WBA 0-1 Stoke City F.C.

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a friend of mine asked me how situations like this perpetuate themselves. for example, how does one team so completely dominate the results against another team of similar size and resource year after year, so as to become the nemesis of the other... a so-called "bogey" team, as it were?

is it the style and ethos of one club that is particularly successful against the style and ethos of the other? is it some inexplicable cosmic force at work, imposing a kind of astrological status quo? what is it?!? i had to think about it for awhile. the answer soon became obvious.

the fact is - and even in the world of modern football where players no longer spend entire careers at a single club - no matter what change in personnel has come to pass at the two respective clubs in the intervening time between one match and the next, there is always a couple of guys who were there the last time the two played each other. with the fixture comes a trepidation on one side, and an assured confidence on the other that becomes fixed, so that the failure of the one and the success of the other becomes a kind of inherited psychological pre-set. stoke city have now lost just one match and drawn 6 in the last 28 times the clubs have met. the albion must dread this fixture as much as any they have to play at this point.





oooooooh!!! stoke city... boogie boOGIE BOOGIE!!!

and so it was, once again. only seconds away from a draw - perhaps the best they could have hoped for after two goal-saving stops by stoke keeper, asmir begovic - when baggies' goalie, ben foster, was not quick enough in taking a long ball coming back at him on the edge of the box. baggies' centre-half, gabriel tamas, looked momentarily to be in two minds, but with foster shouting that he had it - and was indeed better positioned to take the ball and clear than tamas - all the romanian centre-half had to do was block out stoke substitute, ryan shotton, and shepherd the ball back for foster to take on the hop.

shotton got past tamas and foster's hesitation allowed for the stoke defender to literally nick the ball off the tips of foster's fingers and put it in an open goal. it was sunday league football stuff, and not the first time we've seen it at the hawthorns. but the gaffer was adamant that by today's standards, shotton's challenge was a foul and he came in with his leg high and his studs showing.

hodgson acknowledged that foster and tamas shouldn't have got themselves into such a mess at the back. truly - and while it probably was a foul - foster should have come more decisively for the ball, been a little more aggressive and risked taking a set of studs in the chest. at least there would have been no doubt about as to whether it was a foul or not. hodgson stated that he was particularly aggrieved after having seen the replay.





unlike playing against manchester united and chelsea, this game was thoroughly dominated by the baggies. they had the better of the possession, they created better chances, and they started and finished the stronger of the two teams. jonas olsson had kenwyn jones in his back pocket all day, and gabriel tamas played an intelligent and useful game, considering he was booked early in the first-half and played the remaining 83 minutes on a yellow card. the stoke goal was their only shot on target in the whole of the match while the baggies managed six.

the best scoring chance in the match came when somen tchoyi placed a perfect cross into the box which shane long headed powerfully at goal. while the final ball was pretty much straight at begovich, long had gotten enough power behind it that it required quick hands on the part of the stoke keeper to keep the baggies from going 1-0 up.

again, this was much better on TV than it was as audio commentary. particularly the second-half. it seemed as though the albion were resigned to meet the long ball tactics that stoke played throughout the first-half with the like. it made for a second-half that never really got going, and left the albion radio commentary team to lament the lack of flow and pace that characterized the first 30 minutes of the second period; and suggest that it may have been a tactical mistake on the gaffer's part.





the real story of this game, is that it brings home the immediacy of the premier league and seeing a possible nine points - of which the baggies should have taken at least three - as well as some good football go for nothing. the albion will need four points from the next six or they're going to find themselves in trouble and growing desperate for points with roughly 20% of the season gone. in the football league you could probably drop the first four or five games and still go on to win the division.

meanwhile, and with the summer transfer window closing, we have to start to worry a little about peter odemwingie. he played fifteen minutes against chelsea, and we certainly caught a glimpse of what he and shane long might be like in a forward pairing. but he was out of the line-up (and not even on the bench) this week due to continued problems with his ankle. in truth, this has been bothering him in varying degrees since he got to the club, and i would now start to be concerned that it might be something from which he may never fully recover and will hinder his last few years in professional football.

whatever the case, i have an ultimate faith in roy hodgson, and individual technical errors aside, he has managed to put together a much more stern and disciplined defence within the structure of a 4-4-2 set up. we can only hope that this somewhat deflating result won't erode any of the team's essential confidence this early in the season.

