Albion

Michael Davis

Baggies blog - August 2006

Sunderland 2-0 West Brom (Championship) Mon 28 Aug

The last thing anyone wants to be doing on their bank holiday Monday is travelling up the motorway to Sunderland, but due to Sky TV moving the game this is what 500+ Albion fans had to do.

Yes, it was on the TV, and anyone could have easily stayed at home and strolled down to the pub at 2.50pm to watch it, but you ask any fan, there's nothing like actually being there.

Battling for supremacy

The Stadium of Light has been something of a good hunting ground for the Baggies in recent years, having been unbeaten in the last five years there and up to one point in those five years we were the only team to have won there, so this record did look quite good until Sunderland got promoted to the Premiership.

Having travelled all that way, the least you can expect from the team is a bit of fight and determination to win, especially against a team that was yet to put points on the board and had lost to lower league opposition only a few days earlier.

Much to the disappointment of all of the travelling fans though and many more watching in the comfort of their own homes, Albion didn't show up. In the whole 90 minutes against Sunderland I cannot recall us having a goal scoring opportunity and to me that's not right.

Dropped from the team

West Brom, along with Blues, Palace and Norwich respectively have the strongest team in the division, and yes, it might be difficult breaking teams down, I understand that, and our fans have got to be a lot more patient at home.

But to go away against what are the start of the season were promotion contenders along with us and not perform at all is a disgrace!

I'm not one to get on Robson's back about things, but why on earth did he drop Wallwork? Our best midfielder by far this season, and yes, not many people like him but we do miss him when he's not there. Just take the Villa game at home last season for instance, Ronnie was suspended and we didn't compete in the middle at all; he does the jobs no one notices and he does them well.

If were to get promoted in May next year then Robson's got to pull his finger out and stop making stupid tactical mistakes like that.

Not a good day at the office

Now we have Koumas onside again I'm hoping he can be a catalyst to our season along with Kamara; both are coming back to full fitness and both are key attacking threats.

Roll on Leicester and the return of AJ, an Albion hero in my eyes, and let's hope my next blog can be more positive.

Boing Boing.

West Brom 2-1 Colchester (Championship) Sat Aug 19

Those two points away from home definitely look a lot better than what they did seven days ago: 4th in the league, still unbeaten - what more could you ask for as an Albion fan? Well, apart from a second half performance, for once not much really.

Having toyed with a Colchester side which look doomed to relegation only four games into the season, Albion once again made hard work of a fairly easy task.

Being 2–0 up at half time and cruising, we once again come out in the 2nd half and looked lethargic and uninterested.

We began to lose all shape when Duke went off again, so it was hard to see us holding on in the final minutes.

But by doing so we have now taken eight points from a possible 12 - and with an under strength strike force.

So, if we can get two goal scorers in, we are definitely going to be up there at the end of the season.

Will Baggies fans boing this season?

Next up for Albion is a trip to Leyton Orient in the Cup, and a chance to give the youngsters a run out, hopefully giving the likes of Nicholson and Hodgkiss the chance to push for a first team berth.

I’ll be watching this game on the TV as it's on a Thursday night but don’t worry I’ll be at The Stadium of Light on Bank Holiday Monday for the crunch game against Sunderland which, hopefully, will bring the first away win I’ve seen in more than three years. Fingers crossed.

Boing boing.

Southampton 0-0 West Brom (Championship) Sat Aug 12

The first major test of the season against a team that, until a few seasons ago, were ever-presents in the Premiership.

So this was never going to be easy and, with the fact that the Duke wasn’t 100% fit, it was made even harder.

Having limped off after a quarter of the first half, we were always going to struggle with only one recognised striker on the pitch so - at this stage again - I would have had someone’s hand off if they would've offered me a point.

But for some Albion fans I think they must live in cloud cuckoo. Even though we hadn’t played very well and it was the second match we had drawn in the space of a few days, we were still unbeaten and had taken a point off a side that are going to be no mugs at home this season. So long as the result against Colchester is three points then the two
points taken at Cardiff and the Saints will look very hansom indeed.

The major problem this season will be our own fans: if we keep getting on the team's back from the word go then we are never going to get anywhere. As Robson has said many a time we all need to pull in the right direction if we're going to achieve what we have set out to do - which is gain promotion.

I know you might not like the man but he is our manager and therefore you’ve just got to grin and bear it.

Boing Boing.

Cardiff City 1-1 West Brom (Championship) Tues Aug 8

A Tuesday night game: the one thing i like about the Championship is the fact most games are played at 3pm on a Saturday and 7.45pm on a Tuesday or Wednesday, you can't beat travelling down in the day and getting there with plenty of time to have a few beverages and a good old pie.

Having never been to Cardiff before a few of my friends had warned me about how vicious their fans were, but having got into the ground safely I thought the worst bit was over, only for me to realise how dangerous a place it is to go to, with a young yob throwing a brick at our coach.

Other than that, though, it was a pretty good night all round with a very good point taken from Cardiff I was more than pleased. It's a ground that most teams will struggle to get anything from this season due to how the fans are almost on top of the pitch, and how much atmosphere they create in such a small ground.

WBA 2-0 Hull City (Championship) Sat Aug 5

After another summer of disappointment, not only as England once again failed to perform on a major stage, but also the fact that Albion now had to face up to a season in the lower leagues, the season is once again here.

No disrespect to the teams competing in this division, but Hull City doesn't quite have the same ring to it as Man United or Arsenal but last season we just weren't good enough so we deserve to be where we are today.

After a few new acquisitions to the team that failed to live up to expectations last season and no players yet to depart, Albion look as strong as anyone in the league and with the club's expectations being the highest in many years, it is going to be tough for the Albion to keep everyone one happy.

It's obvious we're going to need to be patient with teams looking to come to the Hawthorns and defend for their lives. So we're in for another long season as Baggies fans.

With an air of nervousness around the Hawthorns, the season kicked off and for the first 35 minutes we played the most entertaining football Albion have played whilst I’ve been watching them. For the first time in ages it was a joy to watch us play. But with Albion we can never take our chances or finish the other team off - no more so than against Hull.

After the break it was new boy John Hartson that was to get the season ticking, by scoring an audacious lob out of nothing and sending the Albion fans into delirium. Having lost the rhythm of the first half we were under a bit of pressure from the visitors and the 2nd goal was definitely needed or I’m pretty sure Hull would have snatched a point because they looked worthy of one in the 2nd half.

Having picked up the first 3 points of the season and not played to our full potential things looked bright for the season, although we need a striker or two as we are very weak in that department. But with three weeks left until the deadline there’s plenty of chance to secure the services of a proven hitman.

Boing Boing.