March 2008 Archives

It's the most important week of the season, there's a place in the FA Cup Final at stake and your team could put themselves in the box seat for promotion to the Premier League.

Great isn't it?

Well, no.

You see, here's the tricky bit...do you keep faith with an experienced 37-year-old goalkeeper who is going through a sticky patch and is getting pelters from the punters, or throw your weight behind the rookie non-English speaking youngster from the Czech Republic who has no more experience of playing in the Championship or FA Cup than you or I?

You have one day to decide.

Tough one isn't it?

This blog was prompted by two Albion fans - both rational supporters I should add - who texted me late last night to tell me that Tony Mowbray must drop Dean Kiely. There was no ambiguity in their respective messages. They want a change between the sticks.

Now, call me Trevor Brooking, but I really can't call this one. Yes, Kiely has performed inconsistently, for some time you could argue, and his dip in form is hugely worrying, not least as the errors are becoming costly. For all this he remains supremely self-confident, incredibly committed and determined. The fans are less convinced. Some booed him during the game.

I would ordinarily recommend dropping him, given how he's played in recent times, if only to give him a kick-start. A good goalkeeper doesn't become bad overnight. But players do lose form.

But when I've made such judgements about keepers in the past there have been people like Russell Hoult, Tomasz Kuszczak, Chris Kirkland and Brian Jensen waiting in the wings.

Michal Danek, the only alternative, may be a success story, but then he may be another Zuberbuhler or Crichton. Nobody knows. His English is virtually non-existent and, so far, he's only been judged on a series of reasonable second-string games at an extremely poor reserve-team level. Tony Mowbray sees him every day. He knows more than I do regarding his No2 keeper.

Also, consider this - Dean Kiely is no fan of Harry Redknapp, following the Portsmouth manager's decision to drop him in favour of David James, so he will be fired up next week. There is, as we say, unfinished business on Kiely's part.

Mind you, that's a one-off game.

One thing is certain, Tony Mowbray faces a huge dilemma, not least after saying yesterday that heads could roll given how Albion have been defending from set-pieces. Hoefkens and Robinson, are presumably safe, the other defenders have all been rotated, so could he be talking about Kiely? Perhaps. He proved he could be ruthless last season, notably with Chris Perry.

All of which makes me think back to Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to drop his Manchester United and Scotland No1 Jim Leighton after his poor showing against Crystal Palace in the 1990 FA Cup Final. In the replay, the late Les Sealey replaced Leighton - who never spoke to Ferguson again - and helped United beat Palace 1-0. He kept his place for the following season, when United lifted the European Cup Winners' Cup, before stepping aside for some bloke called Schmeichel. The rest you know.

Had United lost that 1990 FA Cup Final or subsequent replay there's every chance Ferguson would have been sacked and the decade would have been dominated by other clubs. Ferguson took the biggest gamble of his career. It paid off.

And that is the bold and brave world that Mowbray is entering. The individual stakes are not so high - it's highly unlikely his job would be on the line if Albion fail to go up - but the two prizes Albion are fighting for are rich in terms of wealth and prestige.

One thing is certain, I'm so glad it's not me making that decision.

*Tony Mowbray has guided West Bromwich Albion to the brink of glory with an FA Cup semi final and the tantalising prospect of promotion back to the Premier League.

The Birmingham Mail is bringing out a two part special marking the life and times of the Baggies boss.

Starting on Monday, Tony Mowbray - the Life Story looks at his career as a rugged central defender with Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town before making the move into management with Hibernian and then Albion.

And the Birmingham Mail also has a fantastic prize courtesy of National Express where you and 10 of your friends and family will travel on a special coach from The Hawthorns to Wembley and watch the game.

To find out how to enter, see Tony Mowbray - the Life Story, free only in Monday's Birmingham Mail.

If my pet cat should ever fall under the wheels of a bus then I hope it's Jonathan Greening who breaks the sad news to me.

You see the Albion captain is one man you can rely on to cheer you up. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes not.

For example who else could ask, during Albion's pre-season tour in 2005, whether the sun in Portugal was different to the one in England because it was hotter in the Algarve?

And then there was the time his car was being serviced and he arrived to training in his wife's bright PINK Mini - and expected to get away with it.

