1

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: February 08, 2021, 05:11:53 PM »

The boards 'Hail Mary' appointment of SA has comprehensively failed, having attempted to put the squarest block in the roundest hole by appointing a 'no possession' manager over a group of limited quality 'possession based' type of footballers.

I see no point in allowing SA to continue trying to impose his archaic brand of football on these players and us fans. The longer he is here, the more long term damage will occur & we will be left trying to rebuild our playing style, playing staff & our clubs reputation.

The SA experiment is an utter disaster. There is no way we stay up this season.
The sooner he walks or is sacked, the better.

2

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: February 07, 2021, 04:59:10 PM »

I watched Mike Bassett England Manager the other night.
Todays SA’s post match comments regarding formations were pure Bassett.
Lets hope no one on our board or our owner watch it, they would probably end up giving Ricky Tomlinson a call....

3

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: December 29, 2020, 11:55:10 PM »

Not serious money but based on this he’s expecting some tinkering in January

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/west-bromwich-albion/2020/12/24/sam-allardyce-january-trading-crucial-to-west-brom-survival-hopes/

I do not think you give Allardyce the job and then do not provide him with the tools to do it properly

With our current owners & board, I think that’s exactly what they will be planning to do.

4

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: December 29, 2020, 11:14:04 PM »

The best player we've had for 20 years has been on the subs bench last two games, if you want a p!ayer who can carry the ball into the oppositions half instead of aimless hoofing then it's baffling that Pereira isn't starting.

The best player we have & would easily get in the majority of other prem sides, (outside of the top 6 teams) Pereria is already worth way more than we paid for him, so in the absence of the owner pumping in some investment cash (I know how ridiculously unimaginable this is for us fans) or the club discovering a copse of magic money trees growing round the back of the training ground, I won’t be surprised if the club sell Pereria to raise funds for some pulis BS type of players.

5

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: December 29, 2020, 11:00:09 PM »

I agree with all of that. I'm trying to understand the mindset of those who still wanted Bilic to go after the Man City draw, who then were falling over each other to hail Allardyce as the messiah for the Liverpool result (when on another day we could have been 4-0 down at half-time in that game too) and, finally, who are now blaming the players, rather than the teflon-coated Allardyce, for tonight's worst performance for many years.

It was clear when the transfer window closed that the squad hadn't been strengthened enough to be able to compete in this league. It's not Bilic's fault that he wasn't given the tools with which to do the job. No-one objected to us signing Pereira and few complained about us signing Diangana. Both, at the time, were regarded as being excellent business despite it using up most of our paltry budget.

There was plenty to be dissatisfied about regarding Bilic's later tactics but, Man City apart, at least we made some attempt to have an attacking threat. So far, Allardyce has employed exactly the same approach as Pulis would have in every game so far. It should now be clear to him that this squad is even less capable of using his preferred tactic than it was for what Bilic tried.

Either Allardyce needs to change his approach or the Board needs to find a magic money tree to change more than half of the squad to try to mould it into Allardyce's Pulis-like vision that of putting out a side that tries to keep a clean sheet by defending its penalty area in numbers whilst hoping to nick one from a set piece at the other end. Allardyce has implied that he wants to sign players with plenty of Premier League experience. The only such players we're likely to be able to get are those who are the wrong side of 30. What will this leave us with for next season following what now looks like an inevitable relegation?

There's much criticism of the players' fitness this evening, but few are linking it to what would have been an unchanged side playing twice in 48 hours had Gibbs not suffered an almost predictable pre-match injury. Players' fitness can very easily be assessed outside matches, so it doesn't take a genius to realise that playing the same side again 48 hours later after the immense effort against Liverpool would be asking for trouble. Yet Allardyce did that, but people prefer to blame the players rather than him because it doesn't fit in with their currently baseless "Big Sam walks on water" mentality.