Chelsea F.C. 2-1 WBA

match text commentary


this is the kind of match that makes me want to declare and testify to the worst and most egregious of blasphemies: sometimes, i hate the premier league and wish that...

don't get me wrong. i mean, i was perfectly thrilled when we beat arsenal at the emirates. i jumped out of my seat singing psalm 23 at the top of my lungs when simon cox equalized at white-hart lane, putting the baggies on 40 points and all but beyond any fears of relegation.

i travelled three-thousand miles and was witness to the most important goal of the season at the hawthorns, when carlos vela equalized in injury time against wolves to set the albion on an eight game unbeaten run that ultimately lead to their survival, and a respectable mid-table finish in the all mighty, bloody barclay's premier league.

for the baggies this was the best league finish in nearly 30 years and certainly gives us a reason to start dreaming a little of european nights returning to the hawthorns with all the glamour and glory that that entails.

not to mention, i get to see my beloved baggies every week on TV - if not live, then at least in repeat at sometime over the course of the following week.

however, the financial gap at the top of the league is just too much of a weight to bear in order to be competitive, and the re-structuring of a successful team in the football league to one that can survive for more than five years in the premiership is often an out and out gamble - sometimes with the very existence of the club.





this was the second week in a row that the albion have had to play champions league opposition, the second week in a row that they have lost a close game late on by a score of 2-1, and the second week in a row where they did not get some calls from the referee that they really should have... frustrating stuff. especially when you consider that the margin of skill between a team like west bromwich albion and the big clubs is marginal, while the cost of maintaining that margin is so exorbitant as to be preposterous. fernando torres cost more than 3 times as much as the entire albion starting eleven. that's 20 times what peter odemwingie cost the baggies when he signed initially.

will a modest or large community based club ever win the league again? never in your life. in the mid-1970s, clubs like derby county, norwich city, west brom, nottingham forest and QPR were all variously competitive top 5 clubs, and english football still produced surprises and miracles. nowadays, the premier league has pretty much outlawed miracles. it's just not good business.





last week was a disappointment at home, this week it was away.

the baggies took the lead against chelsea in the 4th minute on shane long's second goal in as many games, and while chelsea had the bulk of possession, it was the albion who were dictating the pace of the game and making good use of the break. long worked tirelessly up front, along with colourful striker, somen tchoyi, and the baggies could well have been another goal ahead at the break.

roy hodgson went with the same starting eleven, and the same tactical set-up as he had played against manchester united at the hawthorns. the gaffer seems very much committed to a two striker system - and it looks that he intends to use this system both home and away.

while the home side had the better of the possession - and especially for large chunks of the second half - the baggies were the better and more organized side throughout the first 45-minutes.

chris brunt has adapted to hodgson's style of football, and is no longer distracted by having taken the captaincy. with two defensive midfielders, in the pairing of paul scharner and youssouf mulumbu - and with brunt and james morrison covering the wings - the gaffer has instituted a form of 4-4-2 that is able to maintain a good defensive shape and compete successfully with teams playing 4-5-1, who would tend to have the advantage in midfield.





the baggies were creating all the early chances and it was brunt moving into a central attacking position that was making it happen. paul scharner got on the end of a brilliant through ball from brunt, forcing chelsea goalie, hilario, into making a sharp save at the near post. brunt then played in a ball that put shane long and somen tchoyi in behind the chelsea back four, and it would have been 2-0 save for long's poor final ball.

while they won't have been the first team to come to stamford bridge and spend long periods of defending in the second-half, the baggies were unlucky - just as they had been against manchester united - not to have hung on for the point. they did create several opportunities to equalize, as well, the best chance falling to peter odemwingie. however, his well struck volley on a ball played to the far post was solidly dealt with by hilario.

while there were questions to be asked about the two chelsea goals as far as the baggies defenders were concerned, these were isolated passages of football in what was otherwise a really good defensive performance overall.

early on after the restart, nickey shorey got caught out and and lost the ball to ramires inside the baggies half. carrying the play into the west brom penalty area, and with the baggies defenders now on the back foot, the brazilian midfielder played a ball which eventually fell for nicolas anelka, who squeezed in an effort at the far post after taking an unfortunate deflection off jonas olsson and leaving ben foster no chance to make the save.

the winning goal came late on and just when it looked as though the baggies had weathered the worst of it and ridden out a full-on chelsea onslaught for a solid fifteen-twenty minutes, and were looking good to hang on for the draw.

however, a momentary lapse and some indecisive defending allowed jose bosingwa to carry the ball into a dangerous area down the right flank and put a low, hard cross in to the box. florent malouda met the ball at the far post to knock it home and put the blues in the lead for the first time in the match.





