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General Football & Sports / Top Of The PL - Its Official

« on: November 16, 2012, 01:16:18 PM »

Interesting little article.......................take out the impact of substitutions and START BELIEVING fellow Baggies we are in fact top of the league.....

Testament to the quality we have in our squad.......................and our ability to play the last 10 minutes of a match.........

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/20329650

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General Football & Sports / BoltonW FC Debt Hits £137 Million

« on: November 13, 2012, 11:14:21 AM »

Bolton Wanderers FC posted today a loss for last year of £22m to go with relegation from the PL!! Madness.......just who is running this club. If only 25% of the loan notes got called in they would probably be buried.............some clubs are in a truly shocking state..............wonder what JP makes of this?

3

General Football & Sports / Roy on the Tube on Rio

« on: October 04, 2012, 02:18:35 PM »

I get so fed up sometimes of the pathetic politically correct world we seem to wallow in. So Roy Hodgson catches the tube to Finsbury to watch Arsenal play in the Champions league. And whilst on his way cheerfully engages with other travellers/fans who ask him legitimate questions about the England football team. Someone says is Rio in the squad and he says no not this time. Now he is forced to issue an apology because the press immediately jump on it simply because he let it slip before the official announcement the day after and that it have hurt Rios ego. What happened to honest straight talking.........depressing really.

4

General Football & Sports / Why doesnt Steve Kean Walk?

« on: September 25, 2012, 05:51:46 PM »

You have to have a certain amount of admiration for the bloke. Despite having clueless owners, a football director that thinks he's a Bollywood star and a section of fans who just want him out come what may at no time has he seemingly lost his dignity. But its a bit like going down with the Titanic, you can stand on the bridge and admire the granduer of it all but if there is a bloody great hole below the water line its all a bit pointless. I dont really understand why he keeps going? Surely he would be better to walk now perhaps with a little subtle parting shot and pitch up somewhere else. I can only think its one thing he is after.......................Compensation Payment!!!!

5

General Football & Sports / Olympic Boxing

« on: August 08, 2012, 11:26:06 PM »

Enjoying the top class action from the Excel Arena and that applies to the women also...some cracking scraps. Just a shame that the same old failings continue to surface at these tournaments.

Shocking decisions from some judges panels. The French Middleweight who was denied victory was almost unbelievable and tonight the GB captain Stalker was robbed!

Nearly every other contest some ones shoe lace comes loose? or some other bit of equipment fails or needs adjusting. Clearly deliberate to buy time a lot of the time.

Over fussy referees who constantly interrupt the flow of bouts with unnecessary warnings.

Apart from that very entertaining stuff and a great atmosphere generated inside particularly some of the womens bouts. GB going to bring home 5 or 6 medals lets hope a couple of golds

6

General Football & Sports / Players You Have Or Would Have Paid To Watch?

« on: July 14, 2012, 07:54:41 AM »

Be interested to see which players (any team) over the years fellow fans have felt they would pay to see SOLELY on their ability and skills and particularly their entertainment value. Im thinking about those players you would still think are worth the price of admission even when the team you are watching might have been absolutely awful. Also it doesn't necessarily have to hang on their ability on the field it might be that they were just a very good player or even a totally rubbish player but rather there was something about that players character or entertainment value that made you want to return for more? Opinions please?


One that springs straight to mind for me takes me back to my youth. The incomparable Willie Johnstone. The baggies record signing at the time If my memory serves me correct. Willie was a fast living showman who lets say enjoyed the "vices" of life. On the pitch he was never going to be a Ryan Giggs but the anticipation always rose when he got given the ball. A bit like JT in that he often seemed more interested in turning the full back inside out than actually getting a cross in!

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Young Player Most Likely To Make An Impact 2012/13

« on: July 12, 2012, 01:13:06 PM »

Our prospect system has been developing for several seasons now and we must be getting close to a breakthrough surely?. Taking Man Utd as possibly the best example of a club that forces youth through in to its first team. Which of our prospects and why? if any, can we see really making the grade and doing a similar thing to the Beckhams and Scholes of the football world and become a first team regular.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Baggies Junior & Youth Football

« on: July 11, 2012, 07:37:01 AM »

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/video-of-astonishing-barcelona-usa-under-11-team-1134808

Watching this video was an inspiring experience. Its hard to believe that you are watching Under 11 boys play the beautiful game. Admittedly this is not the norm. These lads no doubt have been hand picked to produce a team like this. But its the principals of what they are doing that is important. Should junior footballers ever be allowed to train without a football at their feet?
It would be nice to see a lot more of the Baggies youth system. Should the club make more of an effort to lift the profile and make us all more aware of whats going on in this part of the club? Are they able to pass it anything like this?

