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General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: January 02, 2015, 07:05:28 PM »

Another one with this anti-football diatribe i keep seeing.

we have seen anti-football under Irvine believe me what Pulis will bring will be a million miles from what we have endured this season so far

Fair enough on that count re: Irvine but as many fans will attest too when they think back, Pulis's Stoke boarded on anti-football and pushed some of the boundaries of sportsmanship.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Tony Pulis

« on: January 02, 2015, 06:55:31 PM »

I am not a hypocrite, and I won't change the opinion I have held about Pullis.

I remember the abuse he has been rightly given over the years, for me he is not welcome, at The Hawthorns.

We are in a desperate situation, and maybe that's why so many of you have such short memories, and are prepared to sell your soul...

I'm with you, I am saddened by this appointment.

Although I want the club to be in the Premier League and continue to improve the squad and the club, I think the owner and directors almost deserve for the club to be relegated, in appointing their own man in the summer but not giving in him the time, and then giving Pulis, whose style of football and characters in his squad and attitude at Stoke always seemed like the antithesis of our team, a fat contract and the autonomy never afforded to his predecessors.

All Peace is doing is protecting his asset, ensuring it stays in the Premier League, the TV money keeps rolling in, his salary keeps rising and he makes a tidy sum when he finally decides to sell up.

The directors made mistakes in the summer, whether it was appointing Irvine or their scatter gun transfer policy (possibly both), which many fans pointed out, now they try to cover these mistakes by appointing Pulis, who in most circumstances would be oppugnant to fans, but now he's welcomed and the directors are praised for their effectiveness.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Alan Irvine sacked by Albion

« on: January 02, 2015, 06:42:46 PM »

I usually don't read anything into players' interviews but some comments re: Pulis by Chris Brunt did jump out at me.

“I don’t think that there will be any grey areas with him, which is a good thing because having grey areas costs teams points in this league."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11698/9628347/premier-league-chris-brunt-says-tony-pulis-is-perfect-fit-for-west-brom

It's conceivable that he wasn't referring specifically to Irvine and was talking about experiences and bad spells under Mowbray, RDM and Mel in the Premier League but it is very clear that he believes that their is the potential for the players to receive more detailed preparation and work on the training ground without being overwhelmed/worked and can only be aided, not restricted, by specific instructions on match days.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Summer transfer window

« on: August 13, 2014, 10:44:10 AM »

I think you are all being incredibly harsh on Long. Yes, considering his contract situation and form we got a good fee for him but I think when taking into account Anelka (who was mediocre anyway), our limited strike force and our poor performances last season, we would have benefited from his talent(s) and experience.

Yes, his £12m fee seems ridiculous but relative to other transfers in English Football (and some of Europe) its reasonable. There's so much money swirling around from sponsorships, TV deals and expensive tickets that clubs happily pay up. Hull bought a player with 6 months left on his contract, Southampton are buying one with most of his contract left, hence the (typical) inflation.   

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Dressing room punch up

« on: April 02, 2014, 05:31:46 PM »

Although I'm sorry for what happened to Saido Berahino, this has confirmed what I suspected, that contrary to what most fans and the local media argue, the players do care about keeping the club in the Premier League.

I'm not condoning what happened, but it seems right and reasonable that when a player makes an explicit mistake that costs a team points, he apologies to his team mates. Even if he feels like it just bad fortune or a small mistake. It just seems like etiquette in a dressing room and good practice; a way of relieving some tension and keeping the players united.

I'd put it down to a lack of humility, and perhaps more crucially, experience on Berahino's part.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Pepe Mel

« on: February 26, 2014, 09:50:28 AM »

I'm in the minority but if the players feel Mel's approach to training/tactics is too one dimensional/limited, than I respect them for making this known to senior figures. If they feel that the current situation makes relegation inevitable, then they would be wrong not to speak up.

I don't see them as moaners and whingers, I see the squad that is made up of players who do not want to get relegated and what to ensure the coach has a comprehensive/all-round approach to training, coaching and tactics.

I don't buy into these allegations that the players are brats. Maybe they don't have many GCSEs but their more intelligent than you give them credit for, most have played at the highest level for a number of years now and having worked with different managers (not just at Albion) they know what qualities and methods one needs to be successful and when one is falling short.

The idea of passive, subservient players would be an issue because they wouldn't give a damn about what division Albion would be playing in next year.

EDIT - I'd say it's purely conjecture to say that  'Mel is challenging  and pushing them', we have no idea what he's doing really. Training, discipline could have been tougher under Clarke, far from the comfort zone for all we know.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: If the kit couldn't get any worse...solid blue socks?

« on: February 23, 2014, 10:16:17 AM »

During the recent half term football camps, the kids were given Macron training shirts with the official badge on.

Does anybody know whelm our Adidas shirt deal is up? With Macron breaking into the market Ive the past few years in wouldn't surprise me if they re our next shirt producers.

