Birmingham Mail - West Bromwich Albion blog

Get well soon Horse.

2008-10-10T08:56:50Z

A few years ago Albion stayed up on the final day of the season. You may remember it.

Radios were attached to ears, Palace drew, Southampton lost, Norwich were hammered, Albion beat Portsmouth and Bryan Robson spent the following day needing to find a dry cleaners for his suit.

One of my own most vivid memories of the day was receiving a text message from my colleague Colin during the second half. He informed me that Blues fans were singing 'Feed the Horse...' during Birmingham's game against Arsenal.

Funnily enough the play list was similar at The Hawthorns.

It was only right that one of football's 'Boy's Own' heroes should score one of the two goals - with his first touch of the ball - in a game where the Premier League script book was simply ripped up.

Predictably, the Horse had a story to tell after the game.

While most players prepared for one of Albion's biggest games of all time by putting their feet up, he turned to a spot of DIY.

Which was bad news for a brick wall at his house.

He said at the time: "I knocked a wall out on Saturday for five hours - anything to keep my mind off it.

"I've got a house that I'm doing up so I just wanted to keep occupied.

"I just needed to get my head around something. I used to do it as a job so I'm used to it."

A bricklayer and builder by trade, Horse has spent all of his football career working as hard as he would if he was still on the site.

He regards football as a privilege. Considering he was a Premier League performer and hero to thousands, he has always remained refreshingly down-to-earth. He remains 'one of the lads' to team-mates, Albion staff members, the press and generally anyone he meets. The Horse also got promoted with four different clubs (including Blues and Albion) - an incredible achievement in itself.

Geoff has just been diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Let's hope he deals with it in the same manner he disposed of that wall.

Get well soon Horse.

Power to the bird? Or not

2008-10-08T15:59:32Z

So what do you call them:

1. (The) Albion

2. The Baggies

3. The Throstles.

4. All three perhaps?

Bjørge Lillelien can you hear me?

2008-10-06T22:03:57Z

It's September 1981.

Princess Diana has been practicing her new signature for a couple of months, the Mini Metro is selling rather well and Visage are re-writing the laws of facial cosmetics against the backdrop of synthesizer pop. Steve Strange? Yes, he probably was.

Bryan Robson, meanwhile, is about to play his final few games for Albion. With a bushy perm and still finding England caps hard to come by, Robson is clearly not long for the Black Country.

But, before he travels up the M6, he has one final bit of an eight-year Throstles' chapter to finish off.

It's September 7, 1981. Ulleval, Oslo. Ring any bells?

No.

Let me remind you.

"Vi er best i verden! Vi er best i verden! Vi har slått England 2-1 i fotball!! Det er aldeles utrolig! Vi har slått England! England, kjempers fødeland. Lord Nelson, Lord Beaverbrook, Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Anthony Eden, Clement Attlee, Henry Cooper, Lady Diana--vi har slått dem alle sammen. Vi har slått dem alle sammen. Maggie Thatcher can you hear me?

"Maggie Thatcher, Your boys took a hell of a beating! Your boys took a hell of a beating!"

The words of Bjørge Lillelien, the famous commentator who was to start an annoying trend for post-final whistle sign-offs. England lost 2-1 to Norway.

The relevance is this - it was to be the last competitive England international to feature an Albion player. Sure, Derek Statham, Cyrille Regis and Steve Hunt followed, but they played during tours of Australasia, the Home Championships or in friendlies.

Robson's game was the last time an Albion player performed (and scored, as it happens) in an England game which mattered.

That could be about to change. With England playing Kazakhstan and Belarus in World Cup qualifiers, what price Scott Carson being given a go?

While you ponder that, here's the offending clip - just for old times sake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqZTP8-8wIs

In the meantime, Let's fire up the Quattro!

Thoughts from above...Fulham

2008-10-05T07:34:09Z

Observations from Saturday's game.

