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Topics - Baggies

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1
Turns out today was the final game covering Albion for Birmingham Mail's Joe Chapman. Reading between the lines, it appears Reach who run Birmingham Live/Brum/BC mail are pulling the dedicated reporting of the club.

With the Athletic ditching us in the last 12 months, that leaves only the Express and Star and Radio WM now turning up at club press conferences and applying scrutiny, from 4 down to 2.

Not great news, regardless of what you thought of Joe's ability to get an exclusive.

Always heard he was one of the good guys, hope he still has a role at the organisation.

2
West Bromwich Albion FC / FA Cup Round 3 - Aldershot Town (H)
« on: December 02, 2023, 09:09:19 PM »
3rd round draw tomorrow at 1pm.  Any preferences?

I wasn’t particularly looking forward to it a few months ago but I have more optimism now that we might give a big boy a game if we draw them.

I’d like Spurs away, Man Utd at home or more left field, Port Vale away.

3
West Bromwich Albion FC / Worst bit of Albion merchandise ever?
« on: November 25, 2023, 08:33:04 PM »
I found an unofficial WBA calendar for 2024 today, made by thw usually brilliant World Soccer Magazine and Match.

Titled "West Brom Legends", it includes the most random group of "legends" i've ever seen:

Kevin Campbell
Jed Wallace
Matt Phillips
Gareth Barry
Darnell Furlong
Cedric Kipre
Darren Fletcher
Okay Yokuslu
John Swift
Neil Clement
Brandon Thomas-Asante
Semi Ajayi

Does this win the title of worst ever Albion merchandise, or can anyone top trumps it?


4
West Bromwich Albion FC / Summer transfer window 2023 review
« on: September 02, 2023, 07:47:48 AM »
Now the dust has settled, what's everyone's feelings?

I think for me it hammered home just how much trouble we are in, as we tried to flog everyone and anyone who had even limited value and how we struggled to compete with even mid table championship clubs. With the business in and out, it also probably leaves us short of a squad that can realistically challenge for the top 6, although there might be opportunities to get some loan deals in January if we are still in the mix. Three signings leaves us short, with a week to go, Corberan was still talking about 2 or 3 players, but that then became just the one, a squad player full back to challenge Furlong.

In terms of the actual business, Sarmiento looks decent enough, albeit very raw. I'm not sure how many starts he will get under Corberan as he seems to see him as a bit of a luxury at the moment but he might get us a few points vs tired legs. Maja on a free atleast gives us hope that he might find form in the next year or two and provide us with the chance to make some money in a transfer fee. It has been a very low key start however this first few games. Pipa looks low cost, low risk, known to the manager.

Long term, we have sold our one decent money asset in O'Shea. We have let the next in line on the potential train, TGH go on a loan to permanent for a limited fee. I am a bit surprised TGH wasn't given a chance in the new system playing in a position he played for many years as a youth player. We've also let Ashworth go on a similar deal. I look at what's left and this is an ageing squad with very few players left who look like they could go up in value to help us next summer if we need to raise funds. We're hoping Palmer/Griffiths go up in value at this point, with a fading hope Dike comes back and scores goals. Otherwise, next summer leaves us with nothing left to sell to cover the high interest loan. That's a legacy of poor decisions in recent summers coming home to roost, I kept saying over the last few years I wasn't seeing much evidence of squad evolution and "signings for the future". This is what we're now left with.

Finally, looking at the approach to the window, it's harder to judge given the financial situation. Our hands were tied financially. I do however notice those same trends from previous windows. Leaning heavily on Brighton to send us somebody on loan (that's 3 windows on the trot now), the signing of the known quantity championship player who has bounced around a few clubs and then finally relying on the manager bringing somebody in he knows. I wasn't expecting much with the current scouting team because we know what we're getting, no imagination, no scouting of foreign markets, no clever signings from the lower leagues or early pick ups from the released list of premier league academies, just more of the same. If Albion are to ever get back to the top flight, we will need an overhaul of personnel in our recruitment department. Ian Pearce, family and friends, have not shown anything for a number of years now to suggest they can operate on a budget and see us punching above our weight.