peter odemwingie, last year's top-scorer at the hawthorns, came on with 15 minutes left in the game. the nigerian striker not only came close to scoring, but also had a shout for what looked a stonewall penalty, when he was flagrantly hauled over in front of the londoners' goal with just seconds of injury time left to play.

the baggies have now put in two quality performances against champions league opposition, and deserve better than to be left with no points. however, a rough start like this might be the tonic needed to inspire more competitive performances against their mid-table contemporaries. last season, the baggies beat arsenal at the emirates, liverpool at home and were the only team in the league to take any points from old trafford. however, they lost twice to blackburn rovers, and were unable to take more than a single point each from bolton, wigan, stoke and wolves. while sets of home and away draws was all they could manage against the likes of west ham and tottenham.

while there is little doubt that striker, shane long, and goalie, ben foster, have brought added quality to the team, the pundits will be forgiving of the baggies this year in the name of "second-season-syndrome". however, they have managed to keep the core squad together once again and there has been much to take heart from in these two opening performances. the albion faithful, no doubt, will be hoping for a little bit more than just survival in the top-flight.

as these first two matches have been good performances with poor results, it's essential that the baggies shrug it off and get at least a point next week against stoke city. the premier league can be an unforgiving environment. there are no easy games and it's all too quick and easy to fall into a rut, not get results and just get stuck. at this point, the quicker the baggies get their first point (or points), the better.

A Satisfying End

Newcastle Utd F.C. 3-3 WBA

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in my blog of august 8th of last year, i stated that i no-less-than expected a mid-table finish from the baggies in their upcoming premiership campaign. in the end - and by the grace of somen tchoyi - my prediction happily came true. instead of finishing a respectable 14th in the table (as it well looked they might), west bromwich albion completed doubles over sunderland and everton in the final few weeks of the season before securing this all important single point against the toon to claim a final league standing of 11th.

this is certainly beyond what anyone (i actually predicted 9th...) had expected, and was something that the supporters by-and-large would have felt was a few years overdue. with the pre-season prognostications by pundits of every stripe and stature almost unanimously picking the baggies to finish 19th - one place above what was predicted for blackpool - the season can only be judged to have been a massive success.


while i can feel a certain amount of vindication as to my unwavering faith in the team, it didn't happen quite how i had expected it would; and i certainly had not counted on the phenomenon that was peter odemwingie. the nigerian international scored 15 goals and his efforts can be counted as directly attributable for 27 of the club's total points this season. the baggies were still hardly a model defensive team, and there were variously problems with full-backs, centre-halves and goalies. so it was really the nigerian's scoring ability, more than any other single factor, that made the albion a competitive proposition in the top-flight this year.

on the management side, the accomplishment of a solid mid-table finish was as much the work of roberto di matteo as it was of both roy hodgson and jeremy peace. i don't really know what happened, or why specifically (and other than the obvious answer of "results") the club decided to change managers? especially as there has always been a tradition of sticking with the present gaffer during a PREMIER LEAGUE campaign at the hawthorns. so the circumstances under which the baggies succeeded was essentially roy hodgson leading roberto di matteo's 25 man squad to PREMIER LEAGUE respectability.

whatever the case, the decision to bring in a new regime, while being unpopular at the time of di matteo's sacking, was celebrated the moment that we learned that the job had been given to roy hodgson. it was a better fit than anyone could have anticipated or hoped for. the new gaffer turned it around completely and went on to lead the baggies through an eight game unbeaten run, and posted only two losses in their last twelve matches.


absolutely everyone knew what he had done at fulham, and west brom was much the same kind of assignment: take a club in danger of relegation and keep them in the division. we'll see what next year brings and will be better able to assess whatever is achieved relative to what the gaffer accomplished in his time at craven cottage. but this was a more compact, emphatic and decidedly less dramatic survival campaign than the final day heroics at fulham required three years ago.

the baggies had clinched survival against sunderland , really, and their victory at home to everton, as well as the ridiculous and sublime last day efforts of somen tchoyi to rescue a point away to newcastle, were relaxed and ultimately entertaining matches that earned west brom their 11th place finish.

WBA 1-0 Everton F.C.

