Topic: Half-term report

[overseas baggie]

We are just 2 games short of midpoint of the season so a good time to take stock.

Overall we are much better organised. Far more solid at the back with a very good keeper.  McAuley has been superb, as has Olsen.

Prone to giving reckless penalties away and that needs to be addressed.

Midfield has been our strength most of the time, as expected, and we look so much more solid when Scharner is playing.  Brunt on the right and Thomas on the left seems to blunt creativity.

Long has been a revelation up front and if his partnership with
Odemwingie continues to improve then they will terrorise most defences.

The strength in depth has helped enormously and the likes of youngsters Thorne and Dawson are waiting for their chance.

Disappointments ?   Dorrans who sadly looks ready to move on, plus Thomas and Brunt for their inconsistency.

Need to permanently shed Bednar and Fortune, possibly buy another decent striker for the bench.  Good money for Dorrans may fund it. Worried about injury or suspension for Olsen or McAuley but hopefully Dawson would provide ideal cover.

Excellent away record with 4 wins but disappointing at home. Make the Hawthorns a fortress and another 8-10 points could have seen us pushing for 6th or 7th, especially if the reckless penalties are also cut out.

8 out of 10 for results, 6.5 out of 10 for style, 8 out of 10 for organisation.

Well on target for a one or two place improvement on last year's finishing position and perhaps a good FA Cup run.



 

 

[Vassassin]

9 out of 10 for your report, mate.

[wappingbaggie]

Prone to surrendering leads and that needs to be addressed.

I dont think we have sunk to a 6.5/10 for style - we arn't scoring the number of goals we once did, but we still try hard to stick to a passing game I would say.

[The Black Pearl]

Midfield has only become stronger in recent games as our passing game has returned to last seasons standards, probably down to olayers not performing to their best (second season syndrome).

I think your report is swayed by the last two games which have been a big improvement on most of what has gone before.

I agree about goalkeeper and defence. Reid is not the best of fullbacks but is commited and does his best. Jones may be a better option, with Reid covering for Scharner.

Forwards have misfired untill the last two games.

Seems to have come together at last, well done Roy, onwards and upwards!

[Doobuy]

We were excellent against Man Utd, Wigan and Spurs and got nothing.  A couple of games we have been bad and picked up points.  Consistency is key, and a settled squad with one or two departures only is the key to maintaining this.  I think we should be realistic about what we need to improve things but as it stands we are more than capable of being a top seven team (and no higher) and as such, being 10th at the moment is really the equivalant of being fourth (as we have no chance of being among ure, city, chelski, spurs, ars, liv). 

[WBASPE77]

Two great derby wins which always go down well.
Our three best players so far have been Foster, Mcauley, and Long.
Only real worry has been about Thomas, but I'm sure come later in the season he will be better.

[Webby]

Prone to surrendering leads and that needs to be addressed.

This mainly 11 points let slip from winning positions which is 2nd worst in the league! Last year it was the other way round winning more points from a losing position.... why can we never find a happy medium?! lol.

Only real thing I'd say is Thomas this year has been absolutely useless in every game! Brunt has pulled out a few world class balls for assists etc but Thomas just seems to give away Pens and Free Kicks which ultimately lead to goals.

[Greenock Baggie]

Could do better...........as my old English report used to read 

[LiamTheBaggie]

I'm happy that we've got half way into the season and are more or less well on the road to the survival target, this combined with a nice comfortable gap over those relegation places, it's just important we don't become complacent.

Individual performances have been very good from the usual suspects. Shane Long, Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley, Ben Foster and Steven Reid have all performed very well, it's what we've come to expect from them. I was positive about our siging of G Mac but I weren't sure how he'd cope. I'm delighted to say he's gone from strength, further enhancing the reputation of our scouting system which has so far found another talent.

I'd expected more from Jerome Thomas, Chris Brunt, Nicky Shorey and Peter Odemwingie, although of late Peter Odemwingie and Chris Brunt have certainly showed their class and worth to the side. The rest have been on that average to satisfactory side, including Mulumbu who also had a better game last night.