5
West Bromwich Albion FC / Fa Cup 3rd round draw 2022/23 season
« on: November 26, 2022, 04:42:50 PM »
It might have been lost in all of the World Cup coverage but the FA Cup 3rd round draw takes place on Monday, live on BBC 1 at the same time as the Porugal - Uruguay game.

I still love the 3rd round draw day, so will be tuning in. Who are people after this season?

I'd possibly quite like a home tie vs Wolves or Villa, providing we have a full squad to pick from. I'd also be intrigued to see a revitalised Corberan Albion vs one of the premier leagues top dogs who will surely be resting players this year. Man Utd my ideal choice.

6
General Football & Sports / Rugby League World Cup 2021 (2022)
« on: October 07, 2022, 07:07:02 AM »
As mentioned in another thread, the Rugby League World cup 2021 2022 starts next week, so I though I'd create a thread here.

All games will be on BBC and tonight you can watch England's warm up game vs the tricky, but unfancied Fiji online if you want to get into the spirit.

The world cup odds only make us 5th favourites which is a bit embarrassing for a home world cup but gives you an idea how the tournament is dominated by Aussies and 2nd generation Pacific islanders playing in Australia.

Betting odds:

Australia (F)
New Zealand
Samoa
Tonga
England
Fiji

England start the tournament proper vs the much fancied Samoa next weekend, who seem to have overtaken Tonga as the "ones to watch".

7
Really sad to see the shock news of one of our own Nigel Pearson's death.

Pearson was a BRMB regular to older fans but more recently has been a regular reporter on Sky Sports and Talksport. A big Albion fan, he was also the voice of Speedway and some Rugby League coverage. Really shocked and sad to see the news.

RIP Nigel.

8
West Bromwich Albion FC / Albion podcasts
« on: February 15, 2022, 09:18:06 PM »
I've meant to start this thread for a while, but the Foster-Brunt podcast has convinced me to do it.

I think there are 5  or 6 Albion podcasts currently available, including Joe Masi and John Drury's E&S podcast, the Liquidator with Adrian Goldberg and Chris Lepkowski, the new official club podcast with Andy Johnson and Luke Hatfield, the Albion analytics podcast and there are also one or two fan led podcasts that have weekly episodes that seem worth a listen.

In addition, you have podcasts that give us a passing reference, such as "not the top 20" and the second tier podcast, plus Sky's football league one. Then you have the Fozcast with Ben Foster.

It might be worth using this thread to highlight any interesting info as well as flagging interesting episodes.

9
West Bromwich Albion FC / Winter Transfer Window 2022
« on: February 01, 2022, 12:02:59 AM »
It's probably the strangest transfer deadline day I've ever known. Not since Dan Ashworth's time here have I seen Albion fans so quiet about incomings as today and even then fans still kept speculating about one final possible loan deal from nowhere.

As it is, we all knew a long time ago that the business was over. So how does everyone rate this strange window?


Firstly - the good. Getting the Dike signing in early deserves credit. The price also looks more than reasonable, both us and Orlando should be happy. Orlando get decent money for this stage of his career while we probably hit a price point that is worth the gamble and could easily double or triple. The speed at which we sorted it is also the speed I'd expect a well run club to do their main business.

When Dike suffered his injury, we acted quickly to sign a cheap replacement in Andy Carroll. I don't love the signing as he is injury prone and way too old, but he has done well at Reading and he ticks some of the boxes we need. It lacks imagination but I can forgive the club for that given the circumstances, both winter signings have been well executed.