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after their best season in over thirty years, and their place in next year's PREMIER LEAGUE competition cemented, the baggies posted their third "double" of the year on the strength of their second clean-sheet of the campaign.

yuossouf mulumbu, no doubt buoyed by his selection as albion's "player of the year" - added to his scoring account with his 9th goal of the season with less than 10 minutes gone in the game.

while this was a decidedly better defensive effort on the part of both teams than had been in the reverse fixture - which ended a 4-1 win to the baggies - everton didn't take their chances and west brom managed to hold out for a clean-sheet to bookend their season's home fixtures with two 1-nil victories over sunderland and newcastle respectively.



the real surprise in the last two games was, without a doubt, somen tchoyi's spectacular second-half hat-trick against the toon on the final day.

the cameroon international has scored several goals earlier in the season and certainly can look dangerous going forward, but his tactical play as winger has always been in question and he has been the butt of more than a few jokes and subject to hard criticisms on the ALBION RADIO commentaries; and, judging by what has been written about him on various websites and fan forums, the supporters' opinion of him was generally pretty negative as well.

"i'm trying to figure out what position tchoyi's playing?"

"i'm not quite sure that he knows!"

followed by a quick round of laughter.

"he likes to run with the ball does old somen," the commentator adds, chuckling to himself, "he's just not too keen on passing it!"

while i have to admit, tchoyi had been uneven as a winger, despite looking a danger going forward and scoring several good goals when given the opportunity. however - and i'm unsure how anyone missed it - the cameroon international is a natural centre-forward. i had had my suspicions, but as to how good he can be, i was surprised and thought that albion may have found one of their missing strikers for next season.



no doubt, hodgson will bring in some of his own players, especially defenders and a goalie. i imagine that would be the boss's first order of business. you're always looking for strikers anyway, and the big job of the summer will be to keep hold of peter odemwingie. i think the gaffer also might have ishmael miller and simon cox in his plans for next year; so, we may have a few surprises yet, as well a search for another right-winger.

we will also have the return of graham dorrans to look forward to. while it was testament as to the general footballing talent in the side that the all-important attacking central midfield position was played so effectively by a rotating, patchwork crew of wingers and strikers. having the young scottish international back in the side will see a boost in quality to the albion's attack, and should supply a few more goals from central midfield. dorrans' ability to score from both open play and set pieces is well know to the baggies faithful but still a fairly unknown quantity in the PREMIER LEAGUE.

with part of the first team - including odemwingie - having gone home already, and the baggies 3-0 down early in the second-half thanks to an out of character own-goal by jonas olsson, tchoyi single-handedly got the baggies back in the match with two goals in ten minutes. the baggies were left with 20 minutes in which to find the equalizer and perhaps even go on to win the game.



when a speculative ball came looping into the newcastle penalty area, rolling harmlessly through and heading for touch, ishmael miller used his pace and wit to keep the ball in play with a smart back-heel to jonas olsson who dinked a in short cross for tchoyi to calmly head home the albion's 3rd goal.

in a way it summed up the baggies' season and was in keeping with old club traditions: if you can score enough goals, you'll do ok. after all, you're only as good as your strikers.

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-1 WBA

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after last week's win over their other great rival, aston villa, just about guaranteed PREMIER LEAGUE football at the hawthorns again next season, this was always going to be made all the tougher a fixture for it. it would be easy to make excuses for this one and even be somewhat cynical, but the baggies played poorly in the first half and conceded early goals on a pair of corner-kicks leaving them 2-0 down within the first half-an-hour. despite rallying and creating several good scoring chances in the second half, it was an insurmountable score-line and wolves' goalie, wayne hennesy, made several key saves that put the issue beyond doubt.



to be fair, the baggies were fielding a squad desperately depleted through injury (as well as paul scharner's single match suspension) and in no need of taking chances or any undue gambles. three key players needed for defending corner-kicks - a particular and conspicuous weakness for the baggies this season - were missing from the line-up, in the likes of paul scharner, chris brunt and steven reid. it almost felt like the fulham away game all over again.

while referee mike dean called a pretty fair game over-all, he was intent on awarding wolves everything in the first few minutes, and didn't look like he would be comfortable until they had a good crack at goal. a second of two fairly soft fouls on the edge of the albion penalty area saw scott carson at full stretch to palm away jamie o'hara's dangerous free-kick. it was on the resulting corner-kick that wolves took the lead.

steven hunt's delivery was well put into a dangerous area and the albion defenders were largely left watching as the ball broke for wolves' front-man, steven fletcher who duly smashed it past a flailing scott carson.



with less than half-an-hour gone, wolves again took advantage of the albion's poor defending on corner-kicks when a similar goal was scored by french midlfielder, adlene guedioura. again wolves lost their markers and terrorized the west brom goal with a largely unchallenged aerial assault which saw guedioura head the ball home for a two-goal lead.