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General Football & Sports / The Ultimate Fighting Championship Experience

« on: June 24, 2012, 07:40:00 AM »

Conversation with my eldest son he's 23 the other day turned to Boxing as it sometimes does. We were debating who pound for pound was the toughest pugilist on the planet (as you do). Anyway just as I was trying to broaden his understanding and enlighten him on the finer detail of the Marcus of Queensbury's he suddenly says "so what dad they'd all get mullered by the UFC fighters anyhow"
Not wanting to appear in any way 'not in the know'.......(actually Ive never ever watched UFC and a golden rule of parenting) I brushed his comment away with a "Oh really you haven't watched Floyd Mayweather recently then". In the blink of the eye he shoves into my hand the UFC season Review 2011.
So I get home sit down in front of the box and watch this DVD. Its apparently Mixed Martial Arts! 
This didn't strike me as sport because there seems to be a distinct lack of any rules. Rather an excuse for a return to a Roman like gladiatorial spectacle. I got the feeling that the paying public wouldn't have minded too much if someone had been finished off for good on the downturn of the Referees thumb.

Is pummelling your opponents head into the floor while he's already apparently unconscious anyway really a good idea. Of course human nature being what it is you find yourself sort of drawn to watch this sort of gratuitous bloody violence, a bit like rubber necking on the M1 when some poor sods had his car crushed by a Tesco lorry.

Is this really Sport or are we losing sight of what is and isn't acceptable entertainment anymore?.

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General Football & Sports / Black Caviar

« on: June 23, 2012, 03:54:39 PM »

A good horse even a great horse...................but sorry not in Frankels league.

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General Football & Sports / £3 Billion for Premier League TV Rights

« on: June 13, 2012, 07:54:48 PM »

A breathtaking some of money isn't it! The interest in English football knows no bounds. PL chairman up and down the country will be shifting uneasily in their seats at the thought of the dreaded Relegation if they weren't already! Lets hope in the 10 years to come they show more fiscal responsibility than some have shown in the past 10. An interesting new entrant in BT with their power in the communications and fibre optic networks. JP will have his calculator out already.

P45 and Taxi for Mr Stubbs please!!

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General Football & Sports / The True Sporting Greats!

« on: June 04, 2012, 07:52:13 AM »

Great to see the Tiger back!!. Two wins this year the professional golf tour has missed his charisma no question. Did anyone see him win the Memorial last night. The chip in from an impossible position at the back of the 16th incredible! Only a few competitors can produce such stunning things when it really matters. This made me think it would be interesting to see who people would class as a true SPORTING GREAT not someone who has been just at the top of their sport but ONLY THOSE that have transcended that through the sheer magnitude of their presence and performances. I'm adding one to Tiger who I think would have to make this very small club

Sir Steven Redgrave.......12/15 years at the top 3 Olympics 7 Golds feared by all his contemporaries! 

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General Football & Sports / Simon Jordan

« on: June 01, 2012, 07:47:41 AM »

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4349403/Simon-Jordan-on-Crystal-Palace-nightmare-Charlie-Wyetts-Friday-Interview.html


CRYSTAL PALACE went into administration at 3.02pm on January 26, 2010.

Having grown up as a boy metres from Selhurst Park, before watching his dad play for Crystal Palace, Simon Jordan lived the dream for 10 years as the club’s chairman.
 
And then everything turned into a nightmare.

A court order via email on that fateful Tuesday afternoon was confirmation the club was no longer in Jordan’s ownership and it was a hobby which had cost nearly £40m.
 
Since Jordan’s departure, English football has become considerably quieter.

With his long, bleached-blonde hair and perma-tan, the boardroom version of Robbie Savage was not to everyone’s liking, but you could never fault him for having strong opinions and most of the time, he spoke great sense.
 
Yet Jordan is still picking up the pieces from a disastrous nine months which saw his entire business empire crumble.
 
He sold his mobile company for £75million to become a multi-millionaire at 32 before losing pretty much everything.
 
This man was happy to confront managers, players, fans, other chairmen and those who ran the game.
 
But since leaving Palace, he has not attended a single game and has no immediate plans to return.
 
