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General Football & Sports / Re: Romaine Sawyers

« on: February 07, 2021, 11:36:09 PM »

Can see why he’s spent this long without getting to the Premier League, the Championship is his ceiling for me. Not enough goals or assists and I don’t feel his defensive game is strong either. Feels like a luxury player to me and this has been further emphasised due to our lacklustre strike force as he’s been unable to offer anything to pick up the slack.

Just to clarify he comes across as a top bloke and I love his passion for the club but purely from a footballing perspective I fail to see what he offers us if we make it to the Premier League.

Thoughts?

Well I wrote the above quote in July, if this was clear to me then why does even Allardyce persist with playing him? It pains me to say but he has been utterly out of his depth this season one of the worst I’ve seen in an Albion shirt in the Premier League.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Romaine Sawyers

« on: July 11, 2020, 10:48:07 PM »

Can see why he’s spent this long without getting to the Premier League, the Championship is his ceiling for me. Not enough goals or assists and I don’t feel his defensive game is strong either. Feels like a luxury player to me and this has been further emphasised due to our lacklustre strike force as he’s been unable to offer anything to pick up the slack.

Just to clarify he comes across as a top bloke and I love his passion for the club but purely from a footballing perspective I fail to see what he offers us if we make it to the Premier League.

Thoughts?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Gareth Barry

« on: March 04, 2020, 02:50:21 PM »

Can't disagree, not sure what the managers keep seeing in him. The only good performance that springs to mind was Sheffield United away last season.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Gareth Barry

« on: March 04, 2020, 02:25:12 PM »

Can't wait to get this man out of West Bromwich Albion football club. Ever since he signed we have gone downhill. Clearly I'm not putting all our ill fortunes down to this man but how he's justified picking up a wage at the club this season is beyond me. An awful reminder of Pulis's legacy.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Sam Johnstone

« on: February 17, 2020, 10:18:58 AM »

I’d never want Foster here again.

Just when we needed some loyalty, he couldn’t wait to bugger off.

Gives it the big Albion fan in the media and then couldn’t wait to leave.

Leave him be.

I keep seeing this narrative of Foster the 'bad guy' but I don't believe it to be accurate. Let's look at the facts he was 35 when leaving us and during the 2018/19 season would be turning 36, he'd also suffered multiple serious knee injuries in his career (which he'd alluded to in the Tai Schierenberg documentary and said they were taking their toll). I believe the club considered these factors and concluded he was a serious risk. I can only assume he would have been on high wages as he was a senior figure and mainstay of our team so it doesn't take much common sense to see why the club acted the way they did. From what I understand (have a friend who has spoken to Foster) the club actually told Foster that he would not be their number 1 and they were signing a younger goalkeeper.

For many people Foster is the best goalkeeper we've had in the modern era and I share this view. He's been involved in some of our most successful results and league campaigns in recent times so you can see how this news came as a bit of a kick in the teeth to Foster. If you take the time to read about Foster outside of football he comes across as a family man and an all round top bloke. I believe he was settled in the area and I think given enough encouragement would have saw out the rest of his career with us.

To date the decision to replace Foster with Johnstone has looked a poor one and in my opinion we have massively downgraded in the goalkeeping department. If promoted I believe this is an area we will need to address.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Charlie Austin

« on: December 17, 2019, 12:09:41 PM »

We certainly do if Slav decides to go that way:

                               Johnstone

           Ferguson     Bartley       Ajayi

Furlong      LIvermore         Sawyers   Gibbs

                                  Pereira

                    Kanu                    Austin



Looks very strong on paper as do potential replacements in the main. I'm assuming Slav would see this as his first choice line up.

Like the team but think Phillips would feel hard done by.

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Albion Matchday Forum / Re: Pre Match Chat

« on: December 05, 2019, 02:45:35 PM »

Feel more confident about this game than the Wigan game if I'm honest. I would like Austin to start as he's started to build some momentum and I felt Robson-Kanu was largely anonymous is the last match.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Romaine Sawyers

« on: December 04, 2019, 01:33:33 PM »

His range of passing is great, but I can't help wonder if he actually has the all-round game needed for the Premiership. Hopefully time will tell.

More goals required perhaps?

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General Football & Sports / Re: Romaine Sawyers

« on: December 04, 2019, 12:30:23 PM »

i find it absolutely amazing that for 6 weeks there hasn't been a comment about Sawyers.

