the liberty stadium's north stand, there was no doubt that angel rangel had clipped barnes with his right knee and at very least given the albion midfielder an opportunity to go down and win the spot kick.



graham dorrans summarily put the baggies ahead from the spot and with only 12 minutes remaining it wasn't long before the swans fans started making for the exits. i spread my arms wide and sang psalm 23 along with the other several odd-thousand albion supporters who'd made their way down from the midlands to south wales that evening.

for the baggies, however, there was one more turn to redeem what had otherwise been a most unmemorable and uninspired game of football.

as swansea went forward in an attempt to find an equalizer, the albion were left an opportunity to counter-attack, and in the 89th minute ishmael miller found himself with enough space deep down the right-wing with a chance to run the ball straight at goal from an acute angle. with everyone anticipating and getting ready to defend on the goal-line, miller pushed the ball to the outside and around the sprawling swans keeper, maintained possession and composure before ultimately burying it in the back of the net for a goal that exhibited a cool, mature sense of patience and wonderful individual skills.

happy enough with the victory - and without a taxi in sight - i walked back to the hotel confidently musing at how the baggies were now going to beat preston north end on saturday.