* Interesting to see ex-FA chief executive Brian Barwick and Premier League CEO Richard Scudamore at The Hawthorns. The latter almost caused a diplomatic incident by parking himself in chairman Jeremy Peace's seat before the game only for peace (pun intended) to be restored fairly quickly with a swift round of Musical Chairs. As for Barwick, he still has the look of a man who might have played a Labour MP, alongside Tory Alan B'Stard, in the legendary 1980s' ITV show The New Statesman. All he needs is a bit more tweed in the suit and some elbow patches.

* Roman Bednar still sounds like a Bond villain. And who's going to argue with a man who admits that he enjoys nothing less than a bit of pre-match banter on away trips. Describing one such incident, he said: "We took the swipe cards from the hotel reception, burst into the rooms and splashed water over each other. Robbo and Jono jumped so far into the air." Footballers eh?

* Never underestimate the power of the press. A colleague was asked to hand over his stop watch after fourth official Peter Walton found himself without a working watch. Given that the fellow scribe is part of the West Midlands' contingent, it could also explain why only two minutes were added onto the end of the second-half, despite five subs being brought on - 30 seconds are supposed to be added for each change. All good and well, although the journalist was rather miffed to find that the official was washed, dressed and heading back to his Northamptonshire home having completely forgotten to hand back the stop watch.

* Full marks to Fulham No1 Mark Schwarzer for checking on the health of an Albion fan who got struck by the ball as the two teams carried out their warm-ups. And before you ask, no, it wasn't Pascal Zuberbuhler's mis-kick. It was a Fulham coach, who was putting their two keepers through their paces, who sliced the ball into an unsuspecting fan in the Smethwick End.

* Paul Robinson may be Albion's hard man but he's clearly mellowing. How else could you explain the full-blown kiss on the lips he gave to former team-mate Zoltan Gera as the two teams exchanged their pre-match handshake procession.

Consumed by TV hell

2008-10-02T07:58:30Z

It's a pain in the neck for all fans.

You've picked out an away game that you quite fancy, taken a day off work, made travel arrangements, bought your match ticket, perhaps even booked a hotel...only for a TV company to blow all of your plans out of place by rearranging the game often at short notice.

It's inconvenient, worse still it costs you money.

Which is what happened to Albion fan Barry Brisland, who contacted me earlier this week - no doubt one of many supporters in the same boat.

The trainee solicitor had booked time off work and arranged to go, with three friends, to Albion's game at Newcastle, originally scheduled for Wednesday October 29. He booked time off at work, the hotel was sorted out and train tickets were arranged swiftly to take advantage of discount fares.

And then Sky decided to bring the kick-off forward.

As a result the train fares of £26.50 per person have been lost. Because the game was rearranged so late there are no cheap rail tickets available - the least expensive option is £38.50p/p. As they were originally stopping overnight they also have to hope the hotel will reimburse them with a £145.00 refund - or at least allow them to rearrange the dates.

It has left Barry at least £26.50 out of pocket, before he even worries about buying further tickets and whether the hotel play ball.

All of this at a time when football fans are feeling the effects of a credit crunch.

Barry isn't happy.

"It's okay saying that these games are subject to change but they need to be sensible - people are losing money in what are difficult enough times as it is. No consideration whatsoever has been given to fans."

In fact, Barry is so disgusted that he is looking into the feasibility of pursuing a legal action.

He would like to hear from any fans who have been affected by this fixture change.

Supporters can email me on chris.lepkowski@birminghammail.net. I will then pass details onto Barry.

A postcard from... 2 venues

2008-09-27T22:36:53Z

POSTCARD 1. The Riverside

- Miller. Okay so he missed three chances, two of which he should have passed. But, importantly, he's still willing to take on the challenge of scoring goals. Would you rather have a striker who tries? Or one who simply cannot be bothered with football and prefers to live a footballers' life, without actually earning his money?

