The West Bromwich Albion Thread

[cyrille]

Last time I saw West Brom play Bristol City was a Boxing day.

Back in the days of Gerry Gow and the bubble perm.

[Bettyboo]

Bristol City showing off their winning ways again and screaming up the table...



Can they get into a play off place? I personally doubt it, but they have a reasonable set of fixtures coming up:




Two excellent wins against Hull and Sunderland.


West Brom have slightly trickier fixtures, but could get some good points here:



Unlucky not to beat Stoke, but Stoke are a decent team, under-rated - could be much higher up the league, imho. (Anything more than 6 points will be good from those games.) I hope you beat Leeds and Norwich... )


The Mighty ITFC, on the otherhand are f'ked. I predict 4 points out of the next 6 league games, and the tumble down will begin, I fear...



(That Norwich draw was an awful waste of two points, they are a crap team.)

[cyrille]

Ippo defence has looked very uncomfortable.

2-0 at Elland Rd.

[Bettyboo]

Our defence is always shite... Plus, playing a premiership style of play (with division 1 players) against a team of premiership (or near) players who play the same style just isn't a good idea.

Their left and right backs are head and shoulders above ours. Our right winger and two no. 10s are doing fuk all most of the time. Tactically, we are always in trouble against certain teams - mainly, the recent Premiership teams.

But, on the up side, we are fully capable of scoring 4 in the second half... There should be three changes at half time (number 9 - touch of a rapist), right winger for the tricky Chealski winger who does a lot more in defence, but is good going forward and (hopefully) bring on another centreback and take off one of the 10s (but, I've never seen him do that before, so probably he'll wait 15 minutes then bring on Scarlett for the left-sided 10. The right back also needs replacing, but looks worse than he is due to a lack of support from our right winger who doesn't like being in his own half.

End score: 7 (maybe 6) 4 (maybe 0)... Fully as expected. I might watch the Premiership game second half...

[Bettyboo]

Well, we were unlucky really. We were the better team overall, just Leeds scored at good times...

[Bettyboo]

It was also one of those games where the statistics don't tell the whole story; despite being dominant, we had tiny possession stats, tiny passes completed stats, and no attempts on target. Plenty of positives to take into the game against Leicester in a couple of days...

[Reg Dingle]

Well, we were unlucky really. We were the better team overall, just Leeds scored at good times...

Hally Xmas, Betty

[Bettyboo]

^ Indeed. To you too.

The Hammers will no doubt have a Happy Xmas too...

[cyrille]

we had tiny possession stats, tiny passes completed stats, and no attempts on target.

How are the pies?

[Bettyboo]

Not very tasty... As I said, the start of the end. We're just not good enough to play in the Premiership (we'd be slaughtered every week).

Last year's three Premiership teams will almost certainly finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd and only the third placed team will be a 50/50 due to the playoff "anything can happen" style of play.

Although you beat us quite easily, we beat Middlesborough quite easily and they beat you.. I think that's the Championship in a nutshell - very competitive, most teams can go on a good run and beat most others. Leicester and Leeds are clearly the best two teams. I haven't seen Southampton this season, so I'm not sure. Teams like Coventry, Stoke, Sunderland, and many more are always dangerous. Bristol City are even showing some form...

[cyrille]

Albion looking bright at home vs Norwich.

[helge]

WBA won the toss ?

[cyrille]

Albion looking bright at home vs Norwich.

1-0 FT.

[Bettyboo]

^ Good to beat the scum.

Bristol City doing well, three wins on the bounce - could they make the playoffs??

Ipswich with two points out of the last three games - our worst run of the season, and I suspect the nect three games will be similar... I expect us to finish fourth and not make it through the playoffs (that's probably our level, tbh.)

[Mendip]

Bristol City doing well, three wins on the bounce - could they make the playoffs??

It would be criminal if they don't.

I've always said that all City need to do is start winning more matches. It looks as though their time has come.

[Bettyboo]

^ I'm not convinced... There are a lot of good teams in this league, beating the likes of Sunderland to a top 6th place will not be easy!


I was looking at the stats, I know they don't tell the whole story, but Bristol City did bloody well to get a win from their stats. West Brom deserved a bigger win, and we were probably the less lucky out of us and Leicester only to get a draw (maybe, we can do better at there place next week?).









Leeds are our worst team due to the style clash, they slaughter us, so at least we have those two games out of the way... &, only conceded 8 goals in two games to them.

[cyrille]

Birmingham City have sacked Rooney.

Appy New Year, Lah.

[harrybarracuda]

Birmingham City have sacked Rooney.

Appy New Year, Lah.

Took them from 6th to 20th.

A car crash even by his standards.

[taxexile]

rooney, a fantastic footballer in his day but a useless manager.

he was heavily and relentlessly abused by the leeds crowd yesterday from kick off to the final whistle and beyond, for his weight, for his allegiances to manchester united, for his managerial abilities and for his job prospects.

didnt he pour the pork to some soccer groupie a while back? not the sharpest knife in the drawer by most accounts he is a decent chap, but unfortunately he is cursed with an ugly face of such ugliness that it demands a punch, followed by another punch.

he is only 38 y.o. but he looks 70.

still, he will trouser a few million as a payoff.

[Joe 90]

Birmingham City sack manager Wayne Rooney after just 15 games – he clearly needs to learn management at a club with lower expectations. Apparently Man United are interested...

[helge]

Sometime someone has to replace Southgate.

[hallelujah]

FA Cup weekend.

We're all Aldershot this weekend, aren't we?

Now, I know they might not quite be the calibre of 16th place Swansea City , but it doesn't take too much to beat the Wolves wannabes, does it?

[cyrille]

Not a priority, obviously.

No sign of our [at][at][at][at] owner finally selling up & fkin off.

That's #1 priority.

[hallelujah]

Not a priority, obviously.

No sign of our [at][at][at][at] owner finally selling up & fkin off.

That's #1 priority.

I haven't really heard much about what he's been up to there. The usual carpetbagging and nonsensical decisions I presume?

I've had my Brum mate over recently and he was cheering for Leeds the other night in the hope that Rooney would be sacked.

Yeah, it's not the manager - again - that is the problem there...

[Bettyboo]

Considering finances of the 3 "Premiership drop-down" teams.

I was looking through transfer news, and Ipswich can't afford a 4 million pound bid for a player we want whereas Leeds (who have the best attacking talent in the league) are looking to spend 16 million on a Nottingham Forest striker - that's the reality. It's very very difficult for Ipswich West Brom and Bristol City to compete with Leeds, Leicester and Southampton. The Ipswich squad is decimated with injuries and suspensions, and our "back-up players" are just League 1 standard. The three Premiership drop-down teams have benches full of Premiership players (not great ones, but decent). I can easily see Leicester, Leeds and Southampton going up...

Bristol City did well in the cup. We struggled past a crap team, and have a crappier team in the next round - we will probably make it to the final 8 without having had a tough game; lucky.

In other news, a player move that I don't know at all, but Cyrille might?

Was:





Is now:




From a heating company to Ed Sheeran!