26

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Can we do this right tomorrow?

« on: October 08, 2022, 10:56:41 AM »

Some clown on twitter is telling fans where Gourlay parks his car and that his car is easily identified by the reg number.

This type of activity is irresponsible and has the potential for harm to be caused by those on an extreme fringe.

It has no home in our club

Exactly what we don’t want.

The members of this forum are for the most past, respectful and if you see anybody acting out of line remind them today!!

This doesn’t need to get out of hand.

27

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Can we do this right tomorrow?

« on: October 08, 2022, 07:39:34 AM »

Totally agree it’s crossed a line etc.

But let’s not make ourselves out to be a bunch of mindless scumbags.

Do it properly! Be as loud and as negative as we need to be (I will be involved don’t get me wrong!) but don’t over step the mark.

28

West Bromwich Albion FC / Can we do this right tomorrow?

« on: October 07, 2022, 09:45:17 PM »

Bit of a deep thread and I know a lot of ‘morons’ don’t use this platform.

However, let’s not turn into a vile bunch tomorrow.

Yes, we can boo, moan, slate and ridicule but let’s not cross the mark. Let’s not get personal. Let’s not throw cabbages.

Let’s try and remember who we are in this; we’re better than the other tripes who stoop to low levels.

Win, lose or draw tomorrow, let’s try and remember the whole country will see it.

29

General Football & Sports / Re: Steve Bruce - Manager

« on: October 06, 2022, 04:04:52 PM »

And if anybody follows @DoodWBA on Twitter, tell him to stop pretending he has a source within the club...

Half the tin pot rumours are created by him and feed an already toxic-atmosphere around the club.

It is about time people speak out in the same way HRK has, make it national, get people to take note and we can force Lai out of this club - PROPERLY!

30

General Football & Sports / Re: Steve Bruce - Manager

« on: October 06, 2022, 04:03:39 PM »

Bruce wouldnt control that aspect of a loan, thats down to the club and its Technical/Sporting director.

Another clear example of where the main issue with this club lies; the very top.

If the very top dont know what they are doing, how can we expect anybody below them to do so?

31

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: "This squad is rotten...."

« on: October 06, 2022, 09:34:17 AM »

I’m not buying it that this squad is good enough for top 6 like some think.

This isn’t a blip, this is a run of form lasting nearly 12 months which is shocking.

Yes we have a few individuals who could probably get into the top sides in the league, but as a collective, we are awful and have an incredibly poor balanced side.

Okay: useless. I’m surprised he doesn’t get more flack but he is so off the pace it’s untrue.

Swift: what does he bring? Another who is sailing through without a word of criticism against him.

This squad, by some distance compared to everybody else, is rotten to the core and doomed.

32

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: Ticket Info & Requests

« on: October 05, 2022, 12:47:01 PM »

you'd be best off contacting PNE.

Can we?

Im (for some reason) debating driving up tonight to watch.

33

General Football & Sports / Re: Steve Bruce - Manager

« on: October 05, 2022, 10:36:59 AM »

I actually think he's angling for the sack after his comments yesterday. He must know that putting our ambitions as "finishing better than 10th" would get the fanbase up in arms, and would also echo back to his comments in February that the only aim is promotion. He cannot be so stupid as to not think that would cause ripples.

I think he knows the game is up and is looking to be ejected and get his payoff.

We need a hard reset in December/January. New manager in sharpish. Draw up plans. Recall Kipre and Taylor. And Griffiths actually.

I dont disagree with you....but another reset?

How many do we need before we realise as a fan-base this is far deeper than just the Head Coach/Manager.

34

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Guochuan Lai

« on: September 14, 2022, 01:57:16 PM »

I say this all the time on threads like this....

But can somebody, really simply, explain all this to me (lol, sorry!).

I am awful with things like this.

All I can see at the moment is;

Lai owns WBA
Lai owns another company, lets say XYZ.

Lai lends XYZ £7m from WBA.

Lai doesnt pay this loan back.

WBA make profit. Lai pays himself £7m.

Lai then writes off the loan with this £7m so in affect WBA are £7m down?

Am i right?

35

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Guochuan Lai

« on: September 13, 2022, 03:23:20 PM »

I hate Lai but correct me if im wrong...

he borrowed £7m

made us a profit

now paying himself £7m as a dividend so in affect he is above board and not taking anything?

Or have I totally misunderstood...

36

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: THE ALBION ASSEMBLY - PLEASE READ

« on: September 02, 2022, 12:10:52 AM »

Perfect date for a protest I think.

37

West Bromwich Albion FC / That Summer window….

« on: September 01, 2022, 11:39:29 PM »

I am aware I may be typing this a little hasty and we may yet announce a couple more…

But, that was woeful!