I think he makes us tick, and has been absolutely phenomenal this season.

Nearly cost us a goal against Preston so people are probably letting the dust settle but I do agree he's been a fantastic signing and was the type of player we desperately needed last season.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Gareth Barry

« on: November 01, 2019, 10:24:52 PM »

I wasn’t being diplomatic.

I enjoy his style, it touches nerves and opens up the debate, if you are prepared for debate and don’t have preconceived views and ideas.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t always agree with Jacko, like I don’t agree with many others on here, but, invariably, what he posts is based on fact and not too far from the mark.

Sometimes, because like the rest of us he makes a judgement call based on what he sees and the  information available at the time, he isn’t’ always right, but most times, he is on the button, in my view.

I can’t believe I’m defending Jacko! But, I’m trying to be fair and reasonable.

I think that last statement is, imho, disrespectful to a member of this forum who has been on here for many years and has so many post against his name. I would hope, on reflection you would reconsider that statement

Then you must have enjoyed my comment then because it's certainly created a reaction from yourself. Back to the subject in hand personally I feel we are pandering to Barry a little and as it stands I feel there will be minimal return by the way of performances. Of course I'm always happy to be wrong and hope he does make a reasonable contribution. 

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Gareth Barry

« on: November 01, 2019, 04:15:43 PM »

I think it can be easy to overlook that, because of his style, Jacko can be misinterpreted at times.

I have no doubt he has Albion’s best interests at heart and wants to see us be as best that we can be.

He has forthright views and opinions, which do challenge.

Very diplomatic of you however unfortunately some people come onto a forum with such certainty of view you wonder why they entered into a discussion in the first place. Feel sorry for the chap.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Filip Krovinovic (on loan from Benfica)

« on: August 22, 2019, 04:04:09 PM »

Does Livermore add anything defensively?

I'd say yes he's a big strong lad and adds a bit of physical presence to our midfield even if his footballing skills are somewhat limited, swap him for Krovinovic and I'm not sure there is enough balance to your midfield certainly against some of the stronger sides anyway. With that said I'd happily swap Livermore for Ajayi when Hegazi is back.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Filip Krovinovic (on loan from Benfica)

« on: August 22, 2019, 01:20:51 PM »

Personally, I would like to see him drop back alongside Sawyers to get Pereira into the #10 role.

Krov   Sawyers

Phillips   Pereira   Diangana/Edwards

Austin

Pereira would be a hell of a suupply line in that role for Austin or Zohore from what I saw last night. Plus it means removing Livermore from the side who, whilst I think he has looked better this season, still offers very little as a footballer.

Agree with this but do we leave ourselves exposed defensively? Maybe one for the lower half teams?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Kyle Bartley

« on: August 19, 2019, 10:01:26 AM »

Keep seeing people on social media saying they want Ajayi and Hegazi as centre halves when the big man is back from injury, I actually would have a pairing of Bartley and Hegazi.

Bartley looks leaner and more composed this season and I sense he has confidence and belief in what he is doing. So far if anything I've seen Ajayi make more mistakes and would prefer him to be battling with Livermore for the defensive midfielder position.

Of course I still see Ajayi offering back up as a defender but don't necessarily think he's our best option, am I the only one?

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Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: August 10, 2019, 10:53:00 PM »

As I’ve alluded to before delaying key signings and starting the season with only two strikers was a risky strategy and I believe it cost us today. In my opinion I really don’t think we offered a consistent threat up front which of course allowed them to put more pressure on our defence. The last minute transfer strategy has left us with little options on the bench today and no real plan b which made us a sitting duck at 1-0 up.

Still lots of positives, Edwards looked lively and it was exciting to see him dribble with pace and enthusiasm, our general play up to the equaliser seemed fluid and Bartley looks trimmer and more confident this season.

This game is no doubt two points lost hope the extra haggling over transfer fees/wages was worth it...

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Director of Football

« on: August 09, 2019, 02:11:51 PM »

I've made no secret of the fact that i'm not a Dowling fan. That's why I get that people on here will take it with a pinch of salt what i'm going to say next, but i'm going to reserve my praise at this stage.

If your only measure is "by the close of the window, have we built a side that looks like it could get promotion this season" , then on the face of it we seem to have done that. We have bought players in every position needed, we seem to have some highly rated youngsters and fans of other clubs will fear us looking in from the outside.

Of course, our 3 wingers today might all be Jacob Murphy level - we won't know until we see them, but in the face of it that is right.