From a journalist's point of view Jono doesn't disappoint. He speaks honestly, from the heart and is always a willing interviewee. He never shirks his duties as a captain and ticks Tony Mowbray's requirement that all players should show humility and respect. It's no wonder he's so highly thought of by his peers, Albion's coaching staff and all who deal with him.

However, I'm sure the club's press office could only shudder when he was asked about then Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, before Albion played them a few years ago, and completely dismissed the future England manager's credentials of taking charge of the national side, before adding: 'Just look at the players he's let go...' (Mind you, you can't argue with his observations on McClaren)

But surely nothing tops his latest gaffe, earlier this week.

Jono had arranged to pick up Kevin Phillips for training and, somewhat sensibly, typed the address of the collection point into his satnav.

After setting off at 8am, all was well.

And then things started to go wrong. Very wrong.

At some point - possibly as he was passing the JCB factory or seeing signs for Alton Towers - it dawned on Jono that instead of typing in 'Uttoxeter Road', he'd put in 'Uttoxeter'.

He ended up a mile outside the Staffordshire town.

We can only imagine what his team-mates (and more to the point, Tony Mowbray) must have thought when Jono and Kev finally rolled into the Walsall-based training ground at 10am, more than an hour late.

Wispa it quietly but Tony Mowbray started today's press conference looking like he'd opened up a box of Quality Street and found that someone had nicked the last Coffee Creme.

Despite looking remarkably like the Milk Tray man - black shirt, black suit - Mowbray bemoaned the lack of Easter Eggs he'd received following his 40-day chocolate exile during Lent.

It seems the nearest Mowbray will be getting to a Turkish Delight or a Malteser any time soon is if he decides to raid the European transfer market during the summer.

Mars isn't even in the same Galaxy (presumably he'll have to make do with Venus instead) and as for All Gold or Orange Sensations? Wrong club completely.

All of this meant Albion's very own chocoholic was not a happy man.

"I mentioned to the papers that I liked chocolate and was hoping for millions of Easter Eggs to be sent in," said Mowbray.

"Did I get any? No."

I detect a Birmingham Mail campaign, or how about a Chocolate-inspired theme day for the end-of-season away game at QPR.

*A big hello to the two Albion fans I met in the Abbey pub, over in Spain, during Tuesday's England v Poland under-21 game.

While I catch up following a few days in Spain, I thought I'd hand over to Albion fan Paul Hayward and his latest Baggies poem.

by Paul Hayward

But fickleness don't sit right with true West Bromwich fans,
For much of the time our local team is among the also rans,
But the hand of fate might point to us just maybe once in a while,
Such times as rare as blue moons and a Tony Mowbray smile,
And when they do just bring it on we'll enjoy it while we can,
The memories mean much more to us than a Man United fan.

Some of you might have seen the comments which have emerged today from Hungary, quoting Zoltan Gera's agent Vladan Filipovic.

He's claiming that Gera will 'surely leave Albion at the end of the season', when the player's contract expires.

Filipovic is also adamant that Gera will attract interest from European clubs, as well as Premier League clubs - claiming he will seek a move to a club involved in next season's Champions League or Uefa Cup.

My message to Albion fans is to ignore it.

Gera has made it clear he's happy and settled at The Hawthorns. If they go up there's every chance he'll sign a new contract at The Hawthorns. He likes it at Albion, he's one of the most popular players in the dressing room - does a mean Mr Bean impression - and has recently become a proud father.

So why on earth would he want to move if Albion get promoted?

If Albion don't go up then yes, he probably will leave - but then you know that already, so it's hardly a surprise.

But let's not forget that while Filipovic may be happy to tout his player around to the big guns across Europe, the simple fact remains that not a single club has so much as even made an inquiry, let alone a bid, for Gera since Middlesbrough's interest in January 2007.

Given that any interested clubs could have reasonably expected to get Gera for a knock-down price during the most recent January window - because of his contractual situation - then why were the Albion phone-lines so quiet?

Furthermore, as his contract is due to expire this summer, Gera has not only been able to speak to, but also eligible to sign a pre-contractual agreement with any non-English club since the New Year. Yet he hasn't.

So make of his agent's comments what you will.

Me? I'm off to pinch some salt.