Twitter is awashed with comments suggesting we didn’t file the Onomah paperwork on time despite having 30mins to do so. If this is true, somebody needs sacking tomorrow.

Another year of empty promises.

Absolute shambles this club is.

After last season, we enter this one with 4 new players. 1 of whom is unproven, shouldn’t be expected to improve our squad.

We are worryingly thin in 3 crucial areas; full back, CM & CF. Actually even wingers we could argue we’re light.

Lai should hang his head in shame for what he putting us through. Appalling Albion.

38

General Football & Sports / Re: Romaine Sawyers

« on: May 24, 2022, 10:38:48 PM »

Just read this about Romaine.
 Romaine Sawyers’ 2019/20 promotion winning season with WBA in numbers:

•42 games played 📝
•4026 mins played ⏱
•2476 accurate passes 🎯
•60 successful dribbles 💫
•134 interceptions 🧹
•1 goal 🥅
•1 assist 🎨

1 assist from a central midfielder shows exactly why he is not required now.

Whilst I won’t get into too much of a debate about the G/A of players, this post shows an utter disregard to the system we played under Bilic and more so the way Sawyers was part of that system.

He was a deep lying playmaker. The man to spread it wide, give it the MP etc.

That role, in the same way somebody like Jorginho or Kroos have done fantastically is never going to get amazing G/A.

Their stats are more based on passes, passes forward, attempts to take the ball etc. sawyers was top class at this for the first 2/3 of the promotion season then tailed off and subsequently never found his form again.

That first 6 months should never be forgotten in that sense, was easily the best ball playing CM in the league for that period.

39

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: This “rebuild”

« on: April 27, 2022, 03:19:17 PM »

I think it's a touch unfair to say that because they have conceded a high number of goals then a CB like Taylor shouldn't be considered.
Fellows has pace and directness and would be worth at least having on the bench and throwing on for the last 20 minutes or so as invariably we need something to happen at that stage. Couple of good assists lately in the PL2 team.
Reach has featured in CM because Bruce sees that we don't have an AM in our current 1st team squad. He's tried Reach as a stand-in there. Castro did enough to get Bruce to put him in the squad and bring him on during one game. He did OK in his AM position but then (forget if it was due to a sending off or injury) he was pressed into CM service while we were chasing the game. Not been seen since. Scored a very good goal in the PL2 game against Norwich yesterday. Involved in that goal was Ingram who as others have said has good attacking ability down the right hand side. Ashworth and Andrews probably not far off either.
In all cases we have to remember just what we've seen from the first team regulars this season and ask are we really risking that much by being more open to giving one or two younger players more of a chance ?

I like your optimism however the lads you have named are just not good enough for Championship football.

There is a HUGE gulf between U23 and 1st team football and the scouts, coaches, analysts etc will know when they have somebody good enough.

40

General Football & Sports / Re: Steve Bruce - Manager

« on: April 26, 2022, 12:59:37 PM »

Did anybody hang around at the end of the game to wait for players to come out to their cars?

Bruce was talking to a female who asked "what's going on?"

Brucey replied "Listen, these arent my players, we need to **** some of them off and start again"

I do feel a tad sorry for him, these clearly arent his type of players and whilst yes we know he isnt the man I at least admire he isnt scared to tell them like it is.

41

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Favourite West Brom Shirt

« on: April 26, 2022, 12:52:12 PM »

funnily enough, i have just given my XL one to a printer to stick Maresca 14 on the back...legend

42

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Favourite West Brom Shirt

« on: April 26, 2022, 12:19:25 PM »

On this note, does anybody want the 98/99 Home shirt?

I bought a LARGE but needed an XL so its up for sale. 

I paid £45, it's in absolute mint condition also.

43

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: 2021/22 Kit

« on: March 27, 2022, 07:58:08 PM »

Long shot and sorry if this isn’t allowed, does anybody have this years pink goalkeeer top is around ages 4/5 or 5/6?

44

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Rest of the season - points to make the Play-Offs

« on: March 17, 2022, 10:17:44 AM »

The results weren’t bad tonight. Rather be chasing Luton down than Sheffield United.

Why?

Luton are a very good side; very very good actually. They will be a Prem club within 3 years, new stadium on the way etc.

Only have to see look at Brighton, Brentford etc to see how they match their philosophy and structure. Good club going places they are.

45

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Rest of the season - points to make the Play-Offs

« on: March 16, 2022, 02:35:05 PM »

I really enjoyed last night, for the first time in months I enjoyed watching my Albion...