If this squad is good at anything at all, it's counter-attacking with pace, skill and purpose, which Leeds are employing to pretty good effect overall. If more than half the side can't be replaced, then it seems reasonable to give that appraoch another go and, perhaps, have your best player on the pitch in the middle, where he's most threatening, rather than leaving him on the bench and preferring the likes of Phillips to him.

Unless we want to keep being tonked every game, we're about to find out just how flexible Allardyce is with his tactical approach. The signs so far is that he's only going to play one way and it won't be pretty and will be even less effective than what Bilic was doing. Yet there are those who are keen to see him doing the same thing in the Championship next season, when we showed last season that you can get out of that league without having to employ increasingly discredited dinosaur football.

Ultimately however, only one thing will give our club any hope for the future, and that's for it to be sold, with all those currently involved at a high level on the non-playing side leaving (including Dowling). Hopefully they can be replaced by people who know about football, have vision and creativity, and can actually come up with a plan that befits this once proud club of ours that has, once again as it was when Pulis and Pardew were here, become a laughing stock.

Absolutely spot on.
An excellent, sane, well thought out & entirely rational summary of our current messiah manager & club.

6

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Allardyce

« on: December 16, 2020, 09:22:41 PM »

I despise Allardyce & his prehistoric brand of ‘football’

I hate this club at the moment.

7

General Football & Sports / Re: Slaven Bilic Sacked

« on: December 16, 2020, 04:03:46 PM »

I am ashamed & embarrassed with my club for Bilic sacking & the dreadful incoming appointment of Allardyce.
This decision is based entirely around the current owner trying to sell the club & is desperate to retain PL status to enable as high as price as possible for any sale.
We have a championship quality squad & are certainly heading back there.
The only thing likely to change with the appointment of Allardyce, is the death of the small glimpses of football we were occasionally playing as the Allardyce dinosaur will have us lump it as he has always done.
It's just another awful decision by an awful owner of a badly run football club.

8

General Football & Sports / Re: Slaven Bilic

« on: November 02, 2020, 10:15:42 PM »

It looks like only a matter of time before Bilic gets the sack & we start again.
However, without significant change in the way we operate, it just seems like a waste of time as we will no doubt be here again in a few months.

9

General Football & Sports / Re: Slaven Bilic

« on: November 02, 2020, 09:43:49 PM »

WBA operational cycle.

Club appoint new seemingly decent/promising manager,

Literally everyone can see WBA squad clearly not good enough,

Fans desperate for signing of decent striker/winger/midfielder/defender/goalkeeper in run up to & throughout transfer window,

Seemingly decent/promising manager calls for quality signings in transfer window,

Club confirms budget is “competitive” (meaning small)

Club linked to various players, some quality, some has beens, some never heard of,

Transfer dealings seemingly left until late in the window & regularly outbid for players by Crystal Palace/Burnley/West Ham,

Owner not willing or interested in investing in players good enough to allow us to compete with bottom half of this league as the club must be “run self sufficiently”,

Desperate fans left disappointed at quantity/quality of signings,

Seemingly decent/promising manager left disappointed at quantity/quality of signings,

Results get worse over time,

Performances get worse over time,

Seemingly decent/promising manager now failing & looking totally deflated,

Club sells player(s) from under seemingly decent/promising manager to balance the books,

Fans call for more spending in the next transfer window/sack the board/new owner who will invest/new manager,

Board eventually sack seemingly decent/promising manager citing “disappointment at results” but have no replacement lined up & state “the search for a new manager starts now”,

Caretaker manager appointed while club takes many weeks to appoint a new permanent seemingly decent/promising manager,

Results & performances continue to steadily decline with relegation looming larger every game,

Fans left lamenting “if only we had a decent manager/decent squad/decent board/decent owner willing to invest, we could have stayed up”

Club appoint new seemingly decent/promising manager,

Rinse and repeat operational cycle......

10

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: November 02, 2020, 08:12:33 PM »

Match Reports
FULHAM 1 ALBION 0

Even the official website can’t be bothered tonight. This is how they are reporting the game. I think they left before the end!

Of the first half!!