I think you might have a scoop there. The Adidas deal can't have been any more than three years.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Diego Lugano joins Albion

« on: January 31, 2014, 12:57:32 PM »

A European team might take him on as back-up for 6 months today, but he's not going to waiver the remaining 12 months of his contract.

I'd imagine we'll end up negotiating a mutual termination in the summer. Only saving a fraction of his wages but a saving nonetheless as he'll be well down the pecking order when we sign new centre backs in the summer.

Horrific signing, considering his age, wages and length of contract.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: New Head Coach - PEPE MEL

« on: December 23, 2013, 01:23:59 PM »

This concerns me:

"But I feel for Steve Clarke really, though. He is a good bloke and a good coach and I think he was just a bit unlucky."

and

"Keith is a top bloke and everybody will always go that extra mile and put it in for Keith and Dean (Kiely) and the rest of the coaches like they did for Steve Clarke."

The head coaches are there to do a job and grind results. They are not there to be friends with the players. I don't agree at all with the pally pally friendly approach.

Yes but at the same time you don't want a manager like Di Canio who alienates players. I'd rather have a manager who makes players play with confidence rather than fear.

Likewise Mancini wasn't as authoritarian as PDC but was so distant that the City players were confused and left unmotivated.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: New Head Coach - PEPE MEL

« on: December 18, 2013, 12:50:58 PM »

A lot of shout outs for Jol but if you ask Fulham fans they say the team has steadily got worse over his two and half years in charge on the back of solid foundations laid by Hodgson and Hughes.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: New Head Coach - PEPE MEL

« on: December 15, 2013, 09:48:43 AM »

totally agree and I will be happy with this appointment. fantastic experience will keep us up

I think Fulham were in a steady decline during his tenure. Also you have to question somebodies credentials when they believe the way to reverse a slide is to appoint somebody else to do the training and coaching (Mulensteen)?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: New Head Coach - PEPE MEL

« on: December 14, 2013, 11:14:20 PM »

Theres such a dearth of obvious candidates are  that it has to be somebody left-field.

Ralf Rangnick, off the radar in the UK, has a fantastic CV and was a front runner for the job before Clarke.

But if we spurned the chance to appoint him or he turned us down, it doesn't bode well for a second approach does it? Particularly when the job seems less attractive that it was last (no pre-season and terrible run of form this time around)

I do wonder if this is curbishley's next job though. The law of averages says that after his decent record at Charlton and West Ham he'll get another job at some point. He'll jump at the chance of PL job too.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Nicolas Anelka

« on: November 04, 2013, 02:07:33 PM »

I'm starting to believe the reason the club stockpiled strikers is that they sense Anelka may retire early at some point over the course of the season.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Jeremy Peace Interview

« on: August 17, 2013, 07:21:49 PM »

I like the bit where he mentions bringing in older players who have maybe had their day. So why go and sign Anelka and Lugano?

A very fair point. Anelka might have something special left in the tank, but if lugano's legs have gone (or do in the next few months), a young british or european defender for a reasonable transfer fee (and less wages) would be equally competent and have some future re-sale value, as well as a longer term member of the squad.

In 12 months or 18 months we're going to be look at signing 2 or 3 new centre backs not just one and we'll lose any sense of continuity and transition among the defence .

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Nicolas Anelka

« on: July 04, 2013, 09:04:51 PM »

Big name player who is well pass his prime pretty similar to what Harry did at QPR Chumpionship here we come!

QPR's squad was full of those players, Anelka's experience and quality compliments the rest of our more modest squad.

If we were signing more 'QPR' style players we should be worried, but as it is Anelka is an exciting edition and a type of transfer we rarely see at Albion.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: What do you want our next kit to look like?

« on: June 25, 2013, 10:45:39 AM »

Its not completely unique. Middlesbrough have the same template for their away shirt.

Haha,

oh dear, at least 'boro get their sponsor printed properly.

I'd actually swap Addidas for one the lesser established brands such as errea, lotto or mitre if it meant we got something more imaginative and we had something to actually look forward to being revealed in the off season.

I doubt having addidas kits enhances are reputation in anyway considering that over half the football league has it kits made by them or nike these days.

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General Football & Sports / Re: Seals watch - Anything Villa

« on: May 09, 2013, 04:23:49 PM »

I've pointed out that whilst i respect and wish Petrov well i find the Villa fans rewriting of history with regards to his status at the club quite sickening.

?

He was one of their longest serving players, club captain and somebody who apparently was always good with the fans when he met them in person.

I don't understand in what way it was sickening.

A supposedly fit and healthy footballer who was very popular with fans gets struck down with life threatening cancer. I think their response has been entirely justified and respectful.

An in effect, football goes out of the window, it just seems morally right that his employers and the club supporters would rally around him.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Jeremy Peace's wage

« on: April 19, 2013, 01:31:36 PM »

Considering the two different jobs that they have both done, Peace should be getting a lot more than Moxey.