Next - the bad. Ismael and even some fans swore blind our issues were all down to lacking a good centre forward. It is of course nonsense. While a striker was 50% of our problem, the other 50% is all down to our lack of a creative midfielder. That player might be needed in central midfield, or more likely as one of the front 3. Either way, we need somebody who can beat a player, thread a pass, manipulate the ball in tight areas and crucially play against a low block. The failure to sign somebody who can do this ends our automatic promotion hopes and puts the play offs in jeapordy. I think it's now unlikely we make the top 6 this season. I pin that on Ismael more than the club itself, he doesn't seem to understand attacking play. He knows spreadsheets.

I also feel the moves to get rid of Hugill and Snodgrass could come back to haunt us. Both make sense while Ismael is here and even if he is sacked there is an argument to still release them, but if Ismael goes before or after Sheff Utd, the new manager may well have found a way of using Hugill and Snodgrass.

Finally - the ugly. I moan about it all of the time, but I'm still not seeing much evidence of a strategy that will elevate us from the mid table Championship mediocrity we are about to find ourselves in. Both signings are once again painfully obvious names. I'm happy with Dike, I really am, but he has been signed because Ismael has identified him, not due to our scouting. Carroll was right in front of our nose. We haven't made a left field signing that wasn't identified by one of our head coaches for quite a few years now. The clubs permanent long term scouting department use Goals on Sunday to identify their targets.

It's also another window without a "one for the future" signing. Smart clubs sign players with one eye on next season, youngsters just breaking through at smaller Scottish clubs or at league 1 level, etc. We aren't a smart club.

And on that, while others disagree, I feel the loan market is an important developmental tool. We have 2 players who really needed loan moves today - Rayhaan Tulloch and Caleb Taylor. Instead we sent out Jamie Soule and Owen Windsor. I expect the latter 2 to be released this summer. Who needs a coherent long term strategy.

10
I've seen a few people comment that Andy Carroll was a player that they knew would always end up signing for us one day and I get what they mean, when I saw him in the shirt it felt like the sort of move that I could easily have imagined happening 5 years ago.

So for a bit of fun, which current player do you think is just destined to end up at B71?

I'm going to start with Adam Armstrong or Eddie Nketiah.

11
West Bromwich Albion FC / 2021-2022 season predictions
« on: August 04, 2021, 09:27:47 PM »
It’s probably not the best day to ask this question, but putting emotion to one side for the time being, what are your expectations and predictions for the coming season?

My own:

Albion will have a decent season, but will end up finishing between 3rd and 5th. I don’t think we will lose many - possibly in the top 2 for least games lost, but Sheff Utd and Fulham will get top two, while we struggle to score enough goals to win consistently.

I think our player of the season will be between Grady Diangana or Alex Mowatt. Provided Diangana stays fit, he will be a major headache for most sides and might end up with the most goal contributions (goals/assists combined) in the division.

As I’ve touched on, I think we will struggle for goals this season. We have a strong defence and defensive midfield, plus a good defensive style with Ismael. Going forward however we lack much creative spark behind the front 3 and we don’t have a natural centre forward at this point.

On that goals subject, I’m going out on a limb (of sorts) and saying Karlan Grant continues to struggle for goals. He will possibly keep his place through hard work, and will get some penalties here and there, but I think he will have a Charlie Austin style season and only really get to about 10 goals overall.

Finally, I think we will get a decent cup upset this season, or at least provide some entertainment. Our high octane style will come up against a decent prem side and we will feature in a game that ends up being lauded by the pundits. Bielsa v Ismael maybe?

12
General Football & Sports / Tokyo Olympics 2021
« on: July 21, 2021, 08:27:37 AM »
While the Olympics doesn’t officially start until Friday, the football tournament had now started.

If you are free, the BBC are now showing GBR v Chile in the Women’s football. Could be interesting.

13
West Bromwich Albion FC / League Cup 2021/2022
« on: June 24, 2021, 03:41:42 PM »
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1ZkJzeeDmERGv

For those who are interested, here is the link for the 1st round draw that is on now

14
West Bromwich Albion FC / Player of the season 2020/2021
« on: May 05, 2021, 12:31:28 PM »
I wasn’t sure if this sort of chat should be left until next week when we will likely be down, but it’s something more positive to talk about so why not.