11

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: November 02, 2020, 08:09:17 PM »

Easily the worst defence in the whole league.
16 goals conceded in seven league games, a minus ten goal difference, with Spurs & City next up.
Anyone want to speculate what our goal difference will be after the next two games?

12

General Football & Sports / Re: Slaven Bilic

« on: October 05, 2020, 09:47:55 AM »

I am questioning a number of his decisions lately, but blimey, I certainly would not want the bloke gone.

Realistically, what hope has he got this season? He polished a serious turd of a squad last season, got us promoted with a spine of Johnstone, Bartley, Livermore and HRK, for which he probably deserves a medal and his budget this season to strengthen the entire squad is less than what 18 of the 20 teams are spending on a single player. As I say, what hope does he really have?

Agree 100%
If Bilic was able to keep us up with this squad, he would be a miracle worker, but I think that realistically, the chances of that happening are slim to none.
As fans, we are as usual hoping/expecting a silk purse, but we only have a sows ear budget. Like it or not, the prem is all about the money. Those that spend it survive & may go on to compete with the best teams, those that don't, will be relegated.
I have zero expectations in terms of survival this season & am trying to get what enjoyment I can out of them.
We are light years away from being able to compete with most of the teams in this league & until our 'wonderful owners' plow large amounts of cash into the club or sell us to someone that will, our situation simply will not improve.
Bilic got us promoted last year & in my opinion, literally saved the club from going out of business. Can anyone imagine being in the championship this season with little (or none?) parachute money, championship sponsorship budget & no income from fans due to covid? We would not have been able to keep the squad we had. Anyone thinking, well it would be good to have a clear out & start again, should take a minute & ask where would the money come from to pay for more players to replace those sold? Any money generated would most likely be used to keep the club solvent.

As for this season, Bilic certainly has to shoulder a good deal of the blame for the poor performances, it's his job after all, but to those talking about giving him until end of October or Xmas or whatever, I ask the following.
Who could seriously do better with our owners, who simply will not spend any money unless it's self financed by the club, a championship squad of players & our budget, which whilst not actually known, is clearly a fraction of just about every other club in this league?

13

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Sam Johnstone

« on: September 29, 2020, 02:41:49 PM »

We have all seen enough of SJ to know that he seems to be a decent reaction keeper, but is beaten from distance more often than a decent keeper should & that he does not command his 6 yard box at all & makes a championship quality defence even more nervous at every set piece.
I know as fans our natural position is to defend one of our own, but if we take our Baggies coloured glasses off for a minute, we can surely see that he has serious faults in his game.
People debating if he was beaten by a world class shot from distance or not (it was a good shot, but wasn't world class) are, in my option missing the point, that if he was with any other side, we would be calling him out as a 'dodgy keeper' to be targeted from distance & set pieces, because we can all see he has those weaknesses.
I truly have nothing personal against SJ at all, he seems a decedent bloke & gives to charitable causes. I just wish he was our 2nd choice keeper & I don't see how he is going to suddenly improve his faults to the level where he is commanding his defence & looking like a quality keeper.

14

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: September 26, 2020, 10:51:01 PM »

It’s a collective picture and not built on one game - 11 goals in 3 games is testament to that - no matter how hard they worked today. They do not defend well and cannot cope with any sustained pressure, as today clearly pointed out. The same issues were apparent last season too.

I’ve made my thoughts clear on the keeper - he’s abysmal and not good enough, but it should have been prevented further up the pitch - or at least attempted too.

100% correct.
I have made my views on Johnstone very clear. He is no where near good enough. There were many examples last season of him standing flat footed & watching the ball fly past him from long range shots. 11 goals in 3 games, even against top 8 opposition is just nowhere near to being good enough. Defensively, we are horrific, were we defensively awful last year against championship opposition, this season against prem quality teams, we are getting the pastings that anyone with a few brain cells knew would come without an upgrade on the spine of the team. Better keeper, better central defender, better defensive midfielder & better striker are all needed to allow us to somehow compete in this league. None of these would come cheap & as we all know, our owner has very deep pockets, but short arms.
We will just have to strap in & enjoy the ride for as long as it lasts.
A point against Chelsea is most certainly unexpected & a real bonus, but anyone glossing over blowing a 3 nil halftime lead, at home, is over doing the lipstick on the pig.