a third goal early in the second-half through a technical error by abdoulaye meite put the game beyond the baggies despite getting a goal back through a peter odemwingie penalty which kicked off the threat of a west brom comeback. at the end of the day, though, it was wolves who both wanted and needed this game more than the baggies did.

i'm sure that roy hodgson learnt a few things about the character of some of his individual players today. abdoulaye meite mis-controlled a routine ball that allowed steven fletcher an easy opportunity to score wolves' third goal. on the back of his unfortunate own-goal against the villa, the technically gifted centre-back - who has otherwise been in sterling form since his re-introduction to the first team - is sometimes prone to mistakes of the most basic nature. likewise, somen tchoyi who is another technically good player, has no idea how to pass a football, and one has to hope he is able to create direct opportunities on goal otherwise his time on the ball can be largely wasted.



simon cox continued to impress and was unlucky not to score. the young striker, who has found a place as a starter in the first team since roy hodgson taking over, looked sure to score only to see his effort saved by a superb reaction from wayne hennessy. somen tchoyi also should have had a goal, but put his opportunity at a free header just inches over the crossbar; while jerome thomas, exhibiting a superb piece of individual skill, sent a screaming shot spinning skyward off the woodwork with an effort that had wayne hennesy well beaten.

it was a rare win for wolves in the black country derby who have been decidedly second-best in games with the albion over the last decade. they were due for the win, wanted it more and needed it to continue their bid for top-flight survival.

it's going to go down to last day. wolves are going to need at least one more win and hope results in other games go their way in order to survive. at the moment, they look like finishing ahead of west ham, wigan, blackpool and birmingham, but you never know what the last two matches will bring, and goal difference is looking like it might come into play in deciding the final relegation places.

i think we all probably want to see the black country derby again next year, and will be hoping that wolves survive for that very reason.

meanwhile, and in all likelihood, the baggies will go into the last day contesting an 11th or 12th place finish with newcastle united away at st. james park.

WBA 3-1 Newcastle United F.C.

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roberto di matteo made a truly inspired, instructional and intelligent team selection for his starting 11 against west brom's promoted contemporaries, newcastle united.

the gaffer was really astute - and in the light of jonas olsson's continued absence through injury - to put paul scharner at centre-half. the austrian international - who has been playing as a holding midfielder in partnership with youssouf mulumbu - has been afforded a real way to relax his game, stick to the specific, technical and well-defined duties of a centre-half; as well as make better use of his natural talents as an attacking player on set pieces. in fact, it was his move to centre-half that led to his first goal for the club against everton last week. he also seems to bring the intangible quality of unifying the two central defenders, where tamas and ibanez - both excellent defenders in their own right - were struggling for the cohesion that a character like olsson - and now scharner - injects into the back-line.

likewise, the gaffer found the perfect role for graham dorrans in the holding midfield spot left open by youssouf mulumbu's two-game match suspension. the young scot looked comfortable, and with a similarly well defined set of duties in regards to his position, and like his austrian team-mate, was able to relax his game and get some much needed time with a ball at his feet in a competitive situation.



chris brunt was deployed as the central midfielder and somen tchoyi took brunt's regular place on the right wing with jerome thomas back at his usual position on the left. upon initial scrutiny, i'm sure that most people would have assumed that it would be brunt in the holding role and dorrans in his preferred attacking position. but this was real stroke of brilliance both tactically and in terms of personnel manangement.

atypcially, the baggies came straight out of the blocks, and without their usual slow start, pressed the ball from a high position with a very tight 4-5-1 formation, never allowing the toon to settle or get anything together coming forward.

peter odemwingie was excellent, tirelessly ball chasing and harrying defenders, forcing ill-concieved and desperate clearances from both the keeper and back four. his approach paid off as he later took advantage of two critical mistakes leading directly to both his goals.

however, it was actually somen tchoyi who opened the scoring on the half-hour mark. taking a short pass from chris brunt on the edge of the newcastle penalty area - and as still somewhat of an unknown quantity in the PREMIER LEAGUE - the big albion winger, holding the ball on his left foot and just long enough to see some space open up in front of him, surprisingly curled a shot inside the far post. it seemed that no one was really expecting it and being seemingly wrong-footed, he had caught both newcastle defenders and goalie alike quite unprepared.



