1

Coronavirus Thread / Re: Coronavirus

« on: March 12, 2020, 06:14:12 PM »

The 2 people who have died today both had underlying serious health issues which seems to be the case with those who have unfortunately died.

The mass panic and over-reaction from some is pathetic, yes we should all be concerned but also sensible, wash your hands and be sensible about things. I've been sat in Starbucks for 4/5 hours a day for the last 3 weeks or so due to no net at home until next week, the state of the toilets is a disgrace and shows some are still not doing the basics but the place is still rammed every day and some are doing what they need to do.

This virus spreads mostly through the air. Most folks who get it won't be very sick, but a very large percentage will. 3% death rate is staggering. That's 3 people out of 100. Flu is 1 in 1000.

So it's not so much about 'most people', it's about the deadliness of the virus for elderly, diabetics, heavy smokers, asthma/lung patients, cancer patients and so on. If 'most people' don't take care they will infect the vulnerable for whom the risk is FAR greater.

2

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Anyone Else Slightly Concerned??

« on: August 26, 2019, 08:59:24 PM »

Played 5 games out of 38! Unbeaten in our games so far. Dread to think of people's reactions when we lose our first game.

Yes. We are still in August... I would be more worried if we were in super form at this stage. However we clearly have a lot of areas to improve. Our defending is very poor. We are weak at closing down individually and more so as a unit and pressuring the opponent. We lack cohesion both in defense and attack. Individual players are not yet up to speed or not in tune with their team mates. These areas should be fixable by good coaching.

What is worse is that we lack a bit of talent overall, some individuals apart. Not sure if we have a gamebreaker in our side, which is a definite weakness. We must get our team in tune and well drilled if we want to get promoted.

3

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: August 21, 2019, 09:47:43 PM »

A yard off tonight very worrying with Austin on we still lack a cutting edge up top

Austin is two steps off the pace and the pace is not exactly staggering.

4

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Next manager...

« on: June 02, 2019, 05:11:18 PM »

Pearson would be a good shout but I feel he would be too strong a personality for the hierarchy. They'll want a yes man, which Pearson isn't.

We have Pulis as a recent reminder of what happens when a 'strong' personality runs all over management.

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Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: November 10, 2018, 11:44:08 PM »

Well done team and management! 

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Ian Pearce

« on: November 08, 2018, 12:15:18 AM »

Could it be that the capped one had certain "clauses" in his contract?, maybe a payoff if he left having been undermined..
Camacho was in the air and on his way ...that was stopped strangely, Burkes transfer at the very least looks odd

Yeah, something fishy with that one imo, and other happenings as you point out.

7

General Football & Sports / Re: Darren Moore

« on: November 05, 2018, 10:42:02 PM »

Yes, we are in transition. Darren Moore can only take responsibility for and fix situation related to the current squad's training, match preparation, team tactics and so on. The club has been seriously mismanaged for a number of years under TP et al. This has left us with a very poorly balanced  squad. However, it is Darren's job to make the most of what he has got here and now. This is not happening and that Darren must fix.

At least the club has recognized one of the problems, recruiting fresh talent, and appointed a head scout at long last. The club now needs to trim the squad of aging overpaid players and find new talent to build around. The team on the pitch needs to have a solid defence, a strong spine, and reliable goal scoring. The goal has to be a hungry, hard working, talented team with as few flaws as possible. But that is the long term goal and it won't happen overnight.

Darren's team has obvious problems, and that is where he needs to start and where I am looking for immediate improvement from him.

8

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: October 26, 2018, 03:31:51 AM »

We DO have decent midfielders. Livermore and Barry are both ex England internationals, Field is from what I can make out very highly thought of at England U20 level. Morrison and Hoolahan are good footballers. All have quality at this level that other clubs don't have. What we have is an unbalanced and leggy midfield and often an outnumbered one. In this day and age there are a lot of team that have three men in the middle in one system or another.

Brunt, Morrison, Barry, Hoolahan are all old war horses long in the tooth. This list only highlights the problem. Too many players far past their best. Then we have Livermore who is erratic and Field who is unproven. This situation is brought about by poor management.

9

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: October 25, 2018, 09:17:02 PM »

We don't have a decent midfielder in the squad, sure we have some promising youngsters but the team is heavily loaded with old work horses and not one creative talent in sight.

This drives me up the wall too. I talked years ago about the need to prepare for the day our old work horses (Brunt, Morrison etc) got old in the tooth. Yet here we are with "not one creative talent in sight".

It is simply poor management from a club with our resources.
 

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Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: October 25, 2018, 02:42:01 AM »

Moore’s ridiculous obsession with playing Chris Brunt in midfield will cost him his job. The Tyrone Mears and HRK substitutions we’re baffling. What a woeful performance but it has been coming for weeks

I agree. I talked about this six weeks ago (September 15th) yet Moore is still making the same old mistakes time and time again.

Darren Moore needs to get a grip quickly. This team lacks a spine and a coherent defense. We look good at the attacking end but the imbalance in the team is palpable. If this continues we will look good in some games and shocking in others, exactly what we have seen on the pitch so far. This is not how to build a campaign for promotion. Promotion, a winning season, is built on consistent quality and a winning mentality. 

Now it is up to Darren to prove, quickly, he has what it takes to be a winning head coach and show that he can out think and out coach his opponents. Being too soft is as bad as being too rigid (TP, Megson). If DM is to survive he must show he has a winner instinct and do what is necessary to address the problems.

11

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Thoughts on the Season to date

« on: October 08, 2018, 01:53:26 AM »

Thoughts:

So far so good... but we are in early October. A few injuries and we might be in for a bit of a slog, or if our forwards are weaker on wintry pitches.