15

General Football & Sports / Re: OFFICIAL EUROPEAN FOOTBALL THREAD

« on: August 28, 2020, 01:09:31 PM »

After their Louie Barry shenanigans, I hope they lose Messi on a free. Horrible club.

We should tell Barca we will take Messi off their hands as a make-weight in the Louie Barry transfer 

16

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: West Brom forward Matheus Pereira has been nominated for the PFA Fans' Champions

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:47:33 PM »

OK, then just vote once then....

17

West Bromwich Albion FC / West Brom forward Matheus Pereira has been nominated for the PFA Fans' Champions

« on: August 17, 2020, 09:20:17 PM »

You can vote more than once so long as you keep opening a new incognito/ private window / tab each time. Probably worth clearing cookies first too.
I have just voted 20 times & will keep voting as often as I have time.
Get voting everyone.

https://www.expressandstar.com/sport/football/west-bromwich-albion/2020/08/17/west-brom-star-matheus-pereira-nominated-for-pfa-player-of-the-year-award/

18

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Yo Yo Tag

« on: July 29, 2020, 12:40:31 PM »

In the Prem, we get good money. In the Championship we get good fpootball (and are usually somewhere near the top). Each have positives.

Great comment.

19

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Yo Yo Tag

« on: July 28, 2020, 01:30:35 PM »

I have never minded the yo yo comment.
Being promoted delivers a huge cash injection to the club & thanks to parachute payments in the event of relegation, we generally have a huge advantage over the majority of other clubs if we get relegated, so long as we back up again!
Being WBA, we tend to mind the money pretty well usually, although the last couple of prem seasons seemed a bit giddy, but so long as we are reasonably careful, we have seemed to be able to financially deal with relegation reasonably well in the past.
Short of an owner putting mind blowing money into the team to get us to a level where we can even think about competing for trophies, (although not allowed with FFP it seems anymore) I will happily accept us playing for something at the end of a season, whether it's to avoid relegation or to gain promotion, than for our season to be over by mid Jan every year & just making up the numbers.

20

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Jake Livermore

« on: July 22, 2020, 11:31:57 PM »

His post match interview gave an insight into the pressure that he and the other players and management have been playing under.
Under the circumstances, I think getting over the line is even more fantastic.
Lets enjoy it.

21

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: After Match Debate

« on: July 22, 2020, 10:33:55 PM »

Fantastic achievement to get promoted, whilst also completely changing our style of play and having the financial sword of Damocles hanging over the club, with the unthinkable consequences if we had failed.
For those calling out the players and staff as bottle jobs, have a listen to the post match interview of Jake Livermore to understand the pressure they have been under and the consequences of failure.
Promotion is a massive, massive, achievement for the club.
Well done to everyone at the club.

22

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: July 22, 2020, 09:01:58 PM »

Lets hope the drinks break disrupts QPR who were having a good spell.
COYB!

23

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: July 22, 2020, 08:38:13 PM »

Also a shout out for Livermore who has been good so far.

24

Albion Matchday Forum / Re: In Game Chat

« on: July 22, 2020, 08:30:04 PM »

Phew! To be honest, I don’t think we have been too bad, we have looked more positive & mobile & created plenty of good chances. As usual we look shot shy but we have created some good chances.
You can see some of the players are struggling. Have been amazed at how many times Ajay has given the ball away & he looks the likely candidate for a defensive ricket at the moment, but for the most part we have push forward & created.
QPR look bobbins at the back & with a bit more belief, we can do these no problem.
COYB!

25

West Bromwich Albion FC / Re: Promotion?

« on: July 18, 2020, 02:33:29 PM »

Unbe-f#cking-lievable