For me it is down to 2 players - Pereira and Johnstone - with an honourable mention for Yokuslu.

Pereira has been our best outfielder this season. Even when he was off the boil he has still contributed goals and assists. Had we been better finishers, Pereira’s assists stats would be even healthier and he has been great to watch in full flow.

For me though, Sam Johnstone gets the nod. He has been far improved on the last 2 years and while I think he could easily flop next season at a new club, the character he has shown in coming back from a lot of criticism (some sent directly to him on social media), deserves credit, so he gets a Ronnie Wallwork style nod from me.


15
On the back of the circus these last few days, it got me thinking, if you were supreme leader of World Football, what changes would you make to the game?

A couple from me:

Players international qualification - I see no reason why a player who had played for England or France and who no longer gets picked, shouldn't be able to then go on to represent another county they may qualify for (like in Rugby League). Players like Fikayo Tomori for example faces an uncertain future with England, however he is locked in thanks to the 1 cap 2 years ago. Why shouldn't he be allowed to play for Canada or Nigeria if he can't get a game for us? Raheem Sterling is coming off the back of a poor season and despite being only 26, it's possible with players like Sancho, Foden, Greenwood, Rashford and Bellingham coming through that he might be sidelined by the time Qatar 2022 comes around. Why shouldn't he be allowed the option of finishing his career for Jamaica? Nationality is a complex thing in this day and age. When the "next Neymar" Jamal Musiala declared for Germany (over us, The USA and Nigeria), he spoke of how difficult it was to pick between the land of his birth and the land he sees as home (us). Why shouldn't he be allowed to switch half way through.

I'd make a rule to say that if you have not played for a nation for 2 years and you qualify via ancestry/birth, you are allowed to switch nationalities. I would however have control measures to say players from smaller nations cant go to bigger ones and maybe say you can only go from a top 20 ranked nation to one lower down the rankings.

VAR - Instead of reviewing every decision, make it like cricket. The only decisions that are reviewed are those that are flagged by either the manager or the captain. Each team gets 1 review and if they get it right, they keep it. It would stop the constant reviews and puts the onus on the teams to make their calls correctly. If you lose your review, you only have yourself to blame.

16
If you had said to me last Friday that I might see Albion in Europe this decade, I'd have laughed at you, but one of the consequences of last night's depressing announcement is that, depending on how everything falls, we may well have a more than decent chance of qualifying at the very least for the third tier competition at some point in the next few years.

So I ask, if we were to qualify, how likely would you be to go away with Albion to a European game? Would you, if push come to shove, fork out on the city break and the tickets?

Also, if we were to qualify, which sort of games would you be looking to go for? Would you want one of the Southern European cities with the great weather and laid back holiday vibe or would you instead be opting for the northern European cities with great bars and pubs?

I think I would have to go to watch Albion play if we did qualify, but I'm not sure which destination I'd be hoping for the most.

17
General Football & Sports / The big sports thread
« on: April 06, 2021, 06:50:43 AM »
I toyed with the idea of making a "general sports" thread a few weeks ago as a bit of a dumping ground for those smaller events that wouldn't get their own thread (like Lee Westwood's consecutive 2nd place finishes a few weeks ago or the Irish Grand National yesterday where the winner was a 150-1 shot).

So this thread will hopefully do that.

For those that are interested, Jimmy White yet again failed last night to beat Stephen Hendry in a world championship game in what was almost certainly his last chance. He lost in what was by all accounts a deathly boring qualifier on Eurosport.

18
General Football & Sports / The Masters 2021
« on: April 06, 2021, 06:44:33 AM »
The 2021 Masters takes place this weekend, not that many months after the delayed 2020 edition. One of the best sporting weekends of the year.

I usually have a few bets but won't do that with the bookies closed this year so what's everyone's predictions?

19
General Football & Sports / 20’s sporting predictions
« on: December 31, 2020, 12:15:16 AM »
Technically we entered the twenties last January, but it seems a few organisations are treating this year as the end of the last decade, so with that in mind, what are your predictions for sport this decade?