except for a brief period in the second-half when the toon looked like they might get a goal back, the baggies were in command from the first whistle. on the heels of scott carson's excellent save from steven taylor's header, andy carrol created problems for the albion back four as he got on the end of a looping through ball that caught paul scharner desperately backpeddling and nearly responsible for an own goal. luckily marek cech, positoned well and tracking back, was able to clear the ball off the line with about a yard to spare.

other than that, newcastle were surprisingly flat and the absence of kevin nolan was more than notable.

with the score at 3-0 and the game well into stoppage time, scott carson was cruelly denied a clean sheet when peter lovenkrans scored, picking up carson's initial save from a close range shot by andy carrol. the TV replay showed carrol to have handled the ball in bringing the initial cross under control. while not intentional, it was still clearly handball and the young striker looked as surprised as anyone that the goal was allowed to stand.

this was a first-class performance and a well-timed victory helping to consolidate the baggies' return to form after five games without a win. following their first victory at goodison park since 1979, and just ahead of two important derbies - away to the villa and home to wolves - this left the albion as having the best record of last year's promoted teams as well as the being the top side amongst the four west midlands clubs.



at the beginning of the year, i had boldly picked the baggies to finish (what would be) a surprising 11th in the league. at the time it may have seemed a little optimistic, but jeremy peace, roberto di matteo, dan ashworth et al. haved worked hard and put together a better football team than i think many were aware. i knew that this team was going to be a bit of a surprise in the PREMIER LEAGUE, and a mid-table finish is beginning to look more of an eventuality than remote possibility.

their success thus far has been based on an all round excellent scouting system that has looked for competitively priced players in secondary european leagues; many of whom were completely unknown in england, as well as signing domestic top-flight cast-offs and underrated home grown talent.

in spite of this not being newcastle's day, the three promoted sides have all played beyond expectations and made a contribution towards seeing attacking football played in the top-flight in what has been the most competitive and open PREMIER LEAGUE in years. some think for the better - others, for the worse. whatever the case as to the technical state of football, it's a more entertaining competition this year, and gratifying for all the supporters of teams who've exceeded expectations and/or produced some sure-shock results.

for the moment, it's good to be an albion fan!

Everton F.C. 1-4 WBA

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following the baggies historic win at goodison park this last weekend, there should be no doubt that chris brunt is a top PREMIER LEAGUE footballer, as well as the heart and soul of roberto di matteo's west bromwich albion side.

the baggies midfielder not only delivered the corner-kick that provided paul scharner's first goal for the baggies to open the scoring, but a few minutes later scored a goal of genuine world class quality, curling a 25-yard free-kick expertly over the defensive wall and with the ball dipping perfectly into the top left-hand corner of tim howard's goal.

however, and even amongst baggies supporters themselves, i have long noticed a tendency to under-rate his talent and importance to the team. there are even those who were quick to say that it was tim howard's poor reaction time and not chris brunt's expert delivery that really allowed for his goal against everton on saturday.

while everyone and his mother was raving and drooling over graham dorrans' spectacular performance in the CHAMPIONSHIP last season, they barely seemed to notice that brunt scored nearly as many goals as dorrans and was more important as an on-field leader in inspiring the performance of the team going forward.



i heard a fellow albion supporter despairing of the northern ireland international in a conversation going on right behind me in the queue at the hawthorns station following the albion's 3-2 home win over blackpool last year.

"brunt look's like he's just about given up," i heard him moan.

he went to say that the club hadn't really had a decent centre-half since darren moore was here and that he didn't fancy the prospect of meeting blackpool in the play-offs, blah blah.

the irony was that not only had chris brunt played a good game, having delivered a perfect through-ball to ishmael miller on the baggies' first goal of the match, but nottingham forest had also lost that day leaving the baggies having all but clinched automatic promotion. but black country pessimism dies hard.

while no one denies his skill in dead-ball situations, the common wisdom concerning brunt is that he's a decent left-winger at CHAMPIONSHIP level but not possessed of enough pace or close-ball control to be a top premiership player, and can't - or doesn't - track back to defend.

while it is true that brunt plays most often as a winger, it is cutting inside towards goal and playing balls through a central position that he really excels. brunt has a direct hand in a full 50% of all west brom's goals and possesses a rare vision for what's happening on the field and spotting open channels. perhaps this was best illustrated by his goal scored away to middlesbrough last season.



people love natural, uninhibited talent. conversely, they do not fully appreciate those whose success is derived through hard work and study. i doubt, for example, that growing up in belfast, hanging out, playing five-a-sides all day with his mates, that chris brunt would have stood out as the best footballer of the lot. i imagine there were probably two or three lads, at least, who would have been more naturally skilled and better footballers than he was. however, i'm sure they all grew-up to have fine careers with the public works department or working at a job in a local factory.