- The defence. Not often I'll say this but to a man all five (inc Carson) were excellent. Donk was a little fidgety at first, affording Alves too much room, but he improved. Zuiverloon, Olsson and Robinson were outstanding. And if there's a better English keeper than Carson right now then let's see him.

- Kim. He turned to receive a ball inside the opening 30 seconds. He went down. It didn't look good.

- Top half of the table? 10 points from the opening seven games would be an outstanding return. And, don't forget, Andy Johnson is suspended following today's sending off. You can't appeal two yellow cards...even if he wanted to.

POSTCARD 2. Match Of The Day

- Yes Kim did go off injured after one minute. He suffered a bad knee injury. Where was it?

- His replacement Sherjill MacDonald was subbed at half-time.

- Miller missed three one-on-ones, as opposed to the two (MOTD missed the best of the three when Bednar was unmarked).

- The double save from Carson in the second-half. It wouldn't have counted. The flag was up. MOTD, for some reason, missed this.

- Villa v Sunderland, United v Bolton, Stoke v Chelsea? Really, were there any surprises?

- Good to see Stevie Wonder taking time out from his tour to help out in the editing suite of Match of the Day. Perhaps he was on a work experience placement. Word to the wise to those at football's flagship TV show, fans don't want to see Alan Hansen and Alan Shearer looking at each other wondering what to say. Actions, not words. No words, but action. Get it?

Roll on the day that ITV finally get the contract...

See you soon

2008-09-25T07:10:48Z

Off for a few days. Will be back after the Boro game...

In the meantime, who was the last man to score a winner for Albion in Middlesbrough?

Postcard from...a West Midlands derby

2008-09-21T22:14:01Z

Some observations.

1. Leon will get over it. The TV evidence wasn't kind, nor were Tony Mowbray's comments. Nor, for that matter, are my individual player ratings in Monday's Birmingham Mail. However, Barnett doesn't become a bad player overnight. Leon won't have been involved in the final set-piece drills or the pre-match training sessions. Although he's a professional, there's still a chance he wasn't 100 per cent switched on - it would be human nature if that was the case. So, despite the basic lapses, he must be cut some slack. Although you get the feeling he'll be glad that he doesn't face John Carew every week...

2. If you're going to organise a race between mascots at The Hawthorns then don't allow Wolfie from Wolves to win. More so if the bloke inside the costume happens to be a 'ringer' who supports Albion!

3. James Morrison has a point - Jonathan Greening DOES look like Screech from 'Saved by the Bell'.

4. 'Mozza' is also Albion's most improved player of the season so far. He was excellent last year but, during the early parts of this campaign, has looked more accomplished. His overall game has improved, he looks hungry and looks completely at ease at this level, more so than he did in the Championship.

5. Martin O'Neill might have won today's derby but he didn't beat Albion's groundstaff. The Villa boss was stood pitchside, speaking to my colleague and the Birmingham Mail's Villa reporter Bill Howell when the sprinklers came on. Whether he would have taken it in good spirits had Villa lost is unlikely.

6. Anyone get the feeling that Curtis Davies isn't necessarily the best of mates with certain Albion players? His pre-match comments about certain individuals not being honest enough to admit they wanted a move from The Hawthorns in summer 2007 were certainly a little barbed. As were some of the early challenges in yesterday's derby...

Villa or Wolves?

2008-09-15T17:18:59Z

Based on tradition and proximity then surely it's Villa.

Or do you go for Albion vs Wolves - a rivalry stoked up more over the last 20 years, than beyond.

Villa or Wolves, you decide.

Mowbray and Peace

2008-09-12T07:32:37Z

You may have read a tabloid story this morning about Tony Mobray (sic) being 'at war' with Jeremy Peace.

It's a great story. Or, at least, it would be if there was an iota of truth about it.

It couldn't be further from the mark if it had 'James Quinn shot' stamped all over it.