Marbella-based Jordan, now 44, in typically-blunt fashion, said: “If you lose a widget factory in Darlington, who the f**k cares? If you lose a football club everyone knows and other people get nervous, including banks.
 
“It has been an arduous process although I do not have many people hanging round me now trying to get their hands in my pockets.
 
“I am a very rich man without any money and I have spent the last two years dealing with banks and sorting out my other investments.
 
“Basically, I have had the s**t kicked out of me. I have not moaned about it although I have lost a vast amount of money.
 
“I made mistakes and it is silly and foolish to suggest I didn’t. I don’t think I failed at Crystal Palace.
 
“After 10 years of owning and funding a football club is a tall order, I was a very wealthy man but in comparison I was a waiter compared to Sheikh Mansour or Roman Abramovich.
 
“I have to be honest and say ‘this is where I came up short’. I went through a period of time thinking I failed but I didn’t. I made bad decisions and Christ, did I pay for it.
 
“When Palace went into administration, I had £23m or £24m at the club in loans. There were £2m of loans I did not include on books of Palace.
 
"There was another £1.5m in bits and bobs plus £11m I paid for the club. So all told, just under £40m in cash. Had I invested it, I could have ended up with £65m over 10 years.
 
“A lot of other things went on with my life. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
 
“The Spanish property market collapsed. The American real estate market collapsed and I was losing millions overnight. I had millions stuck in films and other deals.
 
“I did a deal with a big Spanish developer and he went into administration for £1.5bn and owed me several million.
 
"The Lehman Brothers failed. I had a portfolio worth £4m turn into one which was minus £2m.
 
“I have spent all my time talking to the banks and trying to keep pace. I have not enjoyed the last two years. There's no fond memories for me.

“It is not a badge of honour to be recounting to people how much money I have lost.
 
“The last time I went to Palace was Wolves away in the Cup. I have not been there since I left.
 
“Once it has gone, you suddenly find yourself not having anything to do on Saturdays.
 
"Once leaving, you are forgotten. I don’t dwell on Palace’s results. At 4.45pm I am not looking to see how they get on.
 
“I am not bitter. It is just not part of my life anymore. Everything I had at Palace has gone and I have nothing left to give.
 
"I don’t see any point to pay more interest in what is going on at Crystal Palace than I would compared to a theatre show I liked.
 
“The one thing I do miss is not having a voice in football.”

Jordan, perhaps understandably, remains annoyed that he was forced out of Palace which went into administration with debts of £30m, despite most of that sum being owed to him.
 
He clearly has little time for current chairman Steve Parish.

He added: “I wish Crystal Palace fans and the club itself every success. I cannot say it extends to other people involved.”
 
Jordan has spent some of his time over the last year writing his autobiography Be Careful What You Wish For. It is a good read and at times, highly amusing.
 
It may not be as vitriolic as some would expect but it is nevertheless a lively offering with former managers — with the exception of Neil Warnock — getting a good pasting.
 
There was also the moment when he made the rash decision to go into the dressing room early into his time as chairman after a defeat to Grimsby. One of the players, Andy Morison, responded by passing wind at Jordan.
 
In the Liverpool boardroom, Jordan was furious at being given a momento of Anfield from an official as Palace were a ‘small club’.
 
Before venting his anger about this patronising act, he handed over his coat to someone he thought was a cloakroom attendant. Only after looking around did he realise that he had handed over his jacket to singer Chris De Burgh.
 
Jordan also speaks about his battles with players and most notably, Neil Ruddock, who had a weight clause in his contract and was fined eight times for eating too much.
 
There is also great detail about the court case with Iain Dowie who was successfully sued for fraudulent misrepresentation after he asked to leave Palace to move north — only to join Charlton.
 
Jordan said: “We won the case. Dowie submitted his wife’s mobile phone records bills for us to pay the expensive bills. We found all the numbers he was ringing. Shows you how clever the rocket man was.
 
“The book was not going to be a bitter diatribe, though. Some people may have expected this mortar shell of a book which was telling the world what a bunch of c***s everyone was and how wonderful I was. I didn’t want to do that.
 
“I wanted to write it in a way which was honest and showed people what really goes on.
 
“I was not prepared to accept what football dishes out as standard stock and fare.
 
"I did not want people in the boardroom in flip-flops but I wanted them to enjoy themselves. All this tie and blazer b******s is from the fifties.
 