*ALBION fans wanting a souvenir Wembley car sticker (£2.50 plus p+p) should email info@5starprinting.co.uk, who are producing the momento ahead of the FA Cup semi-final trip.

The waiting is over.

It's official.

Albion will wear their home blue-and-white-striped shirts at Wembley, with Portsmouth opting for their away colours.

It'll be the first time since the victorious 1954 FA Cup Final that the Baggies have worn the stripes at Wembley.

And, in case you're interested, the club will occupy the West dressing room - the same one they used for last season's Play Off Final.

It happened often.

It would be a Monday lunchtime. I'd be down the training ground - or what then masqueraded as a training ground - waiting for the players to return from their post-weekend warm down, wondering who'd be up for giving me five minutes of their time.

One by one they'd file in.

I'd get my interview, go home and repeat the process the following day.

Trouble is that by Tuesday Derek McInnes had read Monday afternoon's Birmingham Mail. And Derek was very enthusiastic when it came to passing on feedback.

What was jovial banter on the Monday, turned into a "what were you getting at with that comment?" discussion 24 hours later, in relation to any observations I'd made about his or the team's performance. If I'd been critical, he'd dispute it, tell me I was wrong, shake my hand and we'd move on. He always made a point of shaking my hand - it was the law.

Next time I saw him, banter was back on the agenda. There were no recriminations, no awkward silences, no cold shoulder or one-way ticket to Coventry.

I recall a defeat to Barnsley in the promotion season of 2002. I described Albion as Powder-puff, abject and gutless.

Needless to say, Derek had something to say come Tuesday.

"I agreed with you, apart from one thing...never, ever describe a team I play in as being gutless."

I also remember Birmingham City's Martin Grainger making unkind comments about Albion in his Sports Argus column in the run-up to a fixture between the two promotion chasers. As the teams lined up in the tunnel before the game, McInnes exchanged pleasantries with Grainger over the offending article. Needless to say Albion won, with McInnes performing immensely.

Derek, you see, cared desperately about his performances for Albion and for the club. He shouldered the criticism, he took the rap.

If Rangers were his Scottish club, Albion were his English club.

Off the pitch he was an absolute gentleman. Players with more caps, more trophies, more performances for the club, more experience and, dare I say it, more natural ability, bowed down to McInnes. He commanded incredible respect.

If you were to scribble down Gary Megson's top three signings as Albion boss, McInnes would surely be there. He even took a huge pay cut to leave French club Toulouse and join an Albion side who had narrowly avoided relegation to the third tier in the previous campaign.

Derek remains very highly thought of by all at the Hawthorns to this day, five years on since his departure.

He was a leader. An inspiration. The best Albion captain post-John Wile. When I interviewed him before last season's Play Off final, Albion were described as us or we.

And now, as Albion prepare for an FA Cup semi-final, McInnes is preparing for an SFA Cup semi-final with his St Johnstone side.

McInnes will make a fine manager and I wish him all the best with his SFA Cup quest.

With Albion in one semi, St Johnstone in the other, I can just imagine what his dream scenario will be...

Some managers chew gum, some smoke like troopers, some drink like sailors, some probably do all three.

Some do worse, but let's not go there.

Tony Mowbray eats chocolate. Lots of it.

Or at least he does when it's not Lent.

So it was no surprise to see the Albion boss rather downbeat at the training ground this morning - although I have a strong feeling that Saturday's result might have had something to do with it, rather than the absence of Dairy Milk or Kit Kats.

Even so, as a self-confessed chocaholic myself (unlike Mowbray, I didn't give it up for Lent) I understand the cravings and urge to rip open a wrapper and destroy a Twix.

Just remember Tony, one more game to go and then, from this Sunday, it'll back to normal.

It'll all be okay again.

Had to laugh at the comments of a national journalist Nick Townsend, who had a rather unusual take on the prospect of an Albion v Barnsley FA Cup Final.

You might have thought a member of the London mafia would relish the prospect of seeing two 'different' clubs playing at Wembley and maybe being educated about new players, new heroes and possible new FA Cup legends.

But no, Mr Townsend said: "They have obviously forgotten that the idea is the plucky no-hopers rise above themselves in rounds three to six but, at the end of it all, two of the Big Four cartel face each other.