chris brunt perservered, developed his basic talents, became a professional footballer, and there is no doubt that he was the baggies' man-of-the-match against everton in west brom's first win at goodison park since 1979. the northern ireland international was everywhere and had a hand in absolutely everything, evidencing that criticisms of his perceived weaknesses are either outdated or were never informed or valid in the first place.

as good as the baggies were in this one, everton were particularly poor in their finishing. jermaine beckford, coming on as a second-half substitute as the toffees made a concerted effort to get back in the game with the score still 2-1, saw himself miss several chances of equalizing before somen tchoyi and youssouf mulumbu put the issue beyond doubt with a 3rd, and then 4th goal for the albion.

while the young striker gets into good positions and has real strikers instinct, he will have to work on his first-touch control and finishing if he is to live up to his obvious ambitions, which, quite frankly, look like they might be his downfall. while his attempted bicycle kick would have been a really spectacular and exciting goal had it gone in; the fact is that he had enough time to bring the ball down and try something a little more controlled. he went for glory and screwed the ball horrifically wide of the far post.



this was a really good way to get back some form in the league after a dredful run of games for the baggies last month, and generally - whilst still awaiting the return of jonas olsson - this looks to be the core of the team that should play out the rest of the season. goalie, scott carson, has been playing some of his best football ever, dorrans will have to just play himself back into form - as will ishmael miller, and with the likes of cox and tchoyi on the bench there will be enough quality to at least survive the PREMIER LEAGUE and maybe even do a bit better than that.

the other thing about brunt - and much to his credit - is that he's very durable and only misses a few games every year through minor injuries. he is also extraordinarily consistent and poor performances are few and far between. evidence that sometimes it is better to be rooted in mental acuity, on-field vision and hard work rather than be possessed of dazzling natural and physical skills.

Leicester City F.C. 1-4 WBA

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as the long-time and dominant formation of 4-4-2 begins to give way to other increasingly popular setups based around the use of a single striker and extra defensive midfielders, one has to wonder: what will happen to the deep-lying, predatory striker?

west bromwich albion's simon cox is a case in point in regards to this current dilemma. despite having an absolutely frightening goals-to-games ratio and having shown over and over that he is a truly talented finisher who can score goals at any level, he can't get a start in the first team. this isn't because he is in competition with another "in-form" player, or that he's going through a rough patch of form himself. it's because he's only 5' 11", not particularly pacey and - for all intents and purposes - the position he plays doesn't actually exist within the current frame-work of the single-striker setup now favoured by the baggies' coaching and management staff.

while he has found success in the early cup competitions, it looks like his appearances in the league will be limited to that of an "impact" player, and he will only see playing time as a late substitution when the team is in desperate need of a goal.



with di matteo remaining committed to the 4-5-1 formation in this year's domestic cup competitions as well, simon cox has been pushed back and is forced to play from a central midfield position. what this really means is that his game will ultimately have to expand, as he will have further to come forward in attack and will be required to track back quickly on a loss of possession and take up a strictly defined defensive position in the central midfield. a quicker player in a similar circumstance might find himself transformed into a winger.

however you look at it, the style of attacking football pioneered by the hungarians with ferenc puskas in the 1950s, refined by the brazilians with pele during the 1960s and 70s, and - regardless of whatever other changes have occured within the science of football - has remained a standard model for how strikers would play for the next 50-60 years, seems like it may have run its course.

soon enough, less than ten years perhaps, strikerless formations (4-6-0) with wingers as the main attacking players will be as common as 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 are today.

while the baggies won this match in decisive fashion, the 4-1 scoreline was still a bit flattering to the team on the day, as well as testament to the ability of simon cox to score goals.

the baggies started poorly but took the lead on cox' first goal of the game, which was really against the run of play. it was a perfect example of pure predatory instinct, an ability to read the play and demonstrated the job of a deep lying striker. roman bednar, taking a cross in the box from giles barnes on the right wing, turned and shot, only for the ball to be scuffed away off a leicester defender. cox was positioned perfectly, took control and pushed the ball on a yard or two before chipping the leicester keeper, conrad logan.



west brom may not have deserved it, but went in 1-0 up at half-time thanks to the goal scoring insticts of simon cox.