“Overall, I suppose I was the club chairman who was not prepared to conform.”


An interesting article and a salutary lesson about the perils of football club ownership. Although it can be a little frustrating perhaps at times I think we should be thankful that we do have a top notch accountant owning our club. A case of being careful what you wish for.

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General Football & Sports / Olympic Football Tournament

« on: May 30, 2012, 01:02:42 PM »

Bought some tickets for the Olympic tournament at the Ricoh way back. Two games for £30 I think which aint too bad for an evening out and the chance to say you went to the Olympics. Turns out its Honduras v Japan and Senegal v UAE...............stadium should be rocking! Anyone else doing the Olympic thing? Are the Olympics worth the taxpayers bill?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / We must return to the 4231 at home.

« on: February 05, 2012, 01:13:33 PM »

Not one to normally get involved in formation discussions but I cant help but think that we need to return to last seasons system of Scharner and Mulumbu sitting behind  3 attacking midfielders with either Long or Odemwingie up front. Add this to the discipline off the ball that Roy introduced. We performed so well in comparison to the flat 44 that we now employ. Can anyone come up with a reason why Roy should NOT return to this at least at home. We look a shadow of the creative team we were when we lined up like this so I cant see why we wouldnt revert.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Roy Please Tell Me Why............

« on: January 14, 2012, 11:59:59 PM »

Dorrans a brilliant wonderful talent is continually wasted in a DM position?

Simon Cox is a premier league player when he is always found wanting at this level

You keep moving Morrison wide midfield when he only ever shows his best in CM

We persist with two DM players in a 442 at home and end up so narrow and negative its no longer funny?

Shorey is the best we can do at left back because im struggling!

Why it appears we have no Plan B to replace Gera or sort the withdrawn striker role in YOUR system?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Billy Jones and Gareth Macauley

« on: December 26, 2011, 09:19:31 PM »

Free transfers from PNE and Ipswich Town! Dan Ashworth take a bow also you deserve it. Need I say more.

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Tweakin It!

« on: December 12, 2011, 01:15:32 PM »

Roys been working away at moulding us into a good solid Prem, one that can attack and defend. the basics it seems to me are in place. Much better shape to the side, no more mickey mouse defending at set pieces, pulling out of tackles in midfield, dodgy keeping etc etc. It all started to come together when zolton came into the side. his class and craft knitted it together then bang goes his cruciate and we take a step backwards, thats football. PO and Long look at the moment like theyve just met on platform 1 at euston so if i were Roy unless he sees it happen in training now is not the time to persist. So how could he tweak for the weekend? Tchyoi good player but struggles with stamina over the full 90 so a sub for me. Cox a hard worker but a penalty area finisher for me so behind Long and PO in the pecking order. Agree that you need to put your best players out there to find their form so as a big Dorrans fan a shoe in for me. PO move to the right side? Dorrans in behind Long and either Brunt or Thomas on the left? And maybe Scharner should come in for Mulumbu for a couple of games (give him captains armband possibly) to give us a bit of leadership that we perhaps need at a crucial time? Good to have so many options, im sure well be just fine

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Nicky Shorey or Billy Jones

« on: December 04, 2011, 10:56:38 AM »

I like both these players. Both good hard working honest pros. But if I am to be honest this season for me Nicky has not been quite at his best and I feel sometimes he may lack a little pace, speed of thought and stature for this level as it stands now. Again yesterday personally i felt he was a little slow to react to the loose ball that led to their opener allowing mackie to the ball. For me at the moment its Jones but i would like to see a quality left back added to the squad and certainly a player with a bit more physical presence.

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General Football & Sports / Deluded Rangers Again!

« on: September 28, 2011, 11:55:28 AM »

They do make me laugh they really do! trying to peddle "joining the english premier league would be good for US and them and then it makes sense for us to invest a 100 million in the club. Were working on it!  Surely the Rangers fans are getting tired of all this delusional bullsh...t. Is this after theyve fought of the reciever and settled the 50 million bill to HMRC?

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West Bromwich Albion FC / Should Tchoyi Be Starting?

« on: September 26, 2011, 09:24:37 AM »

Tchoyi started in arguably our two best performances this season Man Utd at home and Chelsea away. Was Roy justified in dropping him to the bench? He seems to get in to decent positions even if he sometimes lacks a little composure in front of goal. Can he consider himself a little unlucky not to be in and does his physical presence add something extra to the team? Is he better in the centre or on the wing?