However, I just dont want it to paper over the cracks. I still dont think we will make play offs and will probably finish 9th or so and we still need to try and overhaul the squad although that will be difficult given they are all on decent, lengthy contracts. I can picture it now though, a few good games and they all keep their places only to bottle it again next season and throw another gaffer under the bus

46

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Alex Mowatt

« on: March 14, 2022, 02:33:08 PM »

Unless of course if his volley went in on Friday…then he may be thought of slightly higher.
He’s not great, but those around him are either off form or slow too.
It’s heartbreaking to think about what we have now compared to Gera, corrals,koumas, yacob, mulumbu,Korean, Texeria etc etc

This got me thinking about our "best midfield in the world" song the other day...

anybody care to change the words for a "worst midfield" cover?

"mowatt, molumby - robbo and matty - adam reachy and jake livermoooooore, woah woah woah, we've got the worst midfield in the world"

47

General Football & Sports / Re: Sam Johnstone

« on: March 14, 2022, 09:43:54 AM »

Griffiths is the one. That lad has potential and I would bleed him in next season.

Palmer can be 2nd choice to him although Albion may want somebody a bit more experienced in the ranks.

48

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: This “rebuild”

« on: March 04, 2022, 12:05:03 PM »

Rebuild plans for the summer will be tough given how many (or should i say, how few) of our current crop interest potential buyers.

In an ideal world we'd sell 10 or 12 of them and start again but realisitcally we should probably expect 2-3 to be sold.

If the club was given to me however this would be my plan (with a sense of realism in mind)...

Sam Johnstone, Button, Sawyers to leave on a free. I wouldn't sign Moulumby although I think the right setup he could be useful but so much of our anger as a fanbase is aimed at the midfield I would prefer a as much of a refresh as possible there. Also think he is too similar to Mowatt and Livermore who will stay as nobody else will bid. I would however be tempted to sign Clarke as LCB on a cheap deal.

The rest of the squad are all up for sale; as stated above I dont expect them all to go however by shipping a few out would start the rebuild process and would give us some funds.

The only couple I think could grab a few quid are Furlong (simply because he had a half decent season in the Prem and he is seen as a modern day wing-back which may attract others), Townsend, Grant (purely based on his goal stats, some may seem him as doing well in a struggling side although we know he is woeful) and maybe Diangana although the latter two would be a cut down price. Sell those and raise £15m-£20m in the process.

I would promote Griffiths and Palmer to be our keepers. Save on budget elsewhere and have 2 young, hungry keepers who have both earnt rave reveiws in the league below and im sure these 2 could be "decent" stop-gaps in this area at the very least.

Build a defence around O'Shea and Clarke. O'Shea is not a full back and whilst limited in some areas is a potential future captain. Ajayi and Bartley as rotation and aim to sign full-backs is Furlong/Townsend are sold but I would sign a RB regardless to replace Furlong and downgrade him to a rotation player.

Midfield needs 1 re-inforcement minimum. Must be creative.

Wide players we are stuck with the lot of them unless something happens on the transfer front. This is a huuge area of concern given none of them are fit (Phillips, Robbo) or can produce long term (see all of them). If we can sell, its a bonus.

Up top I would sign Carroll as back up to Dike unless we can find a relatively cheap signing from lower leagues who can supplement the squad. Release Zohore and just get him gone.


Behind the scenes I would keep Morrison but recruit a new coaching setup. I would scrap the Academy completely and overhaul it with an U23 squad finding the best talent released from Prem clubs and abroad.

DoF in the mould of Brunt, Olsson etc. Somebody who knows football and knows the club but is young and hungry.

Scouting system revamped with a 5 year plan to find players in lower levels and abroad. Remove any targets who are over-the-hill and approach an Under-30 signing policy.



Only a few weeks to sort this mess out, good luck to them.

49

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Under 23's / Academy Thread

« on: March 03, 2022, 09:23:35 AM »

It has probably been mentioned in here before but we should just adopt the same approach as Brentford and disregard our Academy set up all together.

Over recent seasons we have lost Barry, Rodgers,Ferguson, Brown, Cardoso and all the lads who went to Villa and we probably have made less than £18m on sales. All of these could be worth £20m (with the exception of Brown but at the time he defo seemed that way) each in the future.

I would rather us run an U21 or U23 setup offering the best players released by the giants of European football a potential route into first team football.

Try something new as this system doesnt work; We lose our best talent for peanuts and the ones who make it through are nothing more than squad players, we havent produced an actual gem in years.

50

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: How has it got this bad?

« on: March 02, 2022, 04:02:04 PM »

Not just MP.

We had a system and a manager who prior to lockdown built a good side.

Sawyers before the re-start was the best midfielder in the league and left Livermore to just run around (the only thing he is good at) and then he had somebody to pass to who wouldnt just give him the ball back (like Mowatt does).

We had a system that suited CR/MP/Grady behind the front man.