the baggies gave up an unfortunate own goal through nicky shorey soon after the restart, and it was one of those things that you just can't do anything about or hold anyone to blame for. with a leicester attack producing a cross into the albion box from the right-wing, the baggies' left back stuck his leg out to make the block - as he well and rightly should do - but unfortunately didn't get enough of the ball and it was redirected from well out past a rooted and helpless boaz myhill.

the baggies went on to take control of this one just as surely as the foxes had let it go. in an incident that quite remarkably resembled his goal at old trafford, west brom winger, somen tchoyi once again took advantage of a ball, in this instance, bobbled by conrad logan and had only to knock home into an open net to put the baggies back in the lead.

steven reid scored with a header on 79 minutes to put the game beyond doubt, before simon cox' last minute stunner. the young albion striker, a full 25 yards from goal and frantically waving his team-mates out of the way, buried the ball in the top left corner of logan's net, producing a goal of world class quality worthy of any striker who has ever worn the blue-and-white stripes. you simply don't score goals any better than this one.



in another era, his goals-to-game ratio and obvious talent would have pretty much demanded that a player like cox would have a place in the starting XI. but roberto di matteo, like many of his contemporaries has found success with the 4-5-1 formation for the better part of a year now, and cox has been limited to cup games and was used on the wing a few times towards the end of last season.

he has been on the bench every game i can remember so far this year, suggesting that he would be of some use if the baggies were chasing a game and needed to make use of an extra attacker. so far, the need hasn't arisen except for a few minutes against chelsea on opening day.

still, the west brom sharp-shooter has said that he will bide his time and wait for a starting call-up in the first team. but then, what else is he going to do? with the game going the way it is at the moment, there is diminishing opportunities for pure, predatory strikers these days.

Manchester Utd. F.C. 2-2 WBA

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it's hard to tell whether the larger changes have already taken place, or if this is just the first signs of things to come. but make no mistake about it: something's up with this season's PREMIER LEAGUE!!!

in some ways, this result was even more important for west brom than the win at arsenal, as it proves conclusively that the baggies' success thus far has been no mistake or fluke, and is the product of excellent management and player performance. there is also a terrific confidence and sense of purpose in the side, and roberto di matteo is the league's manager of the moment.

it's been long hard road whose travel has required years of patient building and organization, but the baggies may finally have arrived.




the baggies typically conceded early with javier hernandez scoring within the first five minutes through a free-kick to united just outside the baggies' penalty area. scott carson got down low to make the initial save from nani's direct effort, but could only manage to parry the ball into the path of the onrushing mexican forward who had no trouble with the easy finish.

this looked as though it might become another typical afternoon at old trafford, making display of the disparity between a large, community-based side like the albion and one of world football's acknowledged super-teams. just on 25 minutes, united increased their lead as nicky shorey lost his footing and nani was left with the opportunity to run in on goal to score united's second and quite predictably they went in at half-time 2-0 up.

the baggies had not played well in the first half and the difference was probably deserved.

however - and in trademark style - the baggies came out for the second half and started decidedly the better team. they continued their recent practice of doing what all winning teams do, which is to put the ball into dangerous areas in the box and force scruffy goals as well as creating well-crafted gems.

with less than five minutes of the second-half played, chris brunt smashed a free-kick low and hard into a melee of players around the united goal, and it crossed the line from a deflection off the leg of united full-back, nani.



a little less than five minutes after that - and with albion creating a good long period of possession and keeping up their attacking pressure on the red devils' goal - chris brunt, again, sent in a looping, spinning cross that veteran dutch international, edwin van der saar, was unable to hold onto as the ball bobbled over his shoulder and was tapped into an open net by albion winger, somen tchoyi.

after that it was down to the excellent defensive play of jonas olsson and gabrial tamas, flanked by gonzalo jara and nicky shorey that kept the baggies in this one to hold on for a quite unbelievable draw. all the more impressive is that they did this without peter odemwingie, and with starting striker marc-antoine fortune isolated and left largely ineffectual by the united midfield.

so, with important players still to come back from injuries, others yet to find form, a really tough set of opening fixtures out of the way, and a current standing of 6th in the league table, there is precious little to be critical of at the moment.



nobody, and probably the team itself, could have imagined that west brom would have been able to take so many points at the front end of the season, given that their first four away fixtures were chelsea, liverpool, arsenal and manchester united respectively.

roberto di matteo has brought back a feeling of excitement and anticipation to following the baggies that was present around the hawthorns in the late 70's. as a supporter, i can't wait for saturdays to roll around and spend friday night thinking about who'll be in the starting team the next day.

yes, it's a very exciting time to be watching the albion!