Those horrible provincial Championship clubs
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.
"Instead the nation will awaken on 17 May to the prospect of, maybe, Barnsley against West Bromwich Albion, and will feel worthy and good about itself - a bit like when you put your recycling bins out - for a few seconds because the unheralded have prevailed.
"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.
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Chris Lepkowski
Mail man Chris Lepkowski’s view of what’s going on at West Bromwich Albion FC.
Well said Christoff
Townsend is a Premiership gimp. let him knock us. i know there will be a lot of very interested fans if we play barnsley/cardiff and if portsmouth beat us to play one of those 2.
im relieved there are none of the usual big clubs there.
I for one will recoil in horror if Albion play Barnsley in the cup final. Not because of Barnsley, but Albion's 'effective' long ball, smash it long (or smash the winger eh Mr Robinson?) style of football. All being well as Albion begin to choke in typical fashion now it is coming to the nitty gritty of the season, Portsmouth will whup them. Nick Townsend is Sue Townsend's husband by the way and Andy Townsend's uncle
I read this same article last week and immediately thought "What an ass" Is he a Chelsea or Arsenal fan as he obviously is most annoyed that his favoured premiership side is no longer in the competition. His dislike for Barnsley obviously means he must follow Chelsea!
It is obvious that he feels that the possibility of a lower league club winning the trophy devalues it. Well, doesn't the big four fielding weakened sides, even opting out in one famous case, devalue it? The big four all fielded strong sides when they were knocked out, so that shows me that the magic of the cup is well and truly alive, the minnow can overcome and the "cartel" can be knocked off the pedestal they have built for themselves. The teams still in the cup are there on credit, especially Barnsley. Even if Albion don't win it, I hope that one of the other "plucky no-hopers" do. Barnsley in particular deserve it.
Why do London journos always throw scorn on any competition once no-one from the capital is involved. No doubt he will be wanting Portsmouth to win for two reasons; They are a Premiership side and therefore must prevail (for the good of football and to prevent the world imploding) and they are the only southern team left in the competition.
I read that piece and thought 'what crap'. Spot on, chris.
This attitude really winds me up - I'm sick of the London/Big Four snobby attitude that exists in football. Do they not know anything about the roots of our great game - it hasn't always involved Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool (or Tottenham). These national boys need to realise that.