I've not been convinced by the process though. 1 player signed 3 weeks out from deadline day, then a glut of signings from other championship clubs, and then a deadline day supermarket sweep style rush. We needed a goalscorer and a winger all summer but waited till deadline day to do the business. People might make excuses, but the best operators get their business done more efficiently than that.

The glut on wingers we have bought also feels like overkill, blocking the youth prospects. 1 winger felt like enough, 2 at a push, but 3 seems a touch ott for where we are at the moment.

I also have doubts about our scouting still, especially abroad. Majority of signings were players we have faced in the last 2 years, and of the 3 signings from abroad, 1 is an England youth international everyone knows about, Krov was 100% a Bilic led signing and the rumours are that Pereira was also Bilic led (if that isn't the case I do apologise and it would put my mind at ease).

I could be being very unfair on Dowling, but i've still got reservations that today's activity has not removed. I've got lingering doubts that our comparitive financial muscle has possibly got Dowling out of a tight spot, and next summer he might not be so lucky.

Couldn't have summed it up better myself however I appreciate it is easy to criticise from the outside looking in.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Less than 24 Hours...

« on: August 07, 2019, 08:30:01 PM »

It's symptomatic of any transfer window deadline. As frustrating as it is players do become available that weren't previously available thus creating what I believe a domino effect of deals that are on"hold" or in the "pipeline". This inevitabily can lead to smooth transactions but if one of the dominoes doesn't fall then the rest won't. It's a weird way of working, does spice things up but leaves the chance of a deal collapsing affecting clubs like us especially if you don't have that many eggs in baskets and are in desperate need of players/positions

Appreciate that but to have started the season with only Robson-Kanu and Zohore as striking options just screams of poor organisation and financial rigidity. I don’t personally class Burke as a striker and Robson-Kanu is a converted striker who was originally a winger. Amateurish would sum it up for me.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Less than 24 Hours...

« on: August 07, 2019, 05:27:52 PM »

Until the transfer deadline and I have to say I'm scratching my head at how we find ourselves in this position again, for what it’s worth I believe Bilic is a very good appointment and the signings we have made to date are fantastic value for money. My concern is that time and time again we find ourselves desperately trying to beat the clock to sign key figures for our season. Factor in that the loan window closes tomorrow and we have put ourselves in a very dangerous position.

It’s the sort of attitude that made me give up my season ticket this year after 18 years and irrespective of who may come in tomorrow I feel we will now have to play catch up throughout the season introducing any late comers into the team. Football is a competitive environment and even the small margins such as this can be the difference in achieving promotion. We’ve brought in a lot of money through transfer fees and offloaded quite a few of the high earners this summer and the lack of assertiveness to reinvest this money tells me all I need to know about the Chairman, CEO and Sporting Director’s ambition for the club.

We may still go on to achieve our aims this season but the reoccurring excuses about waiting for other ‘bigger’ teams to sign players and the difficulty of bringing players in has become like a broken record to me. The conduct and professionalism of this club are failing to meet the standards I believe we should be setting and we appear to risk losing out on targets due to stubborn budgets and unwillingness to be more liberal with transfer fees.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Tosin Adarabioyo (on loan from Manchester City)

« on: May 20, 2019, 09:46:44 AM »

in those examples they’ve been allowed extended runs in their natural position. Tosin has been played ineffectually out of position to such a degree that he couldn’t really win anyone over.

Appreciate that but even when in his natural position I still felt he looked technically awkward. Tosin will be 22 around the start of next season can't see him ever getting anywhere near the Man City team and at this rate the Premier League for his sake I hope I'm proved wrong and best of luck to the lad in the future.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Tosin Adarabioyo (on loan from Manchester City)

« on: May 17, 2019, 02:33:52 PM »

Don't rate whatsoever if you look at other clubs loaning centre halves from top Premier League clubs such as Tomori, Tuanzebe and Reece James they have been consistent performers for their team. Poor Scouting has got us a 'dud' in my opinion.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Rekeem Harper

« on: March 29, 2019, 02:21:37 PM »

I see a lot of posts raving about Harper but for me there has been little end product to get me excited, I totally appreciate he is still a young man and could potentially grow into an important figure however going forward I would expect Rekeem to start offering more of a goal threat. Otherwise he will start to become a bit of a luxury player, graceful and confident on the ball but making no impact on where it matters.