Mine:

England men’s football will reach a major tournament final

France rugby will win the Rugby World Cup

The Champions league will become a mid week European super league, with domestic qualification replaced by a hybrid system where the top sides guarantee themselves automatic entry

Team GB will have a disappointing Tokyo olympics and then slip back down the medal tables for the rest of the decade, no longer reaching the highs of the last 2 games

One of Villa or Wolves will win a National or European trophy

The USA will dominate the Ryder cup for the first decade since the 90’s

By the end of the decade, North American international football (soccer) nations  will be performing as well as the top South American sides, with the USA reaching a semi final.

20
West Bromwich Albion FC / Summer transfer window 2020 review
« on: October 17, 2020, 09:35:59 AM »
So with the window finally closed (albeit with us awaiting the Grosicki transfer decision), how does everyone rate our business this year?

It's definitely been a different window this year, with CoVID uncertainty and lots of clubs feeling out the changed market.

On our part, it seemed to come down to a "phase 1, phase 2" strategy. A lot of time (and money) was dedicated to rebuilding the team that hobbled over the line last season. Robinson didn't set the world alight during his loan move and yet we were really focussed on signing him back up. The deal we eventually struck was a decent one for a player who Sheff Utd bought for £7m last season, but the jury remains out whether he adds much to the team. Diangana returned, maybe unexpectedly. While i love him and love the signing in isolation, there are question marks over whether we should have spent such a large chunk of our transfer budget on him knowing we had gaps in so many other parts of the squad. Krovinovic eventually returned on loan, which considering Benfica's asking price is probably the right deal. He is another who didn't really do enough to justify a second season, but Bilic really wanted him which puts the club in a difficult position and with a second season here he might yet adapt well (Benfica fans rate him highly from his ore injury form there).

On to the new signings. We have failed to bring in a left back or a defensive/holding midfielder. Part of that will be down to Bilic wanting to prioritse other areas, but holding midfield continues to be a huge weak point thay nobody at the club seems to want to do anything with while we will probably have to field Townsend for large parts of the season at left back which really is a weak point.

We failed to land 3 key targets in Duffy, Grbic or Eze. I don't really blame the club on any of those but it is still a blow. Eze was replaced by Diangana which is the next best thing anyway. Grbic was eventually replaced by a 31 year old David Button, who you would imagine will be a place holder while we assess Palmer and Griffiths (i'd argue that's understandable). Duffy was probably the most disappointing of the lot. His replacement seems to have been bungled a bit really. Kipre was signed because he became available at a low price, rather than being somebody I think Dowling really believed was the answer. Bilic clearly didn't want him and was slightly unprofessional in saying as much to the media. To appease him, the club sanctioned Bilic bringing in a 36 year old Branislav Ivanovic, somebody Chelsea decided 2 or 3 years ago had become too slow for English football. Bilic is right, from what i've seen on twitter Zenit fans have loved "their captain", but it's going to be a huge ask for him to be at the required standard for us. It isn't often an old centre half does well in the premier league. We desperately needed a top centre back to partner Ajayi/Hegazi/OShea, but instead we have 2 real gambles.

Of the rest, Connor Gallagher has been a long term target. He had a great season last year and will I believe be a good signing, but unsure if he does enough to address our unbalanced midfield. Finally, we spent £14-£15m on Karlan Grant. Grant can score goals and was probably the best domestic option available to us, but when Habib Diallo goes for £9-£10m having scored double figures in the French top flight, you do see the flaws of Dowling's obsession with the near domestic market only policy.

Do these signings improve our first team? I think Grant does, although there will be potential balance issues signing 3 left sided attackers who like to occupy the same areas (Grant, Robinson and Diangana). I also believe Gallagher is an upgrade on Sawyers and Krov so he might help us on the counter attack and give us more bite. After that? I'm unconvinced we have improved an already flawed team enough to stay up in this difficult division.

