The big debate

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.