See my point in my orginal post. Moxey does far more work than Peace.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Jeremy Peace's wage

« on: April 19, 2013, 09:39:56 AM »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/18/premier-league-finances-club-by-club

For the 2011-2012 season, an unnamed director was paid £1,133,000.

The Guardian speculates that this is Peace. I'm also inclined to believe this considering in the past Peace has been publicly named in the accounts as our highest paid director.

I'll be honest I was quite taken a back by this. In past seasons it was revealed Peace took close to £300,000 home. Even then, I struggled with, what now seems as a relatively modest figure.

You could argue that Peace deserves this reward for guiding the club with a steady hand and seeing the club develop and progress since 2010.

However, I'd suggest that Peace is nothing more than a figurehead these days with so much of the decision making and responsibility devolved to others, most notably the sporting and technical director. But others too who we are not aware of such as Fuller and Garlick (who has only come to our attention since replacing Ashworth).

Their are comparable figures for a few clubs similar to us but these our paid to people underneath the owner/chairman according to the guardian.

Of course the man deserves credit for implementing the structure that means his role is reduced and the club's fortunes continue to improve. In fact, I take a weird sense of pride when I see our accounts looking so solid and responsible. But this figure sticks out like a sore thumb for me.

Although, I do find these large Premier League director payments obscene, I'm not against wealth at all. I think Chairman/owners employing chief executives/managing directors and paying them large amounts is legitimate. Directors gifting themselves arbitrary figures not so much.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Markus Rosenberg

« on: March 25, 2013, 06:52:16 PM »

I'd like to support some of the pro-Rosenberg posters in this thread by saying that regardless of past stats out of Lukaku, Odemwingie and Fortune he's the only one who has contract next year or is at least guranteed as it stands to stay here.

For that reason, put coldly, the club should really start 'investing' in their libability. More personally though, Clarke has praised his attitude and he's past record is decent. I like Fortune a lot but I'd like to see this lad get a chance.

On slightly related note, I hope Odemwingie never plays for us again either.

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General Football & Sports / Re: OFFICIAL CHAMPIONSHIP THREAD

« on: March 19, 2013, 01:34:15 PM »

I don't have any sympathy for him to be honest.

He left portsmouth, which is understanble, due to the instability  and insecurity of the job, but ke kept publicly giving the fans the impression he was loyal and would stay until the club was back on it's feet, but then jumped at the first opportunity.

At Blackpool he was at a club who were financially stable, modest budget by championship standards and Oyston is notoriously tight but also loyal and patient. Weeks after signing a contract and having the secruity of a guranteed wage every month that he craved, he jumped again this time for wage increasce.

He was arrogant enough, despite average results at pompey and blackpool, to think he could could some how defy the trend of decline at Blackburn while working for the most volatile and unpredictible owners and choatic management structure.

Blackburn fans seem to think it's the right move too. Says it all.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Peter Odemwingie

« on: March 18, 2013, 11:38:51 AM »

We need to follow Chelsea's stance with Adrian Mutu when they sacked him for gross misconduct (drugs). I remember reading about this when Barton and Tevez were misbehaving.

He is an employee and has a contract.  Sack him with immediate effect for gross misconduct (weve been left with no choice as he has ignored his previous warning). This takes his contract value down to zero.  Sue him for the loss suffered by his club for the consequences of having to sack him. What would have been his worth in the summer with a year left on his contract prior to his misconduct?  £3m?  Against that he would have been paid £2m, so the net loss to the club is £1m. He's on the hook for that personally. In effect it means that his signing-on fee at his next club comes to us to settle it.

Mutu ended up going bankrupt as Chelsea sued him for something like £16m I recall. 

We are safe in the league, unlikely to finish higher than 6th or lower than 9th.  We should not compromise our principles by doing anything other than what any employer should do.  Get rid of him now.

Different situations.

Mutu was banned from football for 9 months or whatever it was and there for unable to fufil his contract.

Pete's tweets might get him into trouble with the club but don't effect his eligliblity for matches.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Peter Odemwingie

« on: March 17, 2013, 06:27:46 PM »

I think you're looking too deeply to be honest. He has had issues at previous clubs and at international level. If there were mental health issues then surely they would have been picked up previously as he's not exactly a youngster.

I disagree, mental health is difficult subject in football. Just ask all the ex-pros who said they struggled with problems during their playing days but that their was a stigma around it, it was only when they retired and things got even worse that they realised they had symptons commonly identified more easily in other occupations/life styles.

And all the retired players who struggle from depression after retirement but are too embarssed to seek help.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Peter Odemwingie

« on: March 17, 2013, 06:21:41 PM »

Glad he's doing this again, didn't want to see him play for us after the January debacle.

This should seal his fate. Under 21's for you now.

Also saying that other players talking behind his back, the way he behaves I wonder why? And one player saying that PO doesn't warrant 40k a week, again, I wonder why?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: What kit is that ?

« on: March 16, 2013, 11:59:14 AM »

Could you post the picture?

Thanks