At the risk of this post becoming an essay, I do think in addition to Dowling's lack of a foreign recruitment network, there is also a short termism that is evident in his approach. He has spoken before about not being scared to sell players as we can go out an replace them and I worry he takes every season one at a time, rather than thinking long term. Lots of clubs, reacting to increasingly inflated transfer fees, now try to sign players up young as investments. It has helped Watford this summer, while Brighton, Wolves, Villa, Leeds and even Burnley have all done the same this window. Once again, Dowling's Albion show no such intent. If we go down this season, i'm not too sure where the improvements are on last seasons team. Krov and Gallagher will be back at their parent clubs, Ivanovic will be 37, half our team will be in their 30's and the only obvious upgrade will be a notoriously twitchy Karlan Grant. Dowling said last season that we should only be focussing on players who can get us out of the championship and not thinking long term,  but that policy then meant we spent all summer trying to rebuild our loan army while we have been furiously trying to sell 3 players in Zohore, Austin and Grosicki who only arrived last season for around £12-£13m. At what point does Dowling start thinking in the long term?

One ray of light has been the approach to loaning out academy players. We have finally understood the importance of getting our brightest players out on loan to ready them for life with our first team. It has worked for Edwards and O'Shea so there can be optimism that next season, somebody like Palmer, Griffiths, Morton, Windsor, Tulloch, Soule, Azaz, Shotton or Clayton-Phillips might be like a new signing for us (fingers crossed Morton, Clayton-Phillips and Tulloch return from their injuries quickly, I did read yesterday that the latter's hamstring injury is worse than first thought which is another huge blow). My only disappointment with the loan policy is that arguably the crown jewel of our under 23 players - Rakeem Harper - didn't get the loan move he desperately needed.  He now sits as our 7th choice central midfielder and the only way he gets game time from this point forward is if we have a CoVID outbreak.  We should really have been brave and given him a full season at a Barnsley, Luton or Coventry. He is the most likely of any of our under 23's to have been a first teamer next season.

So, overall I can't really say I see this as a successful window. It was a tough one for the club but I don't think we have done enough in the short term to keep us up this year, or the long term in seeing us return to the championship with a better team than the one that came up. We don't make our lives easier and won't until we plan longer term and build atleast a basic foreign scouting network.

21
West Bromwich Albion FC / WBA agree analytics partnership with twenty3
« on: September 14, 2020, 05:57:10 PM »
https://www.twenty3.sport/twenty3-announce-analytics-toolbox-partnership-with-west-bromwich-albion/

The above doesn’t give much details and I would suggest this is more geared at match day analysis than signings, but it does have a passing mention to recruitment.

22
West Bromwich Albion FC / League cup 2020-21
« on: September 06, 2020, 02:54:12 PM »
A first ever competetive game vs Harrogate Town confirmed for the second round next week.

We then play the winners of Brentford/Southampton in the third round if we get through.

23
West Bromwich Albion FC / Playoffs
« on: July 17, 2020, 07:28:38 PM »
So, as it becomes clear what we have to do, what chances do we have in the play offs.

We have been atrocious for months now, but nine of our rivals have been great.

I expect to lose vs Cardiff, but equally Foreat have been rubbish for a while too.

Fulham are my tip. Can Bilic find a way to stop the inevitable?

24
West Bromwich Albion FC / Community shield
« on: July 08, 2020, 09:59:02 PM »
With the FA cup being delayed, the times are reporting this evening that talks are under way for the community shield to be Liverpool vs the winners of the Championship.

So.......who fancies a first community shield since 1968?

25
General Football & Sports / Football on TV during the pandemic
« on: May 08, 2020, 10:13:46 AM »
As things seem to be speeding up, I thought I’d create a thread on football available to watch on TV during the pandemic. Feel free to update with anything you find.

At 1050 today on the BBC Red button and the IPlayer, the BBC are showing the reopening of the South Korean football league Jeonbuk Motors vs Suwon Blue Wings.

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