And this newspaper's timing couldn't be worse either. Coincidentally, Tony Mowbray spent a large part of yesterday's pre-match press conference talking about how well he worked with Jeremy Peace and how healthy the relationship was between the two men. This wasn't in response to any questions about his relationship with the Albion chairman I should add - more to do with questions relating to the 'continental' management structure at West Ham and the issues which arose there and at Newcastle recently. You can read about this in today's Birmingham Mail.

This particular national newspaper would have heard Mowbray for themselves - had they actually bothered to attend the press conference that is.

It's not the first time my profession has been let down by this particular newspaper.

Back in the summer, the Birmingham Mail reported extensively on Kevin Phillips' situation.

On one occasion we said that Tony Mowbray had no problems with Phillips and quoted the Albion manager where he said that Bosman players were often 'hawked around' by their agents so they could get the best deal available. Mowbray made it clear he had no gripe with Phillips.

When the story appeared in this particular national newspaper two days later it was claimed that "Tony Mowbray has slammed Kevin Phillips for 'hawking' himself to rival clubs" - something Mowbray never did.

Again, it was sexier story than the one we carried. Only it wasn't true.

So you make your own mind up whether today's revelations about a Peace-Mowbray bust-up are true or not.

But I leave you with this thought. When problems arose between the Albion chairman and former managers it was quickly apparent, mainly through the footballing grapevine and through sources both close, or in and around the club.

Like all employee-employer relationships I'm sure there is occasional friction. It wouldn't be natural if there wasn't. But if the two men are 'at war' then they are doing a good job of disguising it.

It makes you wonder what the original source of this story was. Someone within football trying to cause trouble for the club perhaps?

As I said, you make your own mind up...

All the President's men

2008-09-11T20:58:08Z

Daydream, just for a moment, if you will.

You're the manager of a football club, your team are doing reasonably well and then you find out some of your key players have been sold behind your back.

Worse still you arrive at training to find that a player you never wanted has pitched up and is ready to train.

Welcome to West Ham United and Newcastle United.

It's how they do things on the continent. Presidential elections at major Spanish clubs have been won or lost by the promise of a major new signing arriving at the club. Ramón Calderón Ramos promised Robben, Fabregas and Kaka on the back of his success. Not quite.

It happened at Barcelona in the early 1980s when Diego Maradona arrived courtesy of President Josep Lluís Núnez. Argentine coach César Luis Menotti was rather pleased to have the world's greatest player on board. And then Terry Venables replaced Menotti and swiftly put his foot down - they didn't do things like that at QPR or Crystal Palace.

Maradona was sent packing to Napoli and replaced by Scotland's plodding centre-forward Steve Archibald. (Younger readers, imagine selling Kaka and signing Kenny Miller instead)

The upshot is that it's now happening in England. Has it ever happened at Albion?

Well there was certain innuendo some years ago regarding a few players. Without going into detail - in case our lawyers are watching - it was never proven, so let's leave it there. It was either true or rubbish, depending on who you believed at the time.

Albion already have a continental-style management structure, which incorporates a Sporting and Technical Director. Just as Newcastle and West Ham do.

Yet Albion's works well because everyone follows the same rules.

Tony Mowbray certainly has interesting views on the matter. According to the Albion boss the owners of any club have a right to run it as they say fit. But when it comes to dictating which players arrive at or leave the club? Well...you can read what Mowbray has to say about it in Friday's Birmingham Mail and birminghammail.net from late morning.

Cor blimey, meet the 'Appy 'Ammer

2008-09-09T10:05:33Z

Had to smile when I heard the story about Ryan Donk, who was unveiled by Albion yesterday afternoon.

The Baggies' loanee spoke to the written press, as well as TV and radio.

It seems he is clearly looking forward to Saturday's game.

Asked how he felt about his move to The Hawthorns, the Dutchman told one radio presenter how pleased he was to sign for 'West Ham'.

One player signing for two clubs? That would put the Tevez?Mascherano saga somewhat into perspective...