Soon as we hit that 40 points the better but I have no worries about relegation, I honestly feel we'll be safe.

[phbaggies]

I bet this report would have been a little different 2 games ago from most of our 'fans' on here!!

Personally no complaints from me so far this season, no danger of relegation (25-1 if some of you doom and gloom merchants still fancy us to go down!) and we will comfortably see the season out in mid table.

[Nocky]

If I'm being picky I would of liked 20 points, however, there's still one more fixture for us to get that elusive point, albeit a very daunting one. I'm happy that we've got half way into the season and are more or less half way off the survival target, this combined with a nice comfortable gap over those relegation places, it's just important we don't become complacent.

Individual performances have been very good from the usual suspects. Shane Long, Jonas Olsson, Gareth McAuley, Ben Foster and Steven Reid have all performed very well, it's what we've come to expect from them. I was positive about our siging of G Mac but I weren't sure how he'd cope. I'm delighted to say he's gone from strength, further enhancing the reputation of our scouting system which has so far found another talent.

I'd expected more from Jerome Thomas, Chris Brunt, Nicky Shorey and Peter Odemwingie, although of late Peter Odemwingie and Chris Brunt have certainly showed their class and worth to the side. The rest have been on that average to satisfactory side, including Mulumbu who also had a better game last night.

Soon as we hit that 40 points the better but I have no worries about relegation, I honestly feel we'll be safe.

We have 21 mate.

[LiamTheBaggie]

We have 21 mate.

So we do! Haha! Christmas drink is getting to me already! 

My maths is the strongest point on this board. Political Cake already caught me out a few weeks ago!

[Baggies]

I bet this report would have been a little different 2 games ago from most of our 'fans' on here!!

Any need?

People pay lots for tickets and merchandise, many fans paying well over £1000 in a season if they have kids or travel away from home. They are entitled to their opinions.

[Baggies]

I havent been enthralled by this season as I feel we have been unimaginative and certainly early on I was disappointed we surrendered our attractive style for a negative one with no change in results but it does seem to be coming together more as the get towards the half way point of the season.

The away form has been superb and the new signings have over all been a success. Shane Long's 6 million raised a few eyebrows including mine but he looks to be worth it and Macauley seems okay. It's a shame Gera got injured after a good start and I hope that wont hurt us as the season goes on.

Home form needs to improve as fans like myself who only get to a few away games a season have witnessed only 2 wins all season in the flesh and home games shuld be where the majority of your points come from. With only a few big boys left to play at home you hope in 2012 we will pick up 3 or 4 more home wins.

[zippyandbungle]

we all knew that we neede to tighten at the back , to do this we had to restrict the attacking untill we had more faith in the system , we now over the last few games have been more attacking .
Thomas has been mentioned a lot esp the penalties , well he is a winger and has had to come deeper and defend = penalty tackles , his form will come like petes has like morrisons has etc .
happy so far marathon not a sprint
beat villa
beat wolves
need to beat stoke
will beat man city
will finish top 8

[southampton_baggie]

Any need?

People pay lots for tickets and merchandise, many fans paying well over £1000 in a season if they have kids or travel away from home. They are entitled to their opinions.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. 2 games ago we were on 6 points less, a much more worrying position.

[Gamma]

I think we're playing some really stylish football personally! There aren't many other teams outside the top 6 scoring the type of goals we've scored lately

[daen23]

To be honest I think West Brom have been playing some good stuff. The lack of style I think was was more to do with the opening fixtures we had (and injuries to Odemwingie) - although we played well, the fact that we lost consecutively against Man U, Chelsea and Stoke wouldn't have been good for the confidence - you need confidence for the team to play good football. I think the style has always been there - it just takes confidence and time to develop.

[wbarenno]

Two great derby wins and tenth in the league, as a club we aint getting any better then that,7th is the highest we will ever finish anyway.

I hope for a great cup run!