This team is not a very balanced team, our defense is weak and our midfield is lacking as everyone is saying, but we do have a qualitative cutting edge up top for this division.

A lot of work needs to be done to create a proper team. I'm still angry at the rubbish management and leadership that got us relegated, mostly because the mistakes were so obvious and stupid. Moore so far is doing alright on the pitch, but I wonder about the bosses above him.

12

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: October 03, 2018, 08:21:05 PM »

Bartley is atrocious

So we are playing with 8 men then... 

13

General Football & Sports / Re: Darren Moore

« on: September 15, 2018, 05:53:06 PM »

Darren Moore needs to get a grip quickly. This team lacks a spine and a coherent defense. We look good at the attacking end but the imbalance in the team is palpable. If this continues we will look good in some games and shocking in others, exactly what we have seen on the pitch so far. This is not how to build a campaign for promotion. Promotion, a winning season, is built on consistent quality and a winning mentality. 

Now it is up to Darren to prove, quickly, he has what it takes to be a winning head coach and show that he can out think and out coach his opponents. Being too soft is as bad as being too rigid (TP, Megson). If DM is to survive he must show he has a winner instinct and do what is necessary to address the problems.

14

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: With the benefit of hindsight, should we have stuck with dinosaur Pulis

« on: March 12, 2018, 10:11:55 PM »

Yes, totally unnecessary risk too early in the season which has cost the Chairman and CEO their jobs and looks like it'll cost the club relegation.


The football now is actually worse. I said at the time we'd appoint a supposed safe pair of hands if we pulled the trigger mid season. Problem was we had the safest pair of hands available at the time.

Craziest opinion I've read on this forum the many years I've been on here. Pulisball, combined with utterly inept upper management after JP took his hands off the rudder, destroyed the team. It will take years of hard and intelligent work to recover from the wreckage caused by the 'safe hands'.

15

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Nacer Chadli joins Albion

« on: November 17, 2017, 03:53:19 AM »

Pullis confirms he never really wanted Chadli (all John Williams's fault)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaAkWrgV5g
Also states Chadli is best utilised in the final third of the pitch hmmmm ought to take his own advice

This nullifies the argument that Pulis can play better football with better players. He is not interested, and that's that. And as others pointed out, he actively ruins talent because he only cares about his Pulisball approach. This should be crystal clear to all now. The debate at the start of TP's reign at Albion is settled- the nay's have it.

16

General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: November 08, 2017, 03:21:29 PM »

5 minutes later:

Pulis: "I have a cunning idea, mylord"
Blackadder: "What's that, Pulis?"
Pulis: "We punt long balls to the big guy up front"
Blackadder: "...."

Repeat on perpetual loop.

17

General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: November 08, 2017, 03:17:38 PM »

So are you saying he can only take his holiday when the season is over until they report for training for the new season then? ie; June? And there is football in the summer...next year it is the World Cup, plenty to see there.

He missed a game last night but will see the video of it. Regardless of what we all think he deserves a break; half his 1st team are on International duty and the other half are on the beach early.....

Give the guy a break. You never know he might just have a bright idea!

This is sounding like a Blackadder skit:

Pulis: "I have a cunning idea, mylord"
Blackadder: "What's that, Pulis?"
Pulis: "We punt long balls to the big guy up front"
Blackadder: "...."

18

General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: November 07, 2017, 02:18:01 AM »

Irvine had 17 games. We've played 11. There is nothing imminent.

Exactly as predicted Pulis has led us in a big fat circle, spending millions of good money along the way yet leading us nowhere while the 'product' is as boring and predictable as can be. If it changes for a while and there is a bit of creativity by accident, like when we had a fresh Chadli for a few weeks/months, then Midas in reverse will soon suck any life and joy out of it and revert to Pulisball.

We all know full well the suits at the top are happy as long as their Prem cash flows in and for them that is all that matters. Most likely Pulis will eventually turn it around because his game is based on statistics and numbers, but for us fans, what's the point? There simply is no good reason to watch Pulisball, life is too short and valuable to waste on such nonsense.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: November 06, 2017, 07:18:14 PM »

come on mate give him some time,

hahahaha 

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General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: November 06, 2017, 06:52:05 PM »

Pulis will end up getting us nowhere. After a few years and untold millons spent we will simply be a mirror image of Pulis' approach. One dimensional, rigid and predictable.

Quote from 2015.

21

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: October 16, 2016, 09:38:32 AM »

at 0-0 he was warming Morrison up to come on, as soon as we scored he sat Mozza back down and got Go To Gardner on the pitch.
I think if he had stuck with his original decision to bring Mozza on that may have allowed us to hold the ball a bit better for the last 10 minutes who knows. Fine margins between 1 and 3 points

Tbh as soon as I saw Gardner by the line ready to come on I thought "here goes the points".

22

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: October 01, 2016, 03:16:51 PM »

Sunderland's defence looks really weak.

23

General Football & Sports / Re: The Telegraph - Football for Sale

« on: October 01, 2016, 02:18:07 PM »

Someone has done an effective legal job on the Telegraph, the Redknapp story is to be the last one published according to the newspapers editor.

Wow, corruption and censorship has never been at a higher level in our Western "Free world" socitites. This corruption obviously was too embedded and far reaching to be touched.

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General Football & Sports / Re: The Telegraph - Football for Sale

« on: September 30, 2016, 07:39:31 PM »

Someone very high up the food chain has got to this guy. The Telegraph will be wishing they'd published sooner.

I agree 

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General Football & Sports / Re: The Telegraph - Football for Sale

« on: September 30, 2016, 01:20:56 AM »

Lepkowski on twitter suggesting there are now injunctions in place, Collymore claims to have seen the true list and says it will devastate English football. All getting very ominous.

What's wrong with clearing out corruption?