Mowbray backing Murray

2008-09-08T08:41:34Z

You may have to forgive Tony Mowbray for diverting his attention from Albion tonight when Andy Murray takes on Roger Federer in the US Open final.

The Baggies boss became friends with the Murray family when he was manager at Hibernian.

Murray takes on Federer in the New York showpiece after defeating Wimbledon champion and world No.1 Rafael Nadal.

The 21-year-old recovered from a break down in the fourth set to beat the Spaniard 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-4.

Murray, a huge Hibs fan, was presented with the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year award by Mowbray back in 2005.

Mowbray watched Murray at Wimbledon the following summer, with the Dunblane-born star and brother Jamie both being presented with Hibernian shirts by the club.

Mowbray said: "He is an inspiration to everyone with the way he looks after himself.

"My young players at Hibs looked up to him."

Barton back at St James' for Baggies game

2008-09-05T15:26:40Z

At some stage I may - although I probably won't - launch a vicious attack against a colleague. A few blows to the face should do the trick.

The people who run my industry may also discover that I have a history of trouble. I haven't, but let's pretend for a moment. For argument's sake I may have once stubbed out a cigarette on the work experience lad's face, or even committed common assault, perhaps in Liverpool.

The "cowardly and extremely violent assualt" (the judge's words, not mine) will happen after I've downed 10 pints and five bottles of lager. CCTV will capture all of this, not least the bits where I continue to lay into my victim as a 16-year-old watches in horror. The teenager will also get a whack, just for good measure.

None of this will be a problem. My job won't be in jeopardy as a result of the attack on my colleague because the people who run my industry are weak and pathetic. The fact I battered a Liverpudlian or two during a night-out won't matter one jot either as far as they're concerned.

Can you guess which industry I'm talking about yet?

In fact I will be fined half a week's wages and told to stay off work for a bit. About six weeks should do the trick I reckon. By which time my colleague's eyes should no longer be black, his teeth should be fixed and, with any luck, his nose will have stopped bleeding.

After a few weeks I shall return to work. If I choose to commit any further offences during this time I will get an extra six weeks off. Yep, I can live with that.

Sadly, I live in the real world, where such conduct would get me sacked and locked up. I would become unemployable. Or, worse still, pursued by Aston Villa.

With that in mind I shall refrain from assaulting anyone I know. I shall also avoid stubbing out any cigarettes on the younger staff at work. Likewise I'll keep my nose clean should I visit Liverpool.

Joey Barton, however, lives in a world where you can commit grievous bodily harm and, to all extents and purposes, get away with it. Well done to the FA for fining him half a week's wages and giving him a 12 game ban (six of which are suspended). I mean that sarcastically. This season footballers are being told to respect the referee, yet the FA are respecting those footballers who assault others. A fine example.

So the powers-that-be are wondering why fans are starting to turn their back on the game? The FA might as well have given Joey Barton a pat on the back and congratulated the loathsome fool for assaulting his ex-Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo - an attack so vicious that Arsenal's French contingent refused to acknowledge Barton last week in protest at his attack on their compatriot.

Barton will be back sooner, rather than later.

Just to make it relevant to Albion, it may interest you to know that his first game back at St James' Park will be when Albion visit on Octber 29 (after he faces Sunderland at the Stadium of Light). And won't that be a joy for all concerned.

I wonder what Ousmane Dabo thinks?

Flying the flags at The Hawthorns

2008-09-04T10:12:35Z

Belgium, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Korea, Netherlands, Cape Verde, Portugal, Poland, Ivory Coast, Dutch Antilles, Sweden, Spain, Mozambique, Grenada, Romania, Japan, Jamaica, Hungary, Uruguay, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Australia, Macedonia, Senegal, Switzerland, Mali, Nigeria, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Ireland and England.

I make that 34 countries to have been represented by Albion since 2000.

But do you remember which Albion players were from: Mozambique (2007-08), Mali (2003-04) or Nigeria (2002-03)?