"But then it will be back to reality, and you'll be thinking: "Now, what about those repairs I promised to do?" Because outside certain areas of South Yorkshire and the Midlands, nobody will really give a damn. Sorry, but whether Brian Howard can do it for Barnsley will not have been the stuff of fag-break chatter. For the FA Cup final to be taken seriously, it requires, at its business end, some seriously charismatic performers."

Now, Mr Townsend is, of course, entitled to his opinion but a quick search of his name on the Internet showed that he is generally restricted to Premier League games.

And then it dawned on me that in my seven years of watching Albion in the various press boxes of the land - including some in that Big League where his darling Big Four clubs play - I don't think I've ever actually seen Mr Townsend at any Baggies' match. (Presumably it's ditto Barnsley. And probably Cardiff too, although Hasselbaink is rather famous I guess as he played for Chelsea so he may know about him).

I hazard a rather emphatic guess that Mr T simply wouldn't know a Filipe Teixeira from a Martin Devaney, or even a Rob Kozluk from a Martin Albrechtsen, if they were to launch a stereotypical 'Route One' Championship ball into the stand and knock him flying off his press box seat.

In fact he's probably the type of journalist who would be continually asking us 'locals' as to who that long haired Albion player was who scored the goal or put in a cross - it's so difficult to read numbers on those striped shirts you know...

Oh yes, it does happen.

In any case, I would suggest his prose may be one for your dressing room wall at Wembley, Tony.

Six years ago today I witnessed one of the most shambolic, hateful, dirty, eventful football matches I've ever seen.

And, as a sports writer, I knew it would be a never-to-be-forgotten day in my career.

On March 16, 2002, Albion beat Sheffield United 3-0 in a game which was to be remembered as the Battle of Bramall Lane. It was a day three United players got sent off - subs Suffo and Santos within a minute of coming on, without even touching the ball - two more (Ullathorne and Brown) went off injured and player-coach Keith Curle did all he could to get himself red-carded, picking out Scott Dobie and Danny Dichio for special attention. Why? You draw your own conclusions. Suffice to say, football matches cannot continue with so few players.

It was a chaotic afternoon. The game finished in the 82nd minute yet you can guarantee at least 10 minutes would have been added onto the 90 due to all the various hold-ups. Poor referee Eddie Wolstenholme - who was to ref Albion's promotion-clinching game against Palace later that year - admitted that game had a huge impact on his career.

Covering the game for the Sports Argus and Birmingham Mail, I didn't know what the outcome was. Was it a 'result'? Was it classed as a void, abandoned game?

There was more.

Adam Chambers was racially abused during the game, Andy Johnson - whose knee was almost torn off by Santos' dreadful challenge, prompted by a long-running rift between the two players - had to be separated from his nemesis by police, while Gary Megson retreated to the stand for fear of his personal hatred for Neil Warnock (mutual I should add) descending into full-blown violence.

Then there was the post match fall-out. Megson refused to bring his side back to Sheffield for a re-match, the United board were desperately apologising for what had happened and the Albion director Clive Stapleton was so outraged he went out live on Radio Five Live's 606, then presented by Richard Littlejohn. And then there was the unnamed member of United's coaching staff - currently back in management - who called Megson up to apologise for the shameful events.

The Santos challenge on Johnson made the back page of the Sunday Mirror. 'Is this the worst tackle of all time?' asked the headline, as it showed a frame-by-frame of the incident.

The Football League hearing five days later brought its own comedy moments when Albion chairman Paul Thompson walked along the London street looking through the windows of random office buildings as he tried to find the Football League HQ, not realising he'd walked past it twice. You had to be there, I guess.

Three points and a 3-0 result were awarded to Albion, United weren't docked points, Warnock somehow kept his job.

The next day Albion played Forest, on a Friday night, and picked up another three points.

Those were surreal times.

The Baggies ended up promoted come the end of April.

Question is will the class of 2008 follow suit?

It's ironic Albion should choose this weekend to lose their heads against Leicester, as underlined by Luke Moore's dismissal for a reckless challenge.

Yet promotion is still in their hands as they are five points behind with two games in hand. Albion fans will be hoping it